Ellen E.M. Roberts will be speaking November 8, 2014 at the Roe Jan Library Conference.

Ellen E.M. Roberts will be keynote speaker at Roe Jan Library Conference, Copake, New York on November 8 from 9 to 5. Sigh up now click here.

Join us in the beautiful Hudson Valley town of Copake for a day of good advice and great company exploring literary frontiers.

On Saturday, November 8, the Roe Jan Community Library in Copake, New York will host a one-day writers' festival entitled "The Write Stuff", featuring workshops in the areas of fiction, non-fiction, memoir, short story, and the creative process. The festival is designed for writers of all levels, including a workshop for new writers. Workshops will be followed by a panel on Getting Published and a wine and cheese networking reception. 

The keynote address, entitled "What Kind of Book Should You Be Writing? How to Choose the Right Form for Your Truth and Your Art - And Make Money Too!" will be delivered by author and publisher Ellen E.M. Roberts. In addition, Ms.Roberts will offer individual manuscript reviews for an additional fee for festival participants only. 

Roberts, who has worked as a trade editor at St. Martin's Press and William Morrow, a children's book publisher at Prentice-Hall and as a sales manager at Columbia University Press, believe that many writers have confounded the problem of making money with being heard. Since the popular press glorifies the attainment of riches through the pen, it is easy to get sidelined by the latest trends in writing. But in fact, the most successful authors have stayed close to their main genre. 

She helps you sort through your talents to determine whether you should be writing prose or poetry. She advises when a short piece is most effective and when it's time to commit yourself to a longer work. She explores the enormous question whether to write fiction or non-fiction. She explains why it is so hard to get a first novel published - and how dangerous it is to get published prematurely. Her four decades of working in book publishing in New York City will keep writers riveted. They will go home with a clearer sense of purpose and a renewed sense of inspiration.

   

SECRETS OF THE CANCER-SLAYING SUPER MAN COMING IN OCTOBER 2014

THE ONLY BOOK FOR BOYS ON CANCER

 Benjamin Rubenstein survived cancer twice as a teenager. He will publish the first nonfiction book for boys about cancer, SECRETS OF THE CANCER-SLAYING SUPER MAN based on his book for adults, TWICE How I Became a Cancer-Slaying Super Man before I Turned 21. This book was heralded for its searing honesty by Library Journal; for its humor by bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman (who is also a psychologist specializing in pediatric cancer at USC); and for its optimism by the Midwest Book Review.

SECRETS  IS AN ADAPTATION OF A POPULAR ADULT TITLE

As Ben visited pediatric cancer wards around the country, the children he spoke to wanted to read his book.  Unhappily, its college boy references to sex, alcohol and street language were not appropriate for a young audience. So the dynamic young author then wrote a version that would show kids what happens when a person gets cancer. 

He worked with graphic designer and illustrator Kenneth F. Raniere, also a cancer survivor, to present the cancer experience in words and pictures in just a hundred pages. The result, Secrets of the Cancer-Slaying Super Man, is an easy- to- read guide to the disease and its cure. Many adult readers who are capable of handling the rough language of the original book prefer this simpler treatment. An hour of reading can supply all the basic information a person confronting cancer for the first time—especially friends and family who want to help but aren’t sure what to do. 

FACT-PACKED AND INSPIRING

The message of the fact-packed guide to cancer treatment is inspirational without being insipid. Rubenstein convinced himself that he was strong enough to beat the round cells that had invaded his body. Using episodes from Saturday morning superhero shows, the escapades of action movies, the maneuvers of professional athletes and the prayers he learned in the synagogue, he convinced himself that he could win this battle by never complaining and never losing his courage. The book traces his first encounter with bone cancer at sixteen, dashing his dreams of becoming a tennis star, to his second bout as a UVA student when he had to deal with a stem cell transplant.