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@nwuny.org

PAST EVENTS

MASTER THE WRITING MARKET - TURN YOUR TALENT INTO SUCCESS

On October 15, 2011, the NWU New York Chapter held a successful writers conference at UAW/NWU headquarters. Seventy writers attended the day-long conference as a dozen outstanding presenters spoke on issues that ranged from writers' rights to marketing and networking, selling to the world, running a small business, and surviving as a "fee-lancer" in the difficult publishing climate. The writers attending found the information most satisfying, and the chapter signed up over ten new members.

Especially gratifying was the integrated texture of the participants; at least half of the writers attending were writers of color, indicating that the NWU can help advance the struggles of writers who have been socially marginalized in the past. One black woman even asked if, when she left New York on a book tour and sought assistance from NWU members in other cities and towns, would she be supported as well as she is in New York City. President Larry Goldbetter assured her that several union leaders and officers were people of color, and that if she ever felt she was treated in an unequal manner, she should contact the National Office immediately.

The conference ended with veteran journalist Herb Boyd speaking about the changes in the publishing industry and how he has helped writers craft and publish their stories -- an accomplishment that, for him, is as important and as satisfying as any award. President Goldbetter gave a short, stirring presentation on the state of the publishing industry, reminding all of us that, for now, the publishing media giants are in control, and that all writers have been placed under the heel of their boots. Only by organizing and building a fighting union that can reach out to many more freelancers can we collectively turn back the tide and preserve their rights.

There was also discussion of how writers can help the Occupy Wall Street campaign. We agreed that we could begin by collecting stories, poems, essays, et al, for an E-book anthology, with all labor donated and all proceeds going to the OWS movement. Writers interested in helping to collect and edit such submissions, whether in New York or elsewhere in the world, should contact info@nwuny.org for more information

PROGRAM

9-10:00 AM - Registration: Meet & Greet, coffee & continental breakfast.

10-11:00 - ASSERT YOUR RIGHTS: National Grievance & Contract Adviser Susan E. Davis and New York Chapter Chair Louis Reyes Rivera discussing writers rights and how to protect and assert them.

Louis Reyes Rivera, NY Chapter Chair

11:00-12:15 - MARKET YOUR WORK/BUILD YOUR BRAND: How to promote your work and build your reputation as a writer and an expert in your chosen field.

Speakers: Janet Andrew, Career Coach, Dahlma Llanos- Figueroa, author.

12:30-1:30 - LUNCH: Networking opportunities.

1:30-2:45 - POETS AND PLAYWRIGHTS: How artists promote their work and make a living at the same time.

Speakers: Laurence Holder, poet, & Sandra Maria Esteves, book author.

3:00-4:15 - SELL TO THE WORLD: How to distribute your traditionally published, self-published and reprinted works at zero to low cost in print and E-book formats. Includes building a low-cost web site for selling books directly to the public.

Speaker: Tim Sheard, NWU organizer, author and publisher.

4:30-5:30 - RUNNING A BUSINESS: Keeping track of inventory, consignments, taxes, costs and an eye on the bottom line.

Speaker: Jeri Quinn,President, DrivingIR -Improved Results for Organizations and Individuals

5:30-6:00 -NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY

6:00-8:00 - THE STATE OF THE WRITER: How freelancers

+++++++++++

THE NATIONAL WRITERS UNION NY CHAPTER PRESENTS:

WRITERS: CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH WITH PENN AWARD NOMINEE

Dahlma Llanos Figueroa

AND ACCLAIMED JOURNALIST AND RADIO & TV PERSONLALITY

Herb Boyd

“Modern Literary Trends From

An African-Latin Perspective”

A Free Program Sponsored by

The National Writers Union, NY Chapter

Moderated by Louis Reyes Rivera

Monday, February 7, 2011, 6-8:30 PM

The Houndstooth Pub (Downstairs!)

520 8th Ave at 37th Street, Manhattan

Free Drinks for the first ten attendees!

Information: info@nwuny.org or 917 428 1352

_______________

IN HONOR OF

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

Jane LaTour
Jo Anne Meekins

Susan E Davis

“Why We Write: Overcoming Obstacles to Fulfill Your Mission”

A Free Program Sponsored by

The National Writers Union,

NY Chapter

Moderated by Tim Sheard

Monday, March 7, 2011 6-8:30 PM

The Houndstooth Pub (Downstairs!)

520 8th Ave. at 37th St., Manhattan

Free drinks for the first ten attendees!

Open to all writers!

Information: info@nwuny.org or 917 428 1352 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 917 428 1352 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Jane LaTour, a labor journalist and activist, is an associate editor for the Public Employee Press, District Council 37, AFSCME. A two-time director of the Women’s Project of the Association for Union Democracy, LaTour wrote an oral history about women who pioneered in nontraditional blue-collar jobs, Sisters in the Brotherhoods, published by Palgrave/Macmillan in 2008.

Jo Anne Meekins, a spiritual leader and founder of Inspired 4 U Ministries, provides inspirational poetry, informational articles, motivational messages, and coaching services. Also the author of two poetry books -- ON SOLID GROUND: Inspirational Poetry For All Occasions and ForSuch A Time As This -- Meekins is a founding lifetime member of Wisdom Women Worldwide Interfaith Center/Women In Ministry International.

Susan Elizabeth Davis is a journalist, author of four nonfiction books, and novelist who is self-publishing her pro-choice novel, Love Means Second Chances, in Spring 2011. Inspired to write the novel in 1979, she has written for the graphic design press and about management and administration for architects and engineers. She also writes about labor struggles and reproductive rights for Workers World newspaper.

THE NWU MARCHED FOR

ECONOMIC & SOCIAL JUSTICE WITH THE UAW,

WASHINGTON, D.C.

OCTOBER 2, 2010

This Fall, we’re going to make history in marching on Washington, D.C.

For a year, as healthcare reform dominated the Congressional agenda, groups of people took to the streets in opposition to expanding healthcare coverage to tens of millions and to curtailing insurance industry abuse. These street protests were provoked by outright lies of Fox News and right wing gasbag politicians—remember the fear of “death panels”?—and resulted in the formation of the Tea Party, or tea-baggers. And of course the mass media gave them far more attention than their numbers deserved.

Unfortunately, we who supported healthcare reform had comparatively little public presence. Many thousands of activists lobbied members of Congress, and millions sent letters and emails, but there never really was a public mobilization. The healthcare overhaul was a tremendous step forward, but might have been much stronger had “we” taken to the streets.

When we elected President Obama two years ago, it was such an historic victory that perhaps our optimism got the better of us. We now had the President we wanted with strong Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. The new President was anxious to work with the Republican opposition to try to repair the damage of the Bush years and move the country forward.

But he—and we—underestimated the opposition: a unified, hostile Republican party in Congress that refused the president’s outstretched hand, and instead spat in his face; an aggressive, right wing and—let’s be clear—racist Fox News and other media outlets marching us back to the 19th century. And then there are the many Democrats motivated by loyalty to the corporations, fear of the Rush Limbaughs and the Glenn Becks, and the tea-baggers’ street presence.

The damage that Obama was elected to repair largely remains—the worst sustained unemployment toll in 75 years; the worst mortgage crisis in memory; two unwinnable wars (three, if you count Pakistan); 15 million immigrant workers forced to live in the shadows; a climate crisis that threatens to spin out of control; escalating environmental degradation as seen in the recent Gulf oil spill and deadly mine explosions in West Virginia and Kentucky; the largest prison population (by far) in the world; a deepening crisis in public and higher education. And that’s the short list.

When Franklin Roosevelt became President during the Great Depression, he also faced—in addition to the economic crisis—a hostile Republican party, a right wing corporate and banking elite and an oppositional Supreme Court. FDR knew he needed a massive public outcry to move the country forward. He needed John L. Lewis and the emerging CIO to push him—and they did. And out of the mass movements of the day, we got Social Security, unemployment compensation, the 8-hour day and industrial unionism.

A generation later, when John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson would do the right thing if they were pushed to do so, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the heroic youth of SNCC faced down the sheriffs’ deputies, police dogs and lynch mobs of the South but also the established powers-that-be in Washington. The historic March on Washington of Aug. 28, 1963 is known for the “I Have a Dream” speech. But the movement that led to the march and grew out of it resulted in the Civil Rights Bill, the Voting Rights Bill, and indirectly to Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, Occupational Health and Safety, and the movements to end the Vietnam War and for women’s liberation and gender/sexual equality.

Today our country is again in crisis. Now it’s our time to raise our voices and make our power felt. Our Union has been joining forces with other unions, the NAACP, and a host of progressive movements for economic and social justice to plan a united response to the crisis. We include not only labor, but the key leadership of the civil rights, human rights, immigration rights, environmental and peace movements. In the next months, we will be organizing and mobilizing throughout the United States for jobs, economic security, comprehensive immigration reform, a safe and renewable energy policy and a reversal of national priorities from making wars to meeting human needs.

This will culminate in a massive—and we believe historic—March on Washington. In the coming weeks and months you will get more information about this occasion through Our Life And Times magazine, our www.1199seiu.orgwebsite, and from your Delegates and Organizers in your institutions.

Time to lace up your marching shoes, Sisters and Brothers.

NWU MEMBER TE

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.

Former NWU President Johnathan Tasini recalled Sarah as being “very committed and very active.” New York Chapter chair and long-time friend, poet Louis Reyes Rivera, described her as "a humble and warm person who was both incisive and supportive of writers, artists, and social activists."

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.

________________________________________

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,

On Work

On My Father

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.

WRITERS:

MAKE YOUR SALE WITH A WINNING PRESENTATION

**[Location change: nwu/uaw CONFERENCE RM., 256 W. 38TH ST., 12TH FLOOR)**

Learn how to win over an agent, publisher, reviewer or reader with a powerful, convincing presentation.

Leonard Peters, author of the upcoming book: Demystifying Public Speaking: The Art and Essence of Communication, guides and tutors professionals in such far-ranging fields as publishing, theatre, politics, media, architecture, legal, religion, healthcare, business, and finance.

A Free Program Sponsored by

The National Writers Union, NY Chapter

Monday, January 9, 2011, 6-8:30 PM

NWU/UAW Conference Room

256 W. 38th St., 12th floor Manhattan

Free Drinks for all attendees!

Information: info@nwuny.org

or 917 428 1352

Marketing Boot Camp:A Hands On Guide to Marketing Your Book

On Nov. 7, 2011, Janet Spurr provided a highly informative, engaging, humorous and comprehensive account of marketing a book. Her personal experiences illustrated the challenges and the successes a writer encounters in the long, hard, exciting and satisfying journey that comes when marketing your book. Janet's remarks included:

>How to get your foot in the door at bookstores, and sell to other stores

>How to promote your book before, during and after book events
>How to increase reorders
>How to use social networking: blogging, Facebook, Twitter and website design suggestions
>Publishing industry organi- zations to join and industry

Janet Spurr

Full time sales rep and author of the break-out hit Beach Chair Diaries.

JANET SPURR IS AVAILABLE FOR MARKETING ADVICE. Contact her through the NWU address: info@nwuny.org

___________________

HuffPo Picket Line: Get on the Bus

The National Writers Union will co-staff a picket line against Arianna Huffington, who is scheduled to appear at the upcoming National Association of Black Journalists’ convention in Philadelphia, this coming Thursday, August 4, 2011.

Ms. Huffington is currently the respondent in a class action lawsuit recently filed against the Huffington Post.com, Huffington Post owner Arianna Huffington, et al, and AOL.com, Inc.

The suit alleges that thousands of writers and other content providers were keenly responsible for the success of HuffPo’s rise on the Internet, having filled its online pages with the substantive content that gave rise to its reputation, enough so that, having acquired a solid grounding for HuffPo, the owners subsequently sold it to AOL for $315 million. Ms. Hufffington was then hired as content director by the new owners for four million dollars. She’s been quoted as saying to the effect that, in lieu of pay, writers garner attention to themselves.

To join the picket line, contact the new NWU HuffPo organizer Amanda Melpolder at 917.573.4118 or at amanda@nwu.org for travel arrangements.

Learn from the Award-Winning Author Of more than 30 books

Stephen F. Kaufman

The keys to a successful book

tour and how to:

plan it, stay in budget, avoid pitfalls, evade heartaches, and most importantly,

Get the audience to buy your book

A Free Seminar sponsored by

The National Writers Union, NY Chapter

Monday, June 6, 2011, 6-8:30 PM

The Houndstooth Pub (Downstairs!)

520 8^th Ave at 37^th Street,Manhattan

Free drinks for the first ten attendees

Information, email info@nwuny.org or call 917 428 1352

About The Author

Stephen F. Kaufman is the internationally acclaimed author of over thirty-seven books including the world’s best-selling interpretations of Musashi’s Book of Five Rings and Sun Tzu’s Art of War. His books have sold over 1,000,000 copies worldwide and have been translated into many languages. His work is considered essential for progressive living and personal growth.

An acknowledged True Founding Father of American Karate, he was awarded the title of Hanshi in 1991 by international peer associations. The title is considered to be the most prestigious accomplishment in the martial arts world and signifies “teacher of teachers.”

He is widely sought out as an educator for the new millennium and has appeared on radio and TV countless times. His seminars can be tailored for any audience or strategic situational objectives. He empowers audiences and students to turn every challenge into an opportunity by demonstrating definitive working techniques guaranteed to bring about advantageous results “for the benefit of all concerned.”

Mr. Kaufman lives inNew York City and spends his time traveling, teaching, writing, and developing a higher universal consciousness for all mankind.

On May 2, 2011. NY Times Bestselling Author & Bram Stoker Award Winner Jonathan Maberry spoke about:

"SUCCEESS IN TODAY’S MARKET”

Pitch and sell articles, short stories and novels
New trends in cross-platform publishing
Bogging and social media

His take-home messages were simple and powerful:

The Art is the interaction between the writers and the reader; the Business is the interaction between the writer and the publisher. If you don't understand the business aspect and you don't work according to the demands and opportunities of the marketplace, you will not find success.

Learn to pitch a story or article to multiple potential publications before you write it. Send queries to a hundred publications if you can find them. For each one that requests an article, fashion it to that publication after thoroughly researching that particular publication.

Make your query letter the most polished and provocative piece of writing you have ever done - it is your first and perhaps only interaction with the publisher.

Use blogs to promote your work: offer to write for them; ask for a review; review the blogger's work. Don't be timid about asking, and never take a rejection as a judgement about your work, it only means the editor could not use your particular piece at that time.

___________________________

On April 4, Tim Sheard spoke about how to:

Sell to the World:

Mastering the Art of Online

Publishing & Distribution

Low cost print book production
Zero cost E-book production
Reprints and New Books, articles & short stories
Online marketing strategies

Author & NWU organizer Tim Sheard will explain how to sell your work through Amazon/Kindle, Barnes & Noble/Nook, the Apple store, and other outlets.

A Free Program Sponsored by

The National Writers Union, NY Chapter

Monday, April 4, 2011, 6-8:30 PM

The Houndstooth Pub (Downstairs!)

520 8^th Ave at 37^thStreet, Manhattan

Free Drinks for the first ten attendees!

Information: info@nwuny.org

or 917 428 1352

Freelancing: The Rules of the Game”

A Free Lecture & Workshop

Speaker: James Waller

Learn how to pitch projects, develop networks, and survive in this difficult publishing climate.

January 10, 2011

at the NWU/UAW Conference Room

256 W. 38th st., 12 flr, Manhattan

6-9PM

November 1, 2010:

Publishing Options

Traditional Publisher

Co-publishing (Shared Costs)

Co-operative Publishing

Self-Publishing

At the Nov. first, "First Monday" program at the Houndstooth Pub, Peter Benjaminson, Scott Pruden, Charles Patterson and Marc Abbot spoke about their different journeys toward publication.

Peter Benjaminson (1st picture) found a literary agent who sold his book about the lost supreme to a traditional publisher. The book is now being made into a film by a major studio.

Scott Pruden joined with 9 other authors to found their own publishing company, sharing the work of editing, designing, producing, printing and marketing their books.

Charles Patterson, after publishing several books with traditional publishers, paid the cost of the first print run with a traditional press for his controversial book about the treatment of animals. The book has gone on to be printed in over a dozen languages.

Marc Abbot launched his career by self-publishing, and has gone on to publish four books. He has learned the business the old fashioned way, by just doing it.

Here is one member's review of the event:

Dear NWU---

Monday evening, 11/1, an excellent forum w/ 4 first-rate book authors, was held by the NY local. The speakers had published their books by varied methods, which they described w/ usefulinfo & humor, complementing rather than duplicating one another.

Thanks to Tim Sheard, who planned it, the meeting was one of the best NWU meetings I can recall & drew even more attendees thanTim's previous meeting a month earlier.

Marie Shear

Widely unheralded writer & editor

Member, National Writers Union

Member, Editorial Freelancers Association

Book Reviewer, The Freelancer& Author,“ ‘Little Marie’: The Daily Toll of Sexist Language”

On the Issues Magazine, http://bit.ly/drcnxZ

http://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/2010summer/2010summer_Shear.php

Hosted by Yahoo!

256 West 38th Street, Suite 703
New York, NY 10018
ph: 212-254-0279 x18
fax: 212-254-0673
alt: 973-985-5928
info@nwuny.org

New York Chapter of the National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981)

PAST EVENTS

MASTER THE WRITING MARKET - TURN YOUR TALENT INTO SUCCESS

+++++++++++

THE NATIONAL WRITERS UNION NY CHAPTER PRESENTS:

WRITERS: CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH WITH PENN AWARD NOMINEE

Dahlma Llanos Figueroa

AND ACCLAIMED JOURNALIST AND RADIO & TV PERSONLALITY

Herb Boyd

“Modern Literary Trends From

An African-Latin Perspective”

A Free Program Sponsored by

The National Writers Union, NY Chapter

Moderated by Louis Reyes Rivera

Monday, February 7, 2011, 6-8:30 PM

The Houndstooth Pub (Downstairs!)

520 8th Ave at 37th Street, Manhattan

Free Drinks for the first ten attendees!

_______________

IN HONOR OF

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

Jane LaTour

Jo Anne Meekins

Susan E Davis

“Why We Write: Overcoming Obstacles to Fulfill Your Mission”

THE NWU MARCHED FOR

ECONOMIC & SOCIAL JUSTICE WITH THE UAW,

WASHINGTON, D.C.

OCTOBER 2, 2010

NWU MEMBER TE

NWU MEMBERS MARCH ON MAY DAY

In Memoriam: NWU founding member Sarah E. Wright

MAKE YOUR SALE WITH A WINNING PRESENTATION

[Location change: nwu/uaw CONFERENCE RM., 256 W. 38TH ST., 12TH FLOOR)

Learn how to win over an agent, publisher, reviewer or reader with a powerful, convincing presentation.

﻿

Marketing Boot Camp:A Hands On Guide to Marketing Your Book

>How to promote your book before, during and after book events>How to increase reorders>How to use social networking: blogging, Facebook, Twitter and website design suggestions>Publishing industry organi- zations to join and industry

Janet Spurr

Full time sales rep and author of the break-out hit Beach Chair Diaries.

HuffPo Picket Line: Get on the Bus

Ms. Huffington is currently the respondent in a class action lawsuit recently filed against the Huffington Post.com, Huffington Post owner Arianna Huffington, et al, and AOL.com, Inc.

To join the picket line, contact the new NWU HuffPo organizer Amanda Melpolder at 917.573.4118 or at amanda@nwu.org for travel arrangements.

Stephen F. Kaufman

The keys to a successful book

tour and how to:

plan it, stay in budget, avoid pitfalls, evade heartaches, and most importantly,

Get the audience to buy your book

A Free Seminar sponsored by

The National Writers Union, NY Chapter

On April 4, Tim Sheard spoke about how to:

Sell to the World:

Mastering the Art of Online

Publishing & Distribution

Low cost print book production

Zero cost E-book production

Reprints and New Books, articles & short stories

Online marketing strategies

Freelancing: The Rules of the Game”

A Free Lecture & Workshop

Speaker: James Waller

Learn how to pitch projects, develop networks, and survive in this difficult publishing climate.

November 1, 2010:

Publishing Options

Traditional Publisher

Co-publishing (Shared Costs)

Co-operative Publishing

Self-Publishing

**[Location change: nwu/uaw CONFERENCE RM., 256 W. 38TH ST., 12TH FLOOR)**

>How to promote your book before, during and after book events
>How to increase reorders
>How to use social networking: blogging, Facebook, Twitter and website design suggestions
>Publishing industry organi- zations to join and industry