LAS VEGAS 2005

Our very first get-together was on November 19/20, 2005, and was a booksigning event, primarily. Seventeen authors joined together under the "Wizards of Words" umbrella and set up shop on the famous Las Vegas Strip at the Hawaiian Marketplace. In fact we were advertised up on the marquee on the strip. What a thrill that was! That weekend we had a very enlightening three days and an education about booksignings. Where to have them, and where not to have them. (smiles) On the closing night of the event we had dinner at the "Paris Casino and Hotel" in the incredible courtyard buffet which offered foods from every region of France. During dinner the "Wizard Award" was given to author Dennis Griffin for the most books sold at the event. What first began as only a means to meet each other and sell our books, soon developed into a more encompassing entity. As a result of a general meeting held on the closing day of the two-day booksigning in Las Vegas, we decided to become a non-profit writers' organization to help further the careers of our members, to assist in its membership's knowledge about the writing business, as well as, to teach other aspiring writers to hone their craft in order to become successful writers and published authors. As a result of that first meeting, we developed a web site, a messageboard on which our members could communicate, and with every coming year we hope to build on our collective and individual successes, banding together to share that knowledge at the Wizards of Words annual writers' conferences, beginning with the first one to be held in Kansas City, Missouri,on October 13/14/15, 2006.