Friday |
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Agent and Editor Q&A Panel:
Editors:
Holly Blanck-St. Martin's Press
Paula Eykelhof-Harlequin and MIRA
Angela James-Carina Press
Agents:
Kevan Lyon-Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
Kathleen Ortiz-Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Representation
Suzie Townsend-FinePrint Literary Management |
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Conference Mascots:
The conference was graced with the flat but still handsome and charming presence of Fabio and Jack Sparrow. |
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Fundraiser Raffle & Silent Auction for Literacy:
Members donated 51 baskets for the fundraiser raffle for literacy, organized by Jody Allen. Members could also bid on agent and editor critiques and classes in the silent auction. Money raised will be donated to the Literacy Council of Greater Waukesha. |
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Saturday |
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Workshop:
Susan Wiggs presented a funny, interesting, 2-hour workshop called "From Idea to Printed Page: The Evolution of a Book" |
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Query Fest:
Author Brenda Novak, editor Paula Eykelhof of Harlequin, and agent Kathleen Ortiz of Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Representation offered critiques of actual query letters submitted by conference attendees. |
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Awards Luncheon:
Fab Five Contest:
Awards were presented to WisRWA members Kate MacEachern for her 2nd Place finish in Paranormal, Debra Maher for her 2nd Place finish in Historical, and Nancy S. Evertz for her 1st Place finish in Series Contemporary
Write Touch Readers Award Contest:
Awards were presented to WisRWA members Amy Knupp for her 3rd Place finish in Long Series Contemporary, and Christie Craig for her 1st Place finish in Single Title Contemporary
First Sales:
Recognition was given to WisRWA members Cat Schield and Mal Olson for the sales of their first novels
Golden Heart:
Recognition was given to WisRWA members Cheryl Nagro, Virginia McCullough and Nancy Evertz for being finalists in the national RWA Golden Heart contest
RITA:
Recognition was given to WisRWA members Helen Brenna and Lori Handeland for being finalists in the national RWA RITA Award contest
Chapter Service Award:
This year's WisRWA Chapter Service Award was presented to conference coordinator Betsy Norman
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Agent/Editor Pitch Sessions:
Attendees could make private pitch sessions with agents and editors. |
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Workshop:
Bestselling YA author Simone Elkeles gave a lively and fascinating workshop called "The Secrets of Marketing Queen. |
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Workshop:
Angela James, editor for straight-to-digital Carina Press gave a presentation on "Publishing Into the Digital Age." |
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Book Signing for Literacy:
The book fair ended with a gathering of all the authors, and a book signing in the hotel's atrium. |
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Sunday |
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Workshop:
Sunday began with a wonderful workshop by best-selling author Brenda Novak, whose presentation was called, "Emotion: The Heart of the Novel." |
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Workshop:
In this workshop, award-winning novelist Carrie Lofty taught conference attendees how to write a 35-word pitch. This presentation was based on her popular class. Then she critiqued pitches submitted by volunteers. |
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Workshop:
The conference closed with a motivational talk from Susan Wiggs called "How NOT to Get Published," about how to avoid the pitfalls that keep writers from writing. |
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