WNBA Wednesday: Pannell Award Winners Announced!

This week, the winners of the 2013 WNBA Pannell Book Award were announced.

Congratulations to Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Bookbug in Kalamazoo!

This list of 2013 Nominees included:

General Bookstores Avid Book Shop, Athens, GA Byrd’s Books, Bethel, CT Nicola’s Books, Ann Arbor, MI Newtonville Books, Newtonville, MA Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA Main Street Books, Davidson, NC Vroman’s Bookstore, Pasadena, CA Park Road Books, Charlotte, NC

Children’s Bookstores Books and Cookies, Santa Monica, CA 4 Kids Books & Toys, Zionsville, IN Hooray for Books, Alexandria, VA The Bookbug, Kalamazoo, MI The Voracious Reader, Larchmont, NY Children’s Book World, Los Angeles, CA

In 1983, the WNBA established the WNBA Pannell Awards to recognize and publicly applaud the work of booksellers who stimulate, promote and encourage children’s and young people’s interest in books, in honor of Lucile Micheels Pannell, a founding member of one of the WNBA chapters.

This year’s awards will be given out formally at BookExpo America (May 30th – June 1st), during the Children’s Book and Author Tea.

Congratulations again to all the winners and nominees!

You can read more about the announcement here on Publishers Weekly.

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WNBA Wednesday: Upcoming Events

NYC Book Crawl

Thursday, May 09

4:45PM- 7:30PM

Happening Thursday, May 9th is the WNBA-NYC’s second annual NYC Bookstore Crawl. Members will have the chance to visit some of the city’s most successful and enduring independent bookstores. Join us for great book conversation, the chance to simply browse the shelves and to hear the thoughts on how these stores have managed to thrive in today’s marketplace. We’ll start the evening at the ever-charming Crawford Doyle, continue on to the culinary book temple otherwise known as Kitchen Arts & Letters, and round things out at the literary mecca of the Upper East Side, The Corner Bookstore. Come for one store or all three! See the schedule below:

4:45: Arrive at Crawford Doyle (1082 Madison Avenue, @81 St.)

5:30 PM: Leave Crawford Doyle by foot, Madison Avenue bus or taxi

5:45: Arrive at Kitchen Arts and Letters (1435 Lexington Avenue, @94 St.)

6:20: Leave Kitchen Arts and Letters

6:30: Arrive at the Corner Bookstore (1313 Madison Avenue, @93St.)

7:30: Crawl ends

Afterwards, crawlers are invited to one of our legendary neighborhood dinners. Please RSVP to Jessica Napp, WNBA-NYC Publicity Chair (publicity@wnba-nyc.org) no later than May 5th. Dinner location will be provided at that time.

 

Annual Business Meeting

Monday, May 13

6:00pm – 8:00pm

The Chapter’s annual business meeting will take place the evening of Monday, May 13th at Pace University’s Midtown campus (551 Fifth Ave, 8th floor of the Fred French Bldg.). All members in good standing are encouraged to attend. You’ll have the opportunity to make suggestions for next season’s events, voice your opinion on the general running of the chapter, and vote on and/or put your names forward for open board positions.

This is the ideal time to share your ideas and opinions and meet your fellow WNBAers.

Refreshments will be served.

RSVP to President Jane Kinney-Denning at: programs@wnba-nyc.org

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WNBA Wednesday: Now Is The Time to Join!

Why is now the best time to join the NYC Chapter of the Women’s National Book Association (WNBA-NYC)? Because new memberships received over the next few months will extend through August 2014! If that’s not enough of a reason, our Membership Chairperson, Rachel Weiss-Feldman, explains all the great benefits below:

The expert panel on the making of a bestseller!
Photo credit Galo Delgado.

If you are a writer, WNBA-NYC offers opportunities to read and get read! You can have your query letter reviewed by literary agents at our annual Query Roulette, entertain members and non-members alike with original prose at Open Mic Night, or contribute to our monthly chapter newsletter or daily blog.

If you are a reader, the WNBA initiative, National Reading Group Month/Great Group Reads can introduce you to some of the best books and authors of the year!  National and local chapter events for NRGM are planned every Fall, featuring top authors such as Julie Otsuka, Scott Spencer, and Nayana Currimbhoy. Or get involved with Great Group Reads, an annual booklist selected by a members-only committee.

If you’re an industry professional (or trying to be), WNBA-NYC holds members-only networking functions and houses member profiles in a members-only database to help you connect to others. Our panel events—free for members—offer industry insight into the world of digital/e-publishing, marketing, production, bestselling fiction, and independent book sales, and more. Our social communities on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn offer networking opportunities, as well as promotions for your company, book, or project.

The WNBA-NYC Chapter’s annual year runs from September to August. Members may join all year round, but are up for renewal every August 31. Right now, however, a unique window for membership is open. Those that join between April and August have their membership extended to the following year—a result of up to four additional months!

Join now and take advantage of our upcoming events like our annual Potluck Brunch. A full list of programs and events can be found on our website’s WNBA-NYC Program and Event Calendar.

If you’re a lover of books, writing, and publishing, you’ll love us as well! Go to the WNBA-NYC membership page for complete details and how to apply!

If you have questions or need further information, feel free to email Rachel Weiss-Feldman at membership@wnba-nyc.org

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WNBA Wednesday – WNBA Blog Wants You (to Contribute)

Hello WNBA-NYC Members!

This is your new blog editor, Tqwana, reaching out to you asking for your participation in our blog. How can you contribute?

You can:

• Add a link to your personal blog or website to our blog roll.  Many members have already added their links – check them out to see what your fellow WNBA-ers are up to.
• Write a piece and be a guest blogger.  If you have a timely piece that would be interesting to members, send it in for consideration.  For an idea of what we’re looking for, check out these great guest blogs by members Betsy Bird, Deborah Batterman, and Pauline Hsia.
• Be the Member Monday feature! Volunteer to participate in a Member Monday interview. Here’s your chance to introduce yourself to all of our members and get the word out about your current projects.  Check out these interviews with Rita Rosenkranz, Olga Segura, and yours truly!
• Write a book review.  If you have read a recently published or soon-to-be published book and would like to share your opinions, send your review in for consideration.  For an example, see this review by Rachel Weiss-Feldman. Be sure to join and  follow our Goodreads account for what the WNBA-NYC is currently reading.
• If you’ve heard of any great publishing events, the blog is always looking for Around Town posts as well.

To contact the blog, feel free to email me at blog@wnba-nyc.org.

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WNBA Wednesday: Query Roulette 2013!

Join us for WNBA-NYC Chapter   Query Roulette 2013 Register Now! This event is nearly sold out! Ten minutes with a literary agent who will review your query letter. No pitching required. Renew your membership here When : Thursday, March 21, 2013 6:30 PM to 8:45 PM EDT Where : Assoc. of American Publishers 71 Fifth Avenue, 2nd Floor, NY, NY   Questions on Query Roulette: query@wnba-nyc.org Questions on Membership: membership@wnba-nyc.org   Participating Agents Download this pdf for information about individual agents; click on the links below to see the agency websites. Julie Barer  Barer Literacy, LLC Jenny Bent The Bent Agency Linda Epstein Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency Leigh Huffine Regal Literary Agency Eric Myers The Spiegler Agency Kirsten Neuhaus Kirsten Neuhas Literary Agency Lisa Queen Queen Literary Agency Molly Reese Einstein Thompson Agency Rita Rosenkranz Rita Rosenkranz Literary Agency Tamar Rydzinski Laura Dial Literary Agency, Inc. Mitchell Waters Curtis Brown, LTD

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