President’s Letter – November 2025
November Greetings to you all,
Most Important: Open Readings on Nov. 20 is Cancelled. Of our three hosts, two are out of town and one has important grandkid events not to be missed.
The Authors of the Flathead Board met Monday night. We sent kudos around for all we’ve accomplished in the past few years but, not resting on our laurels, have identified one area of need we wish to address in the coming years – to better serve the advanced writers. We are great at helping folks get started, but those of us who have grown past that point are desiring additional resources. The Board tossed out the idea of workshops, using the fourth Thursday for genre-specific gatherings, among many others. We also heard that there is a need for a memoir group (please email craigtnaylor@gmail.com or aotfboard@gmail.com if you are interested in creating a collaboration among our memoir writers). Let us know your ideas via email as we expand into these areas.
But we are a volunteer organization. Thank you to all who helped with this and that over the past year. We now have over 100 members! Expanding into the areas outlined above will need a few new people to step forward. If you can, please do so.
The Student Writing Competition is back and expanding into a Middle School category. Thank you to Chani Craig for heading up this project with my assistance. Materials will be out around Dec. 1 and, when that happens, please share with all your teacher and writing coach friends.
Conference 2026 is well underway. Conference Lead Organizer Shira Marin in finalizing commitments. She has a great lineup for us! I’ll have more info as the contracts are signed. The dates at this time are September 25 – 27, 2026.
2026 Membership dues rise to $80. This does not cover our total expenses but we are blessed with a reserve from previous years and are trying to keep costs down. As always, if you need financial assistance, you only need to ask. This membership is valid from Jan.1 to Dec. 31. We will honor those who signed up/renewed after the conference for 2026, but we will be moving to automatic billing beginning Jan. 1, 2027 and we will no longer be able to provide this service.
The slate of officers for 2026 appears at the end of this email. It’s an awesome group. We have one special spot open for the one-year position as president (moving to past president the following year). Larry Baer and I look forward to working as a team with whoever can step forward. My service as president has been the best way I could have imagined for developing contacts in and learning about the art and biz of writing. I encourage anyone interested to take my place – Larry and I will be at your side.
One way we serve the advanced (and beginning) writers is Sue Purvis’s Second Thursday interview. She brings in the best of the best. This week (Nov. 13) is with Jamie Robinson to talk about marketing. The meeting is on Zoom (codes on the AotF website) and we hope to have a big crowd. Here’s a brief bio (the full one is on our website).
In a career spanning over 25 Years, Jamie Robinson has been intimately involved in virtually every aspect of the broadly defined Sports and Entertainment Marketing World. Jamie has negotiated sports and entertainment, merchandising, licensing, and sponsorship agreements totaling in excess of $500,000,000.
As the co-founder and CEO (from 1997-2016) of Alliance Marketing Partners (AMP) Jamie created the term Entrepreneurial Marketing TM: Thinking like an entrepreneur and spending like an accountant in achieving a client’s marketing goals. Entrepreneurial Marketing employs a broad range of tactics in delivering a quantifiable ROI on every program. Jamie is a Founding Board Member of the Tory Burch Foundation which supports all aspects of women’s entrepreneurship. He is currently writing a book on Treasure Hunting.
See more details on the AotF website.
Upcoming Meetings:
Nov. 20 – Open Readings Cancelled
Nov. 27 – Happy Thanksgiving!
Dec. 4 – AotF Annual Meeting where we elect Board Members for 2026, get a financial report, and then participate in Kathy Dunnehoff’s Show, Tell, Swap – Share what writer resources helped you this year: books, tools, websites etc… And if you’ve got writer gear to get rid of, we’ll do a swap! At the GUUF and on Zoom.
Dec. 11 – Sue Purvis interview – Zoom only.
Dec. 18 – Our Annual Holiday Potluck. 6:00 pm at the GUUF. Bring a dish to share, dishes to eat with and off, and a wrapped book or two for a White Elephant exchange.
Write On!
Craig
Craig Thomas Naylor, DMA
Incoming Past President, Authors of the Flathead
Proposed Slate of Officers for 2026
President –
Vice President – Larry Baer
Past President – Craig Naylor
Secretary – Fran Tabor
Treasurer – Heidi Wolf
Conference Coordinator – Shira Marin
Membership Coordinator – Ann Trinca
At-Large – Carl Stevens, Susan Purvis
Non-Board Advisors and Project Directors
Industry Advisor – Julie Stevenson
Grants – Carl Stevens, Craig Naylor, Beverly Eversole
Student Writing Competition – Chani Craig and Craig Naylor
Second Thursday Interviews – Susan Purvis
Conference Assistant Coordinator – Jennifer Rogge
GUUF Facilities Booking Liaison – Glenn Schiffman
Accountant – Dianne Guenther
Steve Hruza – webmaster
Jess Owen – Facebook and Instagram posts
Mindy Peltier – Interlake and Beacon schedule posts