Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference 2013

I just got back from three days at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference in Denver. This is the twelfth year I’ve added, and I always get great ideas and end up with a huge to-do list of follow up action items. This is an excellent conference for improving writing craft, honing pitch skills, learning more about book promotion and catching up on the latest trends in the publishing world.  

Some of the highlights:

-          Author Jeff Shelby taught a number of workshops on the emerging independently published world describing his journey from traditionally published to self-published. After ups and down in his publishing career, he has now gained traction with eighteen self-published books. He equated self-publishing to being a small business owner. It’s not traditional versus self-published; it’s traditional and self-published.

-          Dinner speaker Margaret George entertained us with stories of her career in publishing historical novels.

-          Lunch speaker Ronald Malfi inspired us with a message on perseverance and tenacity.

-          Cate Rowan cited e-book growth with the following statistics: in 2010 e-books represented 2% of dollars spent. In 2010 this increased to 7% with 14 % of book units. In 2012 e-books represented 11% of dollars and 22% of units.

Pictures show Margaret George and Ronald Malfi.

I’m now ready to dive into my to-do list.

 Mike Befeler