AGT Monthly Meeting for March 2023

 

The Authors Guild of Tennessee held their monthly meeting on Thursday, March 2, 2023, at the Faith Lutheran Church, Knoxville. Social time and book exchange began at 10:30 a.m. with the business meeting starting at 11:00 a.m.

The following members were present:

Tom Badgett, Bill Barbour, Linda Best, Sam Bledsoe, Randy Carpenter, Bobbi Chapman, Pat Crumpler, Gayle Curtin, Sonja DuBois, Linda Fitzpatrick, Kaye George, Leoma Gilley, BJ and Sharon Gillum, Jim Hartsell, Morris Hudgins, Ernie Lancaster, Jerry Morton, Kathy Parr, Cheryl Peyton, Adrienne Small, Art Stewart, Cyn Taylor, Victoria Winifred, and Curt Young.

Guests: Dr. Mark Littmann, Caroline Everett, Brenda Sellers, and Arlene Robinson

Welcome – Cheryl.  Guests welcomed. Both Brenda and Caroline are applying for membership. Brenda brought copies of her book, You Slept Where? to give each member a complimentary copy.

February minutes: Minutes of the February meeting have been approved online.

Treasurer’s report:  – Cheryl

Balance as of February 1, $_3156.39_Total amount of Expenses in February $578.83. Income from Book Sales: $45.01. Balance as of February 28:  $2714.85.

Report on Committee Activities:

Committee Chairs:

AGT Newsletter – Cheryl

Cheryl passed around the first AGT newsletter she wrote which has news about members and events in a colorful format. We want to get subscribers to the free newsletter, called The Protagonist. This will promote our stores, events, and new books. For example, Stephen Bales gave a talk at a library event about endangered species from the 1930s. It will include new members and new books with a blurb about each. In this first issue, there is an interview with Arlene Anderson. A poetry section is included along with language trivia. Other ideas are welcome. Cheryl asked if we should set up a committee to take charge of this.

Rose Glen Literary Fair in Sevierville: — Linda attended based on a phone call. Only 50 authors are allowed, so we need to sign up in August/September. It is a one-day event with lunch (for $25). There are about 300 guests, who eat with the authors. Authors sell books and attend programs/workshops every hour (4 each hour). Admission including one table and chair was free.

Retail:  Linda Best

• Where are we? We have 4 locations: Preferred Pharmacy (Kathy Parr will be the host) and The Café (Bobbi), New: Winsome Stroll in Spring City (Curt), and the Little Drug Store in Sweetwater (Stephen Lyn Bales). Farragut Drugs is inactive.
• Where are we going? Farragut needs to reorganize. In the next two months we hope to set up at the pharmacy and soda fountain at the Phoenix on Gay Street (Stephen), the drug store in Tellico Plains, the Wil-Sav Drugs in Madisonville, and Vonore Drugs. (Victoria will be the host), Curt Young has made all the contacts to drug stores whose owners are friends of his.
• What needs to be done? We need to set up and restock. Retail hosts should visit stores once or twice a month for them to know us. The host finds out which books have sold. What does the site look like? How can we improve? Linda will not be here in April/May, so someone needs to pick up the books to distribute to the sites. An email will be sent to each member with an opportunity to sign up. Most stores use the barcode on the book, except for The Café which accepts only cash. There, we need to round up prices. We represent 175 titles, but only 60 are left in any one location. It is important to be sure that the genres appeal to the readers in that area.

Training:  Sam Bledsoe

Vickie Winifred led the Twitter workshop today. We went over the basics, and a handout was provided. Twitter is good for marketing. We will try to regain the inactive AGT Twitter account. We can put the link to the newsletter. This will help us become more visible.

Writing Contest: Art Stewart All is proceeding as planned. We found a place to get the plaques made, with wording for first and second-place winners. They will be given out in April.

 

Speaker

Dr. Mark Littmann, professor of journalism and electronic media holds the Julia G. and Alfred G. Hill Chair of Excellence in Science, Technology, and Medical Writing. He brought a series of excerpts from noted writers of science nonfiction, some of which demonstrate the techniques of great storytelling—profiling characters, setting scenes, depicting action, use of analogies, and more. We read these excerpts aloud and discussed the techniques that make these excerpts powerful.

Adjournment:

Meeting adjourned at 12:30 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for April 6 at 10:30 a.m. at the Faith Lutheran Church.

Respectfully submitted,

Leoma Gilley, Secretary