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.
If you are serious about writing popular fiction, we invite you to join us! Click here to see membership benefits.
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.
We meet from September to June on the first Saturday of the month (except for February, when we hold our annual retreat). Because of holidays and/or other conflicts, the date or venue may change (scroll down to see list of dates). We will announce changes here on our home page. We do meetings via ZOOM.
Check us out on our public Facebook page (click here!)
Oct. 3, 2026 – Maggie Cooper: From the Agent’s Desk: Queries, Submissions, and the Fiction Market in 2026
In this session, writers will get a glimpse of publishing from the agent’s perspective. What subgenres are editors asking for (or avoiding)? What kinds of books tend to stick out in agents’ inboxes? Why does it take everyone so long to reply to queries? We’ll begin with a brief overview of the market for fiction and submission trends, touch on query tips and things to avoid, then segue into an AMA for attendees to ask their questions about all things trade publishing.
Speaker’s Bio:
Maggie Cooper is an agent with Aevitas Creative Management, representing adult fiction and select nonfiction projects with an emphasis on queer and trans stories and books that make our world kinder, weirder, more joyful, or all of the above. She holds a degree in English from Yale University, attended the Clarion Writers Workshop, and earned her MFA in fiction from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she served as an editor for The Greensboro Review. Maggie is also a writer; her prose chapbook, The Theme Park of Women’s Bodies, was published by Bull City Press in 2024.
Note: We welcome Visitors for up to two regular meetings before you need to join. If you want to check us out, please send us a message by NOON on Friday (day before meeting) and we’ll send you a ZOOM link. Come join your fellow writers for a free-ranging discussion!
For regular meetings, we gather to chat at noon; Meeting starts at 12:30, with workshops starting about 1:15/1:30
Fall Schedule, 2026 (speakers TBA):
September 12 (Labor Day is Sept 6): Linda McHenry
October 3 – Maggie Cooper, Agents
November 7 – TBA
December 5 – Lisette C. Giroux
Winter/Spring Schedule 2027:
January 9 – Roundtable
February 5-6 – TBA(Retreat, separate registration)
March 6 – TBA
April 3– TBA
May 1 – TBA
June 5 – Roundtable, election