THERE'S A BOOK IN ALL OF US BUT IT'S RARELY PUBLISHED

Part of the American dream is to write a novel and get rich from it.

But a group of writers from southern Missouri say it takes more than dreams to get published. It takes hours of toil at a word processor, many rewrites and above all networking.

That's right. It's who you know in publishing that can make the difference between being an unpublished and published writer. And unpublished writers get no royalties.

That's why the third annual Heartland Writers Conference, this weekend in Cape Girardeau, is so popular for area writers.

"People from New York are coming to meet writers, that's the only reason they're coming here," said Shirleen Sando, an unpublished author who is helping coordinate the conference.

Sando, a professor of English at Arkansas State University, said the conference allows writers and publishers to meet and talk about working together.

It lets writers know exactly what it takes to get published, she said.

"I think everyone thinks they have a book in them, but it takes a lot of hard work and motivation to get that book out," Sando said. "It helps to get motivated, and the conference is highly motivational."

Agents, editors and published authors will conduct seminars during the conference on a variety of topics.

Featured conference speakers include New York agents Alice Orr and Evan Marshall, Berkley Publishing Group editor Melinda Metz, Zebra editor Paul Dinas, Book Creations editor Pamela Pease and Avon Children's and Young Adult editor Ellen Krieger.

Seminar topics include "Selling to Magazine Markets," "Plotting the Novel," "Writing for the Children's and Young Adult Market," "Writing Poetry" and "Submissions That Sell."

The conference continues to grow each year, Sando said. About 155 people are expected to attend this year, about double the number of people who attended three years ago.

Some of them have published books already, Sando said. But most have yet to make a lot of money from their writing. That takes time, she said, and rarely comes with the first book.

"You don't get rich off the first book. That happens only very seldom," she said. "The first book is like a ticket to an airplane. You keep getting tickets, and sooner or later," you get to your destination, she said.

"You don't start at the top. You work your way up."

The conference will be held at the Holiday Inn Convention Center. The workshop portion of the conference gets underway at 8 a.m. on Saturday.

Local authors will gather at Waldenbooks in West Park Mall Friday at 7 p.m. for an autograph session. They include Margaret Woods Allen, Connie Bennett, Robert Vaughn, Alexa Brix, Louis Daniel Brodsky, Lynn Bulock, Eileen Dryer, Charlotte Hubbard, Bill Johnstone, Veda Boyd Jones, Elizabeth Kary, and Suzanne Ledbetter.

Other authors are Belle Lin, Linda Madl, Elizabeth Morgan, Charley Perlberg, Jory Sherman and Bobbi Smith.