Monday, September 21, 2009

Central Ohio Fiction Writers Present Readers and Writers Holiday Conference

What an exhausting weekend! The conference was a huge success!! Many authors and readers gathered together at the Holiday Inn in Worthington for the annual Readers and Writers Holiday Conference.

The evening began with a "come as you are" reception, followed by a book signing hosted by Barnes and Noble with local authors meeting, mingling, and autographing books.

Donna MacMeans, recipient of the Golden Heart Award for her debut novel, THE EDUCATION OF MRS. BRIMLEY, gave a workshop "Analyzing Your Way to a Bestseller" following the book signing. A CPA by day, Donna employed her analytical skills on everything from dialogue to market trends to assist her along the journey toward becoming a published author. In the workshop, she disclosed meaningful and generally humorous observations accumulated in her research.

Saturday, the conference began with our editors and agents telling a little about themselves and their houses: Stephany Evans, President of FinePrint Literary Agency; Elaine Spencer, Subrights Manager/Agent for The Knight Agency; Lori Graham, Senior Editor for The Wild Rose Press; Lindsey Faber, Editor for Samhain Publishing.

Roxanne St. Claire, Keynote Speaker, gave a humorous and inspirational speech which ended with everyone in the room wiping a tear.

After lunch, Roxanne and all the agents/editors formed a panel to interact with the attendees on "What's Hot and What's Not in Romance."

The group presented an award to Annette Fitzgerald, The Book Exchange, in Port Clinton, Ohio, for Bookseller of the Year. Karin Shah received a first sale pen for her debut novel, Starjacked, published by Samhain.

The afternoon had a choice of two separate workshops. Leanna Renee Hieber presented "Direct Your Book" using theater techniques to write the next blockbuster; and J.C. Wilder and Jules Bennett presented "Build a Hero."

Raffle baskets winners were announced amid cheers and excited shouts of joy. Among the items won were a Dell Notebook, a $100 Amazon gift certificate, and a free admission to RT Convention.

Everyone left with a happy glow and a determination to finish the next manuscript.

3 comments:

Jennifer Shirk said...

Sounds wonderful! I can't wait to my local writer's conference next month!

Karin Shah said...

It was a lovely conference! Huge thank yous to all those who worked hard (as opposed to me who hardly worked)*g*.

A Fabulous time!

Carol Ann said...

COFW rocks! Karin, you have done so much for our chapter that you deserved to enjoy the day and celebrate. It was my pleasure to present you with the pen. Wishing you a ton of sales with STARJACKED.