October 28 – Cocktails with Publishers

Thursday, October 28
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm /PDT
WNBA-SF Mixer and AMA
FREE Virtual Event!
Cocktails with Publishers

Fall is here and what better way is there than to greet the season with a cocktail party and networking?

WNBA-SF Chapter is hosting a virtual networking party where members who are writers can get some quality time with publishers and ask questions. It is an AMA, so ask them anything! This is a virtual mixer, though we certainly hope to be meeting in person sometime next year and how great will THAT BE? Bring your favorite beverage and all your curiosity. This will be fun!

As everyone probably knows, you or your agent needs to get your book or proposal into the hands of an interested publisher; that’s the first hurdle. A well-crafted proposal, an agent with good relationships, and choosing the right editors to approach are the first steps. What most would-be authors don’t know is that the editor has to turn around and sell you to an editorial board. The sales management, more often than not, makes the decisions. If sales and marketing think they can sell your book, then you’ve got a wonderful chance of getting published.

So how do you sell the sales people? Publishing veterans Jan Johnson, Lisa McGuiness and Brenda Knight will help you navigate the rapids of book publishing so you can find the perfect home for your books. Bring all your questions about book publishing so you can learn from some of the best in the business!

Publishing Experts

Jan Johnson is Publisher Emeritus at Red Wheel Weiser & Conari Press acquiring select books for each imprint. Before launching Red Wheel/Weiser, Johnson worked at Tuttle Publishing, HarperOne (when it was known as HarperSanFrancisco), Winston/Seabury Press and as an independent book doctor, rewrite editor and editorial consultant for corporate and independent publishers. Johnson has worked on many bestsellers, including Codependent No More, Random Act of Kindness, Oprah pick The Book of Awakening and Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way.

Brenda Knight began her career at HarperCollins, working with luminaries Paolo Coelho, Marianne Williamson and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Knight was awarded IndieFab’s Publisher of the Year in 2014 at the ALA, American Library Association. Knight is the author of Wild Women and Books, The Grateful Table, Be a Good in the World, and Women of the Beat Generation, which won an American Book Award. Knight is Associate Publisher at Mango Publishing. She is the immediate past President of the Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter, and an instructor at the San Francisco Writers Conference.

Lisa McGuinness is the Creative Director at Mango Publishing and the author of numerous books. As founder of Yellow Pear Press and the imprint Bonhomie Press, she is a twenty-five-year veteran of the publishing industry; she has worked in the editorial, sales, and production divisions during her tenure at Chronicle Books, and as a freelancer. Lisa’s books include Hoppy Trails, Catarina’s Ring, Caffeinated Ideas Journal and Meaningful Bouquets and is co-author of several children’s books including the New York Times bestseller Bee & Me and Baby Turtle’s Tale—both animated picture books written under the pen name Elle J. McGuinness. She is the co-author of The Dictionary of Extraordinary Ordinary Animals and Gotcha Covered. http://www.lisamcguinnesswrites.com/

Join us for our WNBA October mixer!
Register here to receive the Zoom link: