Seasons to Celebrate is LIVE!!

The WordWeavers are proud to announce their 3rd anthology,

Seasons to Celebrate is LIVE!!

Available on Kindle. Coming soon to paperback!

What turns an event into an unforgettable memory?

Is there an occasion you wish could have lasted longer? Which holiday is your favorite? Which season? Which event helped redirect your life?

Bartlesville WordWeavers have composed poetry, essays and short stories about significant life celebrations. Memories birthed some of the writings. Others reveal the author’s imagination. Some will tug at your heart or make you smile. Some may give you pause as you weigh the author’s thoughts.

This collection shares the talents of a variety of authors and makes a great gift for avid readers.

Profits from WordWeavers' anthologies help sharpen and encourage writing skills of its members.

September 20th, 2016 Meeting Minutes

Present: Cindy, Eloise, Pepper, Marilyn, Rita, Margery, Sarah, Sarah, Rick (new!), Glen (new!), Linda, Glenn, Francia, Debbie (new! had to leave early), Jennifer, and Jayleen

Treasurer Report:

• Dues are due! $10 for WW and $20 for OWFI
• One anthology sold
• $22 from sale of Charlotte's Book at the County Fair was donated to WW

Old News:

• Facebook personal profile was shut down. 
• New page has been created but pics are still in limbo. Please send any WW pics you might have to Jennifer. 
• Abigail and Jennifer are the admins of the new business page.
• Profile pic will now be generic instead of changing every day
• Book of the Day is on Group Business Page
• OWFI
• some changes for the betterment of the contest should appear on website soon
• may do away with minimum manuscript for category to make
• old categories are still up on website are likely to be the same if you want to get a head start on knowing what you're going to submit
• $35 one time fee to enter one or more categories
• submissions due Feb. 1
• for the OWFI Report, send submission to Abigail (by email)
• for "other news" and immediate posting submit to website

New News:

• Washington County Fair Booth:
• cost $60, paid by Jennifer. Moved that cost be reimbursed to Jennifer, approved.
• Tabled issue: charging tax at the fair. Will discuss next August
• Exciting News:
• Salty Seniors directed by Pepper to perform western comedy Fri 23rd (I may have that wrong, my notes also say a performance on Thursday, I apologize for the confusion)
• Margery is doing a  session on Create Space Saturday from 9-12
• Marilyn: Becoming Rose is out! Congratulations!
• Book Bub ad went well for Cathy, lots learned.
• Jennifer: Summer's End will be out October 4th! Congratulations!
• Seasons to Celebrate Anthology:
• the final process: final edits go to copy editors, possible revisions then submitted to beta readers before publishing.
• this is the fundraiser for WW that supplies funds for OWFI scholarships, banquet tables, etc.
• Contracts for anthology submissions will be out soon.
• Cover is almost finished, artist wishes to remain anonymous.
• Election of officers:
• Eloise moved we nominate the slate presented, seconded by Rita, all approved.
• WordWeaver Officers
  President - Jennifer McMurrain
  Vice President - Cindy Molder
  Treasurer - Sarah Lynne...
  Secretary - Jayleen Stumpe Mayes
  Public Relations - Abigail Singrey
• We are looking for a horror, suspense, thriller guest speaker. Any ideas? We already tried Stephen King.
• There WILL be a Harlequin editor at OWFI if you're looking to pitch.
• Next Meeting October 18th: We will be doing a group photo this date! (someone photoshop me in please! haha)

July 2016 Meeting

Attendance:
Cynthia (aka Denise, aka hey you), Cindy, Pepper, Sidney, Jennifer, Ann, Sallie, Linda, Marilyn, Abigail, and Jayleen.  New (possible) Member: Rick Sadok

Treasurer Report by Jennifer:

• Sara Lynn and Declan are doing well!
• $567.21 in account. We haven't sold much lately.
• Totals:209 Hard copies, 73 Kindle copies, 9 KDP (I hope I got that right), and 18 Create Space.
• Make sure to share the FB book of the day!

Old News:

• Penny at Harlequin will be joining us via video conference during our Sept. 20th meeting at 6:30pm. Please have questions, either specific or overall, ready for her.  She is the assistant editor of the super romance and heartwarming (which requires no agent).
• OWFI deadline for contests is February 1st.
• Please send Abigail any news for the Affiliate Report (sold manuscripts, published works, speaking engagements, new blogs, awards, etc)
• OWFI website is new and improved so check it out.

New News:

• Ann's new name for her business is Reading Creek Editing. Congratulations Ann!
• Jennifer has submitted Summer's End to copy editors. Yay!
• Abigail has an interesting article "Farm to Table" in local Bartlesville magazine. Awesome!
• Marilyn's Becoming Rose has been formatted. Outstanding!
• Pepper has been busy with plays at the Heritage Café in Dewey. Fabulous!
• Abigail wanted to thank everyone for their feedback on her work.
• WW is open for critiques.  Novels are hard to critique in this setting so a smaller critique group would be best for that.  Utilize the WW Facebook page for quick critiques.  If you aren't in a hurry for a critique, email to Jennifer and we can fit it on the meeting agenda.
• Anthology news: right now very small, only about 100 pages, and a lot are set in winter. So questions about the anthology: A) put call out to those that didn't sign up (which would mean a heavy critique session at August meeting) B) let some do more than one story C) use works already published without taking the hot seat D) have Linda do the cover?
• Anthology questions have been tabled. We will vote on a cover from Linda (stock) and Pepper (original) at the next meeting.  An email will be sent to invite other's to submit.
• Final edits for the anthology are needed ASAP
• Anticipated publish date is November 22nd.
• Critiques were done for Pepper and Cindy
• Rita, Twana, and Darla's submission are due Aug. 9th for critique
• Cindy & Pepper final edits due Aug 16th
• Next meeting August 16th.
• 8:15 conclude Meeting

*After meeting we had an open discussion/chat about poetry.

June 2016 Minutes

Members in Attendance: Pepper, Eloise, Cindy, Linda, Marilyn, Sallie, Ann
Guests: Glen Mason & Alan (didn't get his last name)

May meeting was at Cindy's house so no minutes to go over.

Introductions: Cindy asked everyone to introduce themselves, tell what they've been working on, and what they are currently reading. *I've only included our guest's introductions:

• Glen Mason has been writing for 6 weeks, which started as a challenge with another co-worker
• Alan loved English in H.S. (here in Bartlesville).  He took the business route with his schooling but always had writing in the back of his mind. He is published in financial and investment journals. He lives in Georgia but is in Bartlesville taking care of his parents.  He heard about our group when he went to an OLLI class.

Sallie went on the Hot Seat.  The copies we received by email had already been edited by herself and Ann so some of us just shared what we liked or what confused us. She would like to go on the Hot Seat again with her new revisions since there were several.

Brief explanation of the Anthology: it's a fundraiser, you choose the edits, title Seasons to Celebrate, a family read so no cussing, sex, etc.

Please send all affiliated news for OWFI to Abigail

There is a WordWeavers FB page for both members and the community, check it out.

New News:

Harlequin presentation on Sept 20th @ 6:30pm (side note-they take un-agented writers!)

Jennifer has released Heart of an Angel

Cindy made a motion to dedicate the Anthology to Diana and Charlotte. Pepper 2nd, all approved. We are shooting for a November publication date so your Final Edits are due NOW (please)

Pepper and Cindy's drafts are due July 12th

Ann asked if June Pritchard could have something in the Anthology. Jennifer (by way of msg?) said any paid member can submit but everything is due by August.

Question if possible to submit non-anthology writings to Jennifer for separate critiques during meetings? Could Denise do presentation on critique groups? About the value, learning from each other's mistakes and having accountability?

Ann asked if anyone knows about editing and how to get into it?

What programs are good for copy editing/composing?

Next meeting July 19th @ 6:30pm

8:00pm dismissed

*after the official meeting Glen Mason shared a couple of the pieces he has composed and they were outstanding. He has only been writing for 6 weeks!  Hope to see both him and Alan again in July.

Ideas for Marketing Your Book

*These are rough notes from our April 2016 meeting

How do you get your book out there? How do you let people know?

 

 

Podcasts are the "new thing"

 

Jane Friedman does a live Q&A every week/month.  Great info/tips

 

Jennifer has a "Street Team" on Facebook and Twitter.  A street team are people that are willing to share your posts and get your information out there for them.  The reason being only 7% of your friends will see your post.  So you need to share and have your team/friends share as well.

 

Book signings:

• You have to take the time to build a base
• Google Arts&Crafts shows to find venues
• You need to always have something new each year.

 

Book giveaways are a good marketing tool.

 

BookBub costs nothing to submit.  You are only charged if you get in, which can be difficult. But keep submitting! It is the biggest bang for your buck where marketing is concerned. Make sure your getting reviews on your books to help (street team can help here).  Offering promotional giveaways for reviews is a good way to get team to follow through.

 

Write reviews for your fellow writers.

 

Be sure to list EVERYTHING you write on Amazon so you have a large list when someone "googles" you. List books, novellas, short shorties, etc.

 

Quality AND Quantity: You need to be consistently putting stuff out there.

 

Don't get so bogged down in media (sharing on FB, Twitter, Pinterest, etc) that you stop writing.

April 2016 Meeting Minutes

6:30 Meeting called to order
Members in attendance: Rita, Sarah, Cindy, Margery, Linda, Anne, David (aka Robert), Glenn, Marilyn, Jennifer, Sybil, Francia, and Jayleen.

Treasurer's Report: balance $567.21, have not sold any anthologies this month

Update on Barbara: surgery went well but she has not been cleared to venture out yet. She is working on getting out her book.

Public Relations: Affiliate news is now on OWFI

Old News:
Library Showcase scheduled for Saturday April 23 1p-4p

• Bring  your own table covers/decorations
• You need to have your own bank to make change
• You'll get 2 minutes for your "elevator pitch"
• Utilize Social Media to promote the showcase

OWFI

• Crème de la Crème has been donated in Charlotte's name
• We now have 2 tables - 20 seats
• Who's going? Rita, Anne, Cindy, Denise, Marilyn, Jennifer, Cathy, Cindy, Glenn, and possibly Glenn's daughter.  Jayleen is still undecided.

New News:
Friend of the Library

• Congratulations to Anne, Linda, Charlotte, Sydney, and Abigail for placing in this year's writing contest.  We will post winner's and categories on our FB page.

OLLI Class

• WordWeavers are going to lead 3 classes during the Summer Session.  Examples of content include: What happens in the day of the life of a writer, What gets you going, and Where do you find inspiration. Jennifer will lead the May 25th class, Rita June 1st, and Denise June 8
• Fall classes will be more of a "how to" for outlines, contests, etc.  We will need volunteers to lead the classes starting in September over the course of 6 weeks.

Jennifer will be collaborating with Darlene Shortridge to provide an extensive workshop on Independent Publishing.  The date is set for Oct 8th and plans to run 10(ish) hours.  The venue is TBD.

Jennifer finished Summer's End and will release at the end of summer. Yay!

Mary Kincaid released a new book. Congratulations!

Marilyn is hoping to release her book Becoming Rose at the end of June.

Heather will be releasing her book soon. Good Luck!

Tate publishing was discussed and the general feeling was do NOT use this publisher. Jennifer is willing to help anyone rather than resorting to them.

Members had suggested to dedicate the Anthology to Charlotte.  Anne made a motion to do so, Margery seconded the motion.  Everyone was in favor.

Jennifer asked everyone to please please please email your edits ASAP, oh and pay dues that were due in September.

Critiques for Sybil and Sarah were discussed. Edits will be due May 17th.

Next month critiques for Eloise, Glenn, and Sally.

May WW meeting will be Spring Celebration.  We will reserve a table at Tumbleweeds. Tuesday, May 17th @ 6:00pm

Meeting adjourned (kinda) 7:55pm.  Then we discussed Marketing, see separate blog for those notes.

Bartlesville Author Showcase

March 2016 Minutes

Holy cow, I am finally figuring out how to post the minutes!

6:35pm Meeting called to order. Those in attendance include: Jennifer, Sarahlyn, Jayleen, Denise, Margery, Abigail, Marily, Glenn, David, and Francia.

Slips of paper passed around for those wishing to be considered for the OWFI scholarship

Treasurer report: $792.31balance with no new sales

Abigail: has list for FB "book of the day", let her know if anyone has anything new to add to rotation.

Jennifer welcomed new secretary Jayleen Mayes (yay!)

Old News: 

• Local Author's Library Showcase: Jennifer will have a mtg about it. Set for Saturday April 23 from 1p-4p.  Looking for those wishing to speak or read.
• Edmond Author's Fair moved to May. $30 for full table, $15 for half.  Good crowd, usually does well.
• Anthology: Final edits need to be sent to WW email. Next meeting critique for Saralyn and Sybil.

New News:

• Ladies Connection on May 12th, opportunity to promote books. Conflicts with OWFI.
• Friends of Library contest awards maybe April 21st? Keep checking emails.
• Denise OWFI Board Update: will have Gong Show this year, budget has been less successful, Stephen James to speak and looking for keynote speaker for next year.
• Steve Berry will be at Gilcrease Museum in April

OWFI

• OWFI early bird registration ends today! $175 vs $200 tomorrow
• Baskets: need a theme. Suggestions include "Deadline Survival Kit" and "Deadline Reward". Plans to seek out Maria Gus for help with a Bville Basket again this year.
• Centerpieces: if you have a book, make a centerpiece for the raffle and tell Peggy Chambers.
• Table Reservations: need to know how many ppl plan to attend
• Hotel Reservations: need to know who's bunking up...plans to cancel 2 of the room reservations.
• Affiliate news deadline? Abigail will send another email because last news was never put up. Jennifer will also double check with Mary.
• Drawing for OWFI scholarship: 2 @ $75 each goes to Abigail & Jennifer. Congratulations!
• We are sponsoring 1/2 category @ OWFI this year.
• Denise concluded the meeting with some background information about OWFI

Next meeting April 19th @ 6:30pm