WNBA-SF Author Platform
Thursday, April 16 at 12 pm PDT
A FREE Virtual Event
Unable to attend? No worries. Register anyway and receive the replay!
A strong author platform is a key component of securing a book deal — and an essential part of a successful pitch. Join the Women’s National Book Association – San Francisco Chapter for a Lunch N Learn focused on how to build, position, and communicate your platform in ways that resonate with agents and publishers.
In our final ramp up to our virtual Pitch-O-Rama, this session will explore how platform factors into pitching your book and why publishing professionals are looking beyond the idea to the audience behind it. Featuring Debra Eckerling, Dr. Judith Briles, Kat Neff, and Kim Stewart, the discussion will cover what platform really means, how to demonstrate your reach and authority, and how to present it effectively in both proposals and live pitches.
Whether you are preparing for Pitch-o-Rama, querying agents, or refining your proposal, this session offers practical, industry-informed guidance to strengthen your position.
About the Speakers
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 TheBookProposalExpert.com a
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.
With more than 20 years of experience in the publishing industry, Kat Neff has built a career spanning sales, marketing, and publicity. She has served on educational panels, contributed to industry programming, and held leadership roles within organizations such as the Minnesota Book Publishing Roundtable, bringing a wealth of knowledge in book promotion and media relations. Kat offers a practical, insider perspective on how authors can successfully position themselves and their work in today’s competitive publishing landscape.
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. kimstewartmarketing.
To register, please fill out the form below:
April 16 - Free Lunch N Learn: WNBA-SF Author Platform
April 16 @ 12pm PDT — A FREE WNBASF Virtual Event
"*" indicates required fields
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. 
A well-established agent, who began her career as an editor at major publishing houses, Rita Rosenkranz represents almost exclusively adult non-fiction titles. Her wide-ranging list includes health, history, parenting, music, how-to, popular science, business, biography, sports, popular reference, cooking, writing, humor, memoir, spirituality, illustrated books and general interest titles. She represents first-time as well as seasoned authors, and looks for projects that present familiar subjects freshly or lesser-known subjects presented commercially. Rita works with major publishing houses, as well as regional publishers that handle niche markets. She is a member of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA), The Authors Guild, and Women’s Media Group.
Celebrating 48 years working in publishing, John Willig often says to friends that his career actually began as a Newsday paperboy growing up on Long Island, New York. After graduating from Brown University, his first job was as a sales representative in academic publishing. He soon began work as a marketing manager and then editor for HarperCollins where he published in 1984 one of the first books on AI Artificial Intelligence: Tools, Techniques and Applications by Tim O’Shea and Marc Eisenstadt. As his interests moved to trade publishing, he became an executive editor at Prentice Hall for business books. While at P-Hall, John enjoyed working with such authors as Henry Mintzberg, Philip Kotler and Jim Collins. He acquired and edited Jim’s first book Beyond Entrepreneurship which now has a new edition B.E. 2.0. In 1991 he decided to become a literary agent to work more closely with writers. Throughout his career as an editor and agent, John has successfully negotiated over 850 publishing agreements and worked with many award-winning authors. John participates at many industry events including the 
Throughout her career, Jen Newens has been an author, editor, and publisher, giving her experience in all sides of the publishing business. In her new role as agent, Jen applies her 360-view of the publishing world, seeking out original voices and developing exciting new talent in children’s literature and adult nonfiction categories.
Katharine Sands has worked with a varied list of authors who publish a diverse array of books including fiction, memoir and non-fiction. Among the books she represents are: The Apothecary’s Curse, nominated for the Bram Stoker Award in the First Novel category by Barbara Barnett and its sequel, Alchemy of Glass; Girl Walks Out of a Bar, a memoir by Lisa Smith that was featured by People Magazine as Notable Nonfiction and I’m Speaking: Every Woman’s Guide to Finding Your Voice and Using It Fearlessly by Jessica Doyle-Mekkes. Katharine likes books that have a clear benefit for readers’ lives in categories of food, travel, lifestyle, home arts, beauty, wisdom, relationships, parenting, and fresh looks, which might be at issues, life challenges or popular culture. When reading fiction, she wants to be compelled and propelled by urgent storytelling and hooked by characters. For memoir, femoir, and himoir, she likes to be transported to a world rarely or newly observed. She is the agent provocateur of Making the Perfect Pitch: How to Catch a Literary Agent’s Eye, a collection of pitching wisdom from leading literary agents.
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.
Georgia Hughes is the editorial director at 
Daniel Roth is the former Vice President of New Business Development at HarperCollins and Editorial Director at Simon & Schuster. Helping writers find their story!
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.
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 
Many of us know that book marketing can be expensive and overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be.
What do you need to do before you submit to a contest that’s right for your writing?
B. Lynn Goodwin wrote three award-winning books, a YA called Talent, a sequel called Disrupted, plus a memoir titled Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62. She writes author interviews, book reviews and articles for WriterAdvice, 
The Women’s National Book Association is now inviting members to participate as volunteer readers for the 2026 Great Group Reads (GGR) program!
