Board Meeting June 2026

Agenda WGA Board meet June 30, 2026    

Meeting took place in Study Room A starting a little late. We had a quorum of 5.Andre, James, Ed, Beth and Chris. The meeting lasted until 5:50.  Ed Gauthier’s official minutes follow these.

Old Business

June Speaker is Sharon LaCour (She had to postpone and an alternate program was created)

Prompt for JULY: Summer’s Dreams – Poetry

Need ideas, speaker for August. Can someone contact Trent Angers https://www.trentangers.com ? 

Or someone from Arcadia or Pelican publishing ? 

Or Scott Campbell? http://riverroadpress.com/index.html

Shall we try Sharon for August?

John C has sent a Trifold Brochure refresh for approval. Board approved

The Florida Writers Association submission guidelines are clear and succinct. There is much to learn from their organization. We should consider their guidelines carefully for our next Treasury. (Of course, there are differences; FWA does not charge members fees to submit or be accepted.) Andre thinks that we should not charge. John aruges that charging something weeds out the less serious.

The April newsletter promised more workshops about, for example, self-editing. Can our members and the Board team up to do more workshops? Beth commented that several of us have had medical issues and have not planned any workshops. [ME:Is there time to plan anything in August? Or September (ed will be absent)]

Ed Gauthier, secretary, unavailable for August and September meets. 

New Business

Logo refresh. At least two board members like the current logo. Others would welcome a refresh. There was a suggestion for a contest, but who would organize and run it? Another suggestion is to hire a skilled artist. Someone asked if we could put this out as a contest in schools, but chances of anyone being interested in that project are slim with curricula being so crowded. How about AI? I wondered if there is a design class at UL that might want to take on a new logo as a project.

One board member feels that the tote bag is a waste of funds. Three others greatly favor the large bag with outside pockets. Several commented that such a project should wait for the logo to be firmed up.

Venmo, PayPal on WGA website so people can join and pay. Andre will discuss with you. Looking for a package that will cost about $100 one time and allow him to do what he would like to do in re: collect from new members, allow Beth to deal with what she needs, etc etc…

Webmaster: Find, link to older Website posts See above

Grant applications: Consult Thomas Smith and refer to grant money. Refer to John’s email of June 12. 

Didn’t get this far. 

Other topics included whether or not to include the apostrophe in the Guild title.

Andre suggested a weekend (or at least daytime) mixer for members who cannot make night meetings. I suggested that Ed check with (the former Johnson Street Java) Jet Coffee for a location, though there are likely other places that may agree to host us.

Andre (?) suggested student rate be lower to encourage new members from UL or SLCC

Andre and or Ed mentioned trying to get more air time on TV/Radio/AOC

Writer’s Guild of Acadiana board meeting minutes of Tuesday, June 30, 2026. 

Board Meeting began at 5:00 pm at South Regional library, Lafayette, LA.

Current Board Members are:    

Absent from this meeting: Brandon Russell, John Comeaux, Jade Landry

1^st item: Members Meeting:

Writers Guild of Acadiana met last night, and we had a hurrah good time. Everyone wrote for 15 minutes on one of four topics; man/woman vs nature, man/woman vs man/woman, man/woman vs society, and man/woman vs self.  One new member titled her piece ‘Squirrel vs Squirrel.’ Everyone got two to three minutes to read what they’d written and the fun was on. That was followed by a very thorough question and answer period with lots of good writing ideas exchanged. Then the random socializing took over adding to more smiles and new connections. What a fun group. And we got a few new members. If you didn’t make that meeting, you may have missed a great one.

            All that said, it would be a good idea to arrive at Writers Guild meetings with writing utensils available: paper and pen/pencil, computer, phone, tablet, etc. YOU might be asked to create something great right then and there.

Now back to Board meeting items:

2^nd item:  

Treasury anthologies: 

Both volume 1 & 2, are available at Amazon and at Ingram Spark in both paperback and hardcover. These consist of stories and poems written by Louisiana authors. We are now in planning for Treasury volume 3, which has opened for submissions on January 1, 2026. Beth Davis will head it up. So far, 12 stories have been accepted for publication and new ones are arriving. So, if you have something you’re working on, submit it. You might get published!

            More on this topic in the Motions Tabled section below.

3^rd item: 

The board has developed a quality standard for all written submissions to the guild. This criteria will be applied to all submissions to the Treasury, and to other future writing projects the guild might take on. This criteria list as currently developed will be displayed on our website and will be sent by email to our members. IF a member or non-member submits a written submission that does not meet the criteria, the submission will be tactfully rejected. What is published in our treasury reflects on the quality of writing our guild produces and represents. If you’re interested in contributing to development of this criteria, or have comments, please contact a board member. 

4^th item:

Our website is WritersGuildAcadiana.org. Andre Guirard is in charge of the website and is handling ongoing improvements. What we might expect soon: a new store to sell our Treasuries and Anthologies and where non-members might be able to sign up as new members and pay their dues. Any board member or regular member can consult with Andre Guirard concerning posting information onto the website. (763-458-6897) or aguirard@tylertork.com  

5^th item:

Writing competitions:

Every other month, our guild sponsors a writing competition on an assigned prompt. July’s prompt must be written in poetry. The prompt is “Summer’s Dreams.”

If you wish to find the prompts on our website, here’s the rules.

Rules of our membership writing competition:  

·       The 1^st and 2^nd place winners of Writers Guild creative writing competitions may have their work published in a booklet anthology in the future. 

6^th item:

Sales at Moncus Park Saturday morning farmers market occur on the second and last Saturday of each month. Summer weather is here and sales have held steady. Here’s an excellent chance to vend your book directly to customers. Keep in mind that the booth fills up quickly. A total of four authors are allowed to fill the booth, sorry, no more than four.

Members will need to contact our secretary, Ed Gauthier to schedule a date for vending. He sends out an updated schedule about every 10 days, or more often. 

            CHANGES may be coming to the vending at Moncus Park. So far, non-members have been allowed to participate. The board has table a motion to change that rule, so that only members could participate. Keep in mind that membership dues are only $25.00 per year.

7^th  item:

WGAcadiana Critique group was formed by members of our guild. It meets online using Google groups and Google Meet. These meetings occur on the second and fourth Thursday evening of each month at 7:00 pm. Our purpose is to assist writers in discovering the strong and weak points of their writing styles. If you need and want assistance on a piece you are writing, we can counsel you. Genres eligible for critique are chapters of a novel, short story, poetry, fiction or non-fiction, memoir, and others. Our critique group follows a careful format to develop trust amongst its members. If interested, contact our secretary by text (337-945-5718) or send email to eggchess@gmail.com. Joining this group will require that you have an active Google account, which is free.

8^th item: 

The Lafayette City Art Walk continues to occur on the second Saturday of the month, every month, and so far early Summer has brought crowds and good sales. If you wish to vend your books at Art Walk, free space is available. This occurs on Jefferson Street, from the underpass to the corner of Lee Street and Jefferson. It begins around 4:00 pm and goes to 8:30 or 9:00 pm. (Or until you are tired) Ed Gauthier recommends setting up on the sidewalk in front of a store that is out of business, or that doesn’t charge a fee. There is plenty of walking traffic, lots of customers. Basically, no one will oversee your location. This is available to anyone, whether a member of the Guild or not. Ed sets up near the science museum. Come by. Text Ed and he’ll give more explanation. (337-945-5718). 

9^th item: 

Writers Guild is still looking for grant writers to assist us in receiving grant money.

10^th item: 

Our guild needs a very informed speaker for August. Know of any? Call a board member. Their cell numbers are listed above.

11^th item: 

New tote bags are being considered. Some board members feel they are a waste of time, others find them good advertising. What do you think? Let your board members know.

12^th item:

Writers Guild is looking for a new logo. If you have suggestions, ideas, concepts, or preliminary sketches, we want you to bring them to the meetings. 

13^th item:

New Writers Guild pamphlets have been printed for advertising to new members. Grab one to get the new look.

14^th item:

Our guild has been observing the Florida Writers Association and noting the way they run their guild. Much to be learned there. We are considering their guidelines for submission standards.

15^th item:

If you guild members would like to have more workshops offered on various writing topics, please consult with board members. 

Motions Tabled for further discussion and later decisive action.

12^th item: 

The board is reviewing the economics of publishing our Treasury anthology. Cost and payment per word are being reviewed. Also, a free submission anthology was discussed. No final decision on any of that was reached. More on this later.

End of Motions Tabled

Board Meeting was adjourned at 5:55 pm.  The members meeting began at 6:00 pm. 

Number of members attending the 6-30-2026 regular meeting:  25  people

End of Board meeting minutes.