Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The Depot Art Center was abuzz with activity Friday and Saturday for the 31st annual “A Day for Writers,” which drew 40 authors from across Colorado to as far away as Bristol, England. They gathered for a weekend of education, networking and inspiration in Steamboat Springs.

Many of the participants attended Friday’s dinner reception and “Ten Minutes of Fame” reading event in which authors shared their work by reading aloud from their published books and even unpublished manuscripts.

The workshops kicked off Saturday when magazine editor and author Laura Pritchett led a morning session titled “The Art of the Personal Essay.” She encouraged authors to write in ways that will establish a “fundamental connectedness” with readers as well as to draw audiences through universal themes.

Pritchett’s afternoon workshop “Love the Outdoors? Write it …” led attendees through a series of writing exercises designed to encourage thinking outside the box when describing place and settings.

“A Day for Writers,” an event sponsored by the Steamboat Writers Group and the Steamboat Springs Arts Council, has been focused on traditional publishing. However, a portion of this year’s workshop addressed the newest platform in bookselling and publishing: electronic books.

Conference director Susan de Wardt said it was important to provide information about the wave of the future in publishing. She thinks e-books are here to stay and that authors must be savvy.

De Wardt said that although “there were mixed feelings about electronic publishing because so many love physical books, the majority of the workshop attendees were excited to learn” about the latest advances in publishing.

Presenter Brian Schwartz, president of Colorado Independent Publishers, talked about the process of converting print books into e-book formats as well as selling and marketing books online. To learn more about the Colorado Independent Publishers Association, visit www.cipacatalog.com.

The long-running Steamboat Writers Group continues to meet weekly to critique works in progress of local writers who hope to publish their manuscripts either through traditional publishing or independent publishing avenues. Harriet Freiberger, who led the group for many years, still is involved and can be credited for keeping the group alive and mentoring local writers for 31 years.

Today, it’s de Wardt who brings her unusual balance of creativity and engineering skills to her leadership of the group.

Steamboat Springs resident Sue Leonard is president of Cornerstone Fulfillment Service LLC, which specializes in e-commerce and e-marketing for independent publishers. Read her blog at www.allthingsfulfilling.com. Leonard can be reached at 970-870-1518.