Hamilton Mountain Writers’ Guild
Annual General Meeting Agenda
Wednesday, December 14th, 2022 6:30 pm
Terryberry Library and Zoom
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Welcome and introduction of the Chair for the proceedings.
Territorial acknowledgment – The city of Hamilton is situated upon the traditional territories of Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee, and Mississaugas.
Introduction: Introduction of the present Board 2022 members Acknowledgments for Board members who volunteered during 2022.
Voting members definition – open to full members only (List of full members), method of voting for the proceedings, quorum (10 of the eligible voting members). Approval of non-voting members as observers.
Determination of Quorum – Count the eligible voters present.
Insufficient Quorum – Bring the meeting to a close. Providing there is quorum at the next meeting, the proposed budget and selection of the 2023 Board members will take place during the next Guild meeting at the Terryberry Library on Wednesday, January 11th, at 6:30pm.
Sufficient Quorum – continue on with the meeting.
Addition/Changes to the agenda
Approval of the December 2021 Meeting minutes
Financial Statement (Treasurer, Michael Wagstaffe will be called to speak)
- Review of the proposed budget 2023
- Motion to accept the proposed budget for 2023. I request a voting member to second the motion. The motion is now open for discussion. Once the discussion is complete, put the motion to the meeting, all those in favour, those opposed, declare the result.
Nominations and Election of Directors Use the document titled: Board Membership 2023
Committee reports (reviewing activities during the past year) Promotions, Communications, Membership, Programming
Next Annual General Meeting: December 2023
Adjourn: This concluded the business of the meeting. Thank you for your attendance. Merry Christmas, Season’s greetings and Happy New Year!
Hamilton Mountain Writers Guild Mission and Vision – 2023
Nine duties of the HMWG non-profit organization and roles for the Board Members
- The Hamilton Mountain Writer’s Guild’s Vision and Mission
The Board sets the tone and purpose of the NPO by establishing and upholding its vision and mission. These two items lay the foundation for the organization and all of its activities, policies, and plans. Board members should review the NP’s vision and mission regularly and make sure they are clearly communicated to management, staff, and members of the Hamilton Mountain Writers’ Guild.
- Strategic planning
Similar to the vision and mission, board members are responsible for setting the strategic direction of the organization. A strong plan determines our organization’s goals and maps out how it will achieve them. This includes ensuring that management is well-positioned to carry out tactics and activities, adapting the plan to environmental factors, and keeping the NPO’s progress.
- Governance
Good governance is critical for any not-for-profit organization. It ensures that the organizational structure and processes are clear and have oversight and that decisions are in the best interest of the NPO. For the Hamilton Mountain Writer’s Guild to operate and stay compliant, board members must ensure the fundamental elements of governance are in place and working effectively. This can include governance of the overall organization and/or specific projects and functions.
- Financial management
Proper management of the NPO’s finances includes establishing and maintaining accounting procedures, budgeting, financial record keeping and reporting, resource allocation, and asset protection. All board members should have enough financial literacy to understand financial statements and terminology, to allow them to ask questions and make informed decisions for the organization.
- Tax and regulatory compliance
As a board member, you are responsible for ensuring the NPO meets all tax and financial reporting requirements. This can include sales, and income, filing government remittances and annual reports.
- Risk management
As fraud and cybersecurity issues become more prevalent in the not-for-profit sector, boards must take an active role in managing risk. Donors, members, government organizations, and the public, will want assurance that the Hamilton Mountain Writer’s Guild is financially and technologically secure. Board members should make sure the organization has a plan for risk prevention, detection, and recovery that includes regular reviews and updates to technology, processes, and policies.
- Internal controls and policies
Strong policies and internal controls are an integral part of risk management, but they also provide a framework for board members to achieve their organizational and financial management responsibilities. Examples include (but are not limited to) controls for financial transactions, documentation, data security, and segregation of duties, as well as policies for codes of conduct, conflicts of interest, procurement, and recruitment and succession.
- Recruitment
Board members need to make sure that bylaws and procedures are in place to recruit and elect new members. This includes having succession plans for both tenured and term roles and developing onboarding programs to get new members up to speed. The board is responsible for conducting a search and choosing someone who is qualified and able to manage operations, and performance reports, and act as a bridge between the board and the Hamilton Mountain Writers’ Guild membership.
- Community outreach and advocacy
Building strong relationships and goodwill with the community is a vital part of serving on a not-for-profit board. Board members are expected to support the organization’s initiatives and help achieve its goals. This can include participating in fundraising and events, promoting the NPO’s services, engaging in government advocacy, and public relations, and building general awareness.
Sunday, November 13th, 2022
| Guild Meeting Announcements
Name: Author’s Experiences Date and time: 16 Nov 2022. Terryberry Library – lower level. 6:30pm *Zoom link below Goals: To learn the experiences of published authors. Execution: Each author will talk about their experience with writing and the process they went through to publish their works. Guest: Three authors Special Requirements: Chairs placed in lecture format facing east. Authors books will be on display at tables to the side. Timetable: 6:30 – 6:50 Intro, announcements 6:50 – 7:30 Each author will talk for about 15 mins 7:30 – 7:45 Discussion, look at books, cleanup Comments: Members may get inspiratin to publish their own works Anthology six: Members of the Guild who feel they have the skills and time to assist with the completion of Book six, are now invited to contact any of the Board directors. Skills include proofreading, formatting, general knowledge of using Word. You’ll need the time to: 1. meet with fellow volunteers to set and publish a new schedule for completion of the project, 2. plan for and communicate with the writers who have previously submitted for this publication, 3. proofread and format the pieces submitted, and 4. work with the Board to produce a consistent product for our readers. Zoom link: for the author presentations Time: 6:50 pm https://us04web.zoom.us/j/7990520919?pwd=RGZlc1ZiL2NPWHlkcFE2M01HUy9YUT09 |
Saturday, November 5, 2022
Date: Saturday, October 29th
To Hamilton Mountain Writers’ Guild (HMWG) Full Members and Associate Members:
HMWG Mission:
We foster, encourage, and promote the development of writers in Hamilton, Ontario and the surrounding area. Each writer belongs, irrespective of their writing skills. Our programs take the form of workshops, peer-review, and opportunities for publishing within a supportive environment. We partner with other organizations that also experience the skills in writing.
HMWG Goals:
Promote great writing Provide educational opportunities
Clearing the path to writing and publication
Support our community
HMWG Values:
Hamilton Mountain Writers Guild is an inclusive, welcoming space for authors of all backgrounds, voices, perspectives, and experiences. We do not tolerate opinions that exclude based on ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and religion. Hamilton Mountain Writers Guild maintains a place of dignity, safety, and respect for all writers.
All Guild writers are responsible to maintain the mission, goals, and values. Let’s keep our focus where the most important work of the Guild is being done; small writing team workshops and general membership meetings at the Terryberry library.
Within the small writing team workshops, each writer belongs irrespective of their writing skills. Writers are encouraged to develop their writing through positive peer interactions. No writers are limited to topics or creative style. Team members may abstain from providing feedback on material they deem as offensive.
General membership meetings at Terryberry library are open to the public. There, each writer is welcomed and accepted in an inclusive environment for learning and networking with other writers from the Hamilton area. No writers are limited to topics or creative style. No writer is ever silenced over foul written word or written sexual content.
All writers of the Guild (Full Members or Associate Members) have the right to publish their own content using the restrictions set up by whomever will publish their work.
The production of anthologies within the Guild is not ‘a given’ or an obligation of the HMWG. The anthology is an opportunity for writers to see their works published. During the past five anthology publications (Books 1 – 5), the expectations, rules, and content restrictions have not changed nor has the HMWG mission, goals, and values. A tremendous amount of time, effort, and in-kind donation of service have been provided by numerous folks during the HMWG anthology publications.
HMWG anthologies are a unique, small component of the Guild and provide superior incentive and encouragement for writers to develop their craft. During the past five anthology publications content restrictions were created internally and more so dictated by Amazon.
Writers have clearly understood that to participate in HMWG anthologies, they are bound by the guidelines, rules, and content restrictions. Books 1 – 4 content allowance was set by Barry Gottlieb and agreed upon by Guild members. There didn’t appear to be any problems or complaints. Anthology 5 was announced and a committee was formed. That committee adopted the standards set out by the first four books and produced a document sent out to all potential contributors. There were no complaints about filtering the content. There was a complaint of a minimum length not being set which was resolved. The Anthology 5 set of standards was sent to Anthology 6 committee.
Writers who choose to participate in the Anthology 6 agree to adhere to the rules, guidelines, and content restrictions set by the HMWG and Amazon. When a piece of work is not accepted due to content, the writer is in absolutely no way being discriminated or censored. No writer is being reprimanded or punished. The writer may continue to participate in their small writing team workshops and general membership networking and learning meetings.
Book 6 Timeline:
January – March: Book 6 was announced, and a committee was formed. The Board approved the committee’s proposal, which included the same content restrictions as Book 5. Key dates, writing basics, and word counts were sent to all Team coordinators to disperse to the members, and posted on the HMWG website.
August: Submissions were sent in and the filtering group of the Book 6 committee began the editing process.
September: The filtering group identified potential offending content according to their interpretation of the restrictions, rules, and guidelines that were agreed upon in the initial Book 6 proposal. The Book 6 committee discussed these flagged submissions and became divided on how to proceed. The Board was asked for clarification and direction.
After some debate the Board decided to err on the side of caution, taking into account our partnership with a well-respected community organization, Neighbour2Neighbour, and the product we wished to produce. The Board then directed Book 6 committee to maintain the standards set over the first five books, which included removing or modifying the flagged content and sent the following email.
The following email was sent to hmwg.book6@gmail.com on October 7th
In regard to the submissions that are requiring further scrutiny;
The HMWG is publishing to raise funds for a well-respected Hamilton community organization, we will maintain a high integrity of stories and poems within our publications. This includes no profanity and explicit sexual content.
Books 1 – 4 were clear of sexual content and profanity as prescribed by Barry Gottlieb. Anthology 5 committee maintained that practice.
Amazon expects the Board (and Anthology 6 committee) to uphold the restrictions thus protecting our Guild authors from any reprimand/exclusion by the Amazon organization. Amazon has it within their power to remove the opportunity to publish Book 6 or any future Book from the Guild based on the integrity of the works.
The Anthology 6 committee will continue their dialogue with each author as planned. If a piece has explicit sexual content, (one that the Board has been made aware of) then the author is invited to rewrite that small component of their work and re-submit for your approval. If the piece has word(s) regarded as swear/profanity, (maybe four or five works) then the author is invited to change their word(s) and re-submit for your approval.
This note may not alleviate the committee’s tension or angst. I do hope the information provided here, assists you to move forward with all of the submissions. More specifically the works you have identified as controversial. You may, if needed, cut and paste any or all of this note for your correspondence with the authors who have submitted for Anthology 6.
To conclude, Hamilton Mountain Writers Guild maintains a place of dignity, safety, and respect for all writers. The refusal to accept a writer’s anthology piece because it doesn’t adhere to the content restrictions is not discriminatory nor censorship. All products the HMWG publishes must be readable at any HPL book reading event and admissible to Amazon. Therefore, we will maintain a high integrity of stories and poems within our publications. HMWG products have been and will continue to be free of excessive sexual content, profanity and violence.
Neil Chopp
HMWG Board Chair
HMWG in-person meetings resume!
Beginning October 5th, 2022 we will resume in-person meetings as a Guild. Our meeting place, the Hamilton Mountain Terryberry Library, is now open. The meetings will be open to everyone; full members, associate members and walk-ins. All are welcome.
Meeting time: 6:30 pm – 7:45 pm
Meeting dates: Wednesday
October 5th and 19th
November 2nd, 16th and 30th
December 14th. (This meeting will include the Guild’s Annual General meeting)
HMWG Guild Meeting April 6, 2022, 7 p.m.
Terry Martins hosted.
We began with a moment of silence for Ukraine.
Neil chaired.
Neil mentioned the website was updated to include: the Book 6 committee pages of info under Anthology 6, including Book 6 Basics, timeline, genre, word count.
Under Current Events: Zoom dates May 4, June 1 and links are included for the next guild meeting.
January Board Minutes are now posted. They are behind as the current minutes will be updated in the next board meeting and posted to the website at that time.
Neil then asked for feedback regarding future meetings. He suggested a poll of members to see if there’s interest in meeting face to face. A location was proposed by a member of St. Andrews Church on Upper Paradise and Mohawk. We could potentially meet there on June 1, with following meetings every 4th week. There will be a fee payable to the church of $50. It was suggested members may contribute $2.00 if they are able.
We then discussed Covid protocol for such meetings.
Christine mentioned most churches have a mask protocol.
Discussed producing a poll.
Barry suggested Michael W. might create said poll.
Neil will discuss with Michael and hopefully have it ready by April 18.
Anita asked if we meet in person, would we be able to set up a laptop from the church’s wifi for those who cannot attend.
Shane suggested having something to entice more members to attend meetings.
Neil suggested having a guest speaker or special presentation for the first live meeting. This was followed by a general discussion.
Neil turned the meeting over to the Book 6 committee.
Sarah asked if everyone received the documents, and if they were oversimplified, also if any Intent forms had been returned.
Mary Anne checked and announced she’d received 8 responses.
Neil stated the Intent Forms are to be filled out by those intending to participate in the Book 6 Anthology.
Sarah noted the due date is April 30.
There was a discussion regarding including Hamilton within the submitted pieces—whether the location, or something associated with Hamilton.
Christine asked if there needed to be a reminder sent out for people to fill out the Intent forms.
Barry suggested the coordinators should send out reminders.
Bob couldn’t find his link to the form.
Mary Anne will resend it.
Barry questioned the cover for Book6
Sarah mentioned it would be a waterfall, but one hasn’t been picked yet.
Mary Anne mentioned in the template sent out, the title was in Arial, but would be corrected, and there would be easier explanations for what to do with the template.
Neil mentioned the next meeting would be May 4th, at 7 p.m.
Anita mentioned the Book Crawl on Concession Street, is April 16, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The guild would be at the same location, corner of Concession and Upper Wellington in front of the empty building and parking was behind the building.
Shane mentioned the Staircase Theatre is back again and the guild should interact with them.
Neil closed the meeting, thanking Terry for hosting the meeting and the next two meetings, also the Book 6 Committee for their presentation.
Guild Zoom meetings: (April – June)
*Thank you to Terry Martens for hosting all three meetings.
Wednesday, April 6th
Link:
Time: 07:00 PM America/Toronto
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Meeting ID: 930 0810 0494
Passcode: 032287
Wednesday, May 4th
Link:
Time: 07:00 PM America/Toronto
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Meeting ID: 979 9710 7980
Passcode: 849951
Wednesday, June 1st
Link:
Time: 07:00 PM America/Toronto
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Meeting ID: 934 2620 7443
Passcode: 796632
April 6, 2022, Book Six information posted on the website under the link: Anthology 6
HMWG Guild Meeting March 9, 2022, 7 p.m.
Mary Anne Mason hosted.
We began with a moment of silence for Ukraine.
Anita chaired as Neil was absent.
Announcements:
The Book Crawl on Concession Street will be on Saturday, March 19th, in the same spot across from Shoppers, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Book 6 committee is still working on the proposal. Results of the ‘Hamilton’ survey will go to the board first. If you want to participate in Book 6 Anthology, let your coordinator know first, then make sure your membership is paid up to date. Dues remain the same for 2022. Submit dues to Michael Wagstaffe. They will be prorated for new members.
The cover was mentioned; however, as previously stated, the board voted the background would be a waterfall from the Hamilton area for the next couple of books. Michael Wagstaffe would take a photo of one for the cover.
We discussed the 7 Deadly Sins of Speculative Fiction and How to Fix Them. This was an open discussion.
We talked about meeting in person and decided it may be a while. Team 2 may meet at a park when the weather warms up.
Mary Anne had 4 members in the genre chat room, mainly for sci-fi/fantasy genre. Her next chat room will be on March 23. It was mentioned this might conflict with the board meeting that evening.
Linda mentioned the cross critiquing and asked how it worked. Anita explained.
The next zoom guild meeting is April 6th
HMWG Monthly Guild Meeting Feb 9, 2022
Terry Martens Hosted.
Neil mentioned it will be a while before the libraries are open for live meetings.
The cross critiquing seems to be going well. Bob has cross critiqued with all groups.
Sarah will have 3 interviews at the Virtual Book Crawl on Feb. 19th at 2 p.m. She will send out the link.
There was an open discussion regarding cross critiquing. Chat rooms were mentioned. Anita suggested having a chat room for new people before the genre chat rooms.
Mary Anne will host a chat room on Feb. 23rd for genres. She will send link to coordinators.
Mary Anne will host the next Zoom guild meeting on March 9th. At 7 p.m.
Neil thanked those who have hosted the virtual meetings.
Regarding Book 6: Sarah mentioned the committee have set the schedule dates. They hope to have 25 authors, with a maximum writing piece of 3000 words. Short stories will have a minimum word count of 1000 words, maximum of 3000 words. Flash Fiction maximum word count is 1000 words. (No minimum). Poetry maximum word count is 500 words (no minimum). Each participant is limited to 3000 words maximum, up to a total of 3 pieces.
This was followed by an open discussion regarding whether there would be a competition or a theme.
The cover was mentioned. Anita stated that the board had decided for consistency, that books 5, 6 and 7 would use the waterfall as a book cover. Only the background colour would change and the Volume number.
There was a lively discussion regarding the theme, with no definite result.
The book 6 committee will meet to complete the board proposal, however deadline for submission of a clean copy was settled as August 24th.
March 9th will be the next zoom guild meeting.
Writing Group Cross Critiquing Begins 2022
In the coming months, members of all writing groups have an opportunity to share their work with other participating groups for critiquing on a trial, scheduled basis. The advantage of this is to see how other writing groups conduct their meetings and the types of editing they practice. Visiting members can bring back practices they think may be helpful for their group. This will make the Guild stronger.
The schedule of available groups and dates will soon be posted on the website calendar. Further details will be included with information on piece length, method of meeting, and timings.
Explanations of the procedures
Most writing groups have agreed to accept 1 piece from a member in another group. If a member wishes to submit a piece to a particular group they can request this through their own writing group coordinator, who will make arrangements.
Example
James, from Group 5, wishes to have his piece critiqued by members of Group 2, he contacts his own coordinator. The group 5 coordinator will then contact the coordinator of Group 2 to indicate an interested person. This should be done at least 2 weeks prior to allow for time to make the arrangements.
If Group 2 has an opening, the group 2 coordinator accepts James’ request and informs the Group 5 coordinator, who in turn informs James.
James is now responsible to have his piece forwarded to his own coordinator one week before Group 2’s meeting. His coordinator will send it to the Group 2 coordinator, who will disseminate it to their group.
Group 2’s members will comment on the piece and send their comments to Group 2 coordinator, before the meeting date. The Group 2 coordinator will forward the comments to Group 5 coordinator and they will forward the comments to James.
By James asking to have his piece critiqued by Group 2, he has, in fact, become a temporary member of Group 2 for that scheduled meeting. James is responsible to critique any of Group 2 submissions for that meeting.
So, a reverse order would happen. Any Group 2 submissions for that night would be forwarded through the coordinators to James and he would send them back with comments through the coordinators. James would participate fully in Group 2’s meeting.
Groups do not need to exchange submissions with each other. This guild activity is invitational and open to all members if they wish to try the cross-critiquing practice.
Happy New Year, keep writing!
Guild Zoom Meeting minutes – January 12th
Book Crawl – January 15 at 2 p.m. will be virtual on the Greater Hamilton Writers Association
Facebook page due to covid.
Sarah will interview Carmenn regarding his now published novel, and Neil regarding the
Hamilton Mountain Writers’ Group.
The coordinators had a meeting about cross critiquing wherein a writer could have a piece
critiqued by another team. It will be set up via the team coordinator. Instructions are on the
HMWG website under Current Events and the Calendar for times of meeting for each team.
The guild dues ($25) for 2022 are due for full members. New members will have their yearly
dues prorated.
Sarah set up break out rooms to facilitate genre meeting during our guild meeting. We could
meet in various rooms then return to the general guild meeting.
Book 6 was discussed. Neil mentioned the book 5 committee had compiled an instruction
manual which can be utilized by the book 6 committee. Once the committee has been formed,
they should put forth a proposal to the board using the copy from the book 5 guide.
There was a brief discussion about the permission for submission. The book 6 committee will be
able to research this and provide a suitable form for all participants.
It has been established the cover will be continued with various waterfalls from Hamilton.
Previously Michael Wagstaffe’s photograph was used on the book 5 cover.
A few members expressed interest in joining the book 6 committee.
Feb 9 th will be the next guild zoom meeting.
Annual General Meeting
Upcoming Guild Zoom Meetings
October 6th, 7:00 pm
November 3rd, 7:00 pm
December 1st, 7:00 pm (This meeting will begin with the Guild’s AGM)
September 20th, 7:20 am
Sarah Farr will be interviewed on CHCH Moring TV show for the upcoming Anthology 5 Book Launch. Check it out!
September 8, 2021 Zoom Meeting
There were 17 attendants.
Anthology 5 has sold 37 copies to date.
Regarding promotion for Anthology 5, Sarah will host a Zoom meeting that can be attached to a live broadcast on Facebook. Authors who have pieces in Anthology 5 will be able to read an excerpt from their piece for a total of approximately 3 ½ minutes. It will be broadcast on the HMWG Facebook page on Sept. 26 at 2 p.m.
Sarah mentioned it would be ideal if we could highlight the Hamilton theme in our readings She also mentioned her interview on CHCH, Sept 20 at 7:20 a.m. As she had been following Annette Hamm on Twitter, (who does the interviews of Hamilton Authors) Sara had Tweeted her and asked about an interview.
Though Sarah has a few authors lined up for the live readings, she hopes for more and will then work on a schedule.
Neil wanted to know how we would get people to watch. We then discussed it.
Also, Sarah is working on a collage of authors with their books to use on her CHCH interview.
Neil mentioned publicizing stories from Books 1 to 4 on HMWG Facebook page.
Sarah has been putting up stories with comments regarding the stories, or segments from the books.
Jim told us his story in Anthology 5 was actually a continuation of his story in Book 1, so this is something we can mention on FB.
Michael W. offered to help Sarah with promotions.
Neil mentioned how would we process shareable pieces on HMWG FB page.
I mentioned each author should be putting up a photo of themselves on their own FB pages with an excerpt from their pieces. Also, I’d posted a photo of Anthology 5 on Hamilton Book News Facebook page. (We can’t sell from there, but it’s a site for Hamilton authors own book postings)
Neil said that on the Sept 16 board meeting, there’s be a discussion regarding accepting a proposal from guild members for Anthology 6. The Book 5 committee have agreed to act as mentors for a book 6 committee. Right now, the book 5 committee members are working on an instruction manual for subsequent anthologies.
Sarah asked about the proposal.
Neil mentioned a copy of the proposal for book 5 is still around and it could be used as a guide. It lists the schedule, who is involved, budget and formatting. As the book 5 committee did the formatting themselves that budget wasn’t used.
He also mentioned that Michael W. had designed the cover for Anthology 5 and as the board had already decided to utilize his design for future books, all that had to be changed was the background colour, photo of a waterfall and it’s description on the back cover. To remain consistent with our Anthologies the board had chosen to continue using waterfalls as background.
Hosting for Guild Zoom meetings, Mary Anne for October, Terry Martens for November and Sarah for December. We thanked Sarah for hosting this meeting.
August 11th, 2021 Zoom Meeting
Karen hosted the zoom meeting. There were 12 attendees.
Briefly discussed book 5 up and available for sale.
Sarah suggested a Launch for the book – virtual reading, save it and share links on the website.
We could use Facebook live and invite family and friends to view.
Anita suggested reading snippets of our writings.
We discussed having a practice run. No date was as some are on vacation in the next month, so this will be decided in the next zoom meeting.
Margaret suggested having our book presented on CHCH as they do book reviews and as this book is about Hamilton, with the guild, the waterfall cover, and Hamilton embedded in the story it would be a good fit for a local event.
Christine that Annette Hamm on morning live would be a good person to contact.
Nothing was set.
Re: Aug 1, reading at Gore Park – Christine and Sarah attended. They said it was an informal event with most people selling books there. Christine suggested contacting Bill King later to do a presentation to the guild when we are meeting as he has his own publishing business: Atmonda Publishing. (not sure about the spelling)
Writing Prompts: 5 people shared what they’d written.
Contracts: Bob shared the contract from Doll House. He then discussed the items he’d highlighted. We all agreed the contract did not favour the writer. Bob and Christine talked about their interaction with the publisher in detail.
Margaret mentioned looking at a contract which can be purchased online for $10 from either the Writers Union of Canada or the Canadian Author Association. (can’t remember which site I saw it on)
Someone asked about formatting books and I suggested this was something we could handle in a live meeting. I also said we should all be aware of what we could do without paying a lot of money for professionals, and we should all be aware of what was involved with publishing.
Ron asked about book 6 and I asked him to wait until the book 5 committee had its next meeting when we can discuss what we’ve done for book 5. Then we’d get back to the members.
Next guild zoom meeting is Sept 8. Sarah will host it and if she has to go away, she’ll transfer hosting to someone, but has set up the link already.
July 14th, 2021, Zoom meeting 7:00pm
Announcements:
Anthology 5 on track for publishing this month. Download to take place in the coming week. Anthology 5 will be available in eBook and paper form.
Author’s in the Park will be August 1, 2021, in Gore Park, Hamilton. 1 to 4 pm. All are welcome. We hope to have a few Guild representatives there.
Art Gallery of Mississauga is holding a read-a-loud event.
Folks attending today’s Zoom participated in a writing prompt activity. (Franklin Road was never the same…)
Reverse poetry was explained, examples provided, and members read their work.
Writing team coordinators could consider outdoor venues for writing teams to gather.
Chris from the TerryBerry will be contacted on the status of using the library for future meetings of the Guild.
Questions:
Anthology 6, New member brochure.
Next zoom: August 11, 2021 hosted by Karen Wood. Agenda; announcements, topic for discussion: contracts for publishing. Look for a writing prompt to come along in advance of the zoom so you have time to write!
June 16th, 2021
Announcements:
Announcements for the website, Anthology 5 and Board suggestions for a coordinators meeting were provided.
Sarah spoke on the promotions committee work.
Anita gave a Grant update and said the permission form for Anthology 5 is on its way to the writers of Book 5.
Barry presented information on Doune Castle and an upcoming interview on Cable 14.
Linda provided a grammar refresh in two activities. Both activities will be sent to all coordinators for sharing.
Next Zoom – July 14th, 7:00pm. Beginning with writing prompts and the exploration of reverse poetry.
May 25th, 2021
Next set of Guild zoom meetings are open to all associate and full members.
July 14 7:00 pm
Topics: Writing prompts and reverse poetry
August 11
September 8
October 20
May 5th, 2021
The 2021 UK Kindle Storyteller contest is open and accepting entries!
The Kindle Storyteller Award is a £20,000 literary prize recognising outstanding writing. It is open to writers who publish in English in any genre through Kindle Direct Publishing. Readers—helped by a panel of judges—play a significant role in selecting the winner. The Kindle Storyteller Award is open for entries between 1 May and 31 August 2021.
For inspiration, learn more about 2020’s Kindle Storyteller winner Anna McNuff, author of Llama Drama.
See the UK Kindle Storyteller contest page for full entry requirements.
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
April 24th, 2021
April 19th, 2021
Minutes from the April 14th Zoom Guild Meeting
- Welcoming
- Nikki spoke for the City Voices Anthology submissions. (see below)
- Sarah Farr spoke on the topic: writing historical nonfiction.
- Anthology 5: Discussion ensued concerning the minimum word count for and recommendations for Guild members who wish to propose and complete Anthology 6.
- Next guild zoom: May 12th Need a host for this meeting. Please contact Neil or Bob in advance.
- City Voices Anthology
Submission Details
Anyone 55 and over living in The Golden Horseshoe/Hamilton, or anywhere in the Halton region can submit.
Theme: “In these dark times, it’s those small acts of kindness that keep us alive, after all. They remind us of our humanity” – R.J. Palacio
It’s been a tough year, a year like no other, but in all the difficulties and restrictions, the loneliness and the frustrations there have been acts of kindness and moments of light that helped eased the hardships.
In this anthology we want to focus on the positives that came out of a difficult year; insights realized, kindness given or received, things you did to maintain inner peace and hope.
Poetry –
Submit 1, 2 or 3 short poems or one long one.
Fiction or Non-fiction work;
Submit one piece only. Limit it to 1200 words. Please state whether it is fiction or non-fiction.
The format must adhere to the following – 12 times roman font, 1.5 spacing. No excess capitals including in the title.
Photography/Art Work
Submit 1, 2 or 3 pieces – on pictures taken in 2021.
Deadline to Submit – August 2021
Submissions will be accepted until the end of August. If your piece is accepted, you will be required to sign a release form allowing me to publish your story, art etc. You are granting one time rights to your work however the rights of the story or artwork belong to you.
As this is a community project, please no erotica or swear words.
If your piece is accepted, you will receive one free copy of the book. Project will be completed March 31, 2022.
Any questions please feel free to email me. Nikki blueheron123@sympatico.ca
March 2021
Welcome everyone to this new current events page open to public viewing.
As a member of the HMWG you can post your achievements past, present and future here. Let us know of your most recent publishing or upcoming reading.
Keep informed on the Guild Zoom Meetings happening in 2021.
May 12.
Links for the zoom meetings are sent to your writing coordinator.
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