Vice President of Membership: Lauren Danhof
President: Sally Hamilton
Vice President of Events and Programs: Matthew Rollins
Vice President of Digital Media: Lauren Lanza Osias
Vice President of Community Outreach: Jenny Martin
Secretary: John A. Brown
Board members present: John Bartell, A. Lee Martinez
Regular Meeting Start: 7:01
Number of members in attendance: ~45
Visitors:
- Kevin Underhill, writes horror/supernatural/sci-fi, and was recommended this place by Collin College
- Nishan Landry, very new to the writing game and is getting ready to publish. Heard of us through a friend of hers whose husband (Christopher) is one of our members.
- AJ, writes sci-fi and literary fiction.
New Members:
- Gay Kaiser, is putting her 11th book on Amazon on Valentine’s day. She showed her book cover. Is self-publishing it.
- Jim Koh, writes fiction and short stories with elements of horror and weirdness to it.
Rejections:
- Ron Sole, three rejections for his Middle Grade novel.
- Drew got a rejection, but the agent said if he has any other manuscripts to send it to them
- Jim Koh got rejected by a journal
- Melvina’s script she submitted to the Dallas Film Festival got rejected.
- Stanislav’s short story got rejected by the Colorado Review.
Submissions:
- A. Lee Martinez’s agent Ron liked his story and submitted it to his editor
- Ron Sole submitted his Middle Grade to two more agents.
Acceptances:
- A. Lee Martinez, wrote a short story that got accepted by his agent.
Book Reviews:
- ??? did a book for BJ’s Forgotten Sun
- Caroline Olson did a book review on Helen Dent’s book The Burning Tree
Additional Announcements:
- Rebecca announces that this weekend will be the local bookfest where some of our books will be submitted to the library. There will be snacks, readings, and a speech maybe.
- BJ announces has info for the Yall Write contest. She has flyers up at the front for anyone who’s interested in entering.
- Blair has 29 packages of pop rocks for some reason. Can I have one?
- BJ announces that if you want a name badge, they’re great for writer’s conferences and they're available for 12 dollars.
Sally Hamilton:
- Has a presentation on Read & Critique Etiquette. It’s just a quick review on the ins and outs since she’s noticed the etiquette slipping a little.
- Please sign up for an accurate amount of time and with an accurate page count, otherwise it throws the timing off for break time.
- You will still get a full 15 minutes even if you didn’t sign up for a full-length 15-minute read.
- The computer will put the longest reads first. If you sign up for 10 pages and 15 full minutes, you will more likely than not be reading first and thus end up hearing the same readers. So try to mix it up every now and then to avoid that if possible.
- 250 words is approximately one page for reference.
- Make sure to stop at a satisfying place to get best results. The 15-minute timer is not a challenge.
- Don’t try to read faster to compensate for a long reading. Remember, we are not just here to hear you read. You need to leave time for critique as well.
- Also make sure to speak loudly and with a clear voice so that the critique circle can actually hear your reading.
- For critique, please wait to be called on by the monitor.
- You are not required to critique if you have nothing to add. At the same time, you’re not required to take the full minute to give your critique. Get in, get out, be succinct, and leave others time to give their own critique.
- Readers are not allowed to speak during their critiques EXCEPT for when others in the room ask clarifying questions.
- Read time starts the moment the reader starts talking. This includes preamble/context giving for the chapter before the actual chapter is read.
- Monitors are responsible for making sure read rooms get to break time and get out on time.
- The brochure for this presentation is on the DFWWW official website under “member resources.”
- We need 5 monitors.
Meeting Adjourned: 7:25
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