Exactly one year ago, Kamy Wicoff (above) launched She Writes, a social networking site for women writers. It was born out of a salon that Wicoff began with Nancy K. Miller seven years ago. Wicoff hosted the salon for years in her loft on Hudson Street. The goal was to provide women writers with a place to listen to established, often lauded writers and to share, network, and support each other.

“She Writes extended my community by creating a virtual form of the salon,” says Wicoff. “I was interested in making sure that we fought the sense of isolation which can occur when you pursue a solitary profession like writing. I’m proud that members come from all 50 states, over 30 countries and there are nearly 10,000 members as of the birthday.”

She chose to stay in Tribeca to form the company because she had access to Sunshine Suites, a company offering on-demand office space. “They gave us a great deal,” she says. “It was near Washington Market School, where my kids went—or one went, now the other is bigger—and it made me feel as if I was still in my community. And in starting a business there is a lot of uncertainty, and it helps to be in that sort of environment.”

When asked if there are high and low points in launching a virtual business in difficult economic times, Wicoff is sanguine. “Well, I would have liked to reach a round of series A funding, but we do have a new CEO, Daphne Kis, and after a year where I feel as if I put myself through business school, I am now content to be the founder. I know we will raise the money and make the site have a more specific functionality and tools to support all our members.”

About the author: Wickham Boyle, known as Wicki, has written for The New York Times, National Geographic, and other publications. She was a founder of CODE and ThriveNYC magazine, executive director of La MaMa theater, and author of A Mother’s Essays From Ground Zero (2001), which debuted as an opera in 2008. She has an MBA from Yale and worked as a Wall Street stockbroker. At Memory & Movement, she writes about memorizing poems while walking along the Hudson.

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