Monday, 22 February 2016

Romance Readers Unite!




with Debbie Phillips from ARRA



When we established the Australian Romance Readers Association (ARRA) in 2007 we had just 17 members. Having all met online, we started the association to organise an event for Australian romance readers. Who better than romance readers and authors to put on an event that met our needs? We didn’t know if it would work—nor have any idea of how much work would be involved—but we decided to have a go.


ARRC09 in Melbourne was truly awesome! Along with the hard work of our committee members we had support from the amazing community of romance authors. A number of international guests—Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dianna Love, MaryJanice Davidson, Susan Grant, Liz Maverick—came to the event (at their own expense)—and we were delighted to welcome them as keynote speakers. Add in a host of our favourite local authors—such as Keri Arthur, Stephanie Laurens, Anna Campbell and Melanie Milburne—and we ended up with about 30 romance authors attending. There were speeches, panels, giveaways and a mass book-signing event—the first of its kind in Australia. And, of course, we held our inaugural awards. (australianromancereaders.com.au/2009.html) All in an environment that celebrated romance—where not one person sneered at another person’s choice of reading matter.

Inaugural Australian Romance Readers Convention

The huge success of that convention boosted our membership; by the end of 2009 we had over 150 members. We had also established a monthly newsletter, regular lunches in some cities, and we had started planning our first RWA/ARRA signing event. But in the meantime we had to consider what to do about our annual awards—they could hardly be annual if only held at our biennial convention.

People's Choice Awards 2013
Anna Campbell, Amy Andrews, M J Scott, Anne Gracie

Each year ARRA members nominate and vote in their very own awards. That’s right—not only do they vote for the winners, but all nominated titles are put forward by ARRA members. When the awards started in 2009 there were 5 categories. That later expanded to 9, with an additional 3 ‘fun’ Members’ Choice awards selected by members each year.


The second awards night was held in 2010 at the gorgeous Cello’s Restaurant in the Castlereagh Hotel, Sydney. Nalini Singh was our dinner speaker (and scooped up a good portion of the awards). We have also been back to Cello’s for the awards dinner in 2012 and 2014.

Shannon Curtis (top), Kat Mayo

The next awards dinner will be held on 19 March, once again at Cello’s restaurant, with Shannon Curtis as MC and guest speaker Kat Mayo from Book Thingo. If you haven't got your ticket yet, follow the link:
australianromancereaders.wordpress.com/2016/01/16/awards-dinner-tickets-on-sale-3/


But in amongst all that we have been doing a lot of other things too. We’ve held three more romance reader conventions
2011 in Sydney http://australianromancereaders.com.au/2011.html
2013 in Brisbane http://australianromancereaders.com.au/2013.html
2015 in Canberra http://australianromancereaders.com.au/2015.html


And we’ve had some phenomenal keynote speakers—Cindy Gerard, Anna Campbell, Nalini Singh, Kristan Higgins, Rachel Vincent, Anne Gracie, Sylvia Day, Helene Young, Kelley Armstrong and Victoria Dahl.



Book Signing Event 2015


We’ve held 9 group book-signing events with as many as 90 authors attending, some held in conjunction with our convention, and others in conjunction with the RWA conference. We’ve held special reader events in Sydney and Melbourne with Julia Quinn, Sylvia Day, Maya Banks and Nalini Singh.








Today our membership has just passed 370 members. So we’re making progress reaching readers. But we are constantly looking for new ways to find and engage with romance readers. Our plan is pretty simple: more events, more promo, more competitions, more engagement.


Regency Fashion Parade 2015

Would you enjoy the opportunity to discuss romance books with other romance readers who ‘get it’? Why not come and join the Australian Romance Readers Association?

You can find us at www.ireadromance.com.au. Or chat with us on our Facebook group or Twitter.


We love to love ... romance books!


We love to laugh ... while reading romance books!


We love to learn ... about new romance authors!


















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27 comments:

  1. Malvina22 February 2016 at 07:21

    Debbie, I love, love, love ARRA! It is such a happy, fun romance readers' association to belong to! You all work so hard to bring the members good things, like the monthly magazine, reviews, author chats, new releases, *prizes*, general info and so on. And on! Thankyou! I think the cruncher came when I managed to get to your conference in Canberra - my first - and had the Best! Time! Ever! At a conference! And then I drove home with literally a boot load of books to enjoy.

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    1. ARRA Webmaster22 February 2016 at 12:44

      Thanks Malvina - so glad you were able to make the convention last year, after being a member for so long!

      Delete
  2. Unknown22 February 2016 at 07:59

    One of the things I love about ARRA is the email loop. I'm not overly active on it but I learn so much just reading the various posts and also hear about amazing books!

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    1. Debbie22 February 2016 at 12:44

      Glad we can help with your romance reading addiction Dee :)

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  3. Helen22 February 2016 at 08:53

    I love ARRA as well I have been to every convention made so many wonderful friends and read awesome books I applaud the work the committee does as I have said before ARRA has made such a big difference to my life love it

    Have Fun
    Helen

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    1. Debbie22 February 2016 at 12:45

      So glad that ARRA has made a difference to your life Helen. You have certainly been an asset to the association :)

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  4. Cassandra Samuels22 February 2016 at 09:05

    ARRA is a fantastic organisation. I feel very proud to be an author member and to have participated in the last convention in Canberra last March. It was so much fun. It was also my first ever signing as an author and I got to sit next to Kylie Scott (who was lovely). I love to go to the monthly lunches in Sydney (although I don't get to go to as many as I would like) and look forward to the next convention next year. I also think the Newsletter is wonderful. If not for ARRA I would never have met Julia Quinn or my future editor Brooke. I thank Debbie and her hard working team for all their efforts to make ARRA something for everyone.

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    1. Debbie22 February 2016 at 12:46

      Thanks Cassie. It is great to hear we have opened opportunities for author members too :)

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  5. Amy Andrews22 February 2016 at 10:36

    Much kudos to ARRA who has really helped to engage the romance community in Australia. I'm proud to have been to every convention and be the recipient of some fabulous nominations and awards over the years. I may be an author but I am,first and foremost, a *reader* of romance and it's wonderful that ARRA caters for us!

    On another note, I know how hard it is to run a volunteer organisation and think ARRA do a fabulous job. So looking forward to Cello's in March and the High Tea!

    PS - love that pic of Anne, Mel, Anna and I!

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    1. Debbie22 February 2016 at 12:48

      Thanks Amy :) So looking forward to the High Tea (two tickets left!) and catching up with everyone at the Awards Dinner

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  6. Anna Campbell22 February 2016 at 11:54

    ARRA are amazing! Like the wonderful Amy A, I was a reader before I was a writer and I still think if they paid me to read, I wouldn't do much writing, snerk! Definitely worth joining!!!!

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    1. Debbie22 February 2016 at 12:49

      Thanks Anna :) I wish someone would invent a job where we were paid to read - just for enjoyment. Wouldn't that be amazing?

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  7. Anna Campbell22 February 2016 at 11:55

    And yeah, I love that pic of the four of us too.

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  8. Jennifer St George22 February 2016 at 13:18

    Great post Debbie. What an amazing growth in numbers - 370 - fantastic! So looking forward the Awards evening in Sydney!!

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  9. NOELLE CLARK - Author22 February 2016 at 15:04

    ARRA is a fabulous organisation. Love it. Love the hardworking crew who run it so well. I know there's lots of hard work involved. Looking forward to meeting many of you in Sydney on March 19. :-)

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    1. Debbie29 February 2016 at 08:29

      Thanks Noelle. See you there :)

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  10. Marilyn Forsyth22 February 2016 at 15:13

    Hi Debbie, I've been a member of ARRA for a couple of years now and always look forward to the monthly magazine. It's packed to the brim with interesting stuff. What a fantastic job you and the rest of the volunteers do! I can't wait for the High Tea next month - I'm sitting at Rachael Johns' table.

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    1. Debbie29 February 2016 at 08:29

      Thanks Marilyn. So glad you enjoy the newsletter! The High Tea should be awesome - see you there!

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  11. Deanna22 February 2016 at 15:56

    Great post. Fantastic to see the growth over the years. Have enjoyed all the events I've attended.

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    1. Debbie29 February 2016 at 08:30

      See you at the awards dinner Deanna

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  12. Sharon Bryant22 February 2016 at 17:25

    Hi Debbie, I found out about ARRA when I rejoined RWA last year. It sounds like a fabulous group. I have a friend who went to your conference in Canberra. She had a wonderful time.

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    1. Debbie29 February 2016 at 08:31

      Hopefully you can make it to the next convention Sharon - they're really great fun. Or if you're going to the RWA conference in Adelaide we might see you at the book-signing there

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  13. Anne23 February 2016 at 10:17

    ARRA is a terrific organization. I'm glad to be a part of it -- as a reader, as well as an author.

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    1. Debbie29 February 2016 at 08:32

      Thanks Anne - and thanks for all your support

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  14. Enisa23 February 2016 at 18:25

    Thanks for the wonderful, informative post, Debbie. I've been a reader of romance novels since childhood years (it's all Cinderella's fault!) and knowing there are others out there who love romantic stories as much as I do is simply the best news. Sharing all things romance novel via ARRA is a bonus for us all to treasure, so thank you for this wonderful organisation. I am really looking forward to the High Tea in March...and sitting with Kelly Hunter, yay!!!

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    1. Debbie29 February 2016 at 08:33

      Thanks Enisa. I'm so glad you enjoy what ARRA has to offer. See you at the High Tea!

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