A Writers Conference on the cutting e-Dge

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself with the e-Dge (You know, e-Books, iPads…) But there really is a writers conference coming up October 6th & 7th that’s all about the new marketplace for authors. As an Indie author myself who managed to get on the Amazon Bestsellers list from Nowhere, Montana, I can tell you these are EXCITING TIMES!

The Flathead River Writers Conference has been focused on e-publishing for several years now, and this year the key note speaker is Mark Coker. Yeah, that Mark Coker!

Smashwords logo   He’s the founder of Smashwords, an ebook publishing and distribution platform that serves over 40,000 independent authors and publishers around the world & has distributed over 100,000 titles.

How does a small conference in Montana get somebody like that, in addition to Jeff Herman, Regina Brooks, John Dekakis, and Leslie Budewitz!? Maybe because the two day event is held here…

Kalispell in the fall

And the food’s really good too!

Frank feeds the writers well!

Well, I’ll be there with my friend & marketing guru Roxanne McHenry. We’re presenting our story of how two moms who chat over coffee made their way to the Amazon Bestseller list, and on Sunday we’ll hit the 10 things writers can do to better market their work. I’m looking forward to the weekend & the fun of gathering with a bunch of writers who understand the joys and pitfalls of working in our pyjamas!

me in PJ's in office

If you can join us…

http://www.authorsoftheflathead.org/conference.asp

E-Publishing 101

This is for the Montana writers…  Resolve to Publish Your Book in 2012 Workshop!

Roxanne McHenry, who helped me launch The Do-Over, will present the technical aspects of e-publishing and the specific tools for online marketing.

Roxanne's website banner www.eroxanne.com

I’m going to cover the author’s job in the process. It’s a bit overwhelming at first, but the steps are clear once you begin and very do-able. My mentor Dennis Foley says about novel writing, “If Dennis can do it, anybody can do it.” Let me say about e-publishing, “If Kathy can do it, anybody can do it!”

 Prior to May I didn’t have so much as a Facebook account. I am now the owner of Blue House Publishing, the author of an e-book (the second one’s coming out this month!), a blogger, and occasionally I’m a twit. Okay, I mean I tweet on Twitter!

It’s been a great experience, and we hope you’ll join us…

Saturday January 21, 2012  9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell, Montana. For more information and to register contact Roxanne at rox@roxanne.com

e-pub 101 001

Babies, Books, and Finding My People

The first time I attended the Flathead River Writers Conference, I was partially trying to get away from a toddler.
When I look back now at the photos of that dear toddler, Ava, I almost can’t stand how sweet that time was. But when you’re home nearly 24/7 with an active child, and the northern fall is bringing clouds and darkness, and you have almost given up hope of ever seeing the light of day again, escape is not unreasonable.
So I went to the local writer’s conference to spend two days drinking coffee with grown-ups and enjoying the privilege of closing the door all the way when I went to the restroom.

The Plan

I met a literary agent there who liked the concept of my novel that I was only about 30 pages into. That novel, The Plan, about a biology professor who makes a science experiment out of looking for a man to father her child, will be available this fall, but at that moment in time, it was a long way from grown, just like Ava.
I attended the next year. The combination of an interested agent and, more importantly, privacy in the bathroom, was well worth the admission price. I had another great weekend, complicated only by having another great baby. Yes, that fall, I had a toddler and her two-month-old sister, Grace. My mother brought the baby to me during my breaks, and I was exhausted and exhilarated in equal measure.

Flathead River Writers Conference

I continued to attended the conference year after year, and as my children grew, so did my stack of manuscripts. I suffered near misses with agents, and a success or two. I certainly won the lottery when it came to amazing daughters, and I won and placed in several writing contests. But over time, the conference came to mean something to me beyond the break from domestic life, and even beyond the amazing instruction and opportunity the professionals there give so freely. I came to find my people.
I am a writer and so are the 125 people who gather there every year.
We take two days from our lives to talk about our shared love of words, the desire to write that drives us to stay up late or get up early or try to scribble down a bit of dialogue with a baby on one hip and another asking for a juice box.

 

And this year, my teenage daughters will tell me to have fun as they run out the door to see their friends, and I will run out the door to see mine.

 

Kathy’s Book News & More!

Woo Hoo!! Kathy’s “The Do-Over” is Now an Amazon Bestseller!

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