RIRW exists to promote excellence in women’s and popular fiction, to help writers become published and build careers in their writing field, and to provide continuing support for writers within the women’s and popular fiction publishing industry. Formed in 1983 as a Romance Writers of America chapter, we disaffiliated in 1988. We are an independent, nonprofit organization in Rhode Island.
We welcome everyone, without regard to race, color, national origin, disability, religion, cultural identity, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, physical appearance, or any other identity distinction. Furthermore, we recognize that because racism, homophobia, and other forms of bias are systemic in our national culture, people from marginalized communities continue to be denied advancement in our industry. RIRW strives to address this by raising awareness within our membership and increasing our efforts to attract members from a variety of backgrounds to enrich our community of writers.
If you are serious about writing popular fiction, we invite you to join us!
We meet from September to June on the first Saturday of the month at the Cumberland Public Library in Cumberland, Rhode Island. (Because of holidays and/or activities at the library, the date or venue may change. We will announce changes here.) During COVID, we’ve been meeting via ZOOM. We’ll post what will happen in Sept. 2021 as soon as we know.
12:30 p.m. General Meeting
1:30 p.m. Workshop/Speaker
We welcome Visitors. (We would appreciate a $2.00 donation at the door.) Visitors may attend up to two meetings before they need to join.
Check us out on our public Facebook page (click here!)
The RIRW RETREAT is Feb. 4-5th, “Back to Basics”
This year’s RIRW February ZOOM Retreat will use the theme “back to basics” as our focus for group discussions. The retreat will include our popular brainstorming sessions, writing sessions, sharing, door-prizes and more, for both fun and inspiration. Instead of guest speakers, we will have writer-to-writer discussions, sharing our own hard-learned tricks to help each other. We’re soliciting members input for specific topics, so jump in with your two cents as soon as possible.
To register for the Feb. 4-5, 2022 retreat, click here to go to the RIRW Retreat Tab (only $10 for members AND non-members alike!).
Next Meeting: March 5, 2022
12:30 (via ZOOM)
Judi Fennell: In The Know-How; A Guide to Self-Publishing
Thinking of indie-publishing? What do you need to know? What do you need to do? Who do you hire? What do you do yourself?
There are many roads to travel when going the indie-publishing route and it can seem overwhelming. Author/owner of www.formatting4U.com, Judi Fennell, has been helping authors navigate the pathways to indie-publishing since 2012 and has probably heard all your questions and is here to share the answers.
Award-winning, Amazon/best-selling author, Judi Fennell opened the cyber doors of www.formatting4U.com in response to the inflated numbers she’d heard people were paying to self-publish their books as the indie-publishing wave grew. With hundreds of clients, including an award-winning hybrid publisher, and services that range from formatting for electronic and print, to award-winning cover/logo/brand/promo materials design, to story and copy-editing, Judi has the technical know-how, the marketing/promotion experience, and the authorial sensitivity to guide even novice indie-publishing authors through the ropes.
RIRW meetings start at 12:30, with workshops starting after that (c. 1:30). Non-members who want to check us out, just email via https://www.rirw.org/officers/ and we’ll send you a link.
Upcoming Meetings:
Note: 4-6 February (Retreat, no meeting)
5 March (Judi Fennell)
2 April (Lydia Stephens)
7 May
4 June (Roundtable)