The next meeting of the Decatur chapter of Scribblers is Wednesday, October 24th at MIssion Haven at 235 Inman Drive, Decatur, GA at 6:30 PM.

If you did not get to attend the last meeting, it was marvelous with six or more new writers coming for the first time to hear about Scribblers.  

Claire Hertzler will be leading the meeting.

If you are coming to the  Decatur meeting please park on Inman near 235.  Someone will direct to the meeting room.  You can reach Claire at  404-357-2108 if you get lost!  The MIssion Haven facilities are actually a group of homes, and we meet in the basement of one of the homes.  Once you have been there one time, it is easy to find.  (Also Claire had put out signage with arrows directing folks to the right home, although some of us...that be me, were not that observant! ) So, if you are coming the first time and need help finding the room, please do call Claire.

Please do let Claire know if you are coming, so she can be prepared for the number of seats needed.

You can attend both the Norcross and Decatur meetings if you like.  It is always wonderful to meet so many different writers and learn from their experiences. 

For those not in attendance at the Norcross meeting, the upcoming book signing opportunity will be reviewed as well.  We will need the list of Decatur authors that will be attending the book signing on December 1, as well.

Also, Claire has found a radio program where authors discuss their books.  She is going to be on the program shortly, and you can find out more by attending the Decatur meeting, and by reviewing the upcoming events on the Scribblers web site. (www.Scribblersweb.com).

I hope many of you will be able to make this meeting.  

Grace and Peace,
Charles

Scribblers - Norcross Chapter September 20, 2018

The Scribblers Chapter met at the Crossing Restaurant in Downtown Norcross. It was our largest gather yet, with 15 in attendance.


The meeting had several sections including:
1) Introduction of guest/new potential resources 
2) Marketing Opportunity Reviews
3) Author submissions and review 


Section 1)  Introduction of guests/ new potential resources

a) Our guests for the meeting included Vickie Bley of the Southern Pen Bookshop and Turnip Press.
Vickie Bley <thesouthernpenbookshop@gmail.com>

https://www.southernpenbookshop.com

Vickie came to us through Gary Pulliam who is also a publisher who has attended our meetings in the past and came with Vickie to this meeting as well.  Thank you to Gary for exposing the Scribblers group to this potential resource for us.

Vickie shared with us her unique bookstore concept, where independent authors can have their book shown and marketed for a "shelf space" fee that can be quarterly, semiannual or annual. The authors get to keep 80% of the collected payments for the books, and the authors get the ability to have signings and other exposure.

Since the meeting several authors have explored the possibilities with Vickie, and at the Decatur Scribblers meeting the following week, Charles de Andrade announced that he had placed his four books with the Southern Pen Bookshop, and had scheduled a book signing at the shop for Saturday November 17th. 

Charles visited the bookshop, and was impressed by the concept that Vickie is driving.  Vickie also mentioned another book store based in Florida with a similar concept that Charles will be checking out for the group as well.  Members are encouraged to check out how Sothern Pen Bookshop is highlighting Charles work, and Charles will keep the team informed on how the program is working.

The Southern Pen Bookshop and Turnip Press has joined Scribblers as a "Resource" and will be supporting the group through the monthly payment to help defray the cost of the scribblersweb.com site.

b) We also welcomed several new visitors including Stephanie Brown and her husband. Stephanie spoke about her book using the human body's wonderful complexity as a description as well of the church body.  Stephanie has joined the Norcross Chapter, and more about her book can be found on the scribblersweb.com site shortly.   QUICKENED! Made Alive Spirit, Soul, Body [as Stephanie Hughes] and self published it in 2002. In this book, the operation of the Church as the Bod y of Christ is aligned with functions of ten systems of the human body, its cells and blood cells. This book brings spiritual enlightenment to the Medical Profession, and Medical enlightenment to the Spiritual Community.  A copy of Stephanie's synopsis of the book is also attached.

Section 2) Marketing Opportunity Reviews

a) On the marketing front we discussed the upcoming Scribblers Book Signing to be held on Saturday December 1st at :
New Song Church at 628 Camp Lake Road, Monroe, GA 30655. 

Pastor Cameron at the Church offered the use of the facility for no charge, and he will also have his books on display as well.
We can thank Luanne Scrogan of the Norcross Chapter for the connection.

The book signing will start at 10:00 AM and go to 3:00 PM.  Each Scribbler's author will have their own table, and the ability to display both their books and their banners.  Scribblers will be checking on placing advertisements to promote the book signing event, and each author will be encourage to alert their sphere of influence about the event. We look forward to that event.

b) We continue to look for additional marketing opportunities, especially in the holiday period.

c) All Scribbler members are encouraged to check out their listings on www.scribblersweb.com. Please be sure the links to your books are there, as well as the information on where your books can be found for purchase. 

Section 3) Author submissions and review 

a) Mike Owens shared a chapter from a new book he is working on.  Like so many of us have experienced, there are times the story seems to stop, seeking a direction to go.  Mike was able to glean some thoughts from the different members about where the story could head.

Going forward, we will be developing this portion of our meetings further, so that more writers can share what they are working on.


The next meeting of the Norcross Scribblers will be on Thursday October 18th at 6:00 PM at the Crossing Restaurant.  Here is the current agenda:

1) Welcoming of guests - No guest speaker is currently expected.
2) Marketing Update - 
    a) Preparation for Book Signing on December 1 - Advertisement review

3) Author Submission - Bill and Noy Peelers latest Letter (attached here for review.)  Bill and Noy are working on compiling these letters into a book  Currently Bill and Noy are in Cambodia serving as missionaries.

4) Web Site updates

5) Florida Scribblers Chapter developing - Likely launch is January 2019 - North Lake Presbyterian is considering being the sponsor'