Current News from the Kansas Authors Club

2026 "It Looks Like a Million" Book Design Awards

10/4/2026

2026 Book Design Award Winners (from left): Anne Spry, Kristine A. Polansky, Dawn Feltrop

Judge: Amy Avery has worked in the graphic design and printing industry for two decades, with a particular passion for book layout and cover design. She has been known to hoard fonts like a dragon collects treasure and is a sucker for a beautiful ampersand.

Prose Book Winner:

Taking The Long Way Home: A Peace Corp Memoir of Brazil by Anne Spry

This book was selected as a complete visual package, including elements like effective and eye-catching cover layout, stylish use of part and chapter headers, and clean typography throughout. The assorted design elements within combine for a very attractive and well-designed book.

Prose Book Honorable Mention:

The Porcelain Menagerie by Jillian Forsberg

A beautiful cover design and lovely chapter headers made this one stand out, worthy of an honorable mention.

Poetry Book Winner:

Provocative Lines: Exploratory Poems by Kristine A. Polansky, Illustrated by Esther Boyd

The design combines playful imagery with unique text layout and typography, creating a work of art that enhances the words held within. It also features a stylish cover that fully conveys the voice and tone of the poems included.

Children's Book:

Rosemary Chick, Pip Zip Hooray by Dawn Feltrop, Illustrated by Alexsander Jasinksi

The beautiful illustrations are complemented with typography that is well-integrated with the imagery, fully drawing the eye through the story. In addition, the usage of special text treatment to emphasize sounds and onomatopoeias is very effective.

Buy Taking the Long Way Home at Bookshop.org

Buy The Porcelain Menagerie at Bookshop.org

Buy Provocative Lines at Bookshop.org

Buy Rosemary Chick at Bookshop.org

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"It Looks Like a Million" Book Design Award by the Kansas Authors Club

10/13/2025

Design Award: Adult Category

Title: The Rhino Keeper
Author: Jillian Forsberg, Wichita
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1963452037

#ReadLocalKS - Buy Today

“The cover of The Rhino Keeper is visually striking and manages to balance graphics and imagery that are thematically appropriate to the tone, topic, and time-period of the book with current popular aesthetic trends in the industry. The illustrative elements are colorful yet subdued which ensures the title is the most prominent element of the design. On the back cover, the text is clean, elegant, and easy to read with plenty of breathing room to avoid crowding.”
– Rosalie Krenger, Judge

Design Award: Children's Category

Title: Pirate Chickens Under Attackkkk!!!
Author: Ashley Donegan
ISBN: 9798991038713

#ReadLocalKS - Buy Today

“Pirate Chickens Under Attack incorporates charming illustrations and small but effective touches throughout. The font is clean and easy to read and choosing to display the onomatopoeia in red is a simple choice that adds a big impact, helping young readers start to understand the process of differentiating stressed words and sounds. The illustrations are charming, and the addition of small pictures in the corners of the text-focused pages supplements the visual storytelling without being overly distracting.”
– Rosalie Krenger, Judge

Judge Rosalie Krenger is the owner of Well Lit Editing & Design. She has worked in publishing and design for the past decade, including work for several literary journals, a newspaper, a textbook company, several independent publishers and authors, a film festival, and other private clients. She has managed the Donald Reichardt Center for Publishing and Literary Arts and has mentored graphic designers, marketing interns, and writers in the Studio E Advertising Collective.

Finalists Announced: 2025 Coffin Memorial Book Award for Fiction

8/6/2025

For the first time, we are announcing finalists in our book awards categories prior to the announcement of our winners at the 2025 Fall Gathering (Writing Retreat) at Rock Springs Ranch on Sunday, October 5. This has been quite an undertaking. We are grateful to all of the individuals who volunteered to serve on our reading committees.

2025 J. Donald & Bertha Coffin Memorial Book Award in Fiction Finalists

The Rhino Keeper, by Jillian Forseberg

Parent Imperfect, by Paul Lamb

The Pamela Papers, by Nancy McCabe

The Last Rancher, by Robert Rebein

Clocked Out, by Anna St. John

Congratulations to Jillian, Paul, Nancy, Robert, and Anna!

April Program Recording Available

5/7/2025

The recording of the April program is now available for viewing by members at this link. (Member sign-on required.)

Based on True Events: How to Incorporate History Into Your Writing

Presented by Jillian Forsberg

Kansas author Jillian Forsberg holds a master’s degree in public history from Wichita State University and a bachelor’s degree in communication and history from McPherson College. Her research on little-known historical events led her to discover the true story behind her first novel, The Rhino Keeper.

Jillian is a regular contributor to Writer Unboxed and leads the Manuscript Matchup beta reader program through History Through Fiction.

You can find Jillian gardening, browsing the closest antique mall, or reading every label at a museum. She'll most likely be wearing vintage dresses, except when she's at the zoo.

Jillian owns a bridal store and has worked in bridal since 2007. She lives in Wichita, Kansas, with her husband, child, and pets.

Jillian’s second novel is written and she's working on a third. She will always write animal stories.

Kansas Authors Club Monthly State Programs

The next state program of the Kansas Authors Club will take place on Saturday, May 17, 2025. Our speaker, Steve Semken, of Ice Cube Press, will talk about "What It Means to be an Author and a Publisher."

What the publishing industry entails and what it means to be an author and a publisher

A conversation with Steve Semken, Ice Cube Press

Steve Semken founded Ice Cube Press in 1991 to use the literary arts to better understand how to live in the Midwest.

"It’s hard to even be a bad writer once you decide you want to be writer. Write and read. And, treat other authors as you would like to be treated." -- Steve Semken, author spotlight at Ames Writers Collective

Steve Semken - Substack

State Program: Saturday, April 19

4/18/2025

Current members receive an link to the monthly program on Zoom via the monthly e-newsletter. The link is also available using the button below which takes you to our members-only pages. Sign-on is required.

Click Here for Zoom Link on Member Pages

Based on True Events: How to Incorporate History Into Your Writing

Covering: Craft (skills and techniques), Writing

Kansas author Jillian Forsberg holds a master’s degree in public history from Wichita State University and a bachelor’s degree in communication and history from McPherson College. Her research on little-known historical events led her to discover the true story behind her first novel, The Rhino Keeper.

Jillian is a regular contributor to Writer Unboxed and leads the Manuscript Matchup beta reader program through History Through Fiction.

You can find Jillian gardening, browsing the closest antique mall, or reading every label at a museum. She'll most likely be wearing vintage dresses, except when she's at the zoo.

Jillian owns a bridal store and has worked in bridal since 2007. She lives in Wichita, Kansas, with her husband, child, and pets.

Jillian’s second novel is written and she's working on a third. She will always write animal stories.

Visit Jillian's Website

March Program Recording Available

4/4/2025

The recording of the March program is now available for viewing by members at this link. (Member sign-on required.)

Program: Finding the Heart of Your Story: Writing Stronger Stories and Making Smarter Revisions

Presented by Lori Martin

Lori Martin is an Associate Professor of English at Pittsburg State University, where she teaches creative writing courses. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous literary magazines, including The Cincinnati Review, The MacGuffin, The Maine Review, Midwest Quarterly, Prick of the Spindle, Room Magazine, Tampa Review, and others.

Martin's writing has been recognized with awards from The Cincinnati Review and Kansas Voices. A graduate of the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop, she was named a Truman Capote Fellow and received the Clark Fischer Ansley Award for Excellence in Fiction.

In addition to her teaching and writing, Martin serves as the poetry editor for The Midwest Quarterly and editor in chief of River Styx magazine.

The next state program of the Kansas Authors Club will take place on Saturday, April 19, 2025. Our speaker, Jillian Forsberg, will present on incorporating historical fact into your writing.

Learn More about our Monthly Programs

Visit Jillian's Website

The Rhino Keeper by Jillian Forsberg

10/24/2024

The Rhino Keeper is a uniquely entertaining historical story which begins in 1740. It focuses on an orphaned rhinoceros named Clara. Douwemout van der Meer finds himself mesmerized by a juvenile rhino and unexpectedly her owner. He employs Zubin, a boy, to help with her care. We follow their travels, trials, and joys from Calcutta, India, over sea and land. They travel around the Cape of Good Hope and settle for a while in the Netherlands. To provide for Clara’s care, Douwemout and Zubin take her on a tour of Europe, where they have encounters with royalty and common folk. Humorous events, endearing encounters, and danger await them as they travel.

This is a dual timeline novel. Andrea, reeling after her breakup with the man she hoped to marry, flies to The Netherlands, where she fills a position at Leiden University to preserve the history of a graveyard which must be relocated because of erosion. Almost from the time she arrives, chance happenings dictate Andrea will learn about Clara’s existence. She becomes embroiled in the fight to preserve the memory of the influence Clara had on Europe in the late 1700s.

This is a must read for historical fiction fans.
#readlocalks #ksauthors #debutnovel #readersoninstagram #WhatToRead #histfic

Save When You Register for the 2024 Convention Today!

8/31/2024

Join Us for the 2024 Kansas Writing Convention!

October 4-6, 2024

Early Bird Registration Deadline: August 31
Tickets will increase to full price on September 1.

Meet a Convention Workshop Presenter:

The Dual Timeline: How-To and Why

Presented by Jillian Forsberg

Dual timeline novels continue to grow in popularity. But how do you effectively write two narratives in one work? And why would you want to in the first place? Learn how to create separate but compelling narratives that work to enhance one another including: connecting protagonists, illuminating the past through a present timeline, and navigating the narrative flow of different worlds in one novel.

Jillian Forsberg's debut novel, The Rhino Keeper, debuts October 22, 2024, from History Through Fiction. In addition to being the former editor of Wichita State's Fairmount Folio, Jillian's historical research has been published in academic journals. Her second novel is in the works. She lives in Wichita.

Thank you to our convention sponsors & supporters. Click on the images below to learn more.

History Through Fiction Signs Author Jillian Forsberg

12/22/2023

Jillian Forsberg of Wichita signed a publishing contract with Minnesota-based publisher History Through Fiction for her debut novel, The Rhino Keeper. Set in 18th century Europe, the dual timeline story is based on the true history of Douwemout van der Meer and Clara, the only rhino in Europe. Publication is fall of 2024.

Congratulations, Jillian!

Welcome New Member Jillian Forsberg

12/16/2023

Today I have the honor of introducing Jillian Forsberg of Wichita to the Kansas Authors Club!

Jillian Forsberg is a historian and author with a master’s degree in public history from Wichita State University. Her first novel, The Rhino Keeper, will be published by History Through Fiction in the fall of 2024. Former editor of the The Fairmount Folio at WSU, Jillian’s history research has been published in academic journals. She’s also a frequent contestant in the NYC Midnight short story competitions.

See more about Jillian’s upcoming novel here: https://www.historythroughfiction.com/the-rhino-keeper
Learn more about Jillian and read her short stories on her website: https://www.jillianforsberg.com/

Welcome, Jillian!

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