Indie Author Panel

Learn about writing and self-publishing from these award winning indie authors. The self-publishing journey can be a long one with wonderful rewards. Learn more about the writing process, being your own agent, marketing yourself, and how it feels to finally hold your book in your hands. This panelists are winners from the Soon to be Famous Illinois Author Project .

Register here: https://galenapubliclibrary.eventbrite.com or by emailing distlerl@galenalibrary.org

The Panelists:

Hollie Smurthwaite : 2020 Adult Fiction Winner .
Smurthwaite is the author of The Color of Trauma, a paranormal romantic suspense novel. She lives in Chicago and is active in the writing community as a member of Off-Campus Writers’ Workshop, Sisters in Crime, Alliance of Independent Authors, Chicago Writers Association, and a co-organizer for Just Write Chicago, a Meetup group.

Otto Schafer : 2020 Young Adult Fiction Winner.
Schafer grew up exploring the small historic town in central Illinois featured in his young adult series, The God Stones. If you visit Petersburg, Illinois you may find locations familiar from the books. You may even discover, as Otto did, that history has left behind cleverly hidden traces of magic, whispered secrets, and untold treasures.

Annemarie Mannion: 2021 Manuscript Contest Winner.
Mannion is a former reporter for the Chicago Tribune and a freelance writer. Her novel Veritas is set in post-Civil War Galena.

Pascuela Herrera: 2021 De la Página a la Fama Contest Winner
Her memoir, Not Always a Valley of Tears (No siempre es un valle de lágrimas), is the story of her life as a Mexican immigrant woman with a physical disability resulting from childhood polio, had the odds against her, yet she conquered simply by working hard, having unfailing faith, and finding her own life purpose.

The Zoom capacity for this event is limited, alternatively the event can be watched live on our Facebook page.
Galena LitFest is sponsored by the Galena Public Library and the Friends of the Galena Public Library.