AuthorHouse Blog

My travels took me to beautiful Cape Cod this week to attend and speak at the Cape Cod Writers Conference. At the request of conference organizer and AuthorHouse author, Jacqueline Loring, I flew into Providence (because the airfare was much cheaper than flying into Boston) and rented a car over to Craigsville Beach overlooking Nantucket Sound.

The Cape Cod Writers Center hosts events throughout the year, helping over 250 local writers and aspiring authors hone their skills and gain visibility with the literary public. Jacqueline has done an impressive job leading this group, and this week-long conference is the high point of the year.

Craigville Beach’s Conference Center, a collection of small cottage style homes and boarding houses, played host to this year’s conference. Small-group sessions took place in the living rooms of cottage homes with established authors and agents such as Dennis Lehane (national author), Christina Ward (literary agent), J. Watts Biggers (co-creator of Underdog), Gary Braver (novelist), and Barry Brodsky (screenplay writer).

Attendees were engaged throughout the week, some of which stayed overnight at the Craigsville Beach Inn while others commuted in from their nearby homes. With our small community only 100 ft. from the beach, several authors packed their laptops or writing tablets and headed down to the beach in between classes to work on homework and exercises from the sessions.

Our publishing panel discussion was on Friday morning at the Manor, the southern-most home in the village with spectacular views of Nantucket Sound. I was joined by Diane Gedymin and local PR expert Lynn Van Dine. Our cozy group of 20 talked and answered questions about self-publishing for 1-1/2 hours. I stuck around for at least another 45 minutes talking to aspiring authors one-on-one, answering their individual questions. One of the things I’ve learned over the years working with authors is this: every book is different and every authors’ goals/objectives are different.

I spoke with Gary Rafferty from New Hampshire who has finished a children’s book and was happy to hear that AuthorHouse publishes color books and has illustrators on staff. He, like many children’s authors, has had a problem finding a good illustrator to bring his words to life.

Another author, Sandra Macfarlane, writes non-fiction about local towns and people of interest. She was interested in the hardback cover option and our “front to back cover” all-inclusive pricing for publishing her book. A few poets in attendance were happy to hear that AuthorHouse publishes a lot of poetry and that we have a low minimum page count for both black and white and color books.

With the small village feel of the conference, the boarding house lodging, communal dining at the Inn each meal, proximity to the beach, celebrity authors and faculty, and the organization of all the Cape Cod Writers Center staff, I give this conference a 9.5 out of 10 (probably my highest rating yet). We’ll definately be back next year and hope to spend more time teaching classes and meeting writers on their way to being a published author!

This was my second visit to one of the Midwest’s finest writers conferences: the 33rd Annual Midwest Writers Conference in Muncie, Indiana. Not only is this close to home, but everyone at the conference makes you feel at home no matter where you are from. Hosted on the campus of Ball State University in the alumni center, over 140 paid attendees joined with 8 faculty members (including moi) and 7 featured speakers for this three-day event.

I strolled in Saturday morning for the 8:00 am buttonhole sessions, hosting a table with the signage “Publish Thy Self” in the middle of an 8-topper. Several authors came in a little late due to a poker game the night before at the Roberts Hotel, you know who you are!

I taught a session at 11:30 entitled “How to Leverage the Internet to Market Your Book”. We had a great session with about 20 attendees. When I taught this session last year, I learned pretty quick that there is a great digital divide with authors. Some understand how Google and Yahoo work, some can’t turn on computers. Given my experience with this group, we started at ground zero where I explained how the Internet works by comparing it to the phone company. Once we got everyone across that barrier, I went further by explaining how websites work, how much they cost, how to pick a URL, and how to blog. A full hour later, no one was asleep and no one walked out, so by my account it was successful.

After lunch at the White River Landing downtown with the authors and faculty (thanks by the way Jama!), we came back to an afternoon packed with sessions, one-on-ones with agents, and an exciting awards dinner. I spent a lot of time talking to authors in between sessions about self-publishing, primarily trying to dispell the myth that POD and self-publishing are the same thing. A few of the agents on hand were giving aspiring authors the misperception that POD is a bad thing, a “curse” that no author should wish on themselves. I quickly pointed out that many of the larger publishing firms are using POD as a way to cut their inventory costs. Remember, Print on Demand is merely a technology that enables you to mitigate the risk of printing 1,000+ books and hope that they sell. Several authors had already self-published but needed a publisher that could give them distribution through amazon.com and retailers. One author needed her children’s book illustrated, so she was excited to know that AuthorHouse has a full staff of illustrators waiting to help her out.

Later that evening, I had the honor of sitting at the head table with Dr. Dennis Hensley, the emcee of the evening’s awards, and the infamous Fred and Anne Woodress. Everyone was fairly tired after three days of intensive workshops, panel discussions, and after hour networking. We started out the awards by doing our annual drawing for a free publishing contract, compliments of AuthorHouse. I drew the name of Shirley McMillan, an author that I had spoken to at length earlier in the day. She is helping a friend and former University president write his memoirs. Our $698 publishing package put a smile on her face!

Perhaps the highlight of the day was the entertainment after dinner, hosted by Lou Harry. This was one of the funniest events I’ve seen on the road. Lou chose three people from the audience to play “Midwest Writers Jeopardy”, the winner of which won a shiny quarter from Lou’s personal treasure chest.

Overall, I would give the Midwest Writers Conference a solid “A” for content, supportive and involved faculty, and for a supportive and hospitable atmosphere. Of all the conferences I attend, this is by far one of the more intimate, helpful writers conferences around.