Lisa Holcomb called the meeting to order at 6:33pm.

April Coker announced she would contact Tyler Junior College for our venue with a July date for the annual conference.

Lydia Holley requested articles for the TNC newsletter, no matter how short. Everything will be welcome.

Lisa Holcomb posted images of articles on which our logo will be printed and that can be obtained from the Swag Shop on Redbubble. The articles include tee shirts, caps, mugs, and other small items for sale for which ETWG would receive a small compensation. This is not meant to be a fundraiser, but to help advertise the Guild.

Lisa also gave a short summary of an idea conceived by Janice Conlee for a Scavenger Hunt in which writers would pair up and produce stories while on a short trip (the Hunt) and later share the stories with the rest of the group.

Genre groups presently consist of a group whose interest is in poetry, soon to begin meeting. The sci/fi group is organized and had their first meeting, which went very well, according to Lisa.

The remaining genres of mystery, historical, and romance still need leaders willing to conduct the meetings.

There was no further business, so the meeting was adjourned at 6:51 p.m.

The speaker for the evening was Sharon Thayer sharing her thoughts on Strategies for Success in publishing by entertaining us with her experiences in her adventures in finding not only a publisher for her children’s books, but also an illustrator. Her seven steps leading to her success are: Know Where You Are Going; Hell, Yes; Just Do It; Be Like Popeye; Fail Fast; Expect Surprises; Never Stop Believing. With the sale of more than 50,000 books and a publisher calling her to invest with them, Sharon explained how each of her strategic steps led to her success within a twenty year period. She emphasized the last step, Never Stop Believing, was the
most important.