Panel
WRITERS’ MARKETING ROUND TABLE: Delivering your Message

Monday, July 28, 2008

A gathering of marketing professionals looks at the process of delivering persuasive communications to target audiences with techniques and hints that offer greater financial rewards.

The Panelists:
MARILYN ANDERSON is an award-winning television and film writer and author of “Never Kiss a Frog: A Girl’s Guide to Creatures from the Dating Swamp.” After publication of her first book, Anderson was interviewed on over 150 radio and TV shows and became the Dating, Flirting & Kissing Coach on ABC’s “Extreme Makeover.” Scores of articles touting the book have appeared in newspapers and magazines nationwide, including the Los Angeles Times. Anderson teaches seminars on “How to Do Your Own Publicity & Promotion.”

TERESA FOGARTY, marketing and publicity manager for the Independent Book
Publishers Association (IBPA), formerly the Publishers Marketing Association (PMA), started her publishing career with Bethany House Publishers, in Bloomington, Minn., as a publicity manager, a position she held for four years. Fogarty launched Casarsa Public Relations in 2005 and worked with self-published authors as a consultant, project manager, and publicist before joining IBPA.

LILLI CLOUD develops persuasive communications that generates results with target audiences. She has worked with Fortune 500 companies, non-profit organizations, and small and mid-size businesses in a variety of industries. As an independent consultant, she provides strategic communications, organizational positioning and messaging for her clients, and teaches people how to refine and deliver their messages electronically, in print and through verbal communication.

Publisher/owner SUSAN LEVIN is also a speaker, seminar leader, and marketing
consultant for speakers and authors. In 1992, she began publishing the print edition of “Speakers For Free and Fee Directory.” After eight years, she discontinued the print publication and devoted her energy to producing the web edition: SpeakerServices.com. Her mission is supporting professionals interested in growing their business through speaking.

IRWIN ZUCKER of Promotion in Motion is a veteran book publicist with more than 50 years in the literary jungle. He’s promoted thousands of titles, including those by clients Norman Vincent Peale, Helen Gurley Brown and, of course, his wife Devra Hill & twin daughters Judi and Shari Zucker (latest book, “The Double Energy Diet”). He’s been the head of his own PR firm since 1955, as well as the founder of the Book Publicists of Southern California and is now the group’s president emeritus. All the while, he still works around the clock at age 80.

JOHN SEELEY, moderator, is president/CEO of Blue Moon Wonders and Heart
Fire Seminars, specializing in educational and personal growth workshops and products. His books, “Get Unstuck! The Simple Guide to Restart your Life” and “Get Unstuck! The Companion Workbook” show people how to get their lives moving and create the lives they really want. He has a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree in psychology and believes in the value of having a clear marketing plan and the energy to implement it. He serves as IWOSC’s marketing director.

Panel
WRITERS’ MARKETING ROUND TABLE: Delivering your Message

Monday, July 28, 2008

A gathering of marketing professionals looks at the process of delivering persuasive communications to target audiences with techniques and hints that offer greater financial rewards.

The Panelists:
MARILYN ANDERSON is an award-winning television and film writer and author of “Never Kiss a Frog: A Girl’s Guide to Creatures from the Dating Swamp.” After publication of her first book, Anderson was interviewed on over 150 radio and TV shows and became the Dating, Flirting & Kissing Coach on ABC’s “Extreme Makeover.” Scores of articles touting the book have appeared in newspapers and magazines nationwide, including the Los Angeles Times. Anderson teaches seminars on “How to Do Your Own Publicity & Promotion.”

TERESA FOGARTY, marketing and publicity manager for the Independent Book
Publishers Association (IBPA), formerly the Publishers Marketing Association (PMA), started her publishing career with Bethany House Publishers, in Bloomington, Minn., as a publicity manager, a position she held for four years. Fogarty launched Casarsa Public Relations in 2005 and worked with self-published authors as a consultant, project manager, and publicist before joining IBPA.

LILLI CLOUD develops persuasive communications that generates results with target audiences. She has worked with Fortune 500 companies, non-profit organizations, and small and mid-size businesses in a variety of industries. As an independent consultant, she provides strategic communications, organizational positioning and messaging for her clients, and teaches people how to refine and deliver their messages electronically, in print and through verbal communication.

Publisher/owner SUSAN LEVIN is also a speaker, seminar leader, and marketing
consultant for speakers and authors. In 1992, she began publishing the print edition of “Speakers For Free and Fee Directory.” After eight years, she discontinued the print publication and devoted her energy to producing the web edition: SpeakerServices.com. Her mission is supporting professionals interested in growing their business through speaking.

IRWIN ZUCKER of Promotion in Motion is a veteran book publicist with more than 50 years in the literary jungle. He’s promoted thousands of titles, including those by clients Norman Vincent Peale, Helen Gurley Brown and, of course, his wife Devra Hill & twin daughters Judi and Shari Zucker (latest book, “The Double Energy Diet”). He’s been the head of his own PR firm since 1955, as well as the founder of the Book Publicists of Southern California and is now the group’s president emeritus. All the while, he still works around the clock at age 80.

JOHN SEELEY, moderator, is president/CEO of Blue Moon Wonders and Heart
Fire Seminars, specializing in educational and personal growth workshops and products. His books, “Get Unstuck! The Simple Guide to Restart your Life” and “Get Unstuck! The Companion Workbook” show people how to get their lives moving and create the lives they really want. He has a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree in psychology and believes in the value of having a clear marketing plan and the energy to implement it. He serves as IWOSC’s marketing director.

WRITING FOR NONPROFITS: A Wealth of Work

Monday, June 30, 2008

The world of nonprofits offers a variety of writing opportunities. Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC) has assembled panelists who write grants, direct mail, publications, and PR. They’ll discuss the challenges faced working either as a freelancer or on staff.

NOTE: Our Bylaws dictate that a list of Board candidates is presented to the membership at the June meeting. Nominations from the floor will also be accepted at that time since we are still looking to fill a few slots. Members can also participate on a smaller scale, lending a hand for parties or at event reservation check-in. Nominating committee information will appear in the June e-newsletter.

The Panelists:

STEVE KIRK is a resourceful communications professional and editor. Kirk has experience in healthcare, telecommunications, and nonprofit environments.  Experienced in internal and external communications management, publications and video production, and media relations, he currently is employed with City of Hope as a publications and video manager, and oversees production of the medical center’s flagship publication.

KAREN ROSA has been the director of the Film & TV Unit at American Humane since 1992. The organization monitors the safety of animal actors on film sets. Throughout the years, she has worked as an on-set safety representative and in pre-production outreach, production scheduling, and as the head of the Communications/Post Production department.

When CHERYL POSNER‘s position as a proposal writer for a government contractor was eliminated after September 11, she decided to explore grant writing for nonprofit organizations. In mid 2002, she was hired as a grant writer with a nonprofit human services organization in northern Wisconsin. Since January 2007, she is the only full-time staff member at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, in Orange, Calif., with responsibility for program development and implementation, fundraising, community relations and PR, and website development.

NOEL DE LEON started at City of Hope (COH) as assistant director of Direct Response in 1989. He has been involved with annual giving and direct marketing; served as the physician relations director, working with the Communications Department; handled events and clinical marketing requirements with COH physicians; coordinated physician-related events such as the monthly community lectures and the annual cancer survivor day. Currently, he is the director of Annual Giving, supervising direct mail.

ELIZABETH ALLEN is the assistant director of communications of the Caltech Alumni Association in Pasadena, Calif. She directs strategies for online and print communications for Caltech alumni worldwide. Allen has served on the faculty of several Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) district and national conferences. She is a recipient of the CASE Faculty Star Award.

Moderator DEBBI SWANSON PATRICK has extensive experience in corporate and nonprofit communications, entertainment and nonprofit public relations, photography and advertising. As an award-winning writer and editor, she is part of IWOSC’s Professional Development Committee and organized the June slate of programs.

Panel
Kid Lit: More than the ABCs of Writing for Children

Monday, May 19, 2008

Journey through the exciting world of writing children’s literature and getting it published with a distinguished group of seven children’s book authors. Panelists will discuss developing characters, back stories, weaving compelling plots and story lines, use of age-specific language, and other tools Kid Lit writers need and what publishers are looking for.

The Panelists:

SONYA SONES’s first book “Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy” won a Christopher Award, the Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Poetry, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

Sones’s third book “One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies” (Simon and Schuster, 2004) was chosen a Best Book and a Quick Pick. It was voted Best Book of the Year by teens from Rhode Island, Tennessee, Iowa and New Hampshire. It received a Cuffie Award from Publisher’s Weekly for the Best Book Title of 2004. The American Library Association voted it a Popular Paperback.

Her latest book “What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know” was chosen by Booklist as a Top Ten Romance of 2007. Her website is SonyaSones.com.

LISA DUNN-DERN is a children’s lifestyle expert, writer, author, and television and radio personality. Her two books are “Dr. Duncan Dog on Duty!” and “Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow.” For Ethiopian Television (ETV), she produces and hosts “The Lisa and Winston Show,” a series of educational spots where she and her bird-puppet sidekick, Winston teach Ethiopian children about letters, numbers, and the planets in the solar system. In addition, she and her teenage daughter co-host an Internet radio show. The show is in its second season. Her website is DernGoodBooks.com.

MICHELLE MARKEL has penned “Gracias, Rosa” (nonfiction); “Cornhusk, Silk and Wishbones: A book of Dolls from Around the World” (nonfiction); “Dream Town” (creative non-fiction); and “Dreamer from the Village: The Story of Marc Chagall” (biography). Her book on Chagall was a 2005 New York Public Library Best Title for Reading and Sharing and was recognized as a 2006 Notable Children’s Book of Jewish Content from the Association of Jewish Librarians. Her website is MichelleMarkel.com.

ANN WHITFORD PAUL has written nearly a score of books including “Little Monkey Says Good Night” and “All by Herself: 14 Girls Who Made a Difference.” It took Paul five years of submitting 18 different stories a total of 180 times before she made her first sale.

Her second book “Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabet” was distinguished as one of the outstanding social studies books of 1991 and was selected as a New York Times Notable Children’s Book.. Several of Paul’s books have won awards including “Shadows Are About” (Outstanding Science Trade Book Citation) and “The Seasons Sewn” (Carl Sandburg Award for Children’s Literature, and The New York Times Best Illustrated Books selection). Her website is AnnWhitfordPaul.com.

APRIL HALPRIN WAYLAND has written several award-winning books including “Girls Coming in for a Landing: A Novel in Poems.” It won the Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Poetry, the Children’s Literature Council of Southern California Award, and was named a Lee Bennett Hopkins Honor Book for Children’s Poetry. The book is also a Junior Library Guild Selection, made the American Library Association’s Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers list and was nominated as ALA’s Best Book of the Year for Young Adults.
Her website is AprilWayland.com.

GRETCHEN WOELFLE’s books include “Katje the Windmill Cat” (picture book), “The Wind at Work: An Activity Guide to Windmills” (nonfiction book, which won the Children’s Literature Top Choice List of 1998), “Jeanette Rankin: Political Pioneer”(biography); “Stories from Where We Live” (literary anthology series), and “Animal Families, Animal Friends.” Her website is GretchenWoelfle.com.

BARNEY SALTZBERG is an award-winning writer and songwriter whose books for very young children include “Crazy Hair Day,” “The Soccer Mom From Outer Space” (Parents Choice Award), and “Mrs. Morgan’s Lawn.” He is a composer and performer of music for children whose compositions have been featured on several children TV programs, including “Arthur.” His website is BarneySaltzberg.com.

Moderator
ANNE MOSBERGEN writes promotional materials and manages presentations for businesses. Previously, she was a manager of employee communications at Ticor, a real estate and financial services corporation, and a sales communication manager at Nestle. She is an IWOSC Board member, part of its Professional Development Committee and organized the May slate of programs. She also serves as the IWOSC Jobline Coordinator.

Panel
Kid Lit: More than the ABCs of Writing for Children

Monday, May 19, 2008

Journey through the exciting world of writing children’s literature and getting it published with a distinguished group of seven children’s book authors. Panelists will discuss developing characters, back stories, weaving compelling plots and story lines, use of age-specific language, and other tools Kid Lit writers need and what publishers are looking for.

The Panelists:

SONYA SONES’s first book “Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy” won a Christopher Award, the Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Poetry, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

Sones’s third book “One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies” (Simon and Schuster, 2004) was chosen a Best Book and a Quick Pick. It was voted Best Book of the Year by teens from Rhode Island, Tennessee, Iowa and New Hampshire. It received a Cuffie Award from Publisher’s Weekly for the Best Book Title of 2004. The American Library Association voted it a Popular Paperback.

Her latest book “What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know” was chosen by Booklist as a Top Ten Romance of 2007. Her website is SonyaSones.com.

LISA DUNN-DERN is a children’s lifestyle expert, writer, author, and television and radio personality. Her two books are “Dr. Duncan Dog on Duty!” and “Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow.” For Ethiopian Television (ETV), she produces and hosts “The Lisa and Winston Show,” a series of educational spots where she and her bird-puppet sidekick, Winston teach Ethiopian children about letters, numbers, and the planets in the solar system. In addition, she and her teenage daughter co-host an Internet radio show. The show is in its second season. Her website is DernGoodBooks.com.

MICHELLE MARKEL has penned “Gracias, Rosa” (nonfiction); “Cornhusk, Silk and Wishbones: A book of Dolls from Around the World” (nonfiction); “Dream Town” (creative non-fiction); and “Dreamer from the Village: The Story of Marc Chagall” (biography). Her book on Chagall was a 2005 New York Public Library Best Title for Reading and Sharing and was recognized as a 2006 Notable Children’s Book of Jewish Content from the Association of Jewish Librarians. Her website is MichelleMarkel.com.

ANN WHITFORD PAUL has written nearly a score of books including “Little Monkey Says Good Night” and “All by Herself: 14 Girls Who Made a Difference.” It took Paul five years of submitting 18 different stories a total of 180 times before she made her first sale.

Her second book “Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabet” was distinguished as one of the outstanding social studies books of 1991 and was selected as a New York Times Notable Children’s Book.. Several of Paul’s books have won awards including “Shadows Are About” (Outstanding Science Trade Book Citation) and “The Seasons Sewn” (Carl Sandburg Award for Children’s Literature, and The New York Times Best Illustrated Books selection). Her website is AnnWhitfordPaul.com.

APRIL HALPRIN WAYLAND has written several award-winning books including “Girls Coming in for a Landing: A Novel in Poems.” It won the Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Poetry, the Children’s Literature Council of Southern California Award, and was named a Lee Bennett Hopkins Honor Book for Children’s Poetry. The book is also a Junior Library Guild Selection, made the American Library Association’s Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers list and was nominated as ALA’s Best Book of the Year for Young Adults.
Her website is AprilWayland.com.

GRETCHEN WOELFLE’s books include “Katje the Windmill Cat” (picture book), “The Wind at Work: An Activity Guide to Windmills” (nonfiction book, which won the Children’s Literature Top Choice List of 1998), “Jeanette Rankin: Political Pioneer”(biography); “Stories from Where We Live” (literary anthology series), and “Animal Families, Animal Friends.” Her website is GretchenWoelfle.com.

BARNEY SALTZBERG is an award-winning writer and songwriter whose books for very young children include “Crazy Hair Day,” “The Soccer Mom From Outer Space” (Parents Choice Award), and “Mrs. Morgan’s Lawn.” He is a composer and performer of music for children whose compositions have been featured on several children TV programs, including “Arthur.” His website is BarneySaltzberg.com.

Moderator
ANNE MOSBERGEN writes promotional materials and manages presentations for businesses. Previously, she was a manager of employee communications at Ticor, a real estate and financial services corporation, and a sales communication manager at Nestle. She is an IWOSC Board member, part of its Professional Development Committee and organized the May slate of programs. She also serves as the IWOSC Jobline Coordinator.