Lesson one - Every sales pitch, whether your selling a washing machine, or your latest work of fiction, should include a call to action with a benefit.

Welcome to JMFNJFWGHM aka, the group with no hope of a memorable acronym. This is a mastermind group for people interested in the art and business of fiction writing. Our motto - "when one boat rises, all boats rise."

Below is some basic information. Please visit the various other sections of our site for more details.

Our Goals

Ours is not your typical meetup group. Our primary focus is to help writers at all levels of development, to evolve and improve both their skills as a writer, and their knowledge and abilities in aspects of self-publishing. We do this by pursuing four goals.

Goal 1 - To Sharpen our writing skills through discussions of craft and technique, by performing fun group writing exercises, and by critiquing each others work in a structured format.

Goal 2 - To add to our knowledge of the craft and business of writing, through the selected readings of some of the best books on the market. Each month our group will read one book from a list of selected titles. What we learn from each book, will be the basis of our discussions as we share ideas and experiences, building on the material we've read.

Goal 3 - To explore the rapidly grow opportunities arising from the world of self-publishing through discussion and sharing of experiences and ideas. Building mailing lists, construction of marketing funnels, building product catalogs, calls to action, e-book pricing, hybrid publishing, paper print vs digital - all these subjects and more will be examined.

Goal 4 - To network with like minded writers, to share ideas, to encourage, to mastermind. Writing can be a lonely pursuit. It often helps to get together with those walking the same path as you. As the group grows and gets comfortable with each other, additional gatherings may be arranged, from an occasional get together over a few drinks or a cup of coffee, to going as a group to a writers conference (RWA 2015!).

Who This Group Is For

This group has evolved over the last couple years to include both non-fiction and fiction writers. Non-fiction can be on any topic. Fiction can include fiction, short stories, novella's, novels, serials, screenplays, stage plays. Memoirs can straddle the fence, depending on how much literary license an author takes. While all writers within these categories are welcome, it should be noted that this group will be especially geared towards the entrepreneur, the person(s) looking to write professionally, or at least make some supplemental income. Self-publishing will also have a strong focus, though we will also touch on traditional and hybrid publishing during the course of our journey. Existing professional writers are more than welcome (we will worship you accordingly), as are beginners and everyone in-between who have finally decided its time to pursue that dream.

The group is length agnostic - short stories, novella's, novels, serials, all are welcome. The group is also genre agnostic. Whether your writing westerns, science fiction or romance, the crafting of story shares the same techniques and difficulties.

Which is Why ...

Writing groups are notoriously tough to start and maintain on meetup.com. With your help, we're going to be different. While we appreciate you joining our little "kickass" group, "just joining" and three dollars will help pay for coffee. SHOWING UP to a meeting is what really counts! Come to a meeting. You will have fun, sharpen your skills and learn tons of valuable stuff.

Lesson two - start with a call to action, then end with a call to action. See you at the next meeting:)