MONTHLY
MARCH
21st
Speaker:
Sheila Athens
Sheila Athens is a traditionally-published author and a book coach who specializes in mainstream fiction, women’s fiction and romance. After getting her start as a book coach at Author Accelerator, she founded her own private coaching and editing business, where she’s edited dozens of manuscripts. Her clients have gone on to gain agents, Big 5 publishing contracts and successful sales in the self-publishing realm. Her schedule stays full due to word-of-mouth advertising from her many satisfied clients. Her debut novel, The Truth About Love, was a finalist for the 2013 RWA Golden Heart Award before being sold to Montlake. She has stayed current on the publishing landscape by serving as chairperson for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association Agent Pitch Events. For more about Sheila, visit SheilaAthens.com.
GRW Board of Directors Statement: Romance Writers of America
We are deeply disappointed in the actions of the Board of Directors and the executive staff of the RWA and the lack of candid information made available to the membership. We support a full forensic audit to gather the facts of all actions taken by both the board and staff in this incident as well as other complaints that have come to light. We are saddened by the resignations of the many members of the Board of Directors. Like many of you, we had all hoped they would be instrumental in making our national organization better by bringing their unique and diverse perspectives to the board. We are grateful for their willingness to serve and frustrated that the environment within the RWA was such that they felt they could not continue on the board.
We are determined that our chapter be a place where everyone will feel welcome, no matter our differences, with our number one priority to be a community of writers helping each other succeed. We believe that things can’t be changed from the outside and we want to work to make our chapter an example to all of what the RWA should be. We will make mistakes, and want to know about them so they can be corrected. We value each member and their experiences and hope that in the end, this turmoil will result in a stronger organization as we move forward together.
