Litquake Schedule: Monday, Oct. 12

The SF Foundation Center hosts our annual industry panel discussions on how to get your first book published, and sage advice from first-time authors. You may need to clone yourself to guarantee seeing all the evening events, from punk rock storytelling at Broadway Studios, to “Poets in the Pews” at Grace Cathedral, and staged readings of new works by local playwrights!



3-5 pm: Getting Your First Book Published: A Publishing Industry Roundtable FULL
5:30-7:30 pm:  Being Discovered: First-Time Authors Tell All FULL
7:30 pm: Poets in the Pews
8 pm: Journey to the End of the Bay: Punk Rockers Spill Their Guts
8 pm: The Play-Makers

3-5 pm
Getting Your First Book Published: A Publishing Industry Roundtable FULL
Hear insiders' accounts of the publishing process. Learn everything from why your query letter may not be working, to how Web 2.0 might play a role in your publishing plans. Bring your questions.

Moderator: Foundation Center director Janet Camarena. With HarperOne V.P. associate publisher Claudia Riemer Boutote, literary agent April Eberhardt, Scribd.com content and marketing manager Kathleen Fitzgerald, Numina Press Editor-in-Chief Yanina Gotsulsky, literary agent Ted Weinstein.
Foundation Center, 312 Sutter Street, San Francisco; (415) 397-0902
5:30-7:30 pm
Being Discovered: First-Time Authors Reveal All FULL
Learn from a panel of newly published, first-time writers about all that was involved in making their dream of writing a reality. Topics covered will include: finding the time and discipline to regularly write, identifying potential publishers, getting noticed by literary professionals, dealing with rejection, and publicizing your book. The authors will also talk about the literary communities they belong to, and how these played a role in the journey to publication.

Moderator: Kemble Scott. With Allison Hoover Bartlett, Seth Harwood, Linda Himelstein, Kathryn Ma, Shana Mahaffey.
Foundation Center, 312 Sutter Street, San Francisco; (415) 397-0902
7:30 pm
Poets in the Pews
Celebrate Columbus Day with some of the country’s most riveting and electric young poets, in the intimate vaulted chapel of Nob Hill's Grace Cathedral. A rare assembly of spirited, passionate, and powerfully contemplative voices. All donations benefit Poetry Flash, the West Coast’s premiere poetry review and event calendar. With Brendan Constantine, Jericho Brown, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, C. Dale Young, Ilya Kaminsky.


Grace Cathedral, 1100 California Street, San Francisco
(415) 749-6300
Admission: $5 suggested donation, no one will be turned away
8 pm
Journey to the End of the Bay: Punk Rockers Spill Their Guts
Litquake and Porchlight Storytelling collaborate for true tales of punk-rock anarchy and excess, launching the new book Gimme Something Better: The Profound, Progressive, and Occasionally Pointless History of Bay Area Punk from Dead Kennedys to Green Day, by Jack Boulware and Silke Tudor. Book sales and signing to follow.

Hosted by Beth Lisick and Arline Klatte. Storytellers include Lynn Breedlove (Tribe 8), Anna Joy Springer (Sister Spit, Cypher in the Snow), Bucky Sinister (Gilman spoken-word), Oran Canfield (the Farm), Rozz Rezabek (Negative Trend), Jesse Luscious (Blatz, the Gr'ups), John Geek (Fleshies, Triclops!), Chicken John (Circus Redickuless), Kareim McKnight (Barrington/Cloyne), Johnny Strike (Crime), and Hank Rank (Crime). Live music by the Avengers' Penelope Houston and her band.
Broadway Studios (formerly the On Broadway), 435 Broadway, San Francisco
(415) 291-0333
Admission: $15 General, $30 includes dinner at 6pm; advance tickets to be available at brownpapertickets.com
8 pm
The Play-Makers
New playwrights and supporting organizations talk about how to get started as a playwright in the Bay Area. Staged readings of short plays by local writers, followed by panel discussion on the art,  craft, and business of making plays. With playwrights Eugenie Chan,  Aaron Loeb, and Geetha Reddy. In conjunction with Playwright’s  Foundation, PlayGround, and SF Playhouse.
SF Playhouse, 533 Sutter Street, San Francisco
Admission: $5-$10 sliding scale