In recent years, the publishing industry has thrived more than ever for aspiring authors to be published on many different platforms and break away from traditional publishing.  Hybrid, small press, and independent publishing are among the [new] ways to be published.  Going through this route does not always mean it will be any easier or less time consuming as three authors found out: DeMisty D. Bellinger, Cheryl J. Fish, and Celia Jeffries.  They joined us for a discussion about their publishing journey through a non-traditional publisher that was led by the moderator, Mara Anastas.

          Each panelist was able to give their individual story about how they got published through either an independent press, hybrid, or university press.  Questions from the audience included: Who does the editing and marketing? How does the publicity get shared?  Is it all on your own?  What are costs associated from start to finish?  These were address throughout the discussion and the panelists took the time to break down each kind of publishing based on her own experience.

Types of Publishing

          Hybrid Publishing allows independent authors to cover some of the cost of publishing books that otherwise might have been passed over by traditional publishers.

          This type of publishing does have some red flags: misinterpretation of the expectations between client and company, the company asking for a manuscript evaluation, printing is ready once you send the manuscript, and no prices given up front.   

          Vanity Publishing is a printing house that specializes in publishing books for which the authors pay all or most of the costs. 

          This type of publishing is a service and wants distribution, but no return on the books.  This would also cover the concept of not all small publishers have a return rate. 

Smaller Press Publishing: Runs on a smaller scale than a large publisher. 

          Here, your advance is in direct correlation to the amount of marketing and at the same time, your marketing is as good as the writer.  Small presses are open to your suggestions.

Takeaways from the evening

      —Perseverance and believing in what you have written.

      —Never give up on goal of publishing your book.

      —Visibility: Be on a social media platform that you are most comfortable.  Connect with people through the themes of the book.

      —Hire an editor, publicist, marketer, anyone that you feel would enrich your book within your means. 

      —Selling yourself is not easy, but every author has to market themselves and their book.  They don’t sell on their own.       

Here are the author’s books:

     —DeMisty D. Bellinger wrote New to Liberty and was published by Unnamed Press

      —Cheryl J. Fish wrote Off the Yoga Mat and was published by Livingston Press University of Western Alabama

     —Celia Jeffries wrote Blue Desert and was published by Rootstock Publishing

Across the country, April 30^th is known as Independent Bookstore Day.  This is the day that book lovers pay homage to all the independent bookstores to show their support for local businesses.

          The WNBA-NYC chapter and the WNBA-Metro Atlanta chapter, teamed up to tour their respective cities at different independent bookstores.  Here is a recap of the stores that the New York City chapter visited.  Missed the action?  You can find the stories posted on Instagram using the handle #wnbadualcitybookcrawl.

Strands Bookstore at 828 Broadway, New York

          One of the more well-known independent bookstores out there.  The Strands is a very popular spot for both tourists and locals which includes a basement and two upper levels.  Many say that you can lose track of time in here if you don’t set an alarm of some kind. What is your first memory of this iconic store?

Books of Wonder at 42 West 17^th Street, New York

          Calling all children’s booklovers, here is your kind of store.  A wide variety of all types of children’s books: board books, to chapter books, and a few toys in the mix, there is something new to discover here.  What is not seen often enough are classic books that we read as kids in their original publication.  These books were displayed behind a glass panel in the back of the store.  What are some of your favorite children’s books you read or read to others?

192 Books at 192 10^th Avenue, New York

          This small, quaint bookstore offers books on a variety of subjects including translation, history, music, biography, science, current affairs, and more.  Children’s and young adult books were available as well.  What is your favorite spot in this area beside the bookstore?

Three Lives and Company at 154 West 10^th Street, New York

          Located in Greenwich Village, this store has a unique history from catering to the locals, to online ordering, and now becoming an iconic store after nearly closing in 2016.  It sells a well-curated selection of books.  Does anything stand out to you about this bookstore?

Bravo’s Book Nook at 115 MacDougal Street, New York

          The name says it all.  This unique store is a little nook right on the corner of MacDougal and Minetta Lane.  The titles of hardcover and paperbacks of a variety of fiction and non-fiction.  Small gifts for sale included puzzles, maps of New York, and children’s trinkets.  Have you ever been to this kind of bookstore?

In honor of National Poetry Month, Haiku writing was the task for our WNBA-NYC subscribers.  A haiku is a short poem in the format of typically five syllables in the first line, seven in the second line, and five syllables in the third line.  Subscribers were asked to write a haiku about any topic and to let us know what their inspiration was behind it. 

Submissions

No title was provided

Spring, we waited. You arrived.
Then you disappeared.
Will you stay this time?

Inspiration: “This came to me last week as I was walking to the grocery store on a surprisingly warm and lovely day”

Author: Sheryl Dluginski, New York

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Title: “Not Quite Spring”:

Star-shaped spring beauties 

Cower in the sleety wind. 

Winter’s not done yet.  

Inspiration: “A walk on a park trail on an unexpectedly cold and blustery April day.”

Author: Katherine White Drew, Rockville, MD

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Title: Breaking and Entering

Daybreak sheds light on breakdowns.

Bleak streets spill trash, huts squat.

Bike lanes break through.

Inspiration: “I was interested in the word “breaking,” watching city streets shape shift in pandemic times. What “breaks” isn’t so much broken, as entering a new reality.”

Author: Sheila Lewis, New York

Articles of Interest

     The WNBA-NYC has done a variety of poetry events throughout the years.  Looking through the archives of our blog, these included panel discussions, interviews, a look back at our Centennial celebration for poetry month, why [women] write poetry and more.

          Haiku’s are a unique form of poetry and can be pretty tough to write.  It has a much different tone than your standard rhyme, sonnet, limerick, or even free verse. 

Do you write any of these forms of poetry in your spare time or as your career?  Let us know in the comments section below

            During Women’s History month and hosted by WNBA-National, an interview with author/historian Doris Weatherford and moderated by Valerie Tomaselli, the author shed light on volumes of history, notably regarding the long road to securing women’s right to vote. One graduate level course sparked Doris’s lifelong interest in women’s suffrage and activism related to women’s issues. Her path, to fill in the gaps of untold history, began with research on the lives of immigrant women and her first of many books.

            Doris and Valerie (former president, WNBA National and New York) worked together on WNBA’s centennial publication, Women in the Literary Landscape, but their collaboration dates back to before 1998, when they joined forces on two formidable volumes about women in American politics.

The 19^th Amendment, long-time coming:

            Doris regaled attendees with backstage dramas, from working with Congress to secure and keep the required 2/3 majority vote in both houses, to states changing their minds, seemingly on the whims of political winds. She described with irony (“things haven’t changed much”).  Legislators voted from hospital beds, admonitions from their mothers, and due diligence led to the 19^th Amendment added to the Constitution.   

Players, Pacifists, and Politics

            Although Doris referred to key Suffragists and early feminists, her approach was to place them in broader social contexts, like WWI or labor law movements. Favorites were Carrie Chapman Catt, who led or took part in an astonishing number of campaigns and events, Revolutionary War era women, and radical activists like Alice Paul.

            No fact was left unturned in Doris’s presentation.  She went on to include other notable times: how Utah had the first female state senator but lost the vote and how indecisive Washington state finally scrapped the vote. In granting suffrage, Western states were generally more liberal than Eastern states.  Suffrage and temperance brought to life why Susan B. Anthony (and other women) who chose not to marry (to hang onto their property), and how women did not seek child custody, for fear of being sent to mental hospitals by their husbands.

            Doris’s engaging speaking style is deft historian meets delightful storyteller; as she says, “in the end, we needed the radicals, the crazies, and the women wearing pearls, to come together.” It was painful to hear about the treatment of marginalized women of color.  So-called luminaries came out on the wrong side of race and religion, including anti-Catholic, and anti-Black differences.  Women got arrested picketing, chaining themselves to the fence, and were attacked by Washington DC cops.

Peaks and Valleys, Perspectives and Progress  

            Lively audience Q/A opened up the conversation. “Everything takes a long time, but look at what we have today. When President Biden made his State of the Union address, there  were two women behind him for the first time (Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi).” Doris said. She referred to the last 50 years or so as a time of “peaks and valleys, mostly valleys – things were achieved in the first half of the 20^th  century, and still rights are not equal… Although the age of consent in Delaware was just seven in 1900, women were banned from serving on juries until the 1960s, and teachers did not receive equal pay until the 1950s.”  Even progressive women opposed the Equal Rights Amendment for complicated reasons, including being of the mindset that the ERA might not protect women’s rights on the job, or might leave women worse off.

            Doris shared her current concerns diplomatically, “Just vote for the party that concentrates on women’s reproductive rights. Get active on campaigns. It’s easy to get discouraged. Vote for the party that is most sympathetic to women’s rights,” concluding that to go on, “it takes dedication, perseverance, strategic thinking and tactical maneuvering.” Valerie added parallels between fights for women’s rights and women in publishing, and how WNBA’s founding in 1917 addressed that singular need.  Doris’s unwavering vigilance to set the record straight and inform the public about women’s history has enticed me, and I’m sure many, to learn and read more.

“Writing is my favorite form of activism.”            

What’s next? Doris is planning a summer visit to Washington, DC, to watch the statue of Mary McLeod Bethune replace Florida’s confederate general (posted in 1922). Bethune founded a college and was considered one of the most influential women during the Roosevelt and Truman eras. Valerie referred to Doris as “the great mentioner,” so we will end for now with this final mention, best wishes for continued success!

More information

Doris Weatherford’s books can be found on her website: //dweatherford.ag-sites.net/bio.htm.