Sophie and Realm of Caring, Shebooks and Me

Hellooooooo, Sophie-Girl!

Sophie and I just walked up to a copy shop to get copies made of the flyer I'll be handing out tonight when I speak briefly, again, at the Realm of Caring benefit. Tonight's event will be packed with more than 400 people, many of whom will be neurology officials. There will also be families and many people who are anxiously waiting to get Charlotte's Web. My words will be brief and hopefully inspirational. It's imperative that Realm of Caring gets more financial support so that it can provide this life-saving medicine to more children and adults with epilepsy and other diseases. If you haven't yet, please consider donating to Realm of Caring at this link. Click on DONATE and then scroll down to the California chapter (the one with the beach, of course!) You know I love you, don't you?

The flyer advertises the publication of my e-book this Wednesday, June 11th by Shebooks. It's a short memoir, an excerpt from a larger book that I hope will one day be completed and published, too.  I'll give you the links and all that jazz on Wednesday -- in the meantime, if you want to read a bit about it, you can hop on over to dear Angella at 37 Paddington. 

You can also check out Shebooks' website. Here's what they say about themselves:

Shebooks was co-founded by three women with long careers in publishing. We were excited by the explosion of digital media, which was giving readers new ways to find compelling stories. And we were pleased to see writers find fresh ways to work and make money outside the usual channels. 

The problem was that female authors, journalists, editors – and ultimately female readers – were being shut out of the revolution. Innovative digital publishing companies led by men and publishing mostly male writers were getting lots of investment and attention. (Our “aha!” moment came at a journalism conference in 2012: all guys onstage announcing their new companies to an audience that was nearly all women.) But we knew that women are voracious readers in every format – buying the majority of books and magazines and reading (and writing) the majority of blogs. 

As veterans of women’s publishing, we understood the realities of women’s lives – that while we love to read, we don’t always have time for a full-length book. We also knew that paid opportunities for female writers were shrinking—and that the content of the so-called thought leader magazines still carries 70 percent male bylines. 

So we decided not to wait for our invitation to the party. Shebooks was the result: a new media format, real money for writers (our writers all share in our profits), and engaging stories that women can’t wait to read, that fit the corners of their busy lives.
We are grateful for the support of the New Media Women’s Entrepreneurial Fund at the Journalism Lab at American University, as well as that of friends, family, and angel investors – and now you, our readers!

Cool stuff, right?