Tag Archives: Literacy Signing

RWA: Librarian Day, Literacy Signing

Barbara Vey -- July 30th, 2012

Suzanna Enoch, Julia London, Sabrina Jeffries and Karen Hawkins

Wednesday kicked off the first official day of RWA (Romance Writers of America). It always starts with Librarian Day. One of my favorites because I always wanted to be a librarian, so I love talking to them. There were workshops on Connecting Romance Readers and Authors at the Library, Focus on Historical Romance, and Blast from the Past. One interesting comment was the librarian who noted that her senior readers were complaining about the lack of large print erotica. The luncheon featured a speech by Kerrilyn Sparks. The librarians received swag bags and a visit to the goody room where they could collect lots of great books and other items donated by authors. Everyone left smiling and excited to bring back some great ideas to their libraries.

Sabrina Jeffries hosted one of the many parties held during RWA. She was promoting her Christmas book and the place was all decorated for Christmas. Sabrina even had special Sabrina Martinis. Advanced Reading Copies of the books were given away as very coveted prizes. The party was filled with bloggers, librarians, booksellers and readers.

Sabrina Martinis

Sabrina Jeffries

The absolute highlight of the day was the Literacy Signing. This event is free and open to the public. RWA’s “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing features hundreds of romance authors signing copies of their novels. Proceeds from book sales go to ProLiteracy Worldwide. The room was huge, so there was plenty of space to move around. RWA tried something new this year. Avon Publishing sponsored the event so when you walked in the aisle was called Avon Alley and their authors lined both sides.

Courtney Milan on the cover of the German Love Letters magazine with it's editor

Jeanne Adams

Jennifer Ashley

Jill Sorenson

Joanna Bourne

Unfortunately for the readers, the authors were not arranged in alphabetical order this year so it was extremely difficult to locate authors. They did pass out maps, but the print was so small it was extremely difficult to read. The readers I spoke with were upset and frustrated. They would find one author they were looking for only to discover that the next one was located on the other side of the room and the third back where they started. I know I didn’t get to see everyone I wanted because I couldn’t find them. I hope RWA reconsiders doing it in alphabetical order again next year. On the plus side, several authors were happy to sit next to people they don’t normally sit by. But, this event is really about the readers, not the authors. Regardless, I saw many happy readers clutching books signed by their favorite authors.

One final observation on the signing. It was scheduled for 5-8 p.m. By 7 p.m., there were more than a few authors who had left already. As a reader, this upsets me. Even if you sell out of books, I think it’s common courtesy to stay. The readers that come expect the authors to be there the scheduled time. Some cannot make it at 5 p.m. due to work or other obligations. If there are no more books to sign, authors should consider doing what Joanna Bourne was doing. She was handing out signed book plates and stayed until the very end smiling, greeting her readers and posing for pictures. Once again, this event is for the readers folks. Authors pay a lot to come to this conference, so make the most of it. Kudos and a big thank you to all the authors who were there to meet the readers until the signing officially ended.

More about RWA all week.

Bottom Line: Readers are why authors do what they do.

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Drive By Videos From RWA

Barbara Vey -- July 6th, 2011

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Here’s a few videos from RWA and there are a couple more to come. I did Drive By Videos of Meg Cabot, Diana Gabaldon (had trouble pronouncing her name…duh!) at the Literacy Signing and Kate Pearce, who was supposed to be interviewed at RT but I had a problem with the video camera (really a problem with the camera operator). Thanks for being so patient Kate!

Bottom Line: Just a heads up, tomorrow is Chocolate Day, so you have time to stock up and celebrate right.

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Romance Writers of American Descend on the Big Apple

Barbara Vey -- June 29th, 2011

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It’s official, the Romance Writers of America Conference has begun. Registration is fully underway and everyone is walking around with their black bags and name badges (thank goodness because I’m horrible at remembering everyone’s name.
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Sharon Sala, my videographer Andrew (yes, that's my son) and Candace Havens

I got to start off my conference by having breakfast with Candace Havens. You’d think it would be enough that she’s a wonderful author, but this dynamo from Texas has been a TV and movie critic for over 20 years. Her reviews are in over 600 newspapers and she does a segment on radio. Sharon Sala also joined us and she has the honor this year of receiving RWA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
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The first day is dedicated to librarians and booksellers. It’s a day long program with workshops and the

NY Librarians and author Jeannie Lin (in center back)

much anticipated visit to the goody room. There they can grab free books and other giveaways. For the luncheon I sat at a table with librarians from Queens, Brooklyn and Orangeburg. We had a great discussion on student’s summer reading lists provided by the education boards. I see a future blog there.

Julia Quinn

The luncheon speaker was Julia Quinn who was introduced as having appeared on The Weakest Link and winning $79,000. I didn’t know this and I watched the show. This is so cool. In her speech, Julia talked about the impossible dream, being an organized person. She also mentioned a letter she received in the early part of her career from a reader who told her she could be a better writer by using nouns, verbs and adjectives.
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Crowd at Literacy Signing

The highlight of the day was the Literacy Signing. The huge conference room was lined with tables that held hundreds of authors. People started lining up at 3 p.m. for the 5:30 signing and I heard the line went out the door of the hotel and well down the street. The books were donated and all proceeds donated to literacy. It’s a very inspiring sight and everyone comes out a winner.

Jade Lee connecting with a reader

Bertice Small signing for a fan

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The evening ended with a dinner party given by Nancy Berland at the Algonquin Hotel. We were in the Round Table Room that is the site of the legendary 10-year Algonquin Round Table lunch. Among the famous people who lunched there were Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott, and other luminaries of the literary world. It kind of gave me goosebumps to think of the conversations that went on here. Our discussion were more about things that can stop you cold while reading a book like poor research, language not appropriate to the time period and unbelievable coincidences.
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As a side note: You all know that any conference for me isn’t complete without some adventure and while I was out in Time Square we notice that there was no traffic on the street. People were standing around and I was sure they were filming some kind of movie or something. Later I found out that there was a man who had climbed a lamp post ready to jump. A hostage negotiator was called in to talk him down. Kind of scary.
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Bottom Line: Only 2 blisters on my feet so far, but nothing wrong with my voice.

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RWA: Librarian/Bookseller Day

Barbara Vey -- July 29th, 2010

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Christie Ridgeway, Kristin Ramsdell, Eloisa James

Wednesday was a day to celebrate librarians. The workshops were geared to them, the goody room loaded with books and swag and authors were waiting in the wings to court them. I hit the workshop given by Christie Ridgeway, Eloisa James and Kristin Ramsdell on trending books. Focus on Young Adult Romance featured Melissa de la Cruz, Ally Carter, Simone Elkeles, Susan Gibbermand, Amy Alessio – Popular Young Adult authors and a librarian talked about how to bring Young Adult readers into the library, and how to entice them into choosing a book. Best advice — don’t be pushy. Offer selections, but let the kids have the final say. At Tips and Tricks for Effective Romance Collection Development, author Tessa Dare and Wendy Crutcher, librarians both, gave excellent tips for maintaining and weeding a library collection during the financial stress libraries are suffering now. The best suggestion is to make sure everything is cataloged so that you know it is there and it can be found when needed, saving the high costs of new purchase or Inter-Libarary Loans.

Jeannie Lin and Kimberly Killion

Karen Rose and Jennifer Dillion of the Pennfield Middle School

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Sherrilyn Kenyon was the luncheon speaker and told of her days working in a library. After lunching with the authors, the librarians and booksellers enjoyed the goody room where they gathered tons of books, bookmarks, candy and other offerings. A meet and greet followed while the two groups mixed and talked to their love of books and gratitude for each other. Everyone came out a winner.

Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love at Literacy signing with fan

The Literacy signing is always a high point of the conference with over 500 authors signing their book and all proceeds to charity. Fans started lining up 3 hours early and the line went on forever. It was a sight to behold when the doors opened and the lovers of all things romance came pouring in. Many of the authors sold out of their books. I heard one woman tell Beverly Barton how she read Beverly’s books to her dying father when he couldn’t read himself anymore and how much that meant to her. Stories like this are plentiful and it helps bring home how important authors and their stories are in people’s lives. While the signing officially ended at 7:30 p.m., Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love were the last to leave at 9 p.m. when their line finally came to an end and all their books were signed. Congratulations on a very successful event for all.

Kate Poole, Marcia James, Nell Brice, Raelene Gorlinsky, Eileen Ann Brennan

After a quick dinner, (well, not so quick as the restaurants were all packed) I headed over to the Ellora’s Cave Dessert Party. Wonderfully decadent desserts were served and I got the coolest bag that goes across your body and has two sides that were stuffed with books. Definitely a keeper.

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Next up was the Goddess Blog Party. This group of authors not only write a fun blog, they also put on a terrific event. Here’s even more pictures from RWA.

Meg Cabot with YA fan, Nicola

From New Zealand, Sandra Hyatt, Tessa Radley, Abby Gaines

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Bottom Line: Don’t come to these events expecting to leave with one or two books…more like one or two boxes of books.

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