Meeting Minutes 2021
March 2021 Meeting Minutes
11 members were present. The treasurer’s report was received. Officers from last year were all reelected to serve again this year: Carlee Criddle President and Social Media/Advertising Admin, Greg Stout VP, Marcie Upchurch Secretary, Mary Ann Featherston Treasurer.
Members all read a sample of their writing for the group and received short feedback.
11:30 end of meeting.
C.C.
April 2021 Meeting Minutes
7 people attended. The meeting was still held at First Presbyterian due to the library being unavailable. The treasurer was not present, so there was no report given.
Everyone shared a piece of writing they found inspirational or otherwise just very enjoyable and explained why to the group.
11:30 end of meeting.
C.C.
May 2021 Meeting Minutes
21 people in attendance. Joint Meeting with Heartland Writers’ Guild. Held at First Presbyterian Church.
Regina Riney-Williams from Mockingbird Land Press (located in AR) spoke for us. She offered many criteria of what makes a good book, listed ways you can screw-up (or not) getting a publisher or agent, and also some extra tips.
Q&A time followed.
11:30 end of meeting.
June 2021 Meeting Minutes
17 people in attendance, and our first meeting back at the Cape Public library! It was announced that dues are still due for those who have not paid them this year. The treasurer gave the report.
Ken Raney, an artist and illustrator with over 40 years of experience then talked to us on How to Independently Publish Your Book. He covered a lot of questions too, giving us information on anything from Smash Words, KDP, Traditional Publishing vs. Independent Publishing, vanity Presses, Bookbaby, Draft2Digital, Audiobooks, different ways to market, and book cover design. It was great information.
11:30 end of meeting.
C.C.
July 2021 Meeting Minutes
16 people attended the meeting. The treasurer gave the monthly report. It was announced that the upcoming Aug meeting will be focused on sharing our writing.
Karen Sargent then presented on Writing For Chicken Soup For The Soul, the guidelines, what they are looking for in their stories, writers voice, and a good story arch. She also covered tips like using sensory details, correct pacing, voice, tension-building, varying sentence structure and how to use dialogue to our best advantage.
Q&A time followed.
11:30 end of meeting.
C.C.
Aug 2021 Meeting Minutes
13 people attended the meeting. The treasury report was given. Carlee shared some business questions for short discussion. The reviving of the Anthology project was discussed.
Everyone got to share their writing then with the group and receive feedback.
11:30 end of meeting.
C.C.
Sept 2021 Meeting Minutes
11 people attended the meeting. Carlee announced the Meeting for Oct will be held at First Presbyterian because it is a larger facility for a joint meeting with the Heartland Writers’ Guild.
Greg Stout presented on: A Path to Publication, or How it Took 40 Years to Become an Overnight Success. He spoke about his writing and publishing journey, different agents and his experiences with them, using social media, and the upcoming Oct 5th launch day for his newest novel, Lost Little Girl. Q&A time followed.
11:30 end of meeting.
C.C.
Oct 2021 Meeting Minutes
21 people attended this joint meeting with the Heartland Writers’ Guild. Carlee announced the upcoming writers’ workshop in Sikeston that Amanda Flinn and Camille Lancaster are holding. A flyer will be emailed out after the meeting. The next meeting was announced: date, location, time, and speaker. The next joint meeting was also announced as happening in December. Mary Rechenberg reminded everyone about the details of the field trip to tour the Cape County Archives following this current meeting.
Dr. Robert Hamblin a retired professor from SEMO gave a presentation on New Trends: Collaborative Writing and Self-Publishing. He spoke about his publishing journey too and his work setting up the Faulkner Center at Southeast MO State University. He had experience with both traditional publishing and self-publishing and offered Q&A time after his presentation.
11:30 end of meeting.
C.C.
Nov 2021 Meeting Minutes
13 people attended the meeting. Carlee announced that in December our Guild will be joining the Heartland Writing Guild for their annual Christmas Party. Details will be emailed out to the group concerning the event.
Mark Bliss, a local author and former Southeast Missourian reporter, spoke on Uncovering The Mystery of Self-Publishing. He detailed for us his journey as the author of his mystery novel, Foul Rising. Q&A followed.
11:30 end of meeting.
C.C.
Dec 2021 Meeting Minutes
Christmas Party with the Heartland Guild. Everyone brought food and a small writing related gift to share. We talked over upcoming news among our Guild members, and then chatted and opened the gifts.
Our Guild members went out to eat afterward at a local restaurant. There it was proposed that our normal meeting time be moved back a half-hour to accommodate those driving far to attend. This will be proposed and discussed at the January meeting. Merry Christmas!
C.C.