On Agenting--Professional Spotlight

EG is very pleased to have with us today Agent Extraordinaire, Regina Brooks, principal agent at Serendipity Literary Agency. Regina is truly a renaissance woman and very much a publishing professionals who adapts to the changing times only to find herself and her roster of clients at the head of the curve. So without further ado...Regina Brooks.


What is the most important part of being an agent?

Being an agent requires a great deal of patience, tenacity, and vision. When all these three align, then it requires the ability to communicate with a myriad of creative types. The most important part I would say is RELATIONSHIPS. I enjoy agenting because I take pleasure getting to know the diverse people I meet along the way: whether it’s an illustrator, a financial professional, an activist, or a Madame.

How have agents had to adapt to the changes in the market in recent years, including the changes in technology?

Well agents have now started to become mini-publishers. For agents who come to agenting from an editorial background this transition is not as daunting as it is for those who come from other parts of the business. As a mini-publisher you are required to put on your editorial hat.

In the past agents were rather unknown. They were difficult to find and if you didn’t have a friend with an agent, it was difficult to break through. Today agents blog, tweet, instagram etc. Social media has become significant part of the business. In addition, many agencies including my own don’t accept snail mail. We find authors on twitter, we communicate with our authors on social media. I’ve even explored the idea of having virtual online retreats with my authors since they are located all over the world.

Many agencies are now self-publishing clients' work. What do you think of this practice? Would your agency ever consider publishing client work if it can't be placed with a traditional house? What are the advantages and disadvantages to this?

Here's the thing, if you’ve worked with an author for months to develop their work, you don’t want all that work to go unrewarded. If the author self-publishes independently, depending on what's in the agency agreement, the agency receives no compensation for the blood sweat and tears. So I believe it makes sense to stay coupled with the project besides self-publishing can be very daunting, especially in regards to getting distribution and find an audience. A savvy agent can help with those components of the business as well.

99% of my business maintains the traditional model of the agent shopping the book to a mainstream publisher. There have been a few instances where I have placed the author with small independent publishers who take the hybrid model, where the author is intimately involved in the development and promotion of their book. The ebook or digital model is definitely something we are developing at my agency.

Many agents are also selling digital rights to the digital publishers that are now on the rise. Is this something that's good for the business and authors? Do you sell these rights? When do agents make the decision to sell these rights to digital publishers?

There are a number of models I’ve explored in the digital space:

1. retaining ebook rights and going directly with the ebook distributors, amazon, kobo, apple, etc

2. working directly with publishers who begin with a digital book and then if sales are warranted or the audience requests, we go to print

3. I'm currently exploring genre fiction for the digital market. Mainstream publishers have approached me about some of my authors' works and asked that they develop books for digital first publishing.

4. I've also been approached about short fiction and essay style projects, similar to the kindle singles approach by mainstream publishers. Publishers want to have the right to publish the entire body of work from an author, so they are willing to publish short works as well.

Overall, I think the digital space is definitely good for business. It gives debut writers a chance to publish and to garner an audience. It gives agents and editors greater access to a marketplace of writers they may not have natural entrée to. It also allows readers to have a bigger say in what gets published.

I’ll admit though that it makes the financial business model a bit more difficult for agents. You end up having to do more volume and as you know with more volume the quality of the work may suffer.

You are an author in your own right. How has being an author informed your work as an agent?

To date I’ve mostly written books on how to write and how to get published.

I wrote the book WRITING GREAT BOOKS FOR YOUNG ADULTS because there was no other book on the market at that time that separated children’s from young adult. When I first envisioned the project, “Twilight” and “Hunger Games” didn’t exist. Now there are hundreds of thousands of young adult books and thousands of new authors writing for the genre. It’s very exciting.

I wrote YOU SHOULD REALLY WRITE A BOOK: How to Write, Sell, and Market Your Memoir because I wanted to help people understand how to really sell their stories. Writing and publishing a commercially viable memoir is more than just having an interesting story to tell. The book helps people understand how to get agents and editors excited about your work even if you are a “relatively unknown” author.

I recognize the challenges to getting published, the importance of having representation. I agented my first three books myself. They say a lawyer who represents themselves has a fool for a client. I’ve now come to see that statement holds true for agents who represent their own literary works as well. I understand better the challenges of being creative on call, how research can take three times the amount of time you thought it would, how paramount literary relationships and community are, and most of all how important is it to get out and promote your book and yourself as a writer.

What's the best advice you offer writers?

1. Please be patient. There’s a lot of stop and start during the life cycle of getting a book published. Honor the process and allow each phase of the process its natural rhythm.

2. Don’t take critique as criticism. Revision is key part of the writing process. Don’t let an editor or agents feedback disparage you from realizing your dream of becoming a published author

3. Develop a team. It takes a village to make a book work. (graphic designers, publicists, editors, web developer, photographer, copywriter, etc) Start putting together your team as soon as possible.

Regina Brooks is the founder and president of Serendipity Literary Agency LLC, based in Brooklyn, New York. Her agency has represented and established a diverse base of award-winning clients in adult and young adult fiction, nonfiction, and children's literature. Her authors have appeared in USA TODAY, NY TIMES and the Washington Post as well as on Oprah, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, MSBNC, TV ONE, BET and a host of others. Writer's Digest magazine named Serendipity Literary Agency as one of the top 25 literary agencies in 2004. Formerly, she held senior editorial positions at John Wiley and Sons (where she was not only the youngest but also the first African-American editor in their college division) and McGraw-Hill.

Prior to her publishing career she worked as an aerospace engineer and made history as the first African American woman to receive a bachelors of Science Degree in Aerospace Engineering from The Ohio State University.  She is a graduate of The School of the Arts High School in Rochester, NY.

She is the author of Essences Magazine’s quick pick children's book, NEVER FINISHED NEVER DONE  (Scholastic) , WRITING GREAT BOOKS FOR YOUNG ADULTS (Source Books)  the forthcoming title YOU SHOULD (REALLY) WRITE A BOOK: WRITING, SELLING AND MARKETING YOUR MEMOIR ( St. Martin’s Press) and a well received blogger for the Huffington Post. Brooks is also on the faculty of the Harvard University publishing program and has served as faculty on the Whidbey Island Writers MFA and Western Connecticut MFA  Low residency programs. Brooks is also on the faculty of the Writer’s Digest University, Harvard University publishing course, The Discovery Channel’s Media Boot Camp for Doctors, the Whidbey Island Writers MFA program and teaches annually at more than twenty worldwide conferences.   She has been highlighted in several national and international magazines and periodicals, including Forbes, Media Bistro, Writers and Poets, Essence Magazine, Ebony, Jet, Women on Writing, Writers Digest Magazine, The Writer, and Sister2Sister magazine, Publishers Weekly, The Network Journal,  Rolling Out, and  Ebony Magazine. 

She was named 2010 Woman of the Year by The National Association of Professional Women. A New York Urban League Rising Star Award winner and a 2004 finalist for the Stevie^TM Award for Women Entrepreneurs, Regina Brooks is featured in books such as The Guide to Literary Agents and the NAACP nominated Down to Business 10 steps for Women Entrepreneurs, and How to Build a Platform.  She is also listed in International Who's Who under the categories of Professional Management, Technology, Entrepreneurs, and Engineering.

In November 2010, Brooks partnered with Marie Brown, of Marie Brown and Associates, and Marva Allen of Hue Man Bookstore to launch a new publishing imprint called Open Lens.

Further, Possibiliteas is the brainchild of literary agent and tea enthusiast, REGINA BROOKS  who believed that tea—the world’s oldest performance-enhancing beverage—could have a beneficial effect on her clients—writers, artists and other creative professionals who were looking for fuel for their creative fire.

She is a pilot and cofounder of Brooklyn Aviation  as well as a member of the Association of Author Representatives and New York Women in Film and Television. 

Ms. Brooks is the founder and co-Executive Director of Y.B. Literary Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit organization designed kindle a passion for literature within high school students and an appreciation for the possibilities and opportunities that reading can provide.     www.ybliterary.org

LINKS OF INTEREST

http://madamenoire.com/119242/episode-13-regina-brooks/

http://wow-womenonwriting.com/49-FE1-ReginaBrooks.htm

  

www.serendipitylit.com                                                                       www.possibiliteas.co
 @serendipitylit                                                                                    @teaforcreatives

 

 

Sample of Workshops and Talks

Workshops

How to Productize Your Intellectual Property

A book is a product, but so are other types of intellectual property. Do you have a lot of creative ideas? This workshop will help you to figure out how you might be able to turn your creative ideas into products that help to inform, educate and entertain people. When you are finished with this workshop, you'll have even more creative ideas than you had when you entered, and you'll have new ways to turn them into intellectual property products!

You should really write a book

Are you planning to write a book? (Or, you've published one already.) This workshop is designed to help you become a bestselling author by implementing specific strategies to help you build your publishing, media and speaking platform. Whether you are already an author or not, if you have plans to write a book, this workshop will help you to become a successful author. Today writers need to know how to succeed in the new media and literary marketplace. This comprehensive workshop is all about maximizing your work and creating a writing career. Regina Brooks take participants step-by-step through the success checklist for the getting-published process. From content-creation to contract; focusing on both craft and career, you will learn essential secrets to getting published.

Brand Building and extending your reach.

Are you an expert? Should you be? Are you ready to move on to bigger venues with larger audiences? Do you have an important message to share with others? If so, this workshop is for you.  Regina Brooks will focus on strategies for getting your ideas into the New York Times, Huffington Post and other prestigious newspapers, how to write for blogs, and strategically develop your content and contacts. Will include strategies for extending your brand through social media, and tips on attracting a literary or speaking agent!

Talks

Writing Your Way into Relevancy

Listening to your Muse One whisper at a Time

Writing an Undeniable Book Proposal 

Writing Great Books for Children and Young adults

 

On Speechwriting--Professional Spotlight

This week The Editing Life has the pleasure of speaking to Christian Nwachukwu, Jr., a publishing pro who made the switch from the world of book editing to governmental speechwriting, having worked for former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and currently serving as a federal agency appointee. Read on to learn more about Christian’s perspective on his career thus far and some of what it takes to make it as a speechwriter.

Tell us a bit about your experience in book publishing. What led you to enter the industry? What types of titles did you work on?

My career in book publishing came between my roles as a radio journalist and speechwriter.  While working at National Public Radio as an editorial assistant for Morning Edition, I met journalist and author Juan Williams.  At the time, he was writing his book Enough. I asked him if he needed a research/ editorial assistant; he said “yes,” and that became my first publishing experience.  After we wrapped up work on that book, I looked for opportunities at publishing houses and found what turned out to be a great opportunity to become the editorial assistant at Harlem Moon Books, within what was then Doubleday/ Broadway.  

I had a great publishing experience, working with Harlem Moon founder and executive editor Janet Hill Talbert and editor Clarence Haynes.  I was able to work on a wide variety of African-American fiction and non-fiction, including several novels by J. California Cooper and E. Lynn Harris; a photo-biography of Maya Angelou; a biography of Harriet Tubman; hip-hop icon Grandmaster Flash's memoir; a father-son memoir by Eddie Levert, Sr. and Gerald Levert; and Gwen Ifill’s look at political structures post Obama’s election.

How did you make the transition to speechwriting? How did book publishing inform your perspective on a different career?

My transition to speechwriting wasn't planned.  After leaving Random House, I landed a staff writer position in the communications department of the New York City Housing Authority.  Shortly after starting work there, perhaps two weeks, the speechwriter at the time resigned abruptly. There was a looming City Council hearing to discuss a crisis in NYCHA's leased housing (Section 8) program.  I was asked if I could write the first draft of the agency's testimony. I did, and thereafter I was the speechwriter—both for the chair of NYCHA's board as well as for the agency itself and many senior leaders at NYCHA.

The experience I gained working at Harlem Moon Books—regularly evaluating proposals and manuscripts; helping to develop marketing plans for very different books with appeal to very different audiences; delving into a text to help an author tell his/ her story in clear, compelling prose; developing book proposals—was very helpful as I began work as a speechwriter. The flexibility book publishing requires gave me an added confidence in my work as a speechwriter.

What are some of the most enjoyable aspects of speechwriting? What have been challenges and surprises that you've faced?

I love communicating with people, and connecting with people.  Speechwriting provides a unique opportunity to see that connection play out in real time as my principal delivers a speech I've created.  Speechwriting also is about working with a principal and helping that person become a more effective public speaker, which I also enjoy.

My entire speechwriting career has been in the public sector, and I think the scrutiny—both internally and from the public—is greater than were I working for the head of a corporation or non-profit.  It's a challenge, but one that I embrace. 

The most surprising aspect is how often you have to write (and your principal has to say) something before it breaks through/gains traction.  And as a writer, you have to remind yourself that most people aren't nearly as engaged with the work of government as you are.  So I try to keep the listener/audience in mind with each speech that I write.

You have a love for language and literature. Who are writers that have influenced your speechwriting? Are you able to incorporate lines from a beloved literary figure into a speech? 

I love quotes.  But that doesn't mean that a quote I love will work for a particular principal.  When I worked for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of my colleagues, who had written for the mayor the longest, told me to think of myself as a playwright for one actor who's playing a well-known character.  You can't script words for that actor that the audience won't believe he'd say.  So while I don't often use direct quotes from personally beloved literary figures in my speeches, the writers whose work have been most important to me do influence the speeches I craft.  Toni Morrison. August Wilson. Cormac McCarthy.  Langston Hughes.  Their work influences all of my writing.

I think the greatest political speechwriter of all time is Abraham Lincoln, and I read his speeches often.  The speeches of Barack Obama, John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Winston Churchill, Barbara Jordan, Harry Truman, Frederick Douglass and George H.W. Bush also influence my writing and how I approach speechwriting in particular.

I've also been fortunate to write for someone who himself was a communicator, and Mayor Bloomberg's memoir was, obviously, exceptionally helpful in writing for him.

What are essential items readers should know about the work if considering a career in speechwriting?

Speechwriting is a demanding profession.  Depending on your principal, it can be all-consuming.  It helps to personally like the person you're writing for since you have to spend a lot of time looking through their eyes.  You also have to anticipate reporters' questions and write with that anticipation in mind.  You have to study, study, study the issues.  You must have a sense of humor. You must work well with people who will tear up your work without apology.  And then work with them again.  And again.  

You have to have (or develop) a thick skin.  You must have a great deal of patience.  You must write with your audience foremost in mind, because it is the audience who decides whether a speech succeeds or fails. And you must, above all, put your principal first.  Preparing him or her well, helping them connect with an audience and communicate clearly and compellingly trumps everything else.  It trumps hurt feelings; it trumps frustration; it trumps bad days; it trumps exhaustion; it trumps your theater tickets and your dinner plans.  It trumps everything.  If the speech is on the calendar, your principal will be standing before an audience whether you've done a good job or not. So do a good job.

Bio

Christian Nwachukwu, Jr. is an appointee of the Obama White House and serves as the Senior Speechwriter to CEO Wendy Spencer at the Corporation for National and Community Service. Prior to joining CNCS, Christian served as a speechwriter to former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg from 2011-13. Christian is a graduate of Morehouse College, where he studied biology.

On Writing--Professional Spotlight

Photo Credit: Jonee' Ansa

We are very pleased to have here today at The Editing Life, bestselling and critically acclaimed author Tina McElroy Ansa; her novels include You Know Better, Taking After Mudear, Ugly Ways and The Hand I Fan With. Tina's novels are absolute treasures and her fans are many, including EditingGenius. It's a real treat to have her and she offers some really wonderful, thoughtful and concrete advice to writers, and an inspiring perspective on publishing. So without further ado...

Provide a snapshot of your writing career.

I've been a writer and editor my entire career. I always knew

I wanted to write fiction. (Southern black girl listening to middle Georgia tales growing up.) My first job was as copy editor on universal desk of the morning newspaper The Atlanta Constitution (now The AJC). First African-American woman in the newsroom!! Did feature writing, news reporting, editing, and layout. Left in 1979 to free-lance and write fiction. Found my "home" on St. Simons Island, Georgia, part of the history/culture-rich stretch of sea islands off the Southeast coast of the U.S. So far, have lived on St. Simons 30 years. My first novel BABY OF THE FAMILY published in 1989. Four other novels have followed: UGLY WAYS, THE HAND I FAN WITH, YOU KNOW BETTER, and TAKING AFTER MUDEAR. Working on sixth novel and with filmmaker husband Jonee`Ansa on movie adaptation of BABY OF THE FAMILY.

In 2004, established The Sea Island Writers Retreats on Sapelo Island, Georgia. Have since held these writers workshops on St. Simons Island, in Atlanta, Maryland, Florida and at high school and colleges around the country. In 2007, founded independent publishing company, DownSouth Press.

How has your perspective on writing and publishing changed over the years?

My perspective has, necessarily, changed along with the business over the decades. In the early years of my publishing life in the late 1980s and through the 1990s, there was not nearly the competition from so many other writers looking to get published. And I think writers have to be more flexible, ingenious, savvy and willing to do the work, which sometimes involves skills other than writing and editing, such as marketing, public speaking, kissing babies. : )

Many veteran authors have turned to self-publishing rather than re-sign with traditional publishers. You're one of them. Why was self-publishing an attractive option to you?

A number of reasons.
 

I am not alone in feeling that there is so much being published in the last 10 or so years under the banner of African-American literature that does not truly reflect our culture, our lives and our ethos. And when it does, it reflects a very narrow portion of who we are and how we live, feel and dream.

That's why I launched DownSouth Press. I'm not trying to compete with the big companies, but to my part to offer an alternative to the current wave of urban fiction, quasi-"erotic" works, badly written, constructed and edited works that have left so many of our readers insulted and hungry for a real rich reading experience.

Although it is not easy for anyone to do the work to be published, African-American writers of solidly and beautifully crafted works have been finding it more and more difficult to be published by mainstream companies. Writers are told there is no market for these kinds of works, but readers continue to clamor for writing that is worth their attention and reading time.

Established writers are finding is near impossible to get an new book contract. Yet, they continue to write.

I want DownSouth Press to be a haven that values authors, great storytelling and beautiful writing by publishing and nurturing quality work that elevates the reader and writer. We plan to publish the books not just for the moment, but books that will be classics in years to come. Books of substance and exploration and fearlessness that qualify as literature.

Our press will focus on marketing authors beyond the short-term window that larger publishers allow. DownSouth Press will use innovative approaches -- both face-to-face and via the Internet with satellite interviews, web book club meetings and live chats and readings -- to market authors and books to readers hungry for meaningful stories that truly reflect the diversity of their culture, spirit and lives.
 

Would you ever return to the traditional publishing model?
 

Of course, I would accept a contract from a larger publisher if they respected and supported my work in a true way: meaning publicity, interaction, taking advantage of social media and all innovative ways to get me and my work to readers and thinkers.

There are certainly advantaged to having a large company behind your work: wider resources (money!), contacts, perceived respectability. The deal would just have to balance out and make sense for me and my work. The publisher would certainly have to be as smart as the CEO of DownSouth Press!

What are your present goals for your writing career?

 
As a publisher and writer, that's what I want to continue doing: writing and publishing.
I look forward to continuing to write fiction. I am working on my sixth novel now. The idea of exploring more of the mythical world of Mulberry, Georgia and its residents, alive and dead, excites me and my readers as well.

I am working two small non-fiction books. One is a writer's guide and journey.
 

What new writers are you most impressed with? Why?

Oh! Don't want to leave anyone out, but some of the ones who come to mind:

Attica Locke

Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Tayari Jones

Lori Tharps

Ernessa Carter

Some established writers worth the mention:

Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie

Edwidge Danticat

Pearl Cleage

Their work is fresh, thoughtful, well-written, carefully edited. Their styles, genres and subjects vary, but they stay on point with keeping the writing, good strong writing, at the forefront.


What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

--READ! READ! Read widely as part of your daily routine. Read writers whose styles you admire. Read who those writers have read and currently read. Read classics. Read book reviews. Read the texts. Make up your own mind. Ask librarians for recommendations.

-- Read the news. Newspapers, blogs, magazines. Don't just watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and think you are current and qualified to share and shape opinions. Know what's going on in your world. Investigate, research, think. Writers and editors are blessed to have professions that nourish and encourage curiosity. Take advantage.

--Write consistently. Every day if you call yourself a writer. Journals, notes, post-its, transcriptions all count.

--"Thinking time is working time." If you want your writing to evoke thought, memories and emotions in your readers, you as the writer have to bring those things to the work.

--Follow your favorite writers and editors on Twitter and FB. You will get a mini-writers workshop from their advice and comments.

--Re-writing is as important as your first draft. With each reading of your work (aloud at some point), you should look to make it sharper, deeper, clearer.

Tina McElroy Ansa
Author, Publisher, Teacher, Filmmaker, Journalist

Tina McElroy Ansa is a novelist, publisher, filmmaker, teacher and journalist. But above all, she is a storyteller and cultural icon.

She is at work on her sixth novel, FROM NOW ON, to be published by DownSouth Press, the independent publishing company Ms Ansa established nearly a decade ago.

Ms. Ansa received an honorary Doctorate of Arts from her alma mater Spelman College in April of 2011. The next month, First Lady Michelle Obama quoted passages from Ms. Ansa’s first novel BABY OF THE FAMILY in her 2011 remarks at Spelman College’s commencement.

Later that summer, the writer was the recipient of the 2011 Bebe Moore Campbell Memorial Award from the National Book Club Conference. She has been awarded the Stanley W. Lindberg Award for her body and work and for contributions to the literary arts community of Georgia.

In the fall of 2004, Ms. Ansa established the Annual Sea Island Writers Retreats on Sapelo Island, Georgia. The annual retreats seek to assist emerging and established writers in honing their work and skills in fiction, non-fiction, memoir and editing in sessions with professional writers and editors. In 2006, she extended the writers retreats throughout the country with Sea Island Writers Retreats…On the Road. The traveling retreat is held in Atlanta, Georgia on Spelman College’s campus annually in April. Ms. Ansa also private Sea Island Writers Retreats for colleges, writers conferences and smaller motivated groups.

Since 2007, Ms. Ansa has shared a partnership with the international fashion design company TIBI. She is proud to wear the label’s fashions on her book tours, speaking engagements and performances with the international storytelling organization The MOTH.

With the Peabody Award-winning organization The Moth, she has told some of her own stories before audiences of more than 1,500 at Moth shows at Town Hall in Times Square and at Cooper Union Hall in New York City. Her stories can be heard on “The Moth Radio Hour” on hundreds of Public Radio Exchange stations around the country.

Tina McElroy Ansa has been a regular contributor to the award-winning television series CBS Sunday Morning with her essays, “Postcards from Georgia” which were filmed on location on her beautiful Georgia Sea Island home of St. Simons Island.

Her first novel BABY OF THE FAMILY, a “New York Times Notable Book of the Year,” was selected for the 2002 list 25 Books Every Georgian Should Read. In 2005, her second novel UGLY WAYS, which was nominated for a NAACP Image Award and remained on the Blackboard Bestsellers List for four (4) years running, was included in that year’s list of 25 Books Every Georgian Should Read, as was TAKING AFTER MUDEAR on the 2008 list. The lists are compiled and issued by the Georgia Center for the Book. Ms Ansa has been inducted into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent at the Gwendolyn Brooks Center of Chicago State University

Her fifth novel, TAKING AFTER MUDEAR, a sequel to her bestselling second novel UGLY WAYS and the lead title on DownSouth Press’s first list, was published in Spring 2008. As with all her novels, the late nationally acclaimed artist and Spelman Sister Varnette P. Honeywood has created an original artwork for the new book’s jacket cover.

Ms. Ansa calls herself part of a writing tradition, one of those little Southern girls who always knew she wanted to tell stories. She grew up in Middle Georgia in the 1950's hearing her grandfather's stories on the porch of her family home and strangers' stories downtown in her father's juke joint, which have inspired Mulberry, Georgia, the mythical world which is the setting of her four earlier novels, BABY OF THE FAMILY, UGLY WAYS, THE HAND I FAN WITH and YOU KNOW BETTER.

In March 2007, Ms. Ansa launched the independent publishing company, DownSouth Press, with its focus on African-American literature -- fiction and nonfiction. DownSouth will publish established as well as emerging literary voices.

Currently, Ms. Ansa and her filmmaker husband Jonee’ Ansa (AFI) who live on St. Simons Island, GA, also are adapting BABY OF THE FAMILY as a feature film.

As part of her new incarnation as a raconteur, in February of 2011, Ms. Ansa traveled to New York City to perform on the main stage of the MOTH monthly event. She shared a story to an audience of 900 at the Cooper Union Great Hall on the same stage where Sojourner Truth gave her historic “Ain’t I a Woman Speech.”

As a raconteur, she was also part of the premier October 2010 Unchained Tour of storytellers traveling to 12 cities and towns in Georgia to share stories and support independent book stores.

In the fall of 2004, Ms. Ansa established the Sea Island Writers Retreats on Sapelo Island, Georgia. The annual retreats seek to assist emerging and established writers in honing their work and skills in fiction, non-fiction, memoir and editing in sessions with professional writers and editors. In 2006, she extended the writers retreats throughout the country with Sea Island Writers Retreats…On the Road. The traveling retreat is held in Atlanta, Georgia on Spelman College’s campus annually in April.

Together with Spelman Sister Dazon Diallo of SisterLove Inc., in the spring of 2006, Ms. Ansa launched the South African African-American SisterLove Sisters Sharing (SAAASSS) book program that collects sizable numbers of signed books from African-American women authors that are shared with book clubs and organizations of women in South Africa.

Ms. Ansa writes magazine and newspaper articles, Op-Ed page pieces and book reviews for the Los Angeles Times, New York Newsday, The Atlanta Constitution, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Charlotte Observer, and the Florida Times-Union.

In addition to lecturing and reading at universities, colleges, libraries, conferences, book festivals and bookstores around the country, the author has lectured at the Smithsonian’s African-American Center’s Author’s Series, the Richard Wright/Zora Neale Hurston Foundation, the PEN/Faulkner Reading Series, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Schomburg Center and the PEN American Center in New York City.

She has been a writer-in-residence, teacher and workshop leader numerous times at her alma mater Spelman College.

Ms. Ansa is an avid gardener, birder and naturalist. She always has collard greens and moonflowers growing in her garden.

For more information and to reach Ms. Ansa, go to the websites: www.tinamcelroyansa.com or www.downsouthpress.com.