February's Meeting - Lisa Miller from Walrus Publishing

February 22, 2014 SEMO Writers’ Guild Minutes

Donna Essner, president, opened the meeting with a greeting to all members and visitors.  An introduction and acknowledgement of the new officers was made.

Reminders of the attendance sheet and of the refreshment sign-up were given. Additionally, Donna reminded of the multiple writers’ conference contests and recommended that each consider entering and stated that the location of additional information regarding the same could be found at www.missouriwriterswguild.org.  In addition, the conference was recommended to everyone who could possibly attend, no matter the individual’s goals regarding writing.  Many workshops are available for all interests.

A summer mini-conference in conjunction with the Heartland Writers Guild was announced.  Donna stated that a committee would be created soon to be composed of both guild’s members.  The committee would delegate duties and aid in the creation of the workshop.  Potential dates were given.  An update would be given at the March SEMO Writers’ Guild meeting on March 29, 2014.

A reminder of the Basket Wars that takes place at the MWG conference was given by Janet Cannon.  Janet discussed the previous basket the SWG prepared and asked for donations.  Any item could be donated; no limitation.

An introduction of and brief bio of the speaker, Lisa Miller, was given.

Contact information for Lisa Miller was given as follows:  Lisa.Miller@walruspublishing.com

Ms. Miller discussed how her company, Walrus Publishing, came to be, which was out of desperation.  She wrote for years and all during her years at St. Louis University.  Although she didn’t feel she was a good writer she desired to write.  Ms. Miller became a technical writer but quickly became bored and disinterested.  Publication became a huge interest and a decision was made to invest in establishing own publication company.

Ms. Miller believed she could market her company locally as St. Louis was a thriving location for writers but she was unsuccessful.  She quickly realized that being “local” simply means those with whom you network, not necessarily geographical location. 

Mistakes were made along the way and money quickly ran out but she was learning, and continues to learn about the publishing business.

Ms. Miller gave the advice of keeping track of all your expenses if you choose to self-publish and then weigh that against the cost of using a publication company.  As writers, a list was created as to the “good,” “bad,”

and a “wish list” about the publishing process.  The choices are many and so an educated decision should be made.

The SWG thanked Ms. Miller for her time and for her insight.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 with the announcement of a critique meeting to be held immediately following. The date of the next monthly meeting was announced as Saturday, March 29, 2014 beginning at 10:00 a.m., a change from previous beginning time of 10:30 a.m.