New York Chapter of the National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981)
256 West 38th Street, Suite 703
New York, NY 10018
ph: 212-254-0279 x18
fax: 212-254-0673
alt: 973-985-5928
info
PAST EVENTS
NWU MEMBERS MARCH ON MAY DAY
Led by National President Larry Goldbetter, a dozen NWU members jointed the unions and immigrant rights groups to march on May Day, 2010. While some mebgers held our banner high, others handed out literature and collected contacts. It was a grand day for the union for for the working class in New York!
In Memoriam: NWU founding member Sarah E. Wright
A memorial service was held Saturday, November 14, 2009, for author/activist Sarah Elizabeth Wright, at the Ethical Culture Center on 64th St. and Central Park West, beginning at 2:00 p.m.
Ms. Wright, a novelist, poet, teacher, and founding member of the National Writers Union, was the author of, among other works, This Child's Gonna Live, a novel about a Black family struggling through the Great Depression in Maryland, where she was born and raised. The novel, considered a classic by many, has remained consistently in print since its initial publication in 1969.
She died from cancer on September 13, 2009, at 80 years of age, and lived in Manhattan, where she worked full-time as a bookkeeper and once served as a vice president of the Harlem Writers Guild. She is survived by her husband, writer/activist Joseph Kaye, a son, Michael, a daughter, Shelley Chotai, three siblings, Wanda, Howard and Gilbert, four grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
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WHY (OR WHY NOT) DO YOU NEED AN AGENT?
On April 1, at the NWU offices on University Place, Literary Agent Katharine Sands and NWU member Peter Benjaminson, author of The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard, discussed the pros and cons of employing a literary agent to sell a book. Although the two disagreed completely on the value of an agent, they nevertheless enjoyed a respectful, informative and enjoyable discussion. The question and answer period was spirited. Several newcomers to the union learned a great deal about contract traps and publishing pitfalls.
Marc Bussanich moderated the evening, keeping it relaxed, focused and upbeat. All in all, a fine evening for writers.
At the Working-Class Writers Forum hosted by the NY Chapter of the NWU on May 23, 2007 at the Jefferson Market Library, Daniel Tobin read several poems from his work, The Narrows (published by Four Way Books, 2005). Many of the poems within the collection are based on Mr. Tobin's family emigration from Ireland and work experience in Brooklyn.
Mr. Tobin is Chair and Professor of Writing, Literature and Publishing at Emerson College in Boston, MA. He is currently on leave,
William Johnson, a former editor of Labor Notes, also talks at the Jefferson Market Library about the joys and challenges of publishing working-class authors.
Journalist Ed Hasbrouck To Visit New York And Offer A Clear Update on
Google Settlement
UAW Office, 256 W. 38th St.,
12th floor conference room
at 6 pm, December 3, 2009
ALL WRITERS WELCOME!
Freelance journalist and San Francisco NWU member Edward Hasbrouck will be meeting with NWU New York Chapter members and other interested parties this coming Thursday, December 3, 2009, to discuss the latest developments in the settlement between Google and the Authors Guild prior to the next scheduled court appearance later this month.
The December 3rd meeting will take place at the National Writers Union's new offices, located at 256 West 38 Street (between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in Manhattan) in the 12 floor conference room.
All interested parties are advised that members of the New York Chapter's Steering Committee will be on hand to receive them, beginning at 5:30 p.m., and that the discussion on the Google Settlement will begin promptly at 6 p.m. Because of the building's security system, access to the building will prove cumbersome after 6:15.
Background Summary to the Google Settlement:
Back in 2005, both the Authors Guild and the American Association of Publishers joined in a class action suit against Google for copyright infringements. It happens that, for several years now, Google has been downloading millions of books and articles and profiting from making them accessible, particularly to libraries and as the result of its Internet advertising revenues, but without permission from the respective authors, authors' estates, et al, and without consequent payment of applicable royalties.
After three years in court, both the plaintiffs and the respondent agreed to a settlement
in October 2008, the language of which affects all authors and publishers, including those who belong to other associations (i.e., the Freelancers Union, the National Writers Union, the International Association of Journalists and Authors, et al) but who are not particular parties to the dispute and several of whom, in fact, have come out in opposition to the settlement's key provisions. As it stands now, even authors whose works are independently published via the alternative publishing world and whose works are out-of-print will be impacted by the final settlement.
In September 2009, both the Justice Department and the United States Copyright Office have expressed strong reservations regarding the proposed settlement on the grounds that certain provisions run contrary to existing copyright protections and anti-trust laws.
A member of the San Francisco Chapter and of the NWU Book Division, Ed Hasbrouck has been keeping close tabs on the Google Settlement and incisively reporting on its developments throughout. His visit to New York is part of a four-city stopover that begins in Boston on Tuesday, December 1st, followed by the Thursday, December 3rd New York meeting, then to Washington, D.C. on December 4th, and into Chicago by December 8th. The New York Chapter is inviting all interested parties, including members of both the New Jersey and Philadelphia chapters, for this most informative discussion.
For information, email: info@nwuny.org
Ed Hasbrouk,author of:
"The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World"
(4th edition 2007)
"The Practical Nomad Guide to the Online Travel Marketplace"
<http://www.practicalnomad.com>
Around-the-World and multi-stop international air tickets:
<http://hasbrouck.org/tickets/>
NWU NY Chapter Leader
Louis Reyes Rivera spoke about
"The State of the Writer"
at a May NWY Forum.
“For the year 2008, according to recent reports, major and competitive book publishers have averaged out a cutback in book releases equal to slightly over 20% less than what they had published in 2007.“As of March 2009, at least 120 newspapers have either folded or have drastically cut back on services and staff, and have begun relying more on posting news via the Internet than on traditional print mediums. As of May 2009, the number of dailies so affected have increased to 200 newspapers across the country. The overwhelming numbers of these near-defunct dailies are/were owned by conglomerates. The alternative small, independently-owned weekly and monthly newspapers, interestingly enough, are faring better than the dailies, as are many of the so-called small press book publishers. Why?
“This phenomenon is best understood within the context of both the depressed state of our banking system (i.e., credit availability) and huge conglomerates going bust -- i.e., the current state of our economy within which we are revisiting a 'Greater Depression' than ever before witnessed (what our grand- and great grandparents had to struggle through in order that we might be here). It is as well the result of a non-regulated capitalist economy running rampant. We all know this, or should. It's not news.
“But the question is how does this effect writers? Since conglomerates became the major owners of news and print media (books, magazines, et al), then it stands to reason that publishers will suffer the downturns that their owners bear (and we were all warned, back in 1977, of the consequences of print media owned by others with the release of The Passionate Perils of Publishing, an independently published book that fully documented how many of our publishing outlets are controlled b corporations that have nothing to do with publishing.
“When conglomerates suffer, then their philanthropy also takes a downturn (i.e., less grant money, less underwriting of the arts in general, cutbacks from those granting agencies that have served to underwrite many a poet and budding novelist).
“For freelance reporters, for book reviewers, for novelists, essayists, non-fictionists, dramatists, poets and independent publishers, all of this equals budget restraints, cutbacks in publishing and a heavier reliance on alternative methods for disseminating literature and information.
“With a federal bailout of banks, credit deficits, housing, etc., this will mean, automatically, less federal, state and city subsidizing of the arts, or worse – more selective underwriting of the arts. Please take note that even the New York Foundation for the Arts is reportedly supporting more visual artists than writers.
“Today, the New York Chapter of the National Writers Union presents the first in a series of open dialogues on the state of the writer: how to address what alternative resources there are for writers in general.
“And we present this with our own ulterior motive. We want you to join the NWU as a proper venue for collective representation.
“We believe that small, alternative publishing outlets (especially those that are staffed by writers and editors) and both professional and aspiring writers are natural allies – individually, and by themselves, they are isolated and left to their own devices. Together and in association with one another, they can develop and influence strategies that would/could make them more capable of fending for themselves and on behalf of the literature to which they contribute and produce as editors, as alternative publishers, as writers....
“Who will lobby for you? Who will assist you with those contracts? How best can writers solidify against the control and usurpation of the work of literature, given the state of the Internet and the abuse of copyrights, if not through the collective enterprise of One Voice, even while we each still remain and maintain our own unique sovereignty as writers and as alternative publishers.
“In other words, why not join the NWU?
“For the past 28 years, the NWU has distinguished itself as among those most willing to fight for writers' rights and against conglomerate abuse of those rights. Like everyone else, the National Writers Union has suffered its own setbacks, yet it has remained the trade union that offers the greatest and broadest range of possibility. Of course, this depends not only on how many join the union, but equally, how many of those who do join actually engage in helping to shape the direction of their own union. It's like voting for Senator or President. You have work to do even after you've cast your ballot.
“By joining such a union as the NWU, you bring into the picture a collective strength, the harnessing of a collective voice, and with our own insights, such associations as the NWU can help us all meet today's challenges. That's our ulterior motive. Consider the possibility as we begin this discourse.”
In April, seven writers met in the NWU National Office conference room to talk about . . . writing. Each writer talked about his experience getting published, dealing with agents, promoting his work, and much more. Every one of us learned a great deal from the others. It was just a great evening.
Some of the lessons we learned were:
Some electronic publishers have a new business model that pays the writer for each download, and it the author sells above a certain threshold, the publisher agrees to bring out the book in a paperback edition.
Promoting you work is a never-ending chore, but it pays off. Charles Patterson told how his electronic press and sending sample books to academics and editors has paid off - his Eternal Treblinka has been translated into 13 languages.
Tim Sheard talked about how he hopes his Internet movies will promote his novels, which he sells from his Web site for $10.
256 West 38th Street, Suite 703
New York, NY 10018
ph: 212-254-0279 x18
fax: 212-254-0673
alt: 973-985-5928
info
