By Narelle Atkins
I love writing conferences. I've lost count of how many I've attended over the years but I have collected six badges from Romance Writers of Australia conferences. I met my dear friend, Mary Hawkins, in person for the first time at the Sydney conference in 2007.
Our Aussie conferences are special. In recent years the Romance Writers of Australia conference offerings have broadened beyond romance writing to include more workshops on the business of writing and publishing. This year in Brisbane I had the opportunity to attend workshops from Draft2Digital and Google. I was also blessed with an excellent fifteen minute appointment with Dan Wood, Director of Operations and Author Relations at Draft2Digital.
Draft2Digital are a global distributor of ebooks and audiobooks. They assist authors by distributing their works to digital storefronts including ibooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Tolino.
Kris Austin, CEO and Founder, shared his vision for how Draft2Digital will continue to expand their author services to meet the needs of their author clients.They currently distribute to 195 countries. Australia is their second largest market (15%) behind the USA (53%).
Draft2Digital are a global distributor of ebooks and audiobooks. They assist authors by distributing their works to digital storefronts including ibooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Tolino.
Kris Austin, CEO and Founder, shared his vision for how Draft2Digital will continue to expand their author services to meet the needs of their author clients.They currently distribute to 195 countries. Australia is their second largest market (15%) behind the USA (53%).
It's great that we don't need to travel to the US to see publishing industry professionals.The amazing Margie Lawson is travelling to Australia for our Omega Writers Conference in Sydney, 28-30 October 2017.
Rochelle Manners did a wonderful job organising the conference book store. Brisbane locals and tourists can visit Rochelle's charming bookshop, The Mad Hatters Bookshop, in Manly, Queensland.
I discovered the Gold Coast train to Brisbane and travelled to and from conference with my dear friend Andrea Grigg. Andrea and I enjoyed a relaxing post-conference Monday lunch by the beach before I flew home to Canberra via Sydney.
Stop by Inspy Romance on Thursday (Aust/NZ time zone) to join in the conversation on ebook pricing. Strategies for ebook pricing was a hot topic of conversation at the conference.
Do you share my love of writing conferences? Are you planning to attend the Omega Writers Conference in October? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences.
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| Rochelle Manners, Kat Kolmer, Andrea Grigg, Narelle Atkins |
A conference highlight, as always, was the chance to catch up with old and new writing friends, including familiar faces from our ACW group. Unfortunately I wasn't able to arrange an ACW group photo but I have included everyone in photos in this post.
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| Andrea Grigg, Elizabeth Ellen Carter |
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| Andrea Grigg, Rochelle Manners, Cindy Williams |
Romance writers know how to party. The Harlequin Escape After Party that followed the Saturday Evening Awards Dinner was a lot of fun.
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| Narelle Atkins & Andrea Grigg - Currumbin, Gold Coast |
Conference weekends are busy and I did my best to squeeze in some writing time. I flew to the Gold Coast via Sydney and spent more time in airport lounges than in the air. I used the waiting time to brainstorm my latest story.
Early on Friday morning I wrote and edited my upcoming Inspy Romance blog post in the airport lounge and during my first flight from Canberra to Sydney. A blog post completed by 7.30am was a great way to start my conference weekend.
Do you share my love of writing conferences? Are you planning to attend the Omega Writers Conference in October? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences.
A fun loving Aussie girl at heart, NARELLE ATKINS was born and raised on the beautiful northern beaches in Sydney, Australia. She has settled in Canberra with her husband and children. A lifelong romance reader, she found the perfect genre to write when she discovered inspirational romance. Narelle's contemporary stories of faith and romance are set in Australia.
Website: http://www.narelleatkins.com
Twitter: @NarelleAtkins https://twitter.com/NarelleAtkins
