Regular meeting of April 2, 2008

After a quick business meeting, the regular Wednesday meeting of the DFWWW took off like a shot:

Rejections: three were owned up to.

Acceptances: Kristen Lamb had an article accepted by an e-zine; Sonja Cassella accepted a freelance PR job; Carolyn Williamson has an article in the West Texas Romance Writer’s newsletter, Alex Martinez has had a treatment requested by Dreamworks; Rosemary Clement-Moore was placed on the New York Public Library’s list of books for teenaged readers, and was nominated for a RITA award by the RWA.

Submissions: Reported by Anne Perry, Ginnie Bivona, and Kendall Furlong.

The poetry group will be meeting on April 16^th.

Half Price Books is considering becoming a sponsor of the 2009 conference.

Austin Writer’s League Conference – the biggest writer’s conference in Texas will be held June 20-22. So far, six of us are planning to go. See Sonja Cassella for more information.

Calling all Blogs – Steve Manniing is making a webpage listing websites and blogs of DFWWW writers. Contact Steve if you have a site to be included.

NETWO Conference is the 26th-27^th of April: This is a small, fun conference with 5 or 6 good agents. See Ginnie Bivona for more information.

What I’m Reading – Our new digital critique is being handled by Candy Havens and Rosemary Clement-Moore. The “What I’m Reading” column will be a chance to get what you’re working on in front of agents and editors. From an email Candy sent to the DFWWW yahoo group on the subject:

“Rather than doing the long excerpts from various stories, we'll be doing what we call the 30-second pitch. You tell us about your book in short blurb, along with the market (fantasy, western, romance...) It's the exact type of pitch you'd give at an agent/editor meeting. Short and Sweet. I've had an overwhelming response from industry professionals that this is what they are looking for, and if they like the pitch they'll ask for more. There is a catch. Anything you send to me, has to have been read in group over the last two months or so. The column is called "What I'm Reading." So it's your work you've been reading in group.

All pitches come to me, and we'll fit in as many as we can. Please be sure of the following:

1. Email short blurb (less than 100 words) to tvscoop (at) sbcglobal.net
2. Make sure you put (WHAT I'M READING) in the subject line (I get upwards of 1000 emails a day from listeners and readers so this is an important step)
3. Include your name, title of the piece, and the market.

We'll be checking with back lists to make sure that you've been reading at group, and quite honestly, if there's a space crunch preferences will be given to those who read on a regular basis. Fair or not, that's how it's going to be. :-)

Also, if you have any articles you'd like to do for The Critique, please send me a note."

Candy Havens' Online Classes: Candy offers FREE online writing classes through a yahoo group. Visit her website, www.candacehavens.com, and click on “workshops.” Classes include Fast Draft, Revision Hell, and the current class “GOT QUERY? THEY KNOW THEY WANT YOU…NOW CONVINCE THEM.” There's quite a buzz about these classes at the workshop--check it out.