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Mission Statement
The Woman's National Book Association is a national organization of women and men who
work with and value books. WNBA exists to promote reading and to support the role of women in the community of
the book.
The Women's National Book Association was established in 1917, before women in America had the
right to vote.
The San Francisco branch of WNBA is one chapter in a vibrant organization with over 800 members
across the county. Each branch has its own flavor and lively events to honor books—the creation of books, the
world of books, and allied arts.
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Events
The Writing Life: How to Get From Here to There
Join the WNBA-SF on Thursday, July 21, 2005 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm for an informative four-part, lively discussion
about The Writing Life. There will be an opportunity to network before and after the presentation. Over dinner,
the WNBA board will kick off topics that will include:
- Inspiration—sources of creative ideas
- Perspiration—the life of a working writer
- Writing community—networking, classes, author events, etc.
- Adventures in Publishing—getting our work into the world
Bring your stories and fellow writers, and join us for an opportunity to share, learn, and be inspired.
Location: Caesar's, 2299 Powell St, San Francisco, 415-989-6000
Price: $39 member, $45 non-member (You may sign up as a member that night with check for $84 made out to
WNBA-SF), $45 walk-in. No-host bar, full four-course dinner, valet parking
Please RSVP to Vicki Weiland at vcweiland-writer@yahoo.com by July 16, 2005. Or you can call 415-614-2533.
Also, please save these dates for future WNBA events:
- Thursday, Sept. 22—"Pitch Your Book to the Right Folks: Meet Agents and Editors"
- Tuesday, Oct. 18—"WNBA Mixer"
- Thursday, Nov. 17—"Authors Showcase"
- Friday, Dec. 16—"Holiday Celebration"
Money for Writers: An ASJA Event
Every year private foundations and government agencies award hundreds of thousands of dollars to free-lance
writers. The money allows writers to travel, take time off from the daily grind and pursue the projects that most
inspire them.
But who gets these grants and fellowships, and how? On July 20, the American Society of Journalists and
Authors will explore the ins and outs of winning such money in a panel discussion featuring:
- James Bettinger, director, John S Knight Fellowships for Professional Journalists, Stanford
University.
- Susan Freinkel, former editor at Health Magazine, winner of the Alicia Patterson Fellowship.
- Frances Phillips, poet and senior program officer at the Walter and Elise Haas Fund.
- Dashka Slater, award-winning journalist and fiction writer, winner of the NEA Creative Writing Fellowship
and finalist for the Sundance Arts Writers fellowship.
This event is open to the public. It takes place on July 20, 2005, 6:00 PM at the India Palace, 2160
University, Berkeley (upstairs banquet room). Admission is $5 for ASJA members, $10 for non-members. Dinner can
be ordered off the menu at your own cost.
Please RSVP by July 18 to Laird Harrison, ASJA chapter president, at laird_harrison@hotmail.com or 510-530-6699.
For more information: Contact Christine Larson at cmlarson@cmlarson.com or 916-443-1173.
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Writing Opportunities
Glimmer Train has a call for entries, with a deadline of July 31st. Glimmer Train's Summer Very Short Fiction
Award is open to all themes, all subjects, all writers, published and unpublished. The original unpublished story
must not exceed 2,000 words.
The first-place winner receives $1,200; publication in Glimmer Train Stories, and 20 copies of the issue in
which it is published. Second- and third-place winners receive $500/$300, respectively, and acknowledgement in
that issue.
To submit your story, go to their site: www.glimmertrainpress.com
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In This Issue
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Welcome
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Welcome to the July edition of Bookworm, our new monthly Newsletter—news and events featuring San Francisco WNBA
members!
There is no point asserting and reasserting what the heart cannot believe. —Aleksander Isayevich
Solzhenitsyn
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Announcements
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From Our President, Joan Gelfand:
WNBA had a high profile at BEA this year with several write-ups about the Pannell Award—the two annual awards
given to an independently owned children's bookstore and to a general bookstore with an inspired children's
section. This year BookPeople in Austin, Texas won for best children's bookstore, and Reading Reptile in Kansas
City won for best general bookstore. If you would like to nominate your favorite bookstore in this category,
please forward me the information.
The National Meeting in D.C. was inspired. There are many projects afoot that emphasize bringing the national
organization to the chapters. Two particularly exciting projects are a national directory that is being compiled
by our immediate Past President Margaret Auer. This new directory will give members access to all chapter's
membership lists. This list can be used for networking, finding an editor or agent or contacting other chapters
when you will be in their area.
Another project is the new availability, on-line, of all of the New York chapter's educational panels. We will
be mailing out a password to all members within the next two weeks. This password will get you into the ‘Members
Only' section of the WNBA New York City website.
For myself, I volunteered to be on a task force to initiate our new Internet memberships. This new level of
membership will be directed at people who live at a great distance from local chapters but want to be connected
to the organization.
Lastly, I would like to remind everyone that August 15th is the deadline for the Fall Bookwoman. Please
forward any information about yourself that you would like to see published in our national newsletter.
I wish you all a wonderful summer, and hope to see some new faces at our July 21st "Writing Life" event.
Best,
Joan
Our own treasurer and author extraordinaire, the marvelous Teresa LeYung Ryan (author of Love Made
of Heart, www.lovemadeofheart.com)
has been appointed the new board president of the San Francisco/Peninsula Branch of the California Writers
Club, sponsors of the Jack London Writers Conference and the Jack London Kids Camp. This is the CWC branch
that launched Teresa's career, and members of the CWC-SF introduced Teresa to the WNBA, for which we are
grateful.
Those of you who have had the good fortune to meet her know how supportive and unstintingly generous Teresa
is, particularly with new authors struggling to master the often daunting hurtles of marketing and publicity. She
brings years of enthusiasm and perseverance, as well as invaluable first-hand experience and knowledge, to her
new role, and we at the WNBA couldn't be more excited for her!
If ever there was a time to join the California Writers Club, this is it! Remember, you can never belong to
too many writers' organizations, and CWC—with our Vice President Linda Joy Myers as president of the Marin branch
and now Teresa with the SF / Peninsula branch—can always use a few new writers eager to make a difference. For
more information about the CWC and how to join, visit: www.calwriters.org.
Terrance Gelenter, WNBA member and founder of the great organization Paris Through Expat
Eyes invites WNBA members to An Evening with Diane Johnson, on Thursday, July 7th at 6-7:30
PM. The event will be held at Hotel Rex, 562 Sutter Street. The cost is $15 (complimentary h'ors devours, no-host
bar). For more information, contact: terrance@paris-expat.com.
Don't Forget: The WNBA - SF has a new mailing address:
WNBA-SF
2261 Market St #164
SF, CA 94114
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Member Profile
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Ellen Sussman, author of On A Night Like This
Bay Area writer Ellen Sussman's first novel, On a Night Like This, published by Warner Books, was just
released in paperback. It has been translated into German, French, Italian, Dutch, Danish and Hebrew. Ellen has
published a dozen short stories in literary and commercial magazines. She recently published a "My Turn" column
in Newsweek and has essays in the forthcoming anthologies The Thong Also Rises (Travelers Tales) and
Kiss Tomorrow Hello: Notes From the Midlife Underground by 25 Women Over Forty (Doubleday).
Ellen offers writing classes out of her home in Los Altos Hills. Write to: ellen@ellensussman.com for information about her
classes. To learn more about her novel, check out her website: www.ellensussman.com.
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Member News & Classes
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This exciting item comes to us from the Boston Chapter of the WNBA: WNBA-Boston member Claire Cook's
bestselling first novel, Must Love Dogs, is now a film starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, opening
nationwide on July 29. Claire says that first weekend box office is critical to a film's longevity so she's
encouraging friends and supporters to flood theaters on July 29-31 and asking all of the WNBA to spread the word.
Claire writes: "if [the box office numbers] are good enough, this hilarious, sweet, intelligent movie that
respects my novel yet sparkles with its own originality, and stars some amazing actors, will have a nice long
ride." Spread the word!
 Join our WNBA Vice President Linda Joy Myers for the book launch party
of Don't Call Me Mother. The party will take place on July 23, 2005, 7:00pm at Book Passage,
Corte Madera, CA, and will include champagne, cake, reading and discussion of the transformative path of
memoir writing. At the party, meet other WNBA members who have created a network of support for authors and
writers.
Visit Linda at www.memoriesandmemoirs.com.
Transform Your Life through Memoir Writing: taught by Linda Joy Myers
Thursday, July 7-Thursday, August 4, 6:45-9:30pm.
Enroll through the Learning Annex at www.learningannex.com, 415-788-5500, 291 Geary St, SF, CA 94102.
In this class focusing on the positive benefits of writing your story you will learn:
- How to conquer the voices that tell you not to air the family laundry
- How to tell the truth and not lose your inheritance
- How healing occurs in a writing group
Character Makes the Plot: taught by WNBA members Linda Joy Myers & Martha Alderson
Saturday, July 16, 10:00am-4:00pm. Price: $95.
Register through Book Passage at www.bookpassage.com.
Using the Enneagram to create psychologically true characters, and Martha's scene and plot tracker to
integrate good characterization with provocative plots. For more information, visit Linda's website for
information about writing classes and coaching: www.memoriesandmemoirs.com and Martha's website for more information about plot and her
classes: www.blockbusterplots.com.
How to Sell Your Book at A Writer's Conference: and what happens after the contract is
signed
Join author and WNBA-SF member Debbie Gisonni and Mark Kerr, former Sales & Marketing Director (and "author
scout") for Inner Ocean Publishing for a lively dialog about how a chance meeting over lunch at the SF Writer's
conference turned into a publishing contract. In this session, you'll learn how to uniquely present yourself and
your book, what publishers are looking for, what goes on behind the scenes in deciding to sign an author, and
what happens after an offer is accepted. Learn the process from the author's and the publisher's point of view,
including how to manage the ins and outs of the publishing process. You'll be able to apply what you learn
immediately at your next writer's conference by knowing how to be at the right place at the right time with the
right stuff!
The workshop takes place on July 19, 2005 at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera CA. For more
information, see www.bookpassage.com or
call 415-927-0960.
Goddess of Happiness Workshops: 9 Ways to Get Happy!
If someone asked what you wanted most out of life, chances are you'd say happiness, although like most of us,
after juggling work, family and home, there's little time left to think of yourself. But what if the real purpose
of your life is to BE HAPPY? How would it change the way you think, live, and work? How would it change your
life?
Join Debbie Gisonni, author of The Goddess of Happiness: A Down-to-Earth Guide for Heavenly Balance and
Bliss for a "Happiness Make-Over" as you discover how to make happiness a choice in your life. Join this
lively interactive workshop and find out how you can truly live happily ever after!
Workshops take place on:
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