CORRECTION: PLEASE NOTE THAT THE BK AUTHORS ANNUAL MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE ON
14th DECEMBER AND NOT 4th DECEMBER AS PREVIOUSLY STATED.
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IN THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER |
- BK Authors Annual Report 2020
- Join Us For The BK Authors Annual Meeting
- Virtual Joyful Encounters At The 2020 BK Authors Retreat
- The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
-
It Takes a Resilient Village to Land an OpEd in USA Today
- Our Books, Our World, Ourselves
- BK Publishers Is Looking To Hire a Senior Accountant
- BK Foundation Upcoming Interactive Storytelling Event
- On Thanksgiving We Give Thanks By...
- New and Upcoming BK Books—Please Support These Authors!
- Last Word
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BK Authors Annual Report 2020
by Emily Axelrod, Board President
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2020 has been a pivotable year for BK Authors.
We have moved to “virtual” and one of the positives is our offerings are more available geographically. The flip side of that coin is that we miss seeing folks and having those interesting conversations and exchange of ideas spontaneously.
The biggest change of is that the Board voted to move to a gift economy to sustain our selves as an organization. This concept fits with the original thinking of our beginnings as we thought of ourselves as a cooperative but did not fit the legal definition. We each put in something and we all receive something. Pete Neuwirth will share his concept of this at our BK Annual Meeting on December 14. The sign-up for gifts will run on our website: www.bkauthors.org. The good news about is that we are in a good enough financial position that we can try it for a year or two and see how it works.
We have welcomed 35 new authors this year from January to June and we’re waiting on the number for the last half of the year. Thanks to Stewart Levine, our Engagement guru, for organizing welcome calls, along with his helpers and Board members.
We had a very successful marketing workshop that is still on the website and thanks to Karen Phelan, Julie Winkle Giulioni, Bob Miglani, and Kristen Frantz for the quick shift from in-person format to virtual gathering. We have even sold several sets of recordings to those who couldn’t make it. Please let your book writing friends know about the information, as it is for sale to all.
Our annual meeting will be on-line instead of at the retreat – so many more members can participate and hear what we are doing and contribute their ideas as well. The annual meeting will be held on Monday, December 14, @ 5:00 Pacific Standard Time. More about that to come.
Our website continues to grow and change thanks to Christél, our community coordinator. You can find the gift economy page, the by-laws, history, current offerings, info on board members, and our newsletter at www.bkAuthors.org. Please check it out.
We had a successful virtual retreat with a wonderful opening and closing conducted by Marilee Adams and Alan Brisken. Thanks to the planning team of Karen Phelan, John, Kador, Mark Hurwich, and Paul Wright, as well as all the presenters who contributed to making it work.
BJ Gallagher is the new editor of our newsletter, “BK Authors Ink.” BJ has many years of experience writing – and creativity – to bring to the task. A BIG thanks to Ed Frauenheim for starting the newsletter and publishing it for the past several years –and finding great volunteers like Esther Derby to help staff it.
“Author Hacks” is up and running – thanks to Board member Lisa Fain as well as the indispensible Christél. We have enjoyed many different presentations and conversations, especially during our pandemic period – 12 total Author Hacks this year.
John Kador has offered his Water Coolers – three sessions in all – and he is thinking about new offerings for 2021. Thanks, John, for helping us get through this pandemic.
Stewart Levine is conducting quarterly webinars with Johanna and David on BK Publishing and how they are moving ahead, so we can stay in touch as they continue to lead BK Publishing.
We’re looking at various ways to partner with the BK Foundation in the good work they’re doing with the fellowships they provide.
Karen Phelan, our Board VP will be moving into the Board Presidency for the next term. She has been able to experience all of our current events over the last year and played an invaluable leadership role in switching our marketing workshop to virtual format.
Financially we are sound, and BK Authors Treasurer John Kador will give the financial report at our annual meeting.
A big thank you to Christél who has become the one who keeps us going and connected.
Thank you to all the BK authors who have served and supported me during my tenure as Board President. Without all the contributions of time, energy, and creativity, we would not be where we are today.
We welcome all ideas, suggestions, and volunteers – that is how we grow and change. Please let us know what services you want and what services you would like to have. Send your input to bkauthors@gmail.com.
I hope you’ll make sure to go to our website to share a gift or get one.
And remember … you now have a way to invest in BK Publishing thru the crowdfunding opportunity that is up and running. Check it out HERE.
I personally want to thank all of you who have helped – in so many ways – to keep us moving forward with energy and ideas!! I hope that you will continue to invest your time and creativity into this useful and helpful organization for BK authors.
In closing, I wish you and your family happy, healthy holidays!
Emily Axelrod, President of BK Authors
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Join us for the BK Authors Annual Meeting on December 14, 5pm PT/8pm ET |
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This year our board will be conducting our annual meeting a little differently. Normally held during the Author’s Retreat, we decided this year to hold a separate virtual meeting in order to invite all members of the community.
Please join us for a brief meeting to meet your board, learn about our initiatives, especially our new Gift Exchange, hear from David Marshall and Johanna Vondeling about BK Publishers’ crowdfunding project, and, most importantly, network with other authors and give us feedback on what you’d like to see in the future. This is your opportunity to tell us what programs would help you as an author and to get a little more involved with our community.
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Virtual Joyful Encounters at the 2020 BK Authors Retreat
by Bruce Rosenstein
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The annual BK Authors retreat is as much a state of mind as an event. That was especially important this year, September 29-October 1, as it was moved to a completely online video Zoom format. The theme was Joyful Encounters, and it lived up to its name. The retreat convened BK authors from around the country for sessions on topics and issues ranging from how to counteract the polarized state of the country to how to turn your home office into a home video studio.
Although one reason people value the retreat and return each year is the ability to interact in person with old friends and make new connections, the virtual format was a surprisingly effective alternative. It had the feeling of a three-day minor miracle, as a team of people kept everything running smoothly behind the scenes.
Some of the programming was familiar from previous years: a state of BK presentation (by Berrett-Koehler CEO David Marshall and President and Publisher Johanna Vondeling), Open Space sessions and free times, breaks and lunch periods, a talent show (moderated by Stewart Levine), opening plenary (by Ed Frauenheim), and opening and closing activities, led by Marilee Adams and Alan Briskin.
There were also a number of new touches: a speed networking session led by Arthur Jue, a gift exchange instead of the traditional Rob Jolles-led auction (which may return in the future), and the new functionality of Zoom for chats and different avenues for interacting with presenters.
The best addition, from my perspective, was Homeroom. This consisted of four sessions spread throughout the retreat in which five or so participants checked in with each other in separate groups about our expectations, and what we were learning. I was a facilitator for one group (a last-minute opportunity from John Kador), which turned out to be a revolving set of people. Homeroom was a great way to get to know people better, and everyone kept alert as time moved quickly for each brief, 15-20-minute session.
As with most BK retreats, this one was almost completely peer-driven, starting with the heroic programming committee (Emily Axelrod, John Kador, Christel Fairchild, Ed Frauenheim, Mark Hurwich, Karen Phelan, and Paul Wright). Most of the sessions were led by BK authors.
Although I enjoyed the presentation by Bill Shireman, President and CEO of Future500 (“Radical Collaboration: Uniting the Left and Right for a World That Works For All”), I mainly attended the nuts-and-bolts sessions about how authors can navigate working in the pandemic era. These included Vicki Halsey’s “Creating an ENGAGEing Virtual Training Program From Your Brilliant Book,” Rob Jolles’ “Upping Your Virtual Delivery Game,” Joan McArthur-Blair and Stewart Levine’s “Writers on Writing,” "Market Your Book in a Time of Covid and Beyond,” with Jennifer Kahnweiler and Joel Schwartzberg's Don’t Just Describe Your Book, Champion It!”
I also took advantage of the opportunity to get up and move during the Qi Gong session led by Rowena Richie, and to complete the self-assessment in Alphonsus Obayunawa’s “The Mathematics of Happiness.”
Additional takeaways and a-ha moments based on my 2020 retreat experience:
The word is talent: When we’ve met in person, the talent shows tended to be raucous displays that often included singing and dancing. Given the virtual format (and, as Stewart noted, the lack of communal alcohol), the participants this time gravitated more to the spoken word via poetry and storytelling. I entered for the first time (this was my eighth retreat), with my poem “Was This Poem Written By Artificial Intelligence?”), which I later turned into a blog post.
Crucial confidentiality: We were asked at the beginning to respect everyone’s privacy and to be careful and selective about how we describe the retreat to others (both online and off).
Tolerance, patience and good humor go a long way: Everyone was on their best behavior, being good sports about the inevitable Zoom-related mistakes and glitches.
Digital delivery is a skill we must master: Inspired by Rob and Vicki’s intense and high-energy presentations, I realized that if we don’t learn to organize our content and present effectively on video, we risk being left behind.
You can’t be in two places at once: Two concurrent tracks were offered in most time slots, so I had to make tough choices, and inevitably had to miss sessions (especially those by Maren Showkeir, Elizabeth Doty, John Kador, and Barbara McAfee) that I’m sure were excellent.
As the days went on, I found myself making fewer mental comparisons about how this retreat compared to previous, in person ones. While it was disappointing not seeing people in person, there were advantages in saving time and money on flying or driving long distances, and for not being away from home. If you had to do some work during the retreat, it was a lot easier to accomplish. I’m looking forward to the 2021 retreat, whether it will be held in person or online.
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Is It Always Right To Be Right? |
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Berrett-Koehler author Warren Schmidt (A Peacock in the Land of Penguins) who died a few years ago, would have been 100 years old last week. And 51 years ago, on November 9, 1969, the Los Angeles Times published Warren's very first parable, "Is It Always Right to Be Right?"
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Warren's message from half a century ago is as relevant today as it was when he wrote it. We think he would be both pleased and sad – pleased that his message is timeless but sad that Americans are as divided, angry, and violent today as we were back in the '60s.
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It Takes a Resilient Village to Land an OpEd in USA Today
by Ed Frauenheim
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BK Authors Ink editor BJ Gallagher asked me to say a bit about how my co-author Ed Adams and I landed an OpEd in USA Today about how manhood was on the ballot in the presidential election. The short answer is that it took a village. Plus persistence. And patience.
Our editor Steve Piersanti first prompted the idea, in the wake of several articles in the media about masculinity and the election. Thankfully, our book marketing team had been preparing these sorts of OpEds. Michael Crowley and Katie Sheehan of BK had connected us with publicist Cathy Lewis, and Cathy had called on Ed and me to write several OpEds as part of our book launch, Oct. 13.
We’d done so. A number of times, we pitched The New York Times. None of those pitches worked. We tried again with this “manhood on the ballot” piece. Ed and I wrote the piece in the course of a weekend. And we tried the NYT once again. Again, a “no.” Cathy suggested we next try with a contact she had at USA Today. And that contact wanted the OpEd! After some fact-checking, I thought we might have a final piece. But we weren’t quite done. The editor wanted to delay publication a couple days, so we would have time to include something about the second presidential debate. That meant watching it carefully and weaving in a few remarks. Then hoping the volatile news cycles of recent weeks wouldn’t delay our piece again. Finally, it ran Oct. 26.
It was a bit of a roller coaster. But a ride I’m glad we took!
FROM THE PIECE:
“Donald Trump and Joe Biden represent starkly different models of masculinity, with Trump embodying a traditional male ethos and Biden an emerging one. The stakes are high for the kind of man we select as our national leader. It will inform how men can show up at home, work and play, how well we address questions of social injustice, and whether we can solve pressing global problems. …
“Because Trump bullied less in the second debate, many felt a sense of relief. But he continued to make grandiose claims on matters like the economy, his pandemic performance and his achievements for immigrants and Black Americans. He repeated the line that with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln, ‘nobody has done more for the Black community than Donald Trump.’
“In contrast to Trump’s braggadocio, Biden offered humility and a willingness to change. About the 1994 crime bill that resulted in many young Black men in jail, he said: “It was a mistake. I've been trying to change it since then. … ”
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Our Books, Our World, Ourselves |
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Introducing the BK Authors Book Club. Each Zoom meeting, the author of a new or legacy BK book will introduce their book, then participants will go into breakout sessions to consider what the book means to them and how the authors’ themes correspond with their own.
It’s about time we organized a BK Author Book Club. BK publishes 30-40 new books every year. There are so many great ideas that resonate with our own, so many possibilities for collaboration, so much good will for changing the world. The facilitator is John Kador, author of Effective Apology, and the convener of the Watercooler Conversations series.
We will distribute a chapter or short reading from the book in question to get everyone on the same page and to help focus the reflection. Reading the entire book is recommended, but optional. To begin, the group will be open to BK authors.
Is there a purer representation of the BK mission statement: Connecting people and ideas to create a world that works for all?
Some details of the BK Authors Book Club are still to be worked out, such as the starting date, length of each session, and frequency. I welcome your suggestions. If you’re interested in learning more or have suggestions for initial books to consider, please email me at jkador@jkador.com.
Look for an announcement and opportunity to register in January.
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BK Foundation Upcoming Interactive Storytelling Event |
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A special invitation to you to join the BK Foundation’s upcoming interactive storytelling event. It’s a chance to reflect on moments that have given this challenging year meaning.
This event will take place on Thursday, November 19th at 4-5:30pm Pacific Time / 7-8:30pm Eastern Time.
Please considering joining this unique event from a sibling organization. Register Here
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New and Upcoming BK Books—Please Support These Authors! |
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Below is a list of BK books that are being published this summer.
Please consider buying these books or giving them a plug on social media.
These authors are facing the uphill battle of trying to launch a book amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the related economic crisis and recent social unrest.
Please consider buying these books or giving them a plug on social media. These authors are facing the uphill battle of trying to launch a book amid the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic crisis.
** click on each of the images below to learn more about the book.
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Corporate Crime and Punishment
John C. Coffee, JR
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The Hidden History of Monopolies
Thom Hartmann
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Hyper-Learning
Edward D. Hess
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The Anatomy of Peace
The Arbinger Institute
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Inside Your Customer's Imagination
Chip R. Bell
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Black Fatigue
Mary-Frances Winters
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The Extraordinary Power of Leader Humility
Marilyn Gist, Ph.D
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The Creative Mindset
Jeff DeGraff and
Staney DeGraff
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Quiet Is A Superpower
Jill Chang
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From Incremental To Exponential
Vivek Wadhwa and Ismail Amla with Alex Salkever
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Up From Nothing
John Hope Bryant
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Reinventing Masculinity
Edward M. Adams and
Ed Frauenheim
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The 5 Disciplines of Inclusive Leaders
Andrés T. Tapia & Alina Polonskaia
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Practical Project Risk Management, 3rd ed
David Hillson and
Peter Simon
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From The Ground U
Peter Lazes and
Marie Rudden
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Stepping Up, 2nd ed
John Izzo Ph.D.
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Eat That Frog! for students
Brian Tracy with
Anna Leinberger
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Skills For Career Success
Elaine Biech
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Stepping Up, 2nd ed
John Izzo Ph.D.
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The Long-Distance Teammate
Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel
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The Body Is Not An Apology, 2nd ed
Sonya Renee Taylor
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At Thanksgiving we give thanks by...
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AWAKENING each day with an attitude of gratitude.
BEING HUMBLE about our role in the universe.
COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS … often.
DELIGHTING in simple pleasures.
ENCOURAGING those who need our support.
FORGIVING those who have disappointed or hurt us.
GIVING what we can to help others.
HUGGING our loved ones -- family, friends, and pets.
INCLUDING those who have no close friends or family.
JUGGLING our commitments to both work and family.
KEEPING A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW for those who have lost their way.
LOVING others unconditionally.
MAKING ROOM for one more person at the table.
NEVER FORGETTING to offer a prayer of gratitude.
OPENING our hearts and our wallets to those in need.
PREPARING warm, nourishing holiday meals.
QUIETING our minds with prayer and meditation.
RECOGNIZING that blessings can show up in surprising ways.
SPEAKING kindly and compassionately to others.
TAPPING INTO SPIRITUAL WISDOM to guide us.
UNDERSTANDING that blessings are meant to be shared.
VEERING AWAY from resentments and anger.
WORKING for an end to hunger, both physical and spiritual.
XPRESSING appreciation for all that others do for us.
YEARNING FOR AND WORKING FOR PEACE.
ZEROING IN on what’s truly important in life.
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WISHING YOU A WARM, WONDERFUL - AND SAFE - THANKSGIVING!
© BJ Gallagher 2020
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We invite you to share this newsletter with your professional and personal networks.
Also, please share our social media content with your friends and colleagues to broaden our reach and work toward our collective mission of a world that works for all.
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BK Authors Co-Editors:
BJ Gallagher and Esther Derby
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