Events

The time when book deals were made during a leisurely publisher’s lunch is long dead. Publishers are owned by multimedia conglomerates now and the acquistion of books is a business decision. Book editors decide to publish a non- fiction book almost exclusively based on the book proposal. This class will teach you how to write an effective book proposal. We will discuss the basic structure of the proposal and the points that you need to make to convince an acquisition editor to acquire your book. We will also discuss how to write an effective query letter that will grab the attention of a literary agent. Andy Ross is a literary agent in Oakland. He founded the Andy Ross Agency in 2009. Prior to becoming an agent, Andy owned the legendary Cody’s Books in Berkeley for 30 years. Check out Andy’s website at www.andyrossagency.com and read his blog, “Ask the Agent” at www.andyrossagency.wordpress.com.

Francis Tapon discusses The Hidden Europe: What Eastern Europeans Can Teach Us ($25.99). Yearning for a European adventure, but feeling Western Europe too tame, Tapon spent three years visiting all 25 countries in Eastern Europe at least twice. The result is an insightful, inspiring and humorous look at a very old though newly emerging part of the world.

Francis Tapon was born in San Francisco, where he attended the French American International School for 12 years. He is fluent in French and Spanish, and struggles with Italian, Portuguese, Slovenian, and Russian. The Hidden Europe is the second book in the author’s WanderLearn Series. In 2012-2015, Tapon plans to visit every country in Africa and write a book about his experience in 2016. He is also the author of Hike Your Own Hike: 7 Life Lessons from Backpacking Across America.

Deborah Michel reads from Prosper in Love ($15.00). This debut novel is both a richly detailed comedy of manners and an insightful look at modern marriage. It tells the story of a couple whose love is meant to last forever, until it doesn’t. “A charming novel!  Michel writes with intelligence, humor, and grace about the tricky terrain of marriage.” — Ellen Sussman

Deborah Michel, a former magazine editor and freelance writer, lives in Palo Alto and has worked at a long list of publications including House Beautiful, Premiere, and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. She worked as an editor and nightlife columnist for Avenue Magazine, was the west coast correspondent for Spy, and served as a contributing editor at Buzz.

Agatha Hoff presents Judge* Hoff, Jesus Loves You, but the Rest of Us Think You're an A**hole! ($12.95), an account of the author’s 20 years as a San Francisco Court Commissioner. From prostitutes she recognized on a first-name basis to out-of-towners trying to navigate the big city, Hoff depicts life with a keen eye and wry sense of humor.

Early in her legal career, Agatha worked in poverty law where clients often abandoned her for a “real lawyer” (someone they paid). When she became a real lawyer, her personal injury clients termed it “the armpit of the law.” When she was appointed a court commissioner, her favorite moniker was a “fascist terrorist cross-dressed in the cloak of justice.” When at last a British tourist called her “Your Worship,” she thought she’d retire before it went to her head. Her new book is a compilation of her “Tales from the Bench” column for San Francisco Attorney Magazine.

Renowned art historian Nancy Boas talks about David Park: A Painter's Life ($49.95). Park, a transplanted Bostonian turned ground-breaking West Coast painter, led the way in creating what became known as Bay Area Figurative Art — a daring move at a time when Abstract Expressionism dominated the art world. "An enthralling read." — San Francisco Magazine

Nancy Boas is the author of The Society of Six: California Colorists and a contributor to the exhibition and catalog Facing Eden: 100 Years of Landscape Art in the Bay Area. She was Adjunct Curator of American Paintings at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Joan Frank reads from Make it Stay ($26.00), a moving reflection on the nature of friendship and love, how past informs present, and of life’s magnificent interconnectivity. Recounting three love stories, this new novel deftly weaves a tale that illuminates the lives of its characters, especially their imperfections and desires when revealed in the least expected moments.

Joan Frank is the author of four prior books of fiction. She is a MacDowell Colony Fellow, Pushcart Prize nominee, winner of the Richard Sullivan Prize, Dana Award, Michigan Literary Fiction Award, Iowa Writing Award, and Emry's fiction award, and recipient of grants from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund and Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation. She has taught Creative Writing at San Francisco State University and lives in Northern California.

Editor Kim Stanley Robinson and illustrator Tom Killion discuss In the Sierra: Mountain Writings by Kenneth Rexroth ($16.95). The late San Francisco poet wrote about the Sierra Nevada better than anyone. Progressive in his environmental ethics, Rexroth’s poetry and prose described the way Californians have long experienced and long loved the High Sierra.

Poet-essayist Kenneth Rexroth (1905-1982) was a high-school dropout, disillusioned ex-Communist, pacifist, anarchist, rock-climber, critic and translator, Catholic-Buddhist spiritualist and central figure of the San Francisco Renaissance and Beat scene. Kim Stanley Robinson is the Hugo and Nebula prize–winning author of the Mars Trilogy as well as a trilogy of novels about climate change that go under the title Science in the Capital. Tom Killion is a much admired artist whose woodcuts and prints have been inspired by the rugged scenery of Marin County and Northern California.