I had the pleasure of spending a few days in Manitou Springs, Colorado at the “AuthorHouse Author Fest of the Rockies” writers conference hosted at the historic Cliff House. For a second-year conference, the volunteers from the Manitou Springs Public Library did an exceptional job.

One of the highlights of the trip was introducing and meeting author Joanne Greenberg. She’s most known for her 1970’s novel “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” which was adapted to a film and a play. Her husband Albert joined her for the weekend and I had the pleasure of sitting across from them both at dinner with the conference organizers. She might be 75 years-old, but she has the mind and wit of a 30 year-old. I found out that she liked jokes, even off-colored ones, so we shared a few of our favorites.

I met so many authors, all at various stages in their writing. Roz Monette has written a few young adult fiction books and we had a good time chatting during breakfast. I sat in a marketing session by Ken Guentert, a Manitou Springs publishing expert that helps authors through the process of being published. Blogging expert Michelle Vandepas hosted a session on blogging (as much as she can cover in :45 minutes anyway).

My session on the “Economics of Publishing: Show Me the Money” was well attended in the “tent” outside the Cliff House. It was an eye-opening experience for a few of the attendees, a few of which were already traditionally published and seen self-publishing through AuthorHouse as a great avenue for them to consider. One attendee asked at the end if I could do another session on Saturday about Internet marketing. Voila, I hosted a session on Saturday afternoon called “Internet Marketing 101” inside the big top again.

At the end of the conference, organizers hosted an author book signing party, complete with live music, drinks, and cookies. By my guestimate, there were at least 50 authors selling, signing, and pitching their books to attendees and locals. I know the Black Cat Bookstore did well, they were just about out of books by the end of the conference.

Overall, I give the conference a 9 out of 10. If you live in the Colorado Springs or Denver area and you want to further your writing either professionally or personally, put this conference on your schedule for next October, 2008.