August 2024 Minutes

Members, please review the August minutes for approval during the September meeting.

Northern Virginia Writers Club

August 2024 Meeting Minutes

08/17/2024 1:00 PM

1. Call to order – Club President Michelle McBeth.
2. Roll call
3. Names and types of writing (length and genre)
   1. Michelle McBeth, Treasurer AJ George (Mystery-Thriller, Horror), Secretary Darius Jones (Horror, Poetry), Social Media Coordinator Traci Carter, Membership Coordinator Isabelle Missud, Casey White, Bob Scates (Sci-Fi), Solveig Eggerz (Literary Fiction), Ellen Herbert (fiction, non-fiction), Erica Komite (Historical), Erica Meyers (New member), Dennis Seiler (Adult fiction), John Wren (Thrillers, Mystery, Sci-Fi) and partner Lois Wren, David Wessel (Hist. Fiction), Phil Stephens (poet), Craig Lipman (Horror), Paul Winston (poetry, fiction), Deborah Hall (Crime), ), Paula Weiss (apocalyptic fiction), Larissa Staszak (Horror, Fantasy), Suzanne Davenport (Whatever she likes), Enye (Nonfiction, History, Podcast).
   2. On Zoom: Sharon Ritchie (Novelist), Tom Dewitt (Thrillers, Suspense), Susan Picerno (Sci-Fi and essay), Kerri Stoeck (Speculative), Kevin Gilbert (Poetry, non-fiction), Mark Bailey (nonfiction), Peter (short stories, Fantasy), Susie Whiner (Mystery), Karen Paley (Memoir, non-fiction), JulieanneLee (Suspense), Dr. J Coleman (Sci-fi), Tony the Tour Guide (Hist. Fiction), Nicole Schultz (Speculative), Veronica Li (Memoir), Jacob Adams (Speculative Fiction), Mary Jo Levesque (Aspiring writer), Suma Suhail (Poetry, short stories).
   3. Guest: Nate Brown, writer and editor.
4. Triumphs and failures
   1. Karen Paley: Two non-fiction essays recently came out in magazine.
   2. David Wessel: Recently received an acceptance on speech about using Genocide Studies in Historical Fiction.
   3. Mark B: Book accepted for publication on “AI weapons.”
5. Approval of minutes from last meeting
6. No minutes from last meeting.
7. Motioned to approve meetings notes from June
   1. So moved by AJ, seconded by Craig.
   2. Approved by voice vote.
8. Officer’s Reports
9. McBeth:
   1. Upcoming meeting topics
      1. Sept. 21 – Michaels Crichton’s former publicist, Joe Manich, will talk on book promotion. Get your elevator pitches ready for activity at end of session.
      2. October 26 – TBD: trying to organize a talk on critiquing.
      3. November 16 – NaNoWriMo write-a-thon or TBD.
      4. December – End of Year Social.
      5. August 31: Mary Styles Library Event.
         1. Local Author Festival, 1-4 p.m.
         2. Panel discussion, raffles, refreshments, author reading, B&N might come looking for books to buy.
      6. October 19: Eat Local, Read Local
         1. 11am-2pm. Free.
         2. Contact Jordan.Davis@loudoun.gov by August 25 to participate.
      7. Art on the Avenue.
         1. Oct. 5, 2024.
         2. 2025 – Contact Lois Wren if you’d like to participate.
   2. Website update.
      1. Working on Members-only section of website.
   3. Discord server update.
      1. Club’s Discord server is now set up and select platform testers have been invited.
      2. Planning to send Invites to all Members in coming months.
10. Treasurer George
    1. YTD (August) Ending Net Assets: $5,782.83
11. Secretary Jones
    1. No report.
12. Old Business
13. Upcoming writing resources/contests.
    1. Upcoming writing resources/contests
       1. Carter: Military Writers Conference end of September in San Diego.
       2. Fright Reads Book Festival in Maryland: https://www.frightreads.com/
       3. Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) looking for judges, open to submissions soon: https://thespsfc.org/the-competition/
       4. Applications for Williamsburg and Gaithersburg Book Festivals are now open.
14. New Business
    1. Susan Picerno: Would using AI to correct grammar or get advice disqualify writers from contests or submitting to magazines?
       1. Michelle M: Markets vary on levels of accepting AI, usually grammar checks are OK. Darius J: Read the guidelines from magazines on what they consider acceptable use of AI; follow the guidelines. Paula Weiss: We don’t accept AI content in VA State writing contest.
       2. Nate: Grammar check is an acceptable use of AI. We’re looking at editorial guidelines right now for our magazine. Most of us in publishing want to see organically-created material.
       3. From floor: Maybe AI content generation could be good topic for a guest speaker?

14. Publishing Talk with Nate Brown.
    14. Nate started at DoubleDay. Teaches now at Johns Hopkins Univ. on writing/publishing. Editor at American Short Fiction.
    15. Advice: Don’t be overly invested in the publishing business…Balance your internal guide with the business aspects of it.
    16. Introducing the Big Five:
        1. Penguin Random House
        2. Simon & Shuster (was almost purchased by Penguin Random House, merger was blocked by a federal judge).
        3. Hachette Live
        4. Harper Collins (owners of Tor in Sci-Fi).
        5. MacMillan (acquired “Farrar, Straus, Giroux”/FSG in 2016).
    17. Not Big Five:
        1. W. Norton & Co. (a co-op owned by its employees).
        2. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (mostly textbooks).
        3. Scholastic Books (Publisher of Harry Potter and other YA/Children’s Lit).
    18. He has list of Large Indie presses too.
    19. Recommended resources:
        1. Nathan Bransford: https://nathanbransford.com/blog
        2. Becky Tuch: https://litmagnews.substack.com/
15. Adjournment – Pres. McBeth.