Speaking for Authors Lunch N Learn Fireside Chat
Thursday, July 17 at 12 – 1pm PDT
A FREE Virtual Event
Unable to attend? No worries. Register anyway and receive the replay!
Join WNBA-San Francisco for a fun and informative conversation on the importance of public speaking for authors.
Bobbie Carlton, founder of the Innovation Women speakers platform, will be in conversation with WNBA-SF networking ambassador Debra Eckerling.
Public speaking is a powerful – and necessary – tool to help authors build their audience and boost book sales. In this lunch n learn, you’ll discover how how speaking—whether in a bookstore, on stage, or on a podcast—can help you connect with more readers and make a bigger impact. It doesn’t matter if you write fiction or nonfiction, short or long-form. Speaking helps bring your message, experience, and/or characters to life, and gives people a reason to want more.
Learn:
- Why speaking is essential for authors
- Tips for crafting a compelling author talk
- How to use speaking to grow your author platform
- Ways to get out of your head, so you are more likely to get onto the stage
- And more!
Whether you are a new or seasoned author, there is a lot to gain from this conversation.
Meet the Speakers:
Bobbie Carlton is the founder of three companies, Carlton PR & Marketing, Innovation Nights, and Innovation Women, an online “visibility bureau,” dedicated to providing women and other underrepresented voices with a chance to be seen as thought leaders and experts. InnovationWomen.com.
Debra Eckerling is an award-winning author and podcaster, goal-strategist, and speaker, who helps authors, entrepreneurs, and consultants create the life they want through goals. Debra speaks on the topics of setting personal and professional projects, networking strategy, and book proposal development. She is host of the GoalChat and Taste Buds with Deb podcasts, and author of Your Goal Guide and 52 Secrets for Goal-Setting and Goal-Getting. Note: Bobbie, as well as WNBA-SF president Brenda Knight and events manager Kate Neff, are all featured in Deb’s new book. 52SecretsBook.com
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Summer Writing Goals Mixer
Andy Ross opened his literary agency in January 2008. Before that, he was the owner for 30 years of the legendary Cody’s Books in Berkeley. The agency represents books in a wide range of subjects including narrative non-fiction, science, journalism, history, religion, children’s books, young adult, middle grade, literary and commercial fiction, and cooking. However, he is eager to represent projects in most genres as long as the subject or its treatment is smart, original, and will appeal to a wide readership. In non-fiction, he looks for writing with a strong voice and robust narrative arc by authors with the authority to write about their subject. For literary, commercial, and children’s fiction, he has only one requirement– simple, but ineffable–that the writing reveals the terrain of that vast and unexplored country, the human heart.
Mike Larsen is an author coach who loves helping writers reach their goals by adding value to their readers’ lives. Mike and his late wife Elizabeth Pomada worked in publishing in New York before moving to San Francisco in 1970 and starting Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents in 1972. They were charter members of the Association of Authors Representatives, and sold hundreds of books to more than 100 publishers and imprints, before they stopped seeking new clients.
Moderator Debra Eckerling, WNBA-SF’s networking ambassador, is an award winning author and podcaster. A goal strategist and the creator of the D*E*B METHOD® for Goal-Setting Simplified, Debra offers personal and professional planning, 
Chef Rossi is the director, owner, and executive chef of “The Raging Skillet,” a cutting-edge catering company known for breaking any and all rules. She penned the memoirs, The Raging Skillet and The Punk Rock Queen of the Jews, and has also written two full-length plays, a number of one-act comedies, and a one-woman stage adaptation of The Punk Rock Queen of the Jews. She hosts the Raging and Eating podcast. 
Dayna Steele is the host of the #survivingalzheimers podcast for caregivers, friends, and families of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and a new podcast, Off Their Rockers, for women 50+ still rocking this world! She is also a rock radio Hall of Famer and the playwright and star of the award-winning play The Woman in the Mirror, based on her best-selling book Surviving Alzheimer’s with Friends, Facebook, and a really big glass of Wine. 
Laurie Sue Brockway is a seasoned writer of thousands of articles, 25 books, and many once-unfinished manuscripts. She developed her unique approach to tapping into creative magic after years of writing panic, fear, and frustration! Her books have been published by Penguin, Random House, Sterling, and Llewellyn. Now running her own self-publishing company, she is sharing her wisdom to help other writers. Her books include Writer’s Flow, She Who Scrivens, Goddess Seshat, Lakshmi Magic, and The Goddess Pages. She holds degrees in psychology, ministry, and public history. Find out more at 
Eva Barrows is a developmental editor and content manager in the San Francisco Bay Area. She edits a variety of non-fiction and fiction book projects spanning self-development, memoirs, and historical fiction novels. Eva is the 2023-2025 Vice President of the California Writers Club, San Francisco Peninsula chapter and member of the Historical Novel Society and Women’s National Book Association. Eva founded 
Lila LaBine is a line and copy editor of fiction manuscripts and screenplays. She started her business,