http://wnba-sfchapter.org/ Saturday, March 27^th, 2010 in San Francisco

Pitch Tips for WNBA-SF Chapter’s Speed Dating/Meet the Agents, Acquisition Editors, & Publishers Event

“Make Every Word Count When Pitching to Agents or Acquisition Editors”
by WNBA-SF Chapter Board Member and Writing Career Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan

You have spent months, perhaps years, writing and rewriting your project/work.  And, you’ve decided to pursue either an agent (who earns his/her commission when he/she sells a client’s work to a publishing house) or an acquisition editor (whose job is to buy authors’ works for the publishing house he/she works for). Let’s say you’ve done your homework and have compiled a list of agents or acquisition editors who specialize in the kind of project (commodity) you wish to sell.

An agent or acquisition editor receives hundreds of pitches/query letters each week.  What can you do to catch these folks’ attention?  Use the right bait.  Make every word count.

Whether you’re pitching in person, over the telephone, through an E-Mail, or by old-fashion mail, keep this in mind—the pitch (bait) has three components:
•    who needs your project
•    the unique qualities about your commodity
•    why you are the perfect author for this work

Here are 4 examples:

Genre: Self Help / Relationship / Marriage

The 50% and 60% divorce rates, for first and second marriages respectively, are a wake-up call for the United States 55.2 million married couples.

Through my book, I empower couples to get the marriage they’ve always wanted.

The Marriage Meeting Program: 45 Minutes a Week to Guarantee the Long Term Relationship You’ve Always Wanted shows how to conduct a weekly meeting that increases intimacy, romance, teamwork, and smoother conflict resolution.

A proactive, preventive approach is crucial. Regardless of how good a relationship is, there is always a need to keep it on track and room for it to grow. The Marriage Meeting Program’s step-by-step approach makes it easy to conduct the meetings. Follow-up studies show a 20 to 80 percent increase in marital happiness for couples who implement the program.

I am Marcia Naomi Berger, a psychotherapist, writer, speaker, workshop leader, and instructor of a class for therapists and counselors at the University of California Berkeley Extension. http://www.marriagemaven.com

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Genre: Memoir

There are more than 38-million boom-generation women in this country.  Through my book, I show middle-aged women how to cope with family and social pressures while dealing with their own mortality issues.

My memoir, Oldham Street, is about my journey from east coast to west bearing the pain of a son in prison, the long slow death of my father, the end of my counseling career and a ten-year relationship.  I knocked on a lemon-colored door on a short block in San Francisco.  In the next twelve years, the woman who opened that door, along with the other quirky characters in the neighborhood, inadvertently joined me in a process that brought me home to myself and into a comfortable role as the matriarch of my tribe.

I am Lynn Scott:

• author of A Joyful Encounter: My Mother, My Alzheimer Clients, and Me (a memoir about the abundance of spirit that I found among my Alzheimer clients).

• contributor to eight anthologies of fiction, memoir, and poetry.

• a guest on OPRAH and other talk shows trying to educate others about the mental disorder causing child molestation.

http://lynnscottbooks.com

http://lynnscott.wordpress.com

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Recent survey data indicates that 22% of the 55,000,000+ married women admit to having an extramarital affair. STAYING AFLOAT is the story of one of these women –although she wouldn’t have admitted it if she hadn’t gotten caught.

Crystal Scott is a stable and stalwart, stay-at-home wife and mother, aiming only to run an efficient home, care for her children and avoid confrontation.  Whatever her private thoughts are, she keeps them to herself.  But when her husband loses his job and shows no signs of looking for another, fault lines in their marriage are exposed.  She’s forced to re-enter the workforce, and when her dazzling, dynamic boss takes a personal interest in her, she slips into territory that most women have fantasized about, even if they don’t want to admit it — she morphs into a sex-starved adulteress.

I am Judith Marshall, author of the award-winning novel, HUSBANDS MAY COME AND GO BUT FRIENDS ARE FOREVER. I’ve been writing for thirteen years and am a member of the California Writers Club and the Women’s National Book Association. In addition, I am the President of Human Resources Consulting Services and a member of the faculty of the Council on Education in Management, for whom I teach a number of public seminars on a variety of HR-relates topics. I’m currently working on my third novel, BITTER ACRES.
http://judithmarshall.net/

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Genre: Women’s Fiction / Humor

39%  of the 68 million women employed in the U.S. work in management, professional, and related occupations. Through my book Katie Carlisle, I show women how to hold onto their integrity, humor, and vision . . . in spite of having to fight sexism in the corporate world.

Katie Carlisle has been lucky enough to have a mentor (her boss) who has taken her to a point where her promotion is pretty well guaranteed.  Only then everything goes wrong.  Her beloved mentor leaves the company under a cloud; his successor is a man whom Katie hates and fears; and a downward spiral in her fortunes starts.  This is the story of a smart woman’s struggle to hold onto her integrity, humor and vision in spite of the tumult around her—and her eventual triumph.

I am Margaret Davis.  I have a doctorate from Stanford University in Sociology, with a specialization in the structure and behavior of formal organizations.  I have had two non-fiction books published in my field.  Katie Carlisle, a humorous spoof on everyday life in a large corporation, is a work of fiction.  Yet, as many of my readers have commented, “Everyone who has ever worked in a big company will relate to and love this book.”

I am also the author of Straight Down the Middle, a family drama involving a young mother’s efforts to do what is best for her child while trying to come to terms with her own sexuality.
http://margaretdavisbooks.com/

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Writing Career Coach Teresa will help you practice your pitch
at WNBA’s  “Meet the Agents, Editors, & Publishers”
on March 27, 2010   http://wnba-sfchapter.org

Teresa LeYung Ryan is:
*   Board member at WNBA-SF Chapter since 2004
*    Author with agent and NY publisher
*   Writing career coach
*    Past president of California Writers Club-SF Peninsula Branch
*    Library advocate

Writing Career Coach Teresa is the author of  Build Your Name, Beat the Game: Be Happily Published (a 22-day workbook for writers to build their names and attract attention and fans before and after publication).   http://WritingCoachTeresa.com

As a community spirit, Teresa LeYung Ryan uses her novel Love Made of Heart to:
• shed light on stigmas suffered by immigrant women, men, and children
• advocate understanding of mental illness/traumas to the mind
• help survivors of violence find their own voices through writing
www.LoveMadeOfHeart.com

Join WNBA-SF members who are participating in the San Francisco Writers Conference as presenters, volunteers and attendees at this comprehensive writing conference orchestrated by WNBA-SF’s own past president Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen. 

SAN FRANCISCO WRITERS CONFERENCE ADDS A PRE-CONFERENCE DAY FEB. 11TH, 2010

with:

DONALD MAASS 

LISA RECTOR MAASS 

JULIE SALISBURY 

MICHAEL LARSEN 

SHELDON SIEGEL 

ROBERT DUGONI 

KATHARINE SANDS 

STEPHANIE CHANDLER

   What is different about THESE sessions? They are intimate…about 25 people getting to interact with the presenter for more project-specific help. The pre-conference sessions are open to the public. They are stand-alone sessions and attendees can chose one or more depending on their schedules, budgets and interest. Attendance at the Main Conference is not required.

   A ‘Full Day’ Registration fee is $300.00 and a ‘Half Day’ Session Registration is $149.00. Morning sessions run from 9AM until Noon. Afternoon sessions run from 1PM until 4PM. Lunch is not included. All 2010 San Francisco Writers Conference attendees get to deduct $50 from their Preconference Registration total.  For more details on these sessions or the San Francisco Writers Conference, go to http://www.SFWriters.org.

Lots of laughter, powerful PLAY, attitude adjustment, accessing artist selves, lively

WNBA-SF Coaxing Creativity participants at work on vision boards

conversation, sharing, and wonderful connections were made at the Coaxing Creativity Decide, Design & Declare Your Writing Life for 2010 Workshop. I am so inspired by all the creativity demonstrated by everyone in the room. Congratulations to all of you for Deciding to show up for yourself, Declaring how/what you wanted to achieve in your writing life in 2010 , and Designing such amazing works of collage art as a visual representation of your journey. Thank you wonderful writers for attending this workshop, and thank you WNBA-SF for inviting me to facilitate this vision board workshop. I can’t wait to see what happens next…

12 writers benefited from WNBA-SF’s Coaxing Creativity Vision Board Workshop led by Mentor Mary E. Knippel.  “Decide, Declare & Design Your Writing Life for 2010,” said Mary Knippel.  “P.L.A.Y.  Pause. Love. Access your Artist/Adjust your Attitude.  YES to You.”

This post invites every writer at the workshop to submit her comments and declare a goal. Click on the title  [12 Writers Benefited from . . . ] to see the entire post; scroll down to comment boxes and key in your name, your email address, your website URL compose your comment; click SUBMIT button.

Thank you, Creativity Mentor Mary Knippel!

Visit Mary’s website for calendar of workshops: http://openuptoyourcreativity.com/

Mary Knippel & 12 writers showing their vision boards

Have you ever set a goal and been disappointed when you didn’t meet that goal? Well, attending the WNBA-SF sponsored Coaxing Creativity Vision Board Workshop is a step in the right direction! By creating a vision board and a plan with simple steps on how to achieve that goal, you are set up to succeed in 2010. This is the year your intentions become your reality! It’s not too late to sign up and join us on Jan. 30, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. in Half Moon Bay. It’s a bargain for a day of purposeful play at $30/WNBA-SF members and $45/non-members. Register now at wnba-sfchapter.org.

January is International Creativity Month – a whole month dedicated to Creativity!  Many will start the New Year off making resolutions and creating lists of ambitions and goals to accomplish before the end of 2010.  Sometimes the list will include vows to:  lose weight, exercise regularly, write that book, contribute to savings, limit spending, work less & play more, spend time with the family… (fill in the resolution I’m missing). You get the point, these things are well and good, but will they really happen?

Did you know that according to the latest statistics, 40% of us will make New Years resolutions? Those who make resolutions are more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions. Most of those folks probably took a pen and made a list, or they sat down at their computer screen. The act of writing something down is a powerful way to make your thoughts tangible. The act of making a Vision Board (or collage) with pictures illustrating the written list of your hopes, dreams, intentions and resolutions for 2010 can take your projections from possibilities to reality.

The Vision Board is part magic and part puzzle. If you’d like help getting started, Mary E. Knippel (Creativity Mentor and immediate past president of WNBA-SF) is facilitating a workshop on Jan 30 on the San Mateo Coastside. The workshop is sponsored by the Women’s National Book Assn-San Francisco Chapter and a member benefit to promote professional development.  It will be a day of goal setting, brain storming, writing, laughter and plenty of sharing. It’s a bargain too $30 for WNBA-SF members and $45 for non-members. 

Start 2010 off on a creative note and sign up today at www.wnba-sfchapter.org.

Versions and Visions of Mary

Whether it’s a new concept, or an annual ritual, vision boards perform powerful magic in helping us manifest our dreams. They are a staple at inspirational retreats I’ve attended and if you saw the DVD “The Secret,” you know it played a significant part. The Law of Attraction directs us to envision success as if it is in the present and has already happened. The more detail you bring into the mental image, the better. The vision board brings life to the mental image.

A vision board may also be called a Treasure Map, or Creativity Collage. Using simple raw materials of paper and glue, a dash of whimsy along with a generous amount of your own imagination, the final result is the birth of a physical expression of your inner most hopes and dreams. The word collage comes from the French “to stick.” It is a work of visual art made from an assemblage of different forms (images from magazines, jazzy junk mail, ribbon, photo copies of favorite pictures, and sometimes handwritten quotes); creating a new whole.

This is an opportunity to have fun envisioning the 2010 you’d like to experience. We’re not just playing around. We’re Playing with Purpose!  The idea is that when you surround yourself with images of who you want to become, what you want to have, where you want to live, or where you want to vacation, your life changes to match those images and those desires.

Ready to create your vision board?

Want to do it with the support and encouragement of friends?

Sign up for the WNBA-SF sponsored Coaxing Creativity Workshop – Decide, Declare, Design Your writing life for 2010 on Jan 30, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on the beautiful San Mateo coastside. We’ll do some writing, create a vision board, brainstorm about goals and ways to achieve them, play, and have FUN!

WNBA SF Chapter Members and Friends

Gracious host & hostess Michael Larsen & Elizabeth Pomada

Christmas lights Victorian home with books and books and books

WNBA members and friends, share nosh, click glasses.

Treasurer Christopher Payne represents executive board President Lynn Henriksen, Vice President Allegra Harris, Secretary Sara Videtto, and Immediate Past President Mary Knippel.

Shulamit Sofia, Linda Joy Myers, Verna Dreisbach had to leave before book exchange.  So did Chris.

Warmed by friendships, old, new.

The Honorable Teresa Cox represents her cousin Effie Lee Morris whom we miss so much.  Adele Horwitz reads the tribute that she, Elizabeth and Michael wrote for WNBA Bookwoman.

Looking forward to January 30, 2010 when Mary Knippel will lead us in:

Decide, Declare, Design

Your Writing Life for 2010!

http://www.wnba-sfchapter.org/

Effie Lee Morris

Members of Women’s National Book Association are in mourning.  Beloved Effie Lee Morris, founding president of the San Francisco Chapter, died on November 10, 2009, two months after her doctor told her she had metastasized colon cancer.

Members are encouraged to share memories on WNBA’s blog by posting comments at:

http://wnba-sfchapter.org/blog/beloved-effie-lee-morris-we-are-so-sad/

An “Effie Lee Morris” page will be added to our website.  There you will find the biography of our president emeritus along with links to websites of other organizations whose members also loved her.

Effie Lee had attended the June 18, 2009 planning meeting and installation of elected officers where she was honored by SF chapter members.  Earlier in June, Effie Lee had addressed the audience at the 13th annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture featuring author Pat Mora.

According to Effie Lee’s cousin, the Honorable Teresa Cox, it was Effie Lee’s wish that in lieu of sending flowers we make donations to further support the WNBA-SF Effie Lee Morris Lecture Series to honor children’s book authors.

Checks can be made payable:
“WNBA-SF Chapter” designated for Effie Lee Morris Lecture Series

and sent to:
WNBA SF Chapter – Effie Lee Morris Lecture Series
4061 E. Castro Valley Blvd.
Castro Valley, CA 94552

All donations will be used toward funding future Effie Lee Morris lectures.  The 2010 lecture has been slated for May 13.

As soon as Ms. Cox announces the 2010 date of the “Celebration of the Life of Effie Lee Morris” WNBA will inform SF Chapter members as well as the WNBA national board.

Beloved Effie Lee, we are so sad. We have lost our greatest supporter, great lady and a wonderful friend.

Effie Lee Morris (in red, standing) and WNBA SF Chapter Officers, Board Members and Committee members at June 2009 planning meeting

Please share your Effie Lee Morris story by posting a comment.

For more information about WNBA SF Chapter events, please visit:

http://wnba-sfchapter.org

COME ONE, COME ALL to help us Celebrate the Joy of Shared Reading…

By Lynn Henriksen, President WNBA-SF

 …and the chance to win delicious raffle prizes donated by several neighborhood merchants, including Pacific Catch, Max’s, Ciao Bella, Izzy’s, and Book Passage. We’ll also toast our 10 sister chapters around the country with a wee bit o’ the bubbly and sparkling water.

Three superb novelists are the main attraction, of course, for our 3^rd annual National Reading Group Month event at Book Passage in Corte Madera on Thursday, October 15^th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

I promise you that the evening will be spirited, informative, and entertaining with Tanya Egan Gibson, C.W. Gortner, and Kathi Kamen Goldmark front and center. C.W. Gortner will bring you insight into his intriguing and highly adventurous historical novel, The Last Queen, and what’s next from him. Kathi will read about one fabulous character (her health-food-obsessed mom, Betty) from both a fictional and a nonfiction perspective. Kathi warns, “Bring your own wheat grass juice.” Tanya will moderate the evening, read, and talk about writing her critically acclaimed debut novel, How to Buy a Love of Reading, where you’re sure to fall in love with reading all over again. We aren’t suggesting the love of reading is something to be bought, but we know you’ll be inspired to buy these authors’ praise-worthy books.

      Many thanks to our partners for this event: Book Passage for their steadfast support of authors,  books, and writing; and Whole Foods Market of Mill Valley for providing specialty foods. 

 ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Tanya Egan Gibson’s debut novel, How to Buy a Love of Reading, was release in May, 2009. She was born and raised on Long Island’s south shore, the“Egg”-less side of the island Fitzgerald didn’t write about. She earned a B.A. in English from Cornell University and an M.A. from the University of Washington. She began writing How to Buy a Love of Reading ten years ago, while teaching high school English. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two children.

Kathi Kamen Goldmark is the author of And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You, a novel; co-author of The Great Rock & Roll Joke Book, and Mid-Life Confidential: the Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude; and has contributed essays to several anthologies—including Feed Me! (edited by Harriet Brown). With her husband, Sam Barry, she writes a monthly aspiring-writer-advice column in BookPage called “The Author Enablers.” A 2007 San Francisco Library Laureate and winner of the 2008 National Women’s Book Association award, Kathi is the founder and a member of the all-author rock band the Rock Bottom Remainders, president and janitor of “Don’t Quit Your Day Job” Records, Author Liaison for many high-profile literary events—including Book Group Expo and the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library annual Laureates Dinner—and the producer of the nationally-distributed radio show West Coast Live.  

C. W. Gortner is the author of The Last Queen (Ballantine Books). This book takes a look at the life of Juana of Castile, the last queen of Spanish blood to inherit her country’s throne, and it is highly praised by Publisher’s Weekly. Half-Spanish by birth, Gortner holds an M.F.A. in writing, with an emphasis on historical studies, from the New College of California and has taught university courses on women of power in the Renaissance.  He was raised in Málaga, Spain, and now lives in California.  He is currently at work on his next book, which is about Catherine de Medici and will be released by Ballantine Books in 2010.  Visit him at www.cwgortner.com.

REVIEWS OF AUTHORS’ BOOKS:

Our own Elisa Southard showered this praise on Goldmark, “The novel, And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You by Kathi Kamen Goldmark, was written with a lot of style. Goldmark explored family issues with wonderful rhythm, compassion, and humor, as the protagonist, Sarah Jean Pixlie, gets her big break in the country music scene. And if you love Northern California, this is a local read that will take your imagination far.”

My reviews for Gibson and Gortner:

Captivating Throne of Passion, Juana la Loca of Spain: Juana’s courage, strength, and passion amazed me as The Last Queen came of age so vividly under C.W. Gortner’s admirable pen. This historical novel is fraught with crushing battles of power and chilling intrigue throughout the courts of her parents, Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, and of her husband, Philip of Flanders, as the Infanta of Spain attempts to take her rightful place on the thrown she inherited from her mother.

My soul was struck as I witnessed…click here for complete review.

Can’t buy me love, no, no, no, no: I would characterize Tanya Egan Gibson’s delicious debut novel, How to Buy a Love of Reading, as love stories between three couples even though ‘love story’ isn’t the premise of her book. Or is it?  But these love stories come with a twist, wherein the power of choice prevails as the characters literally rewrite their stories, their lives, and their fate. Actually there are three tales of love within two parallel stories.

In this is complex novel Gibson’s characters are very much…click here for complete review.