Creative Encounters: Conversations with Kamy Wicoff

Hi everyone! So, remember when I told you that I had something I planned to start doing with my blog that I wasn’t ready to tell you about yet? Well, I’m ready to tell you about it now. I’ve noticed some of my favorite bloggers interviewing people they admire and featuring these people on their blog as a way to say, “Hey, thanks for being awesome,” and it inspired me to do something of the same with HSM. Since I am by nature a more creative individual, as I like to make up stories and nonexistent people for fun, I seem to be mostly academically and professionally attracted to those who work creatively themselves, whether it’s with writing, music, art, crafts, etc.

This interest in learning more about what makes creative people tick came in the form of one of my favorite former professors from my time at South Carolina (USC). I was asked to write an editorial article, interviewing someone in my same field of interest. Well, naturally, the first person to pop in my head was Heidi Nobles, because I just love her, and maybe one of these Thursday’s I’ll post the article I wrote after interviewing her about her writing and time in USC’s MFA program. But, today, I’m sharing with you writer, Kamy Wicoff.

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In my sophomore year of college, I enrolled in a digital rhetoric course that introduced me to the Ning network. Our professor created one for our class and asked that we use all forms of communication between each other and to submit our class assignments through his Ning page. Being new to Ning and having a general interest in social media, I wanted to find other Ning communities I might be interested in joining. There was 20-Something Bloggers and Book Review Blogs, but the network that captured me most was She Writes. One of the founding mothers? Kamy Wicoff. “She Writes was born from my hope to bring the salon and its spirit to women all over the world,” she says of the site.

In 2004, Kamy reconnected with renowned biographer of poet Anne Sexton, and her former professor, Diane Middlebrook. They were both living in London — Kamy, a graduate student working on her thesis and Diane, a recent nominee for the National Book Critics Circle Award. While in two different places in their careers, Kamy “found we had so much to give one another,” and Diane suggested they start a salon of women writers of all different genres and experiences that would allow them to connect with each other across the globe. Kamy envisioned She Writes as a place where a writer would “rather than simply read from her work, give a talk about the craft or the business of writing that would illuminate, inspire, and empower the other women writers in the room.”

“To get the site running,” says Kamy, “I had to find the perfect partner, who shared my vision for a virtual ‘room’ characterized by generosity, warmth, and professionalism.” She found such a partner in fellow author, Deborah Siegel. After acquiring established women writers for their cause, Kamy and Deborah were faced with the task of finding an easily manageable and financially soft platform for the network. As it happened, a college friend of Kamy’s, Gina Bianchini, was working as a tech entrepreneur who started the Ning network. After helping Kamy and Deborah set up the site with a special design, they were able to launch SheWrites.com on June 29th, 2009.

1. She Writes has hosted several events in New York City in the last few years for women writers. Would you say there is more benefit for writers living in NYC as opposed to living elsewhere?

Like anything, there are good and bad things about it. The good thing is that you are surrounded by a culture, and by other people, who love and value writing, and that makes it easier to find a like-minded community and the stimulation and support every writer needs. The difficult thing is that because there are so many writers in New York, it is very competitive to get teaching jobs and to publish (though of course publishing is competitive everywhere), and sometimes all of the events and goings-on can be a distraction from the day-to-day solitude and focus successful writers require. That being said, I love being a writer here, but I am biased! And in founding She Writes, I have been so thrilled and impressed to discover the passionate communities of writers that exist all over the country, almost anywhere you care to look.

2. You took some time off this year to work on a writing project and came back with a big announcement about the creation of She Writes Press. What made you want to start the Press?

I used to say that I started She Writes because I needed it. In a rapidly changing publishing world, I, like so many other authors I knew, needed a trusted resource to turn to as our publishers began to ask us to do things we had never done before (social media etc.), and it was hard to know how to go about doing them right. I also needed and wanted a place to share the knowledge we were all acquiring in a way that was good for all women who write. When Brooke Warner (formerly the Executive Editor of Seal Press) came to me with the idea for She Writes Press, I had the same reaction. She Writes Press is the kind of publisher I also want and need–a publisher with a high editorial standard and an excellent reputation in the industry, but that allows authors to invest in their books and retain ownership of them, and the process, through publication. If a writer has a book that she has worked very hard on, and that is publishing-ready, she should not have only two alternatives: jumping through the hoops of the traditional publishing system, where she has to convince the marketing department her book will well; or a drawer. SWP provides a much-needed third way for authors looking for a way to bring their books to life without being completely alone, and without an editorially-excellent imprimatur, in the world of self-publishing.

Our first title, by the way, was Brooke’s book “What’s Your Book: A Step-By-Step Guide to Get You From Inspiration to Published Author,” and I can’t recommend it highly enough!

3. What should members do if they want to become a featured writer on She Writes?

We always welcome ideas for blogposts that deal with the craft or the business of writing in ways that will enlighten our membership! If you have a post you would like to see featured, our editor, Krissa Lagos, can be contacted through the site to take a look.

4. Have you ever thought of turning She Writes into a literary journal or writing magazine, or would you rather keep it strictly as an online community?

I think having a She Writes literary journal is a fabulous idea. We just haven’t had the time to do something like that, but I certainly think it would be a natural outgrowth of the community in the future.

5. Do you have any future plans for She Writes that you can share?

The press is our main focus right now. We are still in the pilot phase, so there is a lot to do and think about! Plus I am still at work on my first novel, and want to be sure I actually finish it.