Romance Writers of Australia Conference

In August I attended my second Romance Writers of Australia Conference, which I approached with much anticipation. Conference is an amazing opportunity for aspiring writers to attend craft workshops, learn about the business of publishing, network, and pitch directly to publishers and agents. With the cocktail party on Friday night and awards dinner on Saturday, I love dressing the part for conference and had a great time spending the weekend with fellow romance writers.

Friday Workshop

This year, I attended the Friday Workshop 'Constructing a Romance Novel' by the wonderful Rachel Bailey. Over the course of the day, Rachel took us through the importance of premise, characters, conflict, and everything else that builds a romance novel. With pop quizzes and prizes, I walked away with a few new books and beautiful handmade bookmarks.

Key Points from Friday: 
- My story building skills have certainly improved since last year.
- Know, and use, your premise.
- Mix up tropes that don't seem to go together.
- Mix up stereotypes that don't seem to go together. 
- Ask yourself, 'Why are my character's perfect for each other?'

Tuxedos and Tiaras

All year I'd planned to attend the cocktail party in an elegant gown and call myself a princess, but then I asked myself, 'Why aren't I going as a Disney princess?' As a huge Disney fan, I simply couldn't not do it. So considering I had Olaf already, I chose to attend the cocktail party as Elsa ... and had a lot of fun doing so, especially when I found a fellow author I didn't know dressed as Anna and we were both so happy to see each other.

Apart from the fact I don't drink, I do enjoy the cocktail party as it's fun to catch up with people you haven't seen since last year, make new friends, and check out each other's costumes. For those who've made their first sale, ribbons are presented and, of course, Harlequin always judge the best dressed competition, which is always fun.

Saturday Core Conference

Saturday usually begins with conference welcome and keynotes, followed by breakout sessions. The breakout sessions I attended were 'Writing for Dare' and 'The Art and Craft of Pre-Writing', both of which were interrupted as I left to deliver two successful pitches. That afternoon, Harlequin gave their annual talk about the romance publishing market, always interesting, followed by slushpile readings. First pages were submitted and read aloud to a panel of publishers and agents, who indicated when they'd put the manuscript down if they received it in a slushpile. My manuscript was read and it was a daunting yet very insightful session, especially as my piece didn't do all too bad, but I know what I need to fix up now. 

Key Points from Saturday:
- I want to write for Harlequin Dare and have stories that need to be written.
- Mills and Boon still seems like a great way to go.
- Duke's are currently selling - not viscounts or earls.

Awards Dinner

I love the awards dinner, especially as I enjoy dressing up for the evening. This year, I was nominated for the Emerald Award for Best Unpublished Romance Manuscript, so I was nervous all night until I won ... and then I spent the rest of the evening completely overwhelmed. Prior to the dinner, I picked up my mum from the train station as she'd flown down for the evening. Dinner was marvellous with delicious canapes in the foyer followed by three courses. I didn't eat the first, and only ate dessert to celebrate my win. I love watching the Ruby's be announced and see what books are winning the best in romance, and then we spend the rest of the evening dancing away at the Escape After Party. I could seriously dance all night.

Sunday Core Conference

Sunday is the most exhausting day of conference. It's already been a big weekend, there's another day ahead, and we're all excited for the announcement of next year's conference details. But there was still so much to learn! On Sunday, I attended perhaps the best session of the weekend 'Tension is the Thing' with amazing authors Maisey Yates and Jackie Ashendon. After that, Harlequin took us through the process of how they publish their books, which was very interesting indeed. That was followed by the RWA Legends Panel before the final keynote by Kathryn Fox.

​Key Points from Sunday:
- Tension needs to appear on every page of a novel - which is fine when there's emotional, external, and sexual tension to use.
- Harlequin's publishing process is amazing.
- Two years between signing a contract and your publishing date is perfectly reasonable and absolutely worth it.
- Never compare yourself and your abilities to others
- Writing is a profession. Treat it as such.

Why I Recommend Conference

RWA Conference is a brilliant event for writers of romance and/or general fiction as it offers amazing networking and learning opportunities. Here is why I'd recommend conference:

Pitching Opportunities - without a doubt the most important aspect for aspiring writers is the ability to talk to an agent or publisher face to face and tell them about your book. 

Networking - meeting other writers, both of the aspiring sort and your favourite published authors, is both worthwhile and fun.

Breakout Sessions - there are always sessions that may not be all that interesting to you, but something is bound to grab your interest when in a building full of writers and publishers. From craft sessions with published authors to learning how the publishing industry works, conference is full of wonderful workshop and panels where you'll learn something new.

Awards Dinner and After Party - as a lover of glitz and glamour, I love dressing up for the gala evening and sitting down to a delicious meal as the Ruby's are announced. Of course being nominated for a prize is a lot more fun, but not being nominated makes the evening much more relaxing as you find more opportunities to network. Then after the awards are announced, a couple of hours are left to dance away the night on the dance floor, another thing I don't get enough opportunities to do.

Meeting Your Favourite Authors - you never know who will be attending conference and you just might get the opportunity to meet someone who you absolutely love reading. Last year, I met Cathryn Hein and got to catch up this year, while I also had the awesome opportunity to meet Maisey Yates. Bring your books (or just one) to be signed!

I hoped you enjoyed this post and if you haven't yet, consider attending RWA or another conference soon!

Until next time,

​Rachel

Author

Rachel Armstrong is an aspiring author of romantic fiction, who has attended two RWA Conferences and cannot wait for Melbourne 2019 and the opportunities it'll bring.