Got Stories Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, on June 16, 2012.
In 2007 while Emmaline was on bed rest during her pregnancy with Darce she wrote her first book; Longbourn’s Unexpected Matchmaker. She published the book late 2009 with a re-release early 2010. The book saw fantastic success and as a result we decided to open a small press publishing company and try our hand at book publishing.
By 2010 we had books on contract with a fall release. The next couple of years would show us tremendous success until in early 2012 Emmaline left her job to run the publishing company with Rhett. It was our intent to become more well known, so at the end of 2011 we began planning our summer book conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. We planned to host it in Salt Lake City because there are a lot of writers there and it was the one location the majority of them could travel to with little effort.
The June 16, 2012 event was known as the Got Stories Conference and it was hosted for the purpose of connecting with the writing world. Primarily authors. We brought in our authors from all over the world and had them speak about the art of writing as well as providing information about their books. We then had a question and answer period with the publisher, Rhett, and followed up with a book signing.
We had 7 authors show up to speak as well as around 50 guests.
After the event Rhett and I hosted a dinner for the authors at a Hibachi Steakhouse across the street from the event center.
J. S. Chancellor
J.S. Chancellor (Breanne Best) is from Columbus, GA. She is the author of the Guardians of Legend series as well as Thief of Nightshade, and Icarus.
J. S. was one of the first three authors with Rhemalda and helped us develop into the excellent publisher that we were.
When we closed Rhemalda Publishing in September 2013 J. S. Chancellor had 6 books on contract with us.
Michelle Davidson Argyle
Michelle Davidson Argyle is from Orem, UT. She is the author of The Breakaway, Pieces, Monarch, and Bonded as well as some other self-published books.
Michelle was the first author in the second round of contracts for Rhemalda Publishing. We started with the publication of her novel Monarch and then published almost everything she wrote. Not only did Michelle have amazing writing skills, but she had an eye for art also. She assisted us with cover design on quite a few of our publications.
Michelle even helped us redesign our logo when we rebranded in 2012.
Robyn Chance
Robyn Chance was our only children’s storybook author. Robyn has lived in the Pacific Northwest for most of her life. She is the author/illustrator of two children’s picture books, C is for China and Ewela’s Baaad Day.
Her first book, C is for China, was written for her daughter who was adopted from China.
Most recently she completed illustrations for a set of short stories that accompany, The Fianna Trilogy, a young adult series based on Celtic myth. Robyn is also an active speaker, and presenter, on writing and illustrating for young readers, and is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Rhett and I attended a couple of book signings and event with Robyn helping her promote her books.
Cas Peace
Cas Peace was our only author from the United Kingdom. Cas is the author of a 9 book fantasy series. Not only is Cas an author, but she is also a musician. She composes folk songs which corresponds with her fantasy novels.
When Rhemalda closed we had a contract to publish 6 of Cas’ novels and a verbal promise to review and consider her other three.
Cas was touring the Grand Canyon right before our conference and stayed in the USA long enough to speak and attend.
T. J. Robinson
T.J. Robinson (Taylor) is a busy dentist and father from the Salt Lake Valley. He writes young adult fantasy books on the side and in his free time when he is not at work … or fishing.
T. J. found Rhemalda Publishing through a locally hosted writing conference at BYU where he overheard some other authors talking about us and decided to go home and submit his novel, The Academy Defenders.
T. J. Did not know a lot about the world of publishing when he was first published with us, but he did everything we said and as a result his book was successful.
Amber Argyle
Amber Argyle is from Logan, Utah. She was one of the first authors in the second round of publications in 2010. When we first offered Amber a contract we were confused if she was the same author as Michelle Davidson Argyle. It ended up the confusion had us offering 2 authors contracts when we thought we were offering 1 author 2 book contracts. It was a great mistake as Amber was a dynamic author whose books sold well.
Witch Song was the first book Rhemalda Publishing ever had translated into a foreign language; Indonesian. Since then, Amber’s books have been nominated for and won awards in addition to being translated into a third language, French.
Karen Amanda Hooper
Karen Amanda Hooper is the author of Tangled Tides. She was born and bred in Baltimore, frolicked and froze in Colorado for a couple of years and is currently sunning and splashing around Florida.
Karen writes magical romances for all ages. Her books range from the sea to the stars and beyond. When Rhemalda Publishing closed we had contracts for her Sea Monster Memoirs and was preparing to offer for her Kindrily series.
When she arrived in Salt Lake City for this conference she was a lot quieter than we ever imagined her from talking on the web chat with her. Crowds were not her thing.
Dinner at the Hibachi Steakhouse
After the conference was over, we treated all the authors and their spouses … or guests … to dinner at a hibachi steakhouse. The dinner was amazing, and we had a great time getting to know everyone a little better.
Front Row Left to Right: Amber Smith (Author), Emmaline Hoffmeister (Owner, CFO, and Author), Karen Amanda Hooper (Author), and Michelle Davidson Argyle (Designer and Author)
The publisher took all of the authors out to dinner after the event and author Michelle Davidson Argyle took this photo of Aldrich and Darce. For years, it has been one of my favorite pictures of the boys.
These two cuties need some credit also. Presently they are 5 and 7 and they sat quietly and politely all day long while Rhett and I took care of the conference. Never once did they fight, interrupt, or throw a fit. A true feat for little boys.
While we were at dinner Michelle Davidson Argyle took this picture of my precious boys. This image would go on to be my favorite image of my boys for the next few years.
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