April - Missouri Writers' Guild Conference Recap

April 26 Southeast Chapter Missouri Writers' Guild Meeting Minutes

Since the President, Vice-President, and Secretary were all unable to attend, Treasurer Laura Luttrell and Historian Janet Cannon conducted the meeting.

They welcomed several visitors, some of whom signed up to be members. Several members also had kudos to share including some who won awards at the Missouri Writers' Guild Conference.

The Southeast Chapter again won Basket Wars! This year's trophy is new. No engraving plate will go on the base, but each chapter that wins will get to display the trophy for a year and keep a certificate.

Our summer mini-conference, "All Write Now!" was the next topic. Everyone was still on-board to go ahead, so we put together some more ideas and the committee went on the next day to the Heartland Writers Guild to discuss further plans. The main idea is to get some of the small presses to come take pitches, perhaps talk on a panel, and have a variety of workshops for both fiction and non-fiction writers. Details will be out later this month.

We're still having issues with getting our critique workshop off the ground. Many members are not receiving pieces. The idea was suggested that each person e-mail the critique group and when you get a piece, send a confirmation e-mail back. This seems to be the best idea so far.

Members then shared some of the information they learned about pitching, platforms, and marketing from the conference. Several visitors asked for feedback on their issues and members shared their advice.

Janet Cannon closed the meeting at 11:30.

Next meeting is Saturday, May 31 so it doesn't interfere with Memorial day weekend. We as yet do not have a speaker.

March Meeting - Brad Cook on Pitching to Agents

March 29th 2014 Southeast Chapter Missouri Writers' Guild Meeting Minutes

All in attendance were welcomed and guests and new members acknowledged. A reminder was given regarding the mini-conference and the date of the event was announced as July 19, 2014 at the Cape Girardeau Public Library. A signup sheet was passed around for position openings to assist in the conference. Kudos were given to Steve Duniphan for his submission making the front page of the Banner Press.  A copy was passed around to be shared.  

The Basket Wars items donated were placed on a table before the group and an opener line or writing prompt for items displayed were requested to be included among the contents of the basket  

The guest speaker, Brad Cook, was introduced. He is a writer/consultant, and the 2014 president of the St. Louis Writer' Guild. Brad's personal genre favorite is historical fiction and he is the author of a blog found at www.thewriterslens.com.  In addition, Brad recently joined Blank Slate Press, a St. Louis based publishing company. The subject of pitching was presented.

Mr. Cook stated that he has yet to have a pitch he's presented to be turned down and he submitted to the group his top requirements to achieve a perfect pitch.  

1.  The hook - do not use your work's first line.

2.  Prepare an elevator pitch - 25-50 words encapsulating your entire work. Focus on the main theme and be sure to write it out. Create a "log line," which is a comparison of your work (i.e., Harry Potter meets Hunger Games), also known as "The Hollywood Pitch." It is recommended that you do some research on the agent/publisher you plan to pitch to, and then carve your Hollywood pitch in a genre the publisher/agent represents.

3.  Is your work complete? Agents prefer that your work is complete. If your project has more than six months worth of work until complete, do not pitch.

4.  Word count. Know your count and mention this information in your pitch.

5.  Genre. Ensure that your genre is mentioned.

6.  Main character must be mentioned.

7.  Main plot should be revealed and possibly one subplot.

8.  There is no need to have amazing credentials. Anyone can write - it's about the story and why you are the right person to write the story.

9.  Get rid of generalities and clichés. Focus instead on why your story differs, not why it's similar.

10.  If your piece is fiction, focus on the story. If nonfiction, focus on you, the writer—why are you the one to write this book? What’s your expertise? What do you plan to do after your book is finished (i.e., speaking engagements, support groups, etc.)?

11.  Practice, practice, practice in an engaging, conversational manner.  Do not read from a paper.

12.  What do you do during the actual pitch?  

a.  Do not use all your time, only use half so the agent can ask questions. Always expect the "gotcha question."      
    

b.  Do not ramble; time is too precious to waste.      
    

c.  Accept when your time has expired. Just stop.      
    

d.  Do not expect the agent to take anything from you. Feel free to place the first page of your piece in front of you. The agent may be compelled to at least read your first line. This could make or break the pitch.      
    

e.  Be positive—sell yourself.  "Fake it ’til you make it!"  

In closing, Brad reminded of the most important fact—rejection is not about YOU, personally. It is always about your writing and/or the industry. It just may not be time, which is out of your control. Additionally, Brad stated he firmly believes that pitching is the best way to be picked up by an agent. Your name and face connected to your book has a valuable impact. The agent is there looking for a book, and remember, you're there with a book and that is a very beautiful thing.  

The meeting was adjourned at 11:40 a.m. for pitching practice by those in attendance.

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.

April Conference

It's not too late to sign up for the Missouri Writers' Guild conference! Check out our amazing schedule at:

http://missouriwritersguild.org/MWG%20Conference%202014/

and checkout the interviews with our faculty at:

http://mwgconference.blogspot.com/

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We also still have until March 1 for the writing contests. You don't have to attend the conference to enter, so if you are a Missouri Chapter or Guild member, polish up those pieces and send them in! The price is right and the bragging rights are awesome!

http://missouriwritersguild.org/MWG%20Conference%202014/index_files/Page1220.htm

January 25 2014 Meeting

Donna gives her presentation on critique sessions

January 25 SEMO Writers’ Guild Minutes

Jan welcomed members back for a new year of meetings, and asked visitors to introduce themselves. Visitors included: Gary Case, Susie Ryan, Roy Meyer, Christa ?, and Marcie Upchurch.

2014 Officer Elections: This year, the current officers wanted to add a Historian/Web Coordinator to the list of positions. Also, the Secretary/Treasurer position will be divided into two separate positions—as noted in the original bylaws.

Reminder: The Missouri Writers’ Guild ‘Fifty Shades of Writing’ conference will be held April 11-13, 2014 in St. Louis. Check out the MWG website at: missouriwriterswguild.org for details about faculty and workshops.

Anthology: The officers decided that the anthology would be a Print On Demand book this year. That way there will be not output of SEMOWG monies upfront. Donna stated she has the entries in InDesign, but the book isn’t ready for editing just yet.

Mini-Conference: Jan asked Mary Rechenberg, President of Heartland Writer’s Guild and SEMOWG member about getting together with the HWG to put together a mini-conference sometime this summer. Mary said that HWG meetings are held on the third Sunday of each moth from 2-4 p.m. at the Jackson Steck House on Washington Street.

Jan also mentioned that the ‘Memoir Writers’ group meets at the library and that maybe we could contact them to see if they would want to be included in the conference preparations.

Members were asked to provide feedback to officers as to what they would like to see presented at this conference. PLEASE SEND FEEDBACK TO SEMOWG email: semowg@gmail.com. Or send to Donna Essner at semowgpres@gmail.com.

Mary Rechenberg shared that there will be an Open Mic at the Coffee House and a booksigning at the Cape River Heritage Museum. She said she would let the library know of these presentations as well. Dates and times will be announced later.

News and Updates from Members – Marybeth Niederkorn will be presenting at the National Conference for Graduate Students in February. Mary Rechenberg won the Judges Pick for her literary essay recently. During a critique session at the November SCBWI Regional meeting, Donna Essner met with Regina Brooks of Serendipity Agency on her new novel. Miss Brooks stated she would like to see more when the novel is completed.

2014 Officer Elections

President – Donna J. Essner

Vice President – Rick Duniphan

Secretary – Samantha Deusinger

Treasurer – Laura Luttrell

Historian/Web Coordinator – Jan Cannon

Assistant Historian/Web Coordinator – Tom Neumeyer

Note: Jan Cannon was elected Vice President, but then declined so that she could run for the Historian/Web Coordinator position.

Speaker/Presentation: Donna Essner then presented a short talk on Critiques: A Necessary Evil?

She stated she will send out a signup sheet and the detailed information page to members on Critique Guidelines.

The meeting was adjourned.

Next meeting: Saturday, February 22, 2014. Lisa Miller, Walrus Publishing, LLC will be the speaker.

Southeast Missouri Website: http://semowg.blogspot.com

SEMOWG email: semowg@gmail.com

Minutes respectfully submitted by

Donna J. Essner, Secretary/Treasurer (former)

May 18th Chapter Meeting Notes

May's SEMO Chapter Meeting opened with President Janet Cannon welcoming everyone and inviting those who attended the April Missouri Writers' Guild conference to share some of what they learned at the conference.

Janet shared some of what she learned from C. Hope Clark's Early Arrival Seminar about how the "shy writer" can succeed by using a calendar to mark off days you wrote (proving to yourself you are successful and dedicated!), using positive language to talk about your writing, and making small and measurable goals you can see so you don't give up on the big goal you want to attain.

Bill and Sharon Hopkins talked about a workshop they attended that explained how to make your web presence more effective. Social media, web pages, Amazon author pages, using tags and key words, and Google analytics reports oh my! Lots to learn in that department!

Marybeth Niedercorn discussed a little about what she learned about how to figure out what small presses want from a writer and from their manuscripts.

We also celebrated the winners of several MWG contests: Sharon Hopkins' book Killerfind won Best book in the President's Contest. One of her short stories, "Rear View Mirror" won third place in the Short Story contest. Marybeth Niedercorn's "Demon Hawg" won first place in the Humerous Short Story category. Janet Cannon's "Blonde Curls and Scurvy Pirates" won first place in the Flash Fiction contest and her inspirational Essay "Dance: Driven by the Inciting Incident" won an honorable mention. Plus, our chapter won Basket Wars! (Marybeth accepted the trophy.) We think we had more members there than any other chapter as well! All in all, our chapter really stood out at the conference this year.

The group as a whole then discussed several topics. Last year's anthology did not have enough entries to make a full-sized volume, so we are going to put out a call for more members to submit and do a two-year volume. We decided July's meeting will be a social/idea sharing meeting at Steelcrest Winery. The Hopkins will get back with us on what weekend will be the best for us to meet there.

Several people also wanted to get started on workshop/critique groups. A sign-up list was circulated. An email will also go out through semowg to ask for others who want to be a part of the workshop/critique groups. Hopefully we'll be able to get these together in the next couple of months.

We also announced our summer and fall lineup of speakers (except for October, which we don't have finallized just yet!) And here it is!

June 29 - Dr. Frank Nickell on regional history
July ?? - Social day at Steelcrest Winery
August 31 - Margot Dill on blogging
September 28 - Peter Green - on working with editors and publishers
October 26 - ??

Janet Cannon then closed the meeting. We all snagged a few last cookies, talked a bit more, then went home.

BASKET WARS!

On our maiden voyage as participants in the Basket Wars competition at the Missouri Writers' Guild conference, we won the bidding! Our basket's theme was, "Everything a Writer Always Wanted but was Afraid to Ask For." It contained generally mundane items but descriptions that allowed for...let's say...other possibilities. For example, gardening gloves that were red so that, "the blood would blend right in," and boxes to "hide evidence in plain sight." Then we had fake mustaches, fake evidence, and a rubber duckie villian. All sorts of fun to put together, all sorts of fun to watch people ooh and ahh over. We even had one person ask for the description list she thought it was so funny! Now, what will we do NEXT year?