LGBTQ+ PRIDE Panel: Queer Voices in Literature
Thursday, June 4 at 12 pm PDT
A FREE Virtual Event
Unable to attend? No worries. Register anyway and receive the replay!
Join award-winning queer authors for an inspiring PRIDE panel discussion on the joys, challenges, and power of being a queer writer today.
Duncan MacLeod, MBA from USC Marshall, is a writer, advocate, and founder of Jim Dandy Publishing. Through personal finance books and young adult/mental health fiction, he champions authentic storytelling and visibility.
Kathleen Archambeau, celebrated journalist and longtime LGBTQ+ rights advocate since 1992, co-founded the James Hormel LGBT wing of the San Francisco Public Library. A same-gender ballroom dancer who competed in the Gay Games, she has raised significant funds for queer mental health services and shared inspiring profiles in the SF Bay Times while teaching at the University of San Francisco.
Together, they explore identity, representation, resilience, and the transformative role of queer narratives in literature.
About the Moderator and Panelists
Jodie Anders is a multi-hyphenate artist whose work spans the mediums of acting, writing, videography, editing, and graphic design. As a Jewish bisexual creator who struggled with acceptance as a teen, Jodie focuses on connections across divides, celebrating diversity and promoting youth empowerment. She currently serves as the Publicity and Communications Director for the youth nonprofit CAIORG, where she’s spent over two decades mentoring and guiding teens in confidence and leadership. She also produced “Let’s Talk about Leadership, Service and Sisterhood,” a podcast by and for teens, and is the co-author of Queer Cheer: Activities, Advice, and Affirmations for LGBTQ+ Teens.
Duncan MacLeod received his MBA from University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. In addition to his work as a personal bookkeeper and finance coach, he’s a writer, advocate, and publisher of financial self-help books, young adult and mental health fiction. He is the owner and publisher at a new press called Jim Dandy Publishing.
Native San Franciscan, Kathleen Archambeau, is an award-winning writer and LGBTQ activist. She is author of four nonfiction works, Climbing the Corporate Ladder in High Heels (2006), “Seized,” an essay in The Other Woman (2007), edited by Victoria Zackheim, Pride & Joy (2017), and We Make It Better (2019), with gay dad, Eric Rosswood. Academy Award-winning screenwriter, Dustin Lance Black wrote the Foreword to Pride & Joy and endorsed We Make It Better. Archambeau’s work has been favorably reviewed in global and national literary publications and she has been a featured speaker at national and global Pride literary events. Her book was included as part of the Oakland Museum of California store’s Queer California Exhibit, and she is a founding member of the James Hormel LGBT wing of the SF Public Library. Most recently, she released The Book of Awesome Queer Heroes (2024).
Dr. Kim Makoi is a queer trans man, mind-body chiropractor, and author of Booze to Balance: A Chill 30-Day Liver Healing Program. With nearly 30 years in practice and a PhD in Pastoral Counseling, he helps people unlock the full potential of their life’s voyage — starting with the physical vessel. Dr. Kim designs personalized luxury healing retreats and delivers daily wit and wisdom through his micro-newsletter, The Daily Nugget, at drkimsf.com/dailynugget.To register, please fill out the form below:
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The Art of the Follow-Up Pitch
Shirin Yim Leos is an award-winning author, editor, and ex-publisher. She has taught writing and publishing around the world, at the NSW Writers’ Center in Australia, the AFCC in Singapore, the Writing Salons in San Francisco and Berkeley, for eight American universities including Stanford Continuing Studies, and for writing conferences such as the Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference, Write On The Sound, the Writing-Day Workshops, the Australian Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators National Conference, and the Book Passage Children’s Writers and Illustrators Conference. Her novel OF WIND AND DUST was acquired at auction by the Dial Press in a Publishers Weekly Deal of the Week and will be released in February 2027. Learn more at 
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.
Debra Eckerling is The Book Proposal Expert, a book proposal specialist who helps authors clarify their message, develop their content, and craft proposals that get noticed. She is the author of Your Goal Guide and 52 Secrets for Goal-Setting and Goal-Getting, host of GoalChat and the Book Proposal Podcast, and the creator of The DEB Method for goal-setting simplified. Debra has spent years helping writers, entrepreneurs, and experts turn their ideas into compelling book plans that get noticed by agents and publishers. Learn more at 
WNBA-SF Author Platform
Dr. Judith Briles is the award-winning and best-selling author of 48 books earning over 60 book awards and recently awarded the Author Laureate honor. To date, her books have been translated into 17 countries with over 1,000,000 copies sold! Judith’s books, and work, have been featured in over 1,500 radio and TV shows. She is the host of the AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing podcast that has received over 21 million downloads, posts less than three minute “how to publish and market” videos daily on her YouTube channel Dr. Judith Briles-The Book Shepherd and is the founder of the Colorado’s Authors’ Hall of Fame. Today, she will explore the wide, wide world of book marketing that leads to author success … that is, if you do it.
Kim Stewart is a book marketing strategist for nonfiction authors and host of the Book Marketing Mania podcast. She helps you reach more readers as a podcast host and guest. When she’s not strategizing with clients or binge listening to podcasts, you’ll find her enjoying family time and indulging in coffee, caramel and Friends reruns. 
Debra Eckerling is a goal strategist, author, and book proposal expert who helps writers transform their ideas into sellable book proposals. The founder of The 
Jim Lauria is an international business executive, author, and water industry thought leader who has been an active LinkedIn member since 2004, building a community of over 12,000 followers and 4,500 subscribers to his LinkedIn newsletter To Know Water Is to Love Water. A chemical engineer by training, Jim has leveraged LinkedIn to establish himself as a leading voice in the water space publishing feature and cover articles for top industry publications, co-hosting the podcast Water We Talking About?, reviewing 75+ water books, and posting a daily water quote for over 500 consecutive days. He is also the author of How to Get Your Money Back From Big Companies and has used LinkedIn strategically to attract consulting clients, speaking engagements, and collaborations across the global water sector. Jim lives in Napa, California, and looks forward to sharing the practical LinkedIn strategies that have fueled his publishing and professional journey. Connect with him at 
Randy Peyser edits and ghostwrites books and gets authors book deals with literary agents and publishers. Her clients have been featured on Hallmark TV and Daily Mail TV, in Oprah, Cosmo and TIME Magazines, on the Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestseller Lists, in airport bookstores and FedEx/Office and Office Max stores. She is the author of Crappy to Happy as featured in the movie, “Eat Pray Love”; The Power of Miracle Thinking; and The Write-a-Book Program. 
Benefit-a-Palooza with WNBA–San Francisco
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.
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 
Debra Eckerling is The Book Proposal Expert, a book proposal specialist who helps authors clarify their message, develop their content, and craft proposals that get noticed. She is the author of Your Goal Guide and 52 Secrets for Goal-Setting and Goal-Getting, host of GoalChat and the Book Proposal Podcast, and the creator of The DEB Method for goal-setting simplified. Debra has spent years helping writers, entrepreneurs, and experts turn their ideas into compelling book plans that get noticed by agents and publishers. Learn more at 
Judy M. Baker is the creator of the Buzzworthy Book Experience. She has coached hundreds of authors, guiding them from “where do I start” to “how do I make money from my books?” since 2011. “Marketing is a conversation and everyone is in sales” are lessons she learned when working with wine pioneer Robert Mondavi. Presentations to the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association, Redwood Writers, Napa Valley Writers, Women’s National Book Association, and the Bay Area Consultants Networks have earned praise. Judy wrote and self-published her first book at 16. Her stories and poetry appear in anthologies from CWC Press, Redwood Writers Press, and Napa Valley Writers. Judy is Immediate Past President of Redwood Writers, the largest chapter of the California Writers Clubs. She also served as president of the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association.
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. 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. 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.
Book Marketing in the Age of Aquarius
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