June Meeting Minutes

Members, please review for approval at July meeting.

Northern Virginia Writers Club

June 2022 Meeting Agenda

6/25/22 1:00 PM

1. 1. Call to order by Michelle McBeth, president. 
   2. Roll call
      1. Writers attending (in person or online) included: 
         1. Michelle McBeth, Jason Maddux, AJ George, Darius Jones, Dreama F, Paula T Weiss, Dominique Hoffman, Laura Eaton, Alex, Sarah, Sarah (w/guest Robin Sullivan), David Kilbert, Jeffery Higgins, Marilyn H, Maynard Freese, Roger, other members.   
      2. Guest:
         1. Robin Sullivan: Write2Publish Meetup Group, business manager for author Michael J. Sullivan.    
      3. Triumphs and failures.
         1. Darius Jones: “The Darkness” poem to appear in Star*Line mag.  
   3. Approval of minutes from last meeting
      1. Minutes were sent out with reminder email: No minutes from Library panel event
   4. Officer’s Reports
      1. President
         1. Upcoming meeting topics
            1. July 16th -Vee James creativity workshop.
            2. August 20th – Tara Campbell: Writing for Social Justice.
            3. Sept 17th – Art Taylor workshop.
            4. October 22nd – 15th Anniversary of club party!
         2. Teen Nib local winners
            1. Alana Bowers -Justice HS (Falls Church) -2nd place fiction
            2. Ruth Christino -ACHS -3rd place poetry
         3. Golden Nib deadline July 31.
            1. Submit your short stories and poem, instructions here: https://northernvirginiawriters.org/golden-nib/  
      2. Vice President/ Membership Chair (Maddux).
         1. Gaithersburg Book Festival. 
            1. “Good learning experience.”  
         2. Art on the Avenue in Alexandria, VA. 
            1. Oct. 1, 2022. 
            2. Looking for volunteers!  
      3. Treasurer (AJ). 
         1. Report on revenue, expenses, etc. 
         2. Ending balance: $7089.
      4. Secretary 
         1. No report.
      5. Social Media Representative (not in attendance, Club Pres conducts this segment). 
         1. Social media policy for the club to be emailed out after this meeting.
   5. Old Business
   6. New Business
      1. Critique groups & beta readers Survey – Lori Eaton
         1. Could create survey to send out to membership on critique groups?
            1. Pres. Michelle McBeth offered to review a draft survey.  
      2. Upcoming writing resources/contests
         1. Virginia Writers Club Symposium 
            1. August 6. Charlottesville, Piedmont VA Community College
            2. Keynote speaker retired US Army Colonel and pathologist Bradley Harper
            3. Scott Ellis will be there
            4. Cool raffle prizes; Ad pages available
         2. Eat Local, Read Local 
            1. Oct. 15. Cascades Library, Loudoun
         3. Two upcoming lectures from today’s guest, Robin Sullivan:
            1. Both on July 9 at Arlington Public Library.
            2. “Publishing Options: Self, small press, big-five: the pros and cons of each.” 1:00 – 2:45 pm
            3. “Money Matters: The Economics of Self and Traditional Publishing.” 3:00 – 4:45 pm
   7. Speaker: Robin Sullivan, “Using Kickstarter for Book Self-publishing.”
      1. Big takeaways:
         1. Crowdfunding = Way to earn money by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people. 
         2. Kickstarter = Not a form of charity. You must create something new. You MUST provide something in exchange for their money. (Could be new format). A way for readers to pre-order your stuff. 
         3. Keys to success: Provide something people want, ease fears you can deliver, have a platform of readers already available, offer different contribution levels. 
         4. Pro Tip: 2,000 or less is OK for print on demand. Otherwise, do regular print run.  
         5. First Michael Sullivan Kickstarter: $15K goal, plus $15K of own money. In the end: over $50K raised. Felt she could get 500 backers on first run.
         6. Why do Kickstarter?
            1. Raise money.
            2. Create pre-release buzz.
            3. Fan service/let fans be part of process.
            4. Receive emails of people who backed you = Biggest benefit! 
         7. Robin: “Steal campaign strategy” from Michael Sullivan’s on Kickstarter. They’re public. 
   8. Adjournment