THE QUEST FOR THE NEXT STEPHEN KING

Judy Merrill Larsen listened as Genny Ostertag from New American Library spoke about getting work published and becoming a successful writer.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Linda Collier takes care of elderly people and is writing two books, one of them about dementia patients. St. Louis-area engineer Milton Grasle is six months and 250 pages into a mystery comedy he has titled "Harry Bailey, Ghost Hunter."

The hope for them and the 150 others attending the Heartland Writers Conference Friday is to publish their writing one day. But, Grasle says of his efforts, "It's an absolute ball even if it never gets published."

The conference concludes today at the Coach House Inn with more workshops and an awards banquet with a speech by Robert Vaughan, a founder of the Heartland Writers Guild and author of more than 300 novels.

About 60 people attended a Friday afternoon workshop on genre publishing led by Genny Ostertag, an associate editor at New American Library, a paperback division of Penguin Putnam publishing. The genres her company publishes include mystery, romance (both contemporary and historical), science fiction and fantasy, true crime and suspense, the last category accounting for 35 percent of her company's published books.

Many people who come to writers conferences want to know how to start out on top, Ostertag said. "They say, We want to write hard cover, we want a big book deal with lots of money.'"

But writing genre books is a good way to start a career, she said.

"Genres are the mainstay of paperback publishing."

Many well-known writers Stephen King, for example started as genre writers, Ostertag said. "Many successful writers are still writing genre books. They've just reached a mass audience."

Sales are dramatically boosted if TV star Oprah Winfrey tells her audience to read a certain book, but her tastes have not affected the kinds of books being published, Ostertag said in an interview after her talk. She isn't convinced Oprah's book club is spurring people to read more. "They are buying the books but is anybody reading them? I don't know."

Ostertag has not yet turned down a manuscript that became a big seller. "Given time, I'm sure it will happen," she said. "But if you can't love the book, I don't think you are the right editor to take it on."

Collier, a Sikeston resident, has been working on a true crime book for two years, the book on dementia a shorter while. These are her first writing attempts, though she says, "I was always good at writing in school."

The projects were prompted by having some extra time. "When you take care of the elderly in their home and they go to sleep you've got time to write," she said.

Grasle rises at 4 a.m. to write for four hours every day. Writing is a chance for him to express himself in a new way, he said. "All my life I've been on the left brain side. Doing something creative breaks me out of my mode."

This is his third Heartland Writers Conference. He drives from Glen Carbon, Ill., because this conference offers a variety of information similar St. Louis events don't. "Heartland is easily the most diverse conference in a seven-state area," he said.

Ostertag's company does not accept unsolicited manuscripts, but she said she will look at work by someone she has met at a writers conference. She has not yet bought a manuscript encountered at a writer's conference. "But that's why you go," she said. "I'm hopeful."

Her advice to people who want to become genre writers is to read the books on the New York Times best seller list.

"You will see what sells," she said.