Emily Awards – February 10th
This is a Members Only Meeting
Special Guests Agents Helen Breitwieser and Paige Wheeler will talk about their agencies and today’s market then take appointments with chapter members and Emily finalist guests*
Join award winning authors and contest queens Sophie Jordan/Sharie Kohler and Dawn Temple as they discuss beginnings and endings with “Sandwiching Your Story”. From hooking your reader in three pages to delivering the big pay-off, this intensive workshop will lessen writer anxiety and provide you with the tools to navigate your novel so that the spellbinding story in your head is conveyed on page. You’ll never approach a story the same way again!
The Speakers
Dawn Temple wrote her first book in secret, coming clean onlywhen her husband discovered her stash of research books on Texas divorce laws. Once she’d been “outed,” Dawn joined RWA®, found an awesome critique group and began entering contests and submitting her work. That first novel is still stored in the computer, but Dawn’s second book, A Will To Love, a 2005 Golden Heart Finalist, was bought by Silhouette Special Edition, catapulting her from “wannabe” to “gonnabe.” Look for A Will To Love in October 2007.
Sophie Jordan/Sharie Kohler took her adolescent daydreaming one step further and penned her first historical romance in the back of her high school Spanish class — much to the entertainment of her fellow classmates. Needless to say, that dog-eared spiral got more attention than the teacher. In 2005, she sold the first manuscript she wrote to Avon in a multi-book contract. A former high school English teacher, Sophie/Sharie writes historical romances for Avon and contemporary paranormal romances for Pocket. When she’s not sweating deadlines, she divides her time between inventing what she likes to call culinary masterpieces — her husband and daughter won’t always agree — and visiting her family’s pecan ranch in the Texas Hill Country.
The Agents
Helen Breitwieser is the founder of Cornerstone Literary, Inc., a Los Angeles-based agency that focuses on vibrant fiction, both literary and commercial, as well as narrative nonfiction and titles relating to cooking, culture, travel and women’s health.
Ms. Breitwieser was a literary agent at the William Morris Agency in New York before founding Cornerstone Literary, Inc. in 1998. She is a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR), the Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America (MWS), PEN, and Romance Writers of America (RWA).
She received her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Barnard College
Paige Wheeler is a founding partner of Folio Literary Management, LLC. Prior to forming Folio Literary Management, Ms. Wheeler founded Creative Media Agency (CMA) in 1997 and served as its president for nine years before folding the company into Folio Literary Management.
She has worked as an agent in both a literary and entertainment capacity over the course of her career, beginning as an agent with Artists Agency, Inc. Previously, she was an editor for Harlequin/Silhouette in NY and Euromoney Publications in London. She earned a BA from Boston University where she graduated magna cum laude with Distinction and was a Rhodes and Marshall Scholar nominee. She is an active member of Women in Publishing, serving as its president in 1998.
*Be sure to sign up ahead of time when you RSVP. You must have a finished manuscript to be eligible to meet with an agent.
Schedule for February 10th:
8:30-9:00 -> Registration and coffee
9:00-9:45 -> Introductions of agents, Paige Wheeler and Helen Breitwieser
9:45-10:00 -> Social break
10:00-10:30 -> Business Meeting
10:15-11:30 -> Agent appointments
10:30-11:30 -> “Sandwiching Your Story, Part 1: Contest Woes and Wins”
11:30-11:45 -> Emily Award Presentations
11:45-12:15 -> Introductions
12:00-1:30 -> Lunch and Booksigning with Shana Galen, Kristi Gold, PJ Mellor, and Sophie Jordan
1:30-3:00 -> Agent appointments
1:30-3:00 -> “Sandwiching Your Story” continues
