AGT Monthly Meeting for February 2025  

The Authors Guild of Tennessee held its monthly meeting on Thursday, February 6, 2025, at Faith Lutheran Church in Farragut, from 10:30 to noon.

The following members were present

Bill Barbour, Sam Bledsoe, Gary Butler, Pat Crumpler, Gayle Curtin, Laura Derr, John Forcum, Kaye George, Leoma Gilley, Wes Hibbert, David Johnston, Jim Johnston, Ernie Lancaster, Sean Mitchell, Kathy Parr, Cheryl Peyton, Nancy Pressley, Ron Pressley, Stacy Rowe, Brenda Sellers, Art Stewart, Becky Tucker, Jeri Weems, Victoria Winifred, and Curt Young.

Guests:  Chris Rowe, Victoria Griffen, Lindsey Peet,  DiAnne Wilson

Welcome – Cheryl.  She picked up the books from Farragut Pharmacy and will send them a bill for books that have sold based on her count of the inventory, although they have never reported a sale. If you live near a place that sells our books or may sell our books, make a connection with management to encourage their interest and support. Leoma has made connections with her veterinarian (Cedar Bluff Animal Clinic) and Cedar Springs Christian Store. Coffee shops might also be a good option. Please let Cheryl know of any ideas.

We have visitors: Lindsey Peet writes steampunk, a variation of sci-fi; David Johnston writes poetry; and Dianne Wilson wrote a book about a flight attendant who went blind.

Congratulations to Brenda Seller, who recently received the Community Service Award in Blount County.

Stacy Rowe has a new book, Janie’s Hope, the third and last book in the series.

Kaye George had a short story published last week. She has a new suspense book titled Someone is Out There. Kaye asks that if someone knows Spanish who can help her Hispanic friend to self-publish a book, contact her. Cheryl offered to try to help.

Art Stewart will assist Laura and Wes with the library. Brooke Gilbert will replace Bobbi Chapman who resigned as co-chair of Facts and Festivals with Nancy Pressley.

January minutes:  Approved online.

Treasurer’s Report for January – Bill  (not presented in the meeting)

Reports by members and Committee Chairs:

1. Programs – Ernie
   Next month the topic will be about taxes.
2. Retail – Cheryl
   The bookcase from the Farragut Pharmacy will be moved to the Cedar Bluff Animal Clinic.

Program 

Our special speaker, Victoria Griffin, founder of the editing service, Blue Pen, spoke about self-editing.

Victoria is a fiction author, book editor, and speaker based in East Tennessee, represented by Sandy Lu of Book Wyrm Literary Agency. Victoria writes that editing is usually associated with unpleasantness and is seen as a necessary evil, but self-editing for fiction writers can and should be a joyful experience.

Business cards are available.

She’s been a professional editor for 9 years, and has written a book on the subject: Edit Like A Pro

Before editing, complete the draft. Once you start, work high to low, i.e., from Developmental Editing to Copy Editing. Improved structure, plot, characterization, pacing, and setting development make a big difference to the overall work.

Developmental editors read through to find any problem areas. Creating your own Story Bible may include a bulleted list of timeline points, characters physical descriptions and backgrounds, world-building, etc. Get to the primary conflict early in order to capture the reader’s interest. High stakes = what is the worst-case scenario if the main character doesn’t meet his/her goal? Make sure to specify what failure would mean for them personally. What happens to them internally? In Medias Res (in the middle of things).

Conflict: what does the character want? What is in the way? If this isn’t clear in your mind, the basics can slip away. The inciting incident doesn’t have to be dramatic, but needs to introduce the idea of what is to come. It could be two people in a room having a conversation to introduce the conflict. The most interesting conflict is internal. Are the readers waiting to see what happens?

Tension: Conflict, Stakes, Concision (being concise). Why is the reader engaged? Then apply technique to your own work.

Resolution: Character succeeds or fails, stakes realized, tension released. Readers don’t like main character to fail, but at least make it a satisfying resolution. Don’t break trust with the reader.

Components of Strong Characters: matching personality and actions, agency, and clear motivations. Do their decisions matter? Are they being dragged around? Agency – if the character is making decisions, but they don’t matter, then it doesn’t engage the reader. What does this character want? What are they afraid of? Develop the backstory, physical traits, and psychological traits. The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr is highly recommended.

Line editing involves looking for: clarity, concision (being concise), consistency, and correctness. Can it be misunderstood? Consistency of tense, tone. Reduce wordiness, eliminate redundancy, use active constructions. Cut away anything that isn’t necessary. Take it out and see if it is still okay. If so, then leave it out

Copyediting style issues, proofreading (Blue Pen doesn’t do this)

Proofreading includes: grammar, punctuation, and spelling

For fiction common style questions include: Commas and periods are always inside quotes; Gender neutrality – use ‘they’ instead of ‘he/she’. Foreign words- italicize if not in Merriam-Webster.

Words – italicized or quotes can be used, but be consistent.

Numbers 0-100 spell out and round multiples.

Use the Oxford comma.

When are you finished editing? When you are only making the work different, but not better.

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 12:13 Next meeting will be on March 6, 2025, at Faith Lutheran Church.

Respectfully submitted,

Leoma Gilley,

AGT Secretary