Archives for February 2025

Thursday, March 20, 2025
Noon – 1:00 pm / PST Online via Zoom
Pre-Pitch Coaching Session

By popular demand, WNBA-SF will hold a Pre Pitch-O-Rama Coaching AMA [Ask Me Anything].

Registration is free for anyone already signed up for 2025 Pitch-O-Rama. If you haven’t, prices are $10 for WNBA-SF members and $25 for non-members.

We are VERY excited to hold our fifth virtual Pitch-O-Rama which is looking to be a fabulous event with new agents and editors including those from the New York publishing world. And, since it is virtual, we have many new writers joining us, hailing from all over the country and even a couple of international guests. We have received many questions and suggestions which resulted in this Pre Pitch session.

WNBA-SF stalwarts who have run Pitch-O-Rama for many years will tell you what to expect, tips and strategies for inspired pitching, and how to get the most from this mini-writers conference.

Hosted by Madame President and publisher Brenda Knight, this event will feature experts who can answer any question you have, so make your list now! She will share what editors and agents are looking for, and how to position your project so it will garner real interest from acquiring editors and literary agents.

Steeped in Pitch-O-Rama history, Kate Farrell will offer insight into effective pitches and the kind of good advice only an experienced author and pitch event coordinator can provide. 

Another Pitch-O-Rama veteran and WNBA National President, Elise Marie Collins offers techniques on how to overcome nerves and make your best impression.

There’s the book you’ve written and the book a publisher will buy. Are they the same book? In 2024, Randy Peyser secured book deals for 16 people. The mix included: 6 business books, 2 mind-body-spirit books, 2 novels, 2 whistleblower books, a self-help book, a guide book, a memoir, and a political book. Randy will help you discern if the book you are writing is one that is positioned correctly for a book deal.

Goal setting expert Debra Eckerling will share tips for networking in the fast-moving, virtual space.

Every year, writers find agents, get publishing deals and get excellent feedback that advances their writing careers. This year, it can be you!

Registration is free for anyone already signed up for 2025 Pitch-O-Rama. If you haven’t, prices are $10 for WNBA-SF members and $25 for non-members.

REGISTER HERE!

Thank you for your interest! Registration is closed.

Distinguished Panelists

Brenda Knight, author of Women of the Beat Generation, began her publishing career at HarperCollins working with luminaries including Paolo Coehlo, Marianne Williamson, Mark Nepo, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Knight was awarded IndieFab’s Publisher of the Year at the American Library Association in 2014. She is the author of Random Acts of Kindness, Be a Good in the World, and Women of the Beat Generation which won the American Book Award. She is President of WNBA-SF Chapter.

Elise Marie Collins has consulted with small businesses, authors, and alumni associations on social media marketing and believes that a social media plan should be intuitive, fun, and seamless. Helping students and clients form healthy lifestyle patterns is Elise Collins’ passion and life purpose. She has taught yoga for the past 20 years and is the author of several books on healthy living, including her latest, Super Ager: You Can Look Younger, Have More Energy, a Better Memory, and Live a Long and Healthy Life. Elise enjoys sharing yoga wisdom and current scientific research and is President of WNBA National.

Kate Farrell, author, storyteller, and educator founded the Word Weaving Storytelling Project and published numerous educational materials on storytelling. She has contributed to and edited award-winning anthologies of personal narrative. Her award-winning new book is a how-to guide on the art of storytelling for adults, Story Power: Secrets to Creating, Crafting, and Telling Memorable Stories. She offers workshops on storytelling and the heroine’s journey for libraries and writing groups here.

Debra Eckerling is the award-winning author of Your Goal Guide: A Roadmap for Setting, Planning, and Achieving Your Goals and creator of the D*E*B METHOD®, for Goal-Setting Simplified. A goals strategist, corporate consultant, and workshop leader, Debra offers personal and professional planning content development, event strategy, and team-building for executives, entrepreneurs, consultants, and companies. Debra has spoken on stages for TEDx, Innovation Women, SCORE LA, and more. She is the founder of the Write On Online community, as well as host of the #GoalChatLive show aka The DEB Show and the Taste Buds with Deb podcast.

Randy Peyser sells non-fiction manuscripts in all genres and speaks nationally about how to earn book deals. She also serves as faculty for CEO Space International, where she teaches about writing book proposals. She is the author of The Write-a-Book Progra; Crappy to Happy as featured in the move Eat, Pray, Love; and The Power of Miracle Thinking.

Her clients’ books have appeared in Oprah, Time Magazine, the bestseller lists of the Wall Street Journal and USA Today, in airport bookstores, Office Max and FedEx stores, and on Hallmark TV. Her work is featured in: Healing the Heart of the World, The Marriage of Sex and Spirit, Secrets of Shameless Self-Promoters, and the national bestsellers, Networking Magic Guerilla Publicity and The Profit of Kindness.

Paul S. Levine “wears two hats:” he is a lawyer (www.paulslevine.com) and a literary agent (www.paulslevinelit.com). Mr. Levine has practiced entertainment law for more than 40 years and established his first solo practice in 1992. Seeing an underserved niche on the West Coast, he decided early on to focus on serving book authors. This naturally evolved into his work as a literary agent. Seeking to expand the range of services he could offer his clients to include the representation of books, Levine opened The Paul S. Levine Literary Agency in 1996, which he has recently expanded. Whether he is considering fiction or non-fiction, Levine will not take on a project unless he feels certain he can sell it. With a preference for politically and socially important works, he represents more than 200 book authors, the vast majority of whom are new, unpublished, or self-published writers. For Levine, the most rewarding moment is holding his client’s published book in his hands at a well-attended book signing and seeing the smile on his client’s face. Enjoying public speaking and teaching, Levine presents extensively at writers’ conferences throughout the country and at entertainment law-related classes and seminars.

Remember to take advantage of this unique opportunity to pitch your book idea to agents, publishers, and editors by registering for Pitch-O-Rama 2025!