A final word from the board
Through tears, laughter, and many words later…
In Print Writers Organization is Turning the Page
Dear In Print Members:
In November, the In Print Board of Directors met to discuss the future of the organization. Reluctantly, we decided that our only option at this point was to close the organization. Here is our reasoning:
- Membership in In Print has been declining. (That could partially be because of the lack of Membership Chair, someone who could keep up with reminders about when members need to renew their membership.)
- Attendance at events has been declining. This is in spite of the board’s complying with members’ requests to move our meetings back to Rockford. With such small turnouts, it becomes harder to find speakers. We do not pay our speakers, neither their travel expenses nor an honorarium. Thus, having a larger turnout at meetings is more inviting to them, especially since it gives them a market for their books. (I’m not saying that these speakers don’t want to share their knowledge and experience with others, but they too have expenses to meet.)
- The most crucial issue though has been our inability to find others to join the board and help with all the behind-the-scenes activities that allow the organization to function. Almost two years ago, the organization almost closed because of similar problems. Several of us stepped in to make sure In Print continued. Since then, for various reasons, we have lost several of those board members. For over a year, we have not had a membership chair. We have also lost our program chair. We lost our board person who oversaw the newsletter, website, and Facebook group, though, thankfully, some have stepped in to handle these jobs. Several other openings have remained unfilled. Those remaining on the board have all served more than one term and in various positions. We have repeatedly announced at meetings that there were board openings that needed to be filled, with no response from members. We have also approached individual members, asking them to consider serving. Again, we have had basically no response.
While our board members have been very committed, working hard to keep In Print open, they feel that they cannot keep up with all the work necessary to keep In Print operating. The terms of all of them will be up early this spring and, with no one to take over, the only option we have is to close In Print.
We have all benefitted greatly from In Print—from the work of our founders and of previous board members and from the contributions of our many speakers. Hopefully, we have all become better and more productive writers.
Please join us on Saturday, February 2nd, from 1 to 4 PM at the Cherry Valley Library as we celebrate all that In Print has meant to us. Our celebration will, in part, include the following:
Sharing our literary successes in 2018
Sharing what In Print has meant to us
Announcing our writing goals for 2019
Taking a group photo
Eating: In Print will be purchasing some food (pizza?), but we encourage members to bring some finger food to share.
Respectfully yours,
Lisa Roettger, president
In Print Writers Organization
What’s on our agenda for 2018?
We’re excited about the new year in writing…please join us!
2018 will usher in In Print’s new meeting format of meeting every other month, with opposite months for In Print critique groups to meet. Critique group months are: March, May, July, September, and November. All general In Print meetings will be held at Katie’s Cup, 502 7th St., Rockford, Illinois, unless otherwise noted. Location of critique groups will be determined.
January: No meeting. Hole up with hot chocolate or a steamy mug of coffee and write. If you need inspiration, check out JanOWriMo.
February: Meeting- Critique Groups kick-off. How-to’s, format, and best practices will be covered. Members will be emailed a story to critique and bring to the meeting. CWA member and author, Libby Fischer Hellman, will be the presenter.
March: Meet with your critique group or spend the day writing.
April: Meeting- Writing outside of your genre. Do you write Sci Fi? Try Poetry. Do you write Creative Nonfiction? Try fiction. Mixing up your writing style can help us grow as writers.
May: Meet with your critique group or spend the day writing.
In Printers are welcome to join Lake Summerset Writing Gals for their free Recharge Your Writing day on May 19.
June: Meeting- “Writing the Other” Diversifying your characters. Develop a character that is not your usual to include when writing. Write about that character.
July: Meet with your critique group or spend the day writing.
August: Meeting- Memoir writing: For fun, family or to be published; creative and journalistic style memoirs; difference between memoirs and autobiographies.
September: Meet with your critique group or spend the day writing.
October: Meeting- Description—Show us. Writing about nature. Location to be announced.
November: NaNo/Writer’s retreat, Katie’s Cup
Don’t forget the Lake Summerset Writing Gals, in cooperation with the Northern Illinois Novel Knights, will host their annual NaNo first Saturday writing day. And the Novel Knights will hold several write-ins during the month.
December: Meeting- Year-end celebration!
In Print Writers 