Convention Report

The Kansas Authors State Convention offered many good workshops and panel discussions. Enough to inspire me to want to hurry home and write! And that's one of the real reasons to attend conferences and conventions with other writers. Another is to be able to talk with other writers and see what they've been doing with their work. 

Those who have published books had copies to sell in the Book Room, and it was most interesting to browse there among the many different types of books. Everything from poetry books to recipe books with a whole lot of in-between.

Nancy Pickard, award-winning mystery author, was the keynote speaker after the Saturday night banquet. She spoke about her writing career, the eighteen novels she's had published and ended with some encouraging words to the many writers in the room. Nancy lives in Kansas City and her last two novels have been set in Kansas, as will the next two. It amazed me that she has the next two already planned. 

Sunday, I left the awards luncheon a happy woman. I'd entered my work in eight categories and four placed in the state contest. The entries had to be in by June 18th so it had been a long wait to see if I had any winners. The rule states that they cannot be published prior to the convention time, so it's also a long wait to hold up new work before submitting it to publishers. I won two Honorable Mentions, a second and a first place. 

Now, I have to decide where to submit each of those winners. If any of your work has won an award, be sure to state that in the cover letter you send with your submission. It just might make an editor look a bit more carefully at the submission. And do send your work to contests. You can't win unless you do!