We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sabrina Fish a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sabrina, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

As a baby author in 2011, I wanted to find others who loved writing romance like me. However, when I looked around for groups in my area to join, there was only 1 option for romance writers, an affiliate of a national writing organization that was very expensive to join. So, I went to one meeting because it was free and then waited a couple years to join until I felt like I could justify the cost of the group.

Back then, I imagined starting my own that was affordable for all writers because the high cost of the national group felt exclusionary and wrong. But I wasn’t sure my dream was realistic and I knew I needed to learn a lot more about running writing groups first. So I joined non-genre specific writing groups and volunteered for leadership positions. And in every single group I volunteered in, as soon as I revealed that I wrote romance, I’d get asked if I knew of any affordable romance groups. I hated having to tell them no.

But at that time I was busy trying to get my books written and published under my author name, Sabrina A. Fish, under which I’ve written 10 books so far. Then in 2012, my husband and I purchased a trophy company. My dance card was full. But my dream hovered in the back of my mind. I’d even talk about it with other romance writers in my other writing groups. It wasn’t until 2019 when everything fell into place.

I had just finished my past president commitment to OWFI-Oklahoma Writers Federation Inc, when a couple of romance authors approached me with a request to finally start my own romance group. I’ll admit to being reluctant. I now understood the work AND budget required if I wanted to start my own group and have it be everything I’d always envisioned. I didn’t want to do it unless I could do it right.

I’ll admit their request consumed me for the entire rest of that day and the following night. I considered all angles, the pros and cons, and scoffed at my own very Libra-esque indecision. But ultimately, I came to the conclusion that if not now, when? I’d just finished a 3-year commitment to OWFI as conference coordinator, president, and past-president. I knew and understood everything required to make this happen. That night, I made my decision and the excitement set it.

The next day, I told the two writers who’d approached me that if they would help, I’d do it. They were ecstatic. They also had no idea the monster they’d unleashed. I was determined to form a group unlike any other in the area. It would be FREE to join and would provide FREE monthly workshops about all things romance writing, publishing, and marketing.

I shifted into hyper-focus and personally built a game plan and a website, then created my mission statement:
Oklahoma Romance Writers Guild (OKRWG) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization with a mission to promote higher standards for the written word. We seek to coordinate and encourage professional writing, specifically pertaining to writing the romance genre, romance sub-genres, and romantic subplots in Oklahoma.

In five years, OKRWG went from 3 members in Oklahoma City to 315 members across the world. We host our FREE workshops in person and virtually, via Zoom, we host an annual writing contest fundraiser to support our programs, and in 2023 we organized, RomanceLahoma, our first romance writer conference.

It hasn’t been easy. I’ve dedicated thousands of hours to this passion project, agonized over all the legalese required to make it a nonprofit charitable organization, made a few mistakes, and learned a ton of lessons. One of my fellow founding members is still my treasurer and has been instrumental in helping me figure it all out. Along the way, we’ve added to our team until I feel like we have a solid group of board members invested in helping us grow OKRWG into a long-lasting home for romance writers in Oklahoma, the USA, and across the world.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m award-winning fantasy & paranormal romance author, Sabrina A. Fish. I live in Oklahoma with my husband, son, and two cats. I own a trophy & awards company with my husband, and I’m the founder and president of the nonprofit organization, Oklahoma Romance Writers Guild.

I started writing in 2010 after meeting a fellow mom who was working on her first book. Though I had ideas for good stories, I never dreamed I could actually do it myself until meeting someone else just like me who was. As soon as I started working on that first book, I knew I’d found my passion.

I soon realized that there were very few options for romance writers within the Oklahoma writing community and dreamed of changing that. After spending years volunteering in leadership rolls in non-genre specific writing groups, I started Oklahoma Romance Writers Guild.

OKRWG is a nonprofit organization that offers FREE membership and FREE monthly workshops we host in person and via zoom to romance writers in Oklahoma, the USA, and the world. We help new writers figure out the process for finishing their book, submitting to agents, and/or how to publish, as well as helping seasoned authors stay up to date on current marketing and promotion trends.

I’m exceptionally proud of the leadership team I’ve put together, the growth we’ve managed in only 5 years, and the praise we received for RomanceLahoma, our first writer conference & book sale in 2023.

We are so incredibly excited to announce that author, Sara Cate will be our keynote for RomanceLahoma 2025. She’ll also be signing at the Red Dirt Book Event held during RomanceLahoma, which is free and open to the public(registration is required). So go register for the conference and book event today!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned with OKRWG, is the lesson of researching naming rights. In 2022, when I decided I wanted the group to host a writer conference, I chose a name for it without considering that the name could be trademarked already. My team and I had it all set up with emails, website pages, a logo, etc, when I received an email from legal council of the person who owned the trademark. Needless to say, that was a big lesson as my team and I then had to come up with another name, and undo everything we’d already set up.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Funding is the single most stressful part of starting any new business. Especially, if you’re determined to build a nonprofit that is free to members. I funded much of the start up myself as a donation. OKRWG is a passion project that I was happy to invest in because I believe whole-heartedly in the mission. But donations only get a business so far. When I needed a way to fund the administration costs of the group, I knew immediately I had to start a book contest. Entering their book into contests and earning that “Award-Winning” author tag is something many authors want, so I knew it would be the perfect avenue to fund my nonprofit. And since I own a trophy and awards company as my day job, I knew I could get the first year’s awards donated as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.oklahomaromancewritersguild.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/okromancewritersguild/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/romancelahoma
• Twitter: https://www.x.com/okromanceguild
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXgAAWleDSTZWJFG1_1XPRA
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@okromancewritersguild

  Links for Sabrina A. Fish
  website: https://www.SabrinaAFish.com

Image Credits

OKRWG Editor & photographer: Ariel White