1500 S. Dahlia Street   Denver

Topic:  Fred Matzen will be showing/discussing setting up and utilizing websites using WordPress, a popular, FREE Blog application.

Do you feel lost at just the thought of having to set up a website? Come learn the difference between domain names and site hosting, as well as the differences between a free blog and having your own domain name. We will focus on WordPress software from basic setup through templates and plugins to knowing when it’s time to call in a professional. From beginner to advanced blogger, there will be something for everyone to learn.

Frederick Matzen is a graphic artist and web designer who has developed many different websites. He also specializes in book layout, cover and packaging design, e-book production and fictional character realization using 3d models. Additionally, he is a long-time professional musician and all-around handyman.

TIME TO RENEW YOUR 2012 HODRW Membership.  Click on Contact/Join Us, fill out form and pay via paypal or mail a check. Please Hurry! We have an exciting year ahead!

Create depth and realism to your most damaged characters with the understanding of human motivation and fallacies. In her day job, Monica Kaye is a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in trauma treatment working with children and families.

Monica Kaye writes romantic suspense, erotic romance, contemporary romance, and currently dabbles in paranormal romance.  No historicals for her, she says.  Too much research.

All of her books feature an interracial romance.  It’s a market that she believes is seriously overlooked by New York publishing houses but flourishes thanks to smaller print pubs and e-pubs.  She owes a huge debt of gratitude to Sandra Kitt whose book ‘The Color of Love’ sent her down this path.

Monica’s heroines are funny, sarcastic, kick-ass chicks who fall in love with heroes who are sexy, strong, and more than a match for their women.  Check her out at http://www.authormonicakaye.com/

Join us at 10 am at the Southglenn Public Library.  See Meeting Information for location and directions.

Heart of Denver’s annual day conference and awards luncheon features nationally known presenter Mary Buckham giving two information-packed workshops:  QUERY LETTERS and SUPERPOWER OPENINGS.

Also in attendance, WordServe Literary agent, Rachelle Gardner, and Jim McCarthy, with Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.  Both will take pitches.

Date: October 22, 2011

Time: 9am to 4pm (Registration begins at 8:30 am)

Features:  Agent pitches, lunch, workshops and an after-event, cash-bar Happy Hour for those who wish to stay and network or socialize.

Price: $30 HODRW members/$35 non-members.

Location: Doubletree Hotel, 8773 Yates Drive, Westminster, CO off Highway 36 (Boulder Turnpike) and Sheridan Exit. Hotel Phone: (877) 387-8277.  Click here to link to hotel.  Special $99 rate for attendees.

Register: Register directly through Paypal by clicking this link, and use treasurer”@”hodrw.com. Please note your name and October conference with your payment. No need to send separate registration form.

To register by mail and pay by check, please send to HODRW, October conference, PO Box 3811, Englewood, CO 80155.

More Information: Contact Linda Fillingim to sign up for pitches: lizzietleaf”@”comcast.net.

Workshop Descriptions

presented by Mary Buckham

1.  QUERY LETTERS

Why is it so hard to write a query letter?  Well, because an author’s career depends on the response!  This doesn’t make the job any easier when a writer – who routinely creates compelling prose – is suddenly forced to create a sales tool. Find out how to craft a query letter including:

* The differences between a query and a cover letter

* What needs to be said in what order and why

* How to make your credentials stand out for an editor or agent

* What phrases can jam up your chances of getting a request and why

* A template to repeat the process down the road

* Solve numerous other writing bugaboos

Participants should come prepared to write your own Query letter, or bring one to work on.

2. SUPER POWER OPENINGS

Can you sell your book based on your opening alone? Agents, editors and thousands of readers are going to decide to choose your book based on your opening. Is yours ready?

Each Attendee Brings to Workshop: TWO copies of their opening [up to 150 words max] with only 3 initials and a zip code in the header [no full names on pages].

About Mary Buckham:

Mary is an award-winning romantic-suspense author and co-author of BREAK INTO FICTION™: 11 Steps to Building a Story That Sells who, before becoming published in book-length fiction was a freelance article writer, selling hundreds of articles to local, regional, and national publications. She was also an editor of a regional magazine. Mary co-founded www.WriterUniv.com an online educational resource for writers and is a sought-after speaker and writing craft teacher for both online and in live presentations throughout the United States and Canada.

For more on Mary visit http://www.marybuckham.com/or http://www.breakintofiction.com/

About Jim McCarthy, Senior Agent, Dystel and Goderich Literary Management:

On Saturdays when I was growing up, my family would pile into the station wagon and head off to the library. One of my earliest memories is of my oldest sister sitting in the kids’ section and reading Babar to me. Our quest, as a family, was always to find our new favorite books. I have never really stopped that search. No matter how many good, or great books I read, I always have faith that I’ll come across something that I like as much or more than my current favorite.

Those moments of discovery are what have kept me reading as much as I always have. Whether it was the time a teacher gave me a copy of The Hunchback of Notre Dame as a gift, when I happened across a copy of Bee Season, or when I began reading The House of Leaves, these somewhat revelatory instances are among my most cherished memories.

For me, the most exciting aspect of working at DGLM is the chance that I may have another one of these moments, and that this time I can help in some way to get that book published.

Visit DGLM’s website here.

About Rachelle Gardner, Agent with WordServe Literary Group:

I became an agent in 2007 and as of this writing, have done 50+ book deals between authors and publishers. See this page for the latest update on my clients’ books. While I’ve focused my first couple of years as an agent on the CBA market, I’m now expanding and seeking books for the general market as well.

I’ve been in publishing since 1995 (sixteen years), working in various positions encompassing marketing, sales, international rights, acquisitions and editorial. Just prior to starting as an agent, I ran my own freelance writing and editing business from home. Before that, I was Senior Editor with NavPress, where I developed and launched the NavPress Fiction line, including three Christy Award finalists and an ECPA Award finalist in its first year. I acquired and edited numerous nonfiction books as well.

I’ve written eight published books (as a ghostwriter) and edited over 100, including such authors as Mary DeMuth, Lisa Samson, Jill and Stuart Briscoe, Neta Jackson and Brandilyn Collins.

Visit WordServe Literary here.

All-day Mini-Conference with Laura Baumbach, Editor of Passion in Print (http://passioninprint.com/), and Tamela Buhrke of iWise Book Marketing and Coaching (www.iwisecoaching.com)

Cost:  $20 – includes coffee, sweetrolls and lunch

Location:  Doubletree Hotel, 8773 Yates Drive, Westminster, CO 80031-3680, 877-387-8277  (info about hotel and map)

Deadline for Reservations is August 15, 2011

Registration:  This link for registration and payment on the CRW website.

Alternative Payment:  You may send a check, made out to Colorado Romance Writers (note if you are a HOD member on it) to:

Summer Vierra
Treasurer, Colorado Romance Writers
P.O. Box 448
Eastlake, CO 80614

Information: For more information, contact Mary Guida mlguidawriter@gmail.com or Linda Fillingim (Lizzie T. Leaf)lizzietleaf@comcast.net

Pitches to Laura Baumbach:  Laura is accepting 10-15 minute pitches for all three imprints she publishes (see below).    Contact Mary Guida mlguidawriter”@”gmail.com to sign up if you would like to pitch.

Pitching to Laura offers a wide variety of opportunity for authors:

1.  Man Love Romance and yes, it was the first
publishing house she opened and has been written up in Rolling Stone
magazine as an ‘up and coming’ publishing house for the M/M romance genre.

2.  Passion in Print Press is M/F romances from “Sweet to Scorching” and
covers all the subgenres…paranormal, historical, contemporary, sci-fi,
etc. The focus at PIP is ROMANCE. She is seeking submissions.

3.  Featherweight Publishing is a children to young adult publisher. If you
write YA (or even children’s picture books) you may want to consider
making a pitch on your work.

The books for all 3 are printed in e-book and POD. The POD releases are
through Ingram which makes book easy to order by retailers and
libraries.

HOD’s own Maggi Landry will present a recap of the 2011 Annual RWA National Convention.  Come hear what our District Representative of RWA has to say about all the hottest issues, information and news in RWA today.

Blythe Barnhill, the Managing Editor and Co-publisher of All About Romance, a popular internet website, has been writing and editing reviews since 1998.  Come hear her perspective on the state of the industry, what makes Romance great and trends in publishing.   The website is located at www.likesbooks.com.

Blythe took over as co-publisher of the site All About Romance when Laurie Gold, the site founder, retired. She makes book assignments and ships books to reviewers all over the world, which means every day the UPS man is at her house with books. Blythe started reading romance novels avidly when she was pregnant with her second child (who is now seventeen). She has four children, a history degree mostly used to correctly guess the daily coffee trivia questions, and a full time job as a manager for the Gap.  “I like to say that by day I tell people what to wear, and by night I tell them what to read. My siblings always did say I was bossy.”  Find out more about Blythe at http://www.likesbooks.com/blytheprofile.html.

Melissa Mayhue and Lizzie T. Leaf will be discussing their recent trip to the Romantic Times Convention and sharing their information on promotion/marketing as well as the new tips they pick up from the panel they will be on at RT.

This will include tips for EVERYONE, from what to do when you first sit down to the keyboard (in addition to writing) through efforts after your book is released.

Come and hear these dynamic speakers present.  All are welcome.