RWA's 2010 Literacy Autographing receives widespread media coverage

It wasn't fans alone who thronged the aisles of the Orlando, Florida Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort during yesterday's "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing. Reporters were out in full force as well, covering the July 28, 2010 event for their websites, newspapers, magazines and blogs.

The Dolphin resort at Walt Disney World. - Creative Commons Attribution
licenced photo by purdman1

The "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing marked the start of the 2010 conference of the Romance Writers of America (RWA). Over 500 authors signed books during the two-hour event, the proceeds of which will go to literacy charities.

In her July 28 USA Today article, Deirdre Donahue focused on the economic impact of the romance publishing industry. Donahue used figures from the RWA's 2009 reader survey to explain how 2009 romance fiction sales reached $1.35 billion.

Jayne Hoogenberk, eHarlequin Community Manager, covered the signing for the Harlequin blog. Hoogenberk brought a companion to the event. "I took my teenage daughter with me to finally show her the reason WHY mummy comes home from conference every year without a speaking voice." she said.

As "Jayne the Director," Hoogenberk will also be conducting a series of author interviews during the conference. Here is what she has learned so far:

Author Sharon Sala used to drag race, Heather Graham knows some GREAT ghost stories, Courtney Milan looks like the model on the cover of Proof by Seduction and Vicki Lewis Thompson named characters in her Sons of Chance miniseries after beloved family members. And this was just day one of my author interviews. Is my job cool, or what?

The Orlando Sentinel provided detailed reviews of the Literacy Autographing on its Orlando Arts Blog. In today's July 29 edition, Arts & Entertainment editor Anne Dunlap recorded her meeting there with two Nora Roberts fans:

Alma Vetazquez from Ocoee was waiting for Nora Roberts, her ’favorite, favorite’ author. . . .  In front of her was Susan Payne from Clermont. She likes Roberts because  ‘every book is different, every book you can’t put down.’  She brought a photo album for Roberts to sign from a recent trip to Ireland – a trip inspired by reading Roberts’  books with Irish roots.

Sarah Wendell, from SmartBitchesTrashyBooks.com, showed up at the signing with her video camera. Wendell recorded the proceedings as a music video, with Ke$ha's 'Your Love is My Drug" providing an appropriate background. The video, now available on YouTube and embedded below, concludes with the announcement that the 2010 RWA Literacy Autographing succeeded in raising more than $62,000 for its charities.

And a good time was clearly had by all.