Meeting Minutes - September 9, 2010

Date:  September 9, 2010
Start time: 7:00
End time:

Members Present
Joan Bodefeld
Jackie Huppenthal
Luneil Morrow
Sharon Palmeri
Judy Whitcomb

Guest Speaker: Katherine Flotz, author of A Pebble in My Shoe, A Memoir

Katherine Flotz self-published A Pebble in My Shoe in 2004. It is a story about her German family's struggle to survive as refugees and in concentration camps in Yugoslavia and other parts of Europe during WWII. Katherine shared her marketing strategies with the group. Out of 3,300 books printed, Katherine has sold 3,000. Her husband George is another survivor who tells his story in her book as well. Over 45 different libraries in the Midwest have purchased a copy and several local bookstores agreed to take them on consignment. She explained the process of working with Amazon.com and being her own distributor.


Katherine and George have filled numerous requests to do speaking engagements at churches, libraries, and schools in Indiana, neighboring states (including IL, WI, and MI), and as far away as Arizona. They have spoken at Purdue University twice a year since 2005. Many concentration camp survivors from all over the world have been reunited because of the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Flotz and their story.

Mrs. Flotz is almost out of books and is uncertain if she will be placing an order for another 1,000. The group encouraged her to relate her writing and marketing success with known publishing houses to see if they are interested in doing a second publishing.