Schedule:

February 13
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Galena LitFest: Indie Author Panel (virtual)
Five award winning independent authors will share their thoughts on writing, marketing, and independent publishing in this panel event moderated by Soon to be Famous selection committee member, Lucy Tarabour.

The panelists will be current and past winners of the Soon to be Famous Illinois Author award, including the 2022 winner in the adult fiction category, Alina Rubin, the 2022 winner of the manuscript award, Sarah Roots, and past winners: Joanne Zienty, Michael Alan Peck, and Geralyn Hesslau Magrady.

This is a virtual program, but if you’d like to watch it in the library

Galena LitFest is the tenth annual literary festival organized and funded by the Galena Public Library with support from the Friends of the Galena Public Library. Events will take place February through May 2024. Stay tuned as more events are announced!

Alina Rubin is an IT professional and a mom, who, during the pandemic, used the time and energy saved on the commute to write her first book, an adventure of a nineteen-century woman surgeon. Writing became her passion, and her characters took her on a journey beyond her wildest dreams. Her debut novel, A Girl with a Knife, has won the Illinois Author Project 2022 Competition. She’s now the author of multiple books.

Sarah Roots is a writer living in Chicago, IL. Her first novel, House Call, won the 2022 Soon To Be Famous Illinois Author Manuscript Project. She can usually be found spending time with her family, reading, or looking at birds

In 2014, Joanne Zienty won the first Soon to Be Famous Illinois Author contest, sponsored by the Illinois Library Association and RAILS Library System for her debut novel, The Things We Save. She was a finalist for the 2016 BookLife Prize sponsored by Publishers’ Weekly and in 2017 was named an “Emerging Voice” by the College of DuPage. Her second novel, Children of the Revolution, a revenge tale set in a dystopian Midwest, was published in 2020. A sequel, The Night Prophet, is coming soon. She’s given presentations at libraries and book clubs across the Chicago metropolitan area.

Michael Alan Peck tells tales big and small. Life’s magical, but it isn’t always enough for a good story. So he makes up the rest. A winner of the Illinois state libraries’ Soon to be Famous Illinois Author Project, he’s been called “an author to watch” by Publishers Weekly. He’s made his living writing about TV, its celebrities, and its past. He’s also put food on the table reviewing restaurants and writing about travel. Funny goes a long way with him. Probably further than it should.

Geralyn Hesslau Magrady is a mom, teacher, and writer. With her first book, Lines, she was the 2016 recipient of the Soon to be Famous Illinois Author award. Publication of Magrady’s next book, When Walls Talk, is anticipated for early 2024. In addition to these stories of Chicago historical fiction, Magrady has had her poetry and essays included in several anthologies, most recently a piece called “Echoes” in The Write City Review, Volume Four (A Chicago Writers Association Publication, 2023).
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February 15
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Galena LitFest: Publish and Discover Independent E-Books (hybrid)

Attend this informational session to learn more about inkie.org from RAILS (Reaching Across Library System) e-content specialist, Anna Behm. We’re offering opportunities to attend in-person at the Galena Public Library or virtually via Zoom.

Inkie.org is a suite of resources – available to everyone in Illinois at no charge – that supports local authors with online creation and publishing tools and allows readers to access locally-produced content.

Writers can create an e-book from their manuscript, then share that e-book with readers through local libraries, and work into statewide contests.

Readers can discover e-books by independently published local authors and view community created collections from Illinois libraries in the biblioboard app illinois.biblioboard.com

Galena LitFest is the tenth annual literary festival organized and funded by the Galena Public Library with support from the Friends of the Galena Public Library. Events will take place February through May 2024. Stay tuned as more events are announced
Click Here For Registration

February 17
10:30 am - 11:30 am
Galena LitFest: My Journey with Self-Publishing (hybrid)
Preparing your story for self-publishing is important, no doubt. It is essential, however, to be aware of the actual process, avoiding the pitfalls here and there, is most crucial. Author and educator P.J. HarteNaus, will share her journey, offering insights and a step-by-step process developed by Whistleslick Press that you, the author, will find informative.

This program is hybrid and can be attended in-person at the library or virtually on Zoom.

Galena LitFest is the tenth annual literary festival organized and funded by the Galena Public Library with support from the Friends of the Galena Public Library. Events will take place February through May 2024. Stay tuned as more events are announced.

P.J. HarteNaus, began her career teaching children literacy and history. Along the way, she was asked to save a one-room school in the Galena area for her Master’s Class and that is when the magic happened! Finding artifacts and interviewing the elderly students who once attended the old school in the 1940s, the stories came forth…stories worth telling. To their memories, HarteNaus added a little fiction, creating the anti-bullying, award-winning Belden Boy Series for children of all ages. The heart-warming tales, told from different perspectives of children in the 1890s. One thing led to another, and Whistleslick Press was formed, not only for the publishing of the author’s books, but for helping others to self-publish their own works. The Belden Boy Writing Camp in the little one-room school was also created to help young budding authors realize their dream of writing and illustrating a hard-covered book each summer…the journey continues.
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Date: February 13-17, 2024

Location: Galena Public Library District - 601 S Bench St Galena, IL 61036

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