by Rachel Slaiman             

Why do you write?  What makes you sit down and want to tell your story?  How long has it been since you said, “I want to write this book, but I cannot because…. (insert reason).”  Many of us are all too familiar with these questions and do not have an answer.  Moderated by Bridget Marmion, WNBA-NYC Board Member and panelists Fran Hawthorne, author of I Meant to Tell You and Maiya Katherine, author of An Apology to My Demons, on April 20, 2023, the Taking the Leap Panel addressed why the writers delayed as long as they did and shared solutions for moving forward with your ideas.

           Through an engaging lively panel, it was easy to see that both women were eager to tell their story.  From creating a writing schedule while still working in corporate America to beginning to write when the world shut down due to Covid-19, it is arguable that life events started the writing process.  While life was moving along, Hawthorne and Katherine  still needed to find time and create a schedule that worked for them to complete the task at hand.  Some writers like a more structured routine of writing 1,000 words a day, while others just want to get something on paper.  Pro Tip: Flexibility is the key when you are starting the writing process because no two authors are alike.  If you find what kind of schedule and goals work for you, the process becomes more manageable and not so daunting over time.

           But “why” spend all this time writing your book?  Each person’s why is different.  Is it passion driven, royalty driven, a combination of both?  The “why” becomes the motivator and gives you the courage to keep writing when you hit a roadblock or do not feel inspired.  Of course, when you sit down to write, words may not flow right away; you may have some fragmented sentences.  After some       time, the words start to flow onto the page, and you are once again back on track to write.  Pro Tip: Allowing yourself time and space is key to this process.

           Now that the writing is underway, how do you answer the question “how is it going?”  Many people would want to wait until their book is completed or almost done.  Others may want to talk about it along the way.  Pro Tip: The important thing here is to share only what you want to share.  Do not feel pressured in any way. 

           Lastly, “ how do you know when you the manuscript is finished?” It’s possible to keep rewriting and correcting a work forever but at a certain point taking a step back to determine whether you’re ‘improving’ the work is necessary. Once you’ve determined that it answers the ‘why, meets your goals, and further rewrites and corrections won’t majorly improve the manuscript, your work for the moment is complete.

by Hope Lawrence

Sure, we all know that libraries are commonly known for borrowing books, collaboration, and attending events.  Arguably, there is a display or two of the rich history of a particular library which then leads to curiosity of “tell me more”.  Rather than venturing to a Smithsonian museum for such artifacts, the Polonsky Exhibition of the New York Public Library Treasures has displayed many artifacts from its collection.  Board members of the WNBA-NYC chapter spent an afternoon exploring this exhibit on February 18, 2023.

Upon entering the exhibit, you are overwhelmed by the rich history of the past.  The items displayed are a visual representation of where the world was compared to modern day.  The exhibit is divided into several themes (insert link to page here), but those of particular interest include the Beginnings, the Written Word, and Childhood.   

The Beginnings represents where it all began—from challenges ideas, to theories, to the “first-knowns” about a particular topic. 

The Written Word represents writings from all over the world written by those that studied the craft.  Writings by Maya Angelou or Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral are on display. 

The Childhood section gives us an understanding that the books then offered a moral, religious, or educational instruction.  Today’s books more or less still follow this same these. 

Other Noteworthy Displays

Virginia Woolf’s walking stick isn’t the only item once possessed by a renowned author on display at the Schwarzman building: the letter opener of Charles Dickens that has the paw of his beloved cat made into the handle! It might seem bizarre nowadays for one to do that with the remains of a cherished pet, but Dickens lived in different times. This practice can be compared to that of widows during his time. These widows would keep a lock of their late husband’s hair in their hats as a way to remember.

The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library family will have the works on view in the Gottesman Hall and will be an ongoing exhibition with different works in rotation.

About Hope Lawrence

Description

Description: Meet the authors featured in the historical fiction panel on November 30th and learn some of the award-winning novels that focus on the dazzling jazz era of the 1920s. The main characters of these novels bring a strong and advancing approach to the time in order to show that a woman’s search for independence has transcended all eras.

Cost: FREE

Format: You are invited to a Zoom meeting.

When: Nov 30, 2022 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this FREE meeting:

//us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvceurrTgtHt03699PR4rQgq1viCe9zQeV

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

​ Eileen Joyce Donovan

       Author of A Lady Newspaperman’s Dilemma
Synopsis: First, we will turn the pages back to1926, in A Lady Newspaperman’s Dilemma. A world of flappers, speakeasies, and bathtub gin. Alex, a cocky college graduate starts her journalism career at a small Montana newspaper. On her first day, a courthouse shootout thrusts her into the lead reporter’s role, and into the path of the town’s most eligible, and handsome, cattle rancher. That spring, an ice jam on the Yellowstone River, floods the town. Only US Army bombs can save it. Alex’s reporting draws national attention and a career dilemma So, she’s faced with a choice. Her dream job or her dream man.  Definitely A Lady Newspaperman’s  Dilemma.

About the author: Eileen Joyce Donovan’s debut historical novel won the 2019 Marie M Irvine Award for Literary Excellence. Her latest historical fiction, A Lady Newspaperman’s Dilemma, released in September 2022, won the 2021 When Words Count nationwide competition. She’s also had short stories published in various anthologies as well as non-fiction in Chicken Soup for the Soul. She’s a member of the Historical Novel Society, Women’s National Book Association, Women Fiction Writers Association, and Authors Guild. She lives in Manhattan and enjoys going to concerts and plays, as well as reading books that catch her fancy. 
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​ Kitty Zeldis

       Author of The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights
Synopsis: Next, same era, 1924, but from a big city many of us will recognize, Brooklyn. As New York City enters the jazz age, the lives of three very different women are about to converge in unexpected ways. Recently arrived from New Orleans, Beatrice is working to establish a chic new dress shop with help from Alice, the orphaned teenage ward she brought north with her. Down the block, newlywed Catherine is restless in her elegant brownstone, longing for a baby she cannot conceive. When Bea befriends Catherine and the two start to become close, Alice feels abandoned and envious, and runs away to Manhattan. 

Her departure sets into motion a series of events that will force each woman to confront the painful secrets of her past in order to move into the happier future she seeks. Moving from the bustling streets of early twentieth century New York City to late nineteenth-century Russia and the lively quarters of New Orleans in the 1910s, The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights is a story of the families we are born into and the families we choose, and of the unbreakable bonds between women.

About the author: Kitty Zeldis is the nom de plume of a Brooklyn-based author of nine novels and over 35 books for children.  Her short fiction, essays and articles have been published in many literary and national publications. 

Moderator:

Sheila Lewis: Sheila Lewis is a curriculum and children’s writer, writing coach, educator, and tutor. She teaches meditation and related classes and leads a children’s book club at the JCC in Manhattan. Recently, Sheila co-authored a summer learning program for the national Boys & Girls Clubs of America and is now developing more book club material for after schools. Sheila joined WNBA-NYC over six years ago and worked on many early panels.

Description

Description: Meet the authors of two compelling nonfiction books and learn the true stories of impressive women who were ahead of their times in many ways. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, these women changed the idea of what women’s work is and advocated for women’s freedoms and rights, just like the women who founded the WNBA did at about the same time.

Cost: Free to all members of all chapters of the WNBA with code.
Please email president@wnba-nyc.org with the WNBA chapter and your name to receive it.
$10.00 for all non-members.

Format: Zoom link will be sent out the morning of the event.

​ Joanna Scutts

       Author of HOTBED: Bohemian Greenwich Village and the Secret Club that Sparked Modern Feminism
Synopsis: On a Saturday in New York City in 1912, around the wooden tables of a popular Greenwich Village restaurant, a group of women gathered, all of them convinced that they were going to change the world. It was the first meeting of “Heterodoxy,” a secret social club. Its members were passionate advocates of free love, equal marriage, and easier divorce. They were socialites and socialists; reformers and revolutionaries; artists, writers, and scientists. Their club, at the heart of America’s bohemia, was a springboard for parties, performances, and radical politics. But it was the women’s extraordinary friendships that made their unconventional lives possible, as they supported each other in pushing for a better world.About the author:Joanna Scutts is also the author of The Extra Woman. She has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, New Yorker, and the Paris Review series “Feminize Your Canon.” She holds a PhD in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University and lives in Astoria, New York. 

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​ Betsy Prioleau

       Author of DIAMONDS AND DEADLINES: a Tale of Greed, Deceit, and a Female Tycoon in the Gilded Age
Synopsis: Among the fabled tycoons of the Gilded Age—Carnegie, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt—is a forgotten figure: Mrs. Frank Leslie. For twenty years she ran the country’s largest publishing company, Frank Leslie Publishing, which chronicled postbellum America in dozens of weeklies and monthlies. A pioneer in an all-male industry, she made a fortune and became a national celebrity and tastemaker in the process. But Miriam Leslie was also a byword for scandal: She flouted feminine convention, took lovers, married four times, and harbored unsavory secrets that she concealed through a skein of lies and multiple personas.About the author:Betsy Prioleau is an author and cultural historian. She received her PhD in American Literature at Duke University, and has taught English and world literature at Manhattan College and New York University. In addition to Diamonds and Deadlines, she is the author of Seductress: Women Who Ravished the World and Their Lost Art of Love, Swoon: Great Seducers and Why Women Love Them, and Circle of Eros: Sexuality in the Work of William Dean Howells.

Moderator:

Rosalind Reisner: Rosalind Reisner has moderated many panels for the WNBA-NYC chapter. She is an author and former librarian and the editor and contributing author for Women in the Literary Landscape, the WNBA’s centennial book.

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?