Feature Friday: The Bookstore Crawl Guest Blog

by Heather Allen

This year the women of the WNBA-NYC chapter organized a Bookstore Crawl on the Upper East Side. Our intimate group of seven braved a potential downpour to travel to these small, but significant bookstores.  While at each store, we heard about the history and the ownership of each. The first stop was Crawford Doyle Booksellers, a quaint, inconspicuous store. The space is utilized completely, covered top to bottom with literary fiction, best-sellers, non-fiction and children’s books. The most prized books, in the First Edition’s Case, were on display next to the register. The manager, Thomas, explained the history, how it always had been a bookstore, although the owners and the name have changed over the decades. The space also holds two other tenants who work in rare and interesting books, but the public can only see those gems by appointment.

Next, we walked to Kitchen Arts & Letters, a bookstore dedicated entirely to food related books: cookbooks, food memoirs, travel journals, anything that a chef or aspiring chef might be interested in reading (or cooking!). They also had a small section dedicated to these books in French, Italian and German.  Our contact was Mike the owner. He said because the store was so specialized, they were able to reach more people. He used an example of a customer calling in to find out if they carried a book on a specialized method of cooking. Even if they did not have it, he would be able to find it, explaining further that they are best at finding unusual requests.

Our last stop was only a few blocks away at The Corner Bookstore, aptly named for its location. It was a pharmacy many years ago, and through excellent care has been able to retain many of the original structures and design. Our guide, Nick, explained that The Corner Bookstore had been around for many years, and their specialty is catering to the customers in the area. One aspect that sets the store apart is a program that allows kids to submit book reviews. The store also frequently holds signings and readings, which sets them apart from much of the local competition.

We hope to plan another excursion again.

Thanks to Marilyn Berkman for organizing the event, and to the Owners and Managers of the bookstores for hosting us.

To see more pictures from the event, check out the album on our Facebook page!

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Feature Friday: Spring Brunch Photos

Happy Friday WNBAers!

In case you missed it, here are some photos from our annual Spring Potluck  Brunch. Hope it inspires you to join us next year. Great food with a great group of ladies!

Photo Credit: Heather Allen

Photo Credit: Heather Allen

Photo Credit: Heather Allen

Photo Credit: Heather Allen

Photo Credit: Heather Allen

Check out more on our Facebook page!

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Feature Friday: Social Storytelling in the Age of Data – Meaning and Momentum

by Jenna Vaccaro, Guest Blogger

Jenna Vaccaro is a Graduate Assistant at Pace University’s publishing program. She loves the intersection of media and technology and hopes to build a career combining the two fields. Jenna previously worked at the Smithsonian Museum of Asian Art and volunteers her time at NGOs like the WNBA and Girls Educational Mentoring Services (GEMS.) She loves science-fiction and horror novels. Please find her on Linked In for more information.

“If you want to change the world, you have to change the story.”

– Wendy Levy, New Arts Axis

WNBA United Nations Youth Representatives Jenna Vaccaro and Diana Cavallo attended a fascinating day of programming at UN Headquarters designed to give NGOs the tools to create meaningful media that has real impact. Be it in the political, NGO, or business world the change has come- any entity that does not have an online media presence is behind the times and unlikely to succeed. Consumers rarely trust a company with few followers or positive comments. However, having a million followers is meaningless if your content does not inspire people to act. A brand with a small following and empowering content can have much better impact than a large one that does not prepare its followers to act.

Wendy Levy of New Arts Axis, leader of the presentations, says that the audience is no longer an audience. The best way to engage the people formerly known as an audience is to participate with them through social media and prepare them with tools and motivation to take action. Attendees were treated to presentations by technologists and artists who have an eye for social justice and change. Filmmakers Dara Kell and Chris Johnson showed multimedia projects that had succeeded in achieving their goals of social change. Chris Johnson’s project Question Bridge started as a museum exhibition and grew into an online phenomenon documenting young black men’s questions for the older generation around issues of racism, injustice, and stereotyping. The project allowed young unknown men to connect with well-established civil rights leaders and lets the world in on their meaningful dialogue. Dara Kell’s documentary Dear Mandela chronicles the first post-apartheid generation of South Africa. The main takeaway from these multimedia projects is that the conversation should not end after you view a film or read a book- you must create a dialogue and give people the mechanisms to share the idea and become involved.

Google employee Eric Doversberger began the afternoon session by discussing the way NGOs can use data visualization to leverage more funding, fans, and impact. There are many Google applications that can help you create meaningful transmedia projects. In an effort to make people aware of drug violence in Mexico, authorities released numerical data on murders in their country. Combined with the power of Google maps and ingenuity from the tech teams of newspapers, people are now able to see trends in location and timing laid out in map format. It is believed that the visualization of this data is more influential than a simple number because you can see the full scope and size of the problem. Here are some other web apps discussed for using and visualizing data.

• Tableau Public- A free data visualization system that represents static information for reports, websites, and publications.
• Gephi- Another free visualization system that can handle more complex computations and more customizable representations.
• Sparkwi.se- This free and extremely user-friendly system can populate your data directly from sources like Facebook and Google Analytics and updates itself in real-time. E.G, if you update your member list, your data visualization automatically updates at the same time.

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Feature Friday: A New Way to “Kickstart” Your Writing Career

by Tqwana Brown

What does crowd-sourcing mean for the publishing industry? For users of the website Kickstarter, it means getting your book into readers’ hands on your terms, bypassing the traditional publishing route. What Kickstarter does is allow users to crowd-fund creative projects of their choosing, including books. Since its start-up in 2009, users have pledged over $540 million towards the creation of books, magazines, films, and music. To date, over 10,000 publishing projects have been created, with over 3000 successfully funded for an estimated $21 million. In fact, one of Kickstarter’s most successful projects is an enhanced e-book – a “chooseable-path adventure” of Shakespeare’s Hamlet –  written by Adventure Time comic book author Ryan North, which managed to raise over $580,000 with nearly 16,000 backers. However, most publishing projects earn between $1000 and $10,000. But, with those amounts, a new author could pay for professional editing, cover design, an ISBN number, and/or e-book distribution or paperback distribution through sites like lulu.com.

Writers essentially set up a sort of business/marketing plan, that includes a synopsis of their work, a biography, a short video about the project or themselves, as well as giveaways to investors when certain monetary goals are met. Cute and quirky videos, with animations and songs are more successful. Sample chapters usually help as well. Those freebies usually include autographed paperback copies of the book, invitations to launch parties, and even a character named for you. So, not only does a new author get the funds to publish independently, and retain 100% ownership of their creative work, but they get an established audience long before their book or magazine ever hits the shelves. Even if a project doesn’t make its goal, because they are never taken down even if you delete your account, Kickstarter can offer you free exposure and publicity for your next project (users are only allowed to post one project at a time). If a project doesn’t meet its goal, no one gets charged any money. Writers should note that successfully funded projects are charged a 5% fee.

But, what does this mean for the intermediaries in a publishing world that is getting smaller and more digitally focused? As with sites like Wattpad, Kickstarter can offer a new avenue to literary agents for finding clients. Publishers like Simon and Schuster who have self-publishing imprints that are admittedly costly, now have a pool of users who can possibly afford those services. Traditional publishing houses can look at the projects on Kickstarter to find the current and up and coming trends. What Kickstarter represents is more change for the industry that is changing by the second.  Does success depend more on your name, rather than the project like Ryan North?  Or could this become a legitimate route for all self-published and hybrid authors? Give us your thoughts, WNBA-ers, in the comments section.

Click the link here to read an article about Book Riot’s Kickstarter experience and their advice on using the site.

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Feature Friday Guest Blog – WNBA Career Skills Panel Report

Heather Allen is in her second semester of the M.S. in Publishing Program at Pace University. She is the Social Media Coordinator for the WNBA-NYC, Social Media/ Marketing Intern for Touchstone Books at Simon & Schuster, and holds a part-time editorial assistant position at Thieme Medical Publishers.

On Tuesday, a panel of six industry professionals spoke to an intimate group of publishing hopefuls. The panelists were:

• Melissa Rosati, Co-Leadership Trainer, Pace University MS in Publishing Program
• Alexis Bressler, Human Resources Specialist, Macmillan Publishers
• Pauline Hsia, Literary Agent Assistant; WNBA-NYC Member, Young to Publishing Group
• Justin Krass, Career Counselor, Pace University Career Services Center
• Amy Saxon, Editorial Assistant at Bedford/St. Martin’s

The night’s moderator was Andrea Baron ( WNBA-NYC Student/Young Professional Outreach Chair and Adjunct Professor, Pace University MS in Publishing Program).

Melisa Rosati, who previously hosted Facebook Marketing for Writers in January mentioned three takeaway points for anyone looking to get into the industry:

1)      Have a theory of the future: don’t get caught up in the past; everything that is “on the fringe” will eventually become mainstream, so be on the lookout
2)      Sometimes questions are more powerful than answers. Questions during an interview like, “What would happen if…?” Or “Where do you see this publishing company going?” show you are willing to take risks.
3)      Always follow up.

Alexis Bressler, advised to always customize your resume and cover letter to the job you’re applying for.  Your interest in the company will definitely come across, especially when the job posting is only up for 3 days (and she gets 700 resumes).

Justin Krass emphasized the importance of networking. It’s a business relationship, where both parties bring something to the table.  One of the easiest ways to network is to use LinkedIn, which has an “Introduce Yourself” feature, but if you prefer face to face interaction, many WNBA-NYC events can help you meet new people in the industry. Once you start networking it’s also important to create a professional brand on your social media sites.

Pauline Hsia also attested to joining professional organizations as a way to meet people and fill your resume during times of unemployment.  She is a member of Association of Author Representatives and Young 2 Publishing as well as the WNBA-NYC.

Amy Saxon, who referred to herself as a professional intern, found her job because of her internships. By letting her employers get to know her and her work ethic, she was able to secure a great recommendation letter, which would ultimately lead to a full time position. Some of Saxon’s other advice was more about taking personal chances by talking with people you admire. People in publishing are always willing to talk about what they do.

Some of the other major points mentioned were:

-        Take whatever job you can get related to publishing because you can use it as a starting point to get other jobs

-        Let people know that you’re looking for a job; you never know what kind of help your connections can provide

-        Many people are interested in working editorial jobs. To stand out on resumes and cover letters, share your publishing related blog, Twitter account and/or writing portfolio

-        If you’re not a student and still want an internship, other options include writing freelance, applying to non-profit organizations, and always networking.

-        During interviews, find a happy medium of professional and comfortable, try to have a conversation, and always be prepared

Overall, the job search can be overwhelming for many, but the more personable you are, the more successful you can be. And always be on the lookout for a professional connection!

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