Save the dates for 2014: January 24 - 25 (snow dates - January 31 - February 1)

The Roanoke Regional Writers Conference enters its seventh year in 2014 and is set to take place at Hollins University. The event opens Friday night with a wine reception prior to the keynote address by Sheri Reynolds. Sheri, a wonderful Virginia writer, teaches at Old Dominion University and is a New York Times best-seller. You can find out more about her at www.sherireynolds.com. Saturday's workshops begin at 8:30 a.m. and run through 5:30 p.m. We are planning our first workshop, this one on using social media to our advantage. It will be a two-class, linked set, taught by Melanie Huber and Liz Long. In addition, we'll have Karen Chase talking about how she turned a blog into a marvelous book, Bonjour 40, and Sarah Beth Jones and Bonnie Cranmer will co-teach on ghost writing and the Internet. The rest of the class schedule is still being set and we're recruiting the best people we can to make 2014 the best year ever.

Stay tuned for complete details and thanks to everyone for your strong support of our conference and the efforts to create a writers' community in this region.

Registration Details: Registration is $65.00 which includes the reception on Friday and lunch on Saturday.
Friday, January 24: Reception - 6:15 p.m., keynote address - 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, January 25: Workshops and panel discussions - 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
For more details, contact Dan Smith, conference organizer, at pampadansmith@gmail.com or 540-556-8510.

 

January 25-26, 2013 [Rescheduled for February 1 - 2]

The 2013 Roanoke Regional Writers Conference, entering its sixth year, has been rescheduled for February 1 - 2 at Hollins University.

The conference features more than 20 classes on Saturday following a wine reception and keynote address, along with the introduction of teachers, Friday evening. Lunch is part of the $60 cost of the entire package.

This year we're heavy in the classroom with authors, most notably keynote speaker Kathleen Grissom, who wrote the blockbuster (half a million copies sold in the last two years) The Kitchen House, whose movie rights have been sold.

Kathy is a newcomer to writing, although she's in her 60s. She's been an ad exec, a farmer, a shop owner, and a nurse, but her heart has been in writing for some time. Her book's first run was a bit over 11,000 copies from a major publisher, but she wanted more than that, so she designed her own marketing program and it went BANG! almost immediately. Kathy will speak about writing and she will also teach a class on marketing your work.

Among the others who have significant books in the market right now are Neil Sagebiel, Bill Kovarik, Mollie Cox Bryan, Matthew Vollmer, Tiffany Trent, Gina Holmes, Brooke McGlothlin, Jim Minick, Carrie Brown, Amanda Cockrell, Dan Smith, Angie Smibert, and Roland Lazenby, whose new biography of Michael Jordan is being prepared for publication. It's expected to be a huge seller.

The RRWC concentrates its efforts in this region, recruiting writers and teachers from a 100-mile radius of Roanoke where the talent is strong and deep.

The conference will open this year with music (which has to be written) by Greg Trafidlo, a Roanoke folk musician with a national reputation. He's writing us a song.

Details:

• Register online
• Conference schedule
• Presenters
• Hollins campus map

Questions?

Contact Dan Smith at (540) 556-8510 or e-mail pampadansmith@gmail.com.