What is the Mississippi Writer’s Guild?
Mississippi Writers Guild (MWG) is a statewide network of
individual writers and chapters, all of whom have a love of the written word,
and putting into print the things that make Mississippi special. All writers, at any stage of their
development, published or unpublished, can join MWG.
How many chapters in Mississippi?
Currently there are six chapters and one affiliate chapter.
How old is the writer’s guild?
It was founded in 2005 by a group of writers in the Meridian
area, and has spread to cover the entire state since then.
What are some of the benefits of being a member?
Networking opportunities are definitely a big plus of membership
in MWG. For example, members can have a
link on the MWG website to their personal blogs, webpages, or other online
presences, to help in self-promotion. MWG also organizes an annual writing
conference held in different parts of the state. The conference includes a variety of speakers
including published authors and literary agents. Attendees also typically have an opportunity
to receive critiques from agents and other industry professionals at the
conference.
Where did the idea for the Anthology come from?
Every writer knows that getting motivated and staying motivated
is hard. Also, it can be hard to find
publishing opportunities for short, stand-alone works such as poetry and short
stories. So we decided to make our own
opportunity. The prospect of being
published in an anthology encouraged a lot of the members to become more
productive (so they would have something to put in the anthology) or to dig out
older work that had not been published yet, for whatever reason. And since we were planning an anthology, it
became the perfect vehicle for publishing those random pieces that would be
impossible to publish by themselves. We
were also lucky in that we had an excellent model provided to us by Dr. Philip
Levin and the members of the Gulf Coast Writers Association, who have published
an anthology every year or two for the past several years.
Was it well received with the writers?
Exceptionally so. We
received submissions from 17 different authors, many of whom submitted more
than one piece. Everyone has been
excited about the anthology and seeing their work in print – for some of the
members, this was their first published work.
Who is the publisher?
For reasons of cost and efficiency, we decided to use the
CreateSpace platform through Amazon.com.
It was a good choice for us and for this project.
What obstacles did you have to overcome to get the book
published?
I discovered that most people, including me, are not good with
deadlines. (Ha) It took about a year to pull the anthology
together, but that was mainly because it was hard to get the ball rolling and to
get people to submit their work for consideration. Then, when it came time to collect short
biographies from the contributors, that also took additional time. The rest of the obstacles came as I wrestled
with formatting issues in getting the book in line with CreateSpace’s
guidelines. However, the entire process
has been a great learning experience and one that I hope we will repeat (see
below).
How was the cover decided?
Is there any symbolism in the cover?
I think so, but it was absolutely serendipitous. The pine seedling is a common sight in the
Pinebelt – it’s who we are, in a sense.
And the seedling represents this first anthology, which took time to
grow and develop from the germ of the original idea into the finished book that
we are now publishing.
Are you planning to do a second book?
Absolutely!
What will the theme of the second book be?
It’s too early to tell.
We knew the first anthology would not have a theme, because the range of
submissions would be so diverse. The
second anthology may be the same way, just because it’s exciting to see all the
different kinds of writing people submit.
How does one get to be a member of the Mississippi writer’s
guild?
Easy! The Guild’s website
is http://www.mississippiwritersguild.com/, and there are links to
membership options via PayPal. They have
regular memberships, senior and student memberships, and if you join in the
middle of the year, they also prorate the membership fees.
If one wants to be a writer, what advice do you have?
The process of writing is different for everyone, and sometimes
you have to flounder around to find the way that works for you. But I think the most indispensable thing for
a writer is endless determination and a willingness to take the millions of
baby steps that are required for the writer’s journey.
Link to the book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/
Kindle Books:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/
Link to the book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/
Kindle Books:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/
No comments:
Post a Comment