Organizational Membership Meeting, June 25th, 11:00-12:00 PM @Sharpsburg Old Town LibraryNewnan’s Southern LitFest kicks off with the Hometown Author Night & Celebration
June 3, 6:00-8:00 PM (Newnan Train Depot) Hometown Author Night and Celebration — Opening Night of the Southern LitFest—featuring C. Matthew Smith, Danielle Thorne, Alex McRae, Angela McRae, Susie Berta, Joe McNabb, Emily Kimbell, and Joanna Webster/Lee St. John with Michael Scott of Newnan Carnegie Library Foundation and T. M. (Mike) Brown as co-hosts.
Register today at SouthernLitFest.com for each of the FREE events, especially the KICK OFF Author Celebration!June 4th Market Day – Hometown Local Author Sidewalk Book Signing
June 4, 10:00-2:00 PM Market Day Hometown Author Sidewalk Book Signings— up to eight local authors with books on the Book Nook shelves inside Corner Arts Gallery, Studios, and Gifts will be seated out front of the store, two blocks of time: 10AM – Noon & Noon – 2PM. NOTE: First come, first serve! Contact Mike ASAP.
Coming August 27th, All-day Sharpsburg Book Fair!
August 27 (Sharpsburg Community Center & Pavilion) Sharpsburg Book Fair— Open to all authors. Watch for information regarding registration to reserve tables. There will be author panel discussions and readings throughout the day. Proceeds will provide scholarships for selected high school students to attend the upcoming Atlanta Writers Conference in November and to support Coweta FERST Readers program.Co-hosted by Town of Sharpsburg & Hometown Novel Writers Association.
Come to the June 25th Organizational Meeting to learn more!
IMPORTANT: HNWA Member Meeting scheduled for May 28th at Sharpsburg Library postponed until June 25th, 11:00-12:00 before the Author Roundtable Program featuring Scott Ludwig & Angie Gallion at 1:00 PM.
Hometown Novel Writers May 19th “Budding Georgia Author” program rebroadcast on YouTube featuring Megan Wargula (Woodstock), David Dupree (Moreland), Robert Gwaltney (Atlanta), and Lauren Maguire (Senoia) with our very own congenial moderator, Scott Ludwig (Senoia). Huge thanks to Newnan Carnegie Library for hosting the event and Corner Arts Gallery, Studios and Gifts for serving as the official bookseller during the event.
This hometown image will remain, but our organization name will soon become Hometown Novel Writers Association, a non-profit formed to encourage writers to help writers on the road to publishing, and introduce local authors to local audiences South of Atlanta.
Watch for more news as we form our inaugural leadership team with a slate of officers to launch the organization to accomplish its vision to promote the value of books for all ages.
What Will Hometown Novel Writers Look Like Going Forward?
We will continue to offer Hometown Novel Nights Author Programs to introduce local authors to local audiences South of Atlanta, as we have been doing. But we are expanding to more venues and locations as the number of authors continues to grow. Check the Events page for the upcoming programs already scheduled this year.
HNN Writers Group is becoming Hometown Novel Writers Group. In addition to virtual critique gatherings each month, we will offer monthly in-person writers groups to encourage and exchange conversations about the craft of writing and publishing books. And watch for quarterly, informative virtual and in-person Writers Workshops on the event page.
The Town of Sharpsburg has offered Hometown Novel Writers a centrally located, cozy venue for monthly gatherings. Beginning April 30th, the first of bimonthly Author Roundtables will take place, 1-3 PM in the Old Town Library. Then on the last Saturday of each subsequent month Hometown Novel Writers will hold bimonthly membership meetings with guest speakers talking about the craft of writing and publishing. These meetings will begin in May and alternate monthly with the Author Roundtables.
On August 27th, Hometown Novel Writers and the Town of Sharpsburg will host the Sharpsburg Book Fair to raise money for two high school students to attend the Atlanta Writers Conference and to donate to the COWETA FERST READERS program.
In partnership with the Carrollton Writers Guild, we have been invited to participate in the Carrollton Literary Festival, March 25, 2023.
Locally, Hometown Novel Writers will promote ample opportunities for our members to promote their books and meet other local authors at local events in Newnan, Lagrange, Warm Springs, Carrollton, Moreland, and others… Check the event page for what we have slated so far with more to be come as they pop up.
How Do I Become a Hometown Novel Writer Member?
Watch for the membership sign up information on upcoming Hometown Novel Newsletters that will be posted here, on Facebook, Instagram, and shared on our regular emailings. Send an email to hometownnovel@hotmail.com if you are not receiving our mailings yet, and ask to be added. Tell your friends as well.
We will always be a non-profit organization, and cost of membership will be nominal. Watch for sign up information on the website and social media.
What will the organization’s leadership look like, and how can I help?
By April 30th at the Organizational Meeting (11-12:30) prior to the Author Roundtable (1-3 PM) we will hold our first general membership meeting. Our inaugural slate of organization leaders will be affirmed and comments and feedback welcomed at the meeting. Please make an effort to attend at the Old Town Library in historic Sharpsburg. Then stick around for the Roundtable with Sharon Marchisello, Patricia Cruzan, Danielle Thorne, and Blue Cole talking about their books with the local audience in attendance.
One of our first author events in Hogansville, 2019.
HNN Authors Hosted at Corner Arts Gallery in support of the Book Nook during the event. Also available Market Day, Saturday, April 2nd, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM Authors: Contact Mike Brown to sign up to participate.
CLICK ON THE EVENT IMAGES TO GET MORE INFORMATION:
Open to all book enthusiasts to come and learn more about the local literary talent South of Atlanta. Follow the link for more information.
Meet Local Georgia Authors: Blue Cole, Danielle Thorne, Sharon Marchisello, and Patricia Cruzan and Moderator/Host T. M. “Mike” Brown (CLICK ON THE BELOW AUTHOR IMAGES TO LEARN MORE)
Blue ColePatricia CruzanSharon MarchiselloDaniel Thorne
T. M. Brown, Founder of Hometown Novel Nights and Southern Author
NOTE: Prior to the Author Roundtable there will be an important organizational meeting of the Hometown Novel Writers’ Association, 11:00-12:30 PM. All HNN Authors & Writers are welcome to attend.
Authorpreneurship 101: Introduction to Author Marketing & Promoting
Featured T. M. Brown, Southern Author & Founder of Hometown Novel Programs and the HNN Writers Group, and Angela K. Durden, Blue Room Books, Decatur, GA.
See y’all at a future HNN Writers Meeting, Critique Group, Workshop!
Click the image to see the video from the program.
To learn more about the four authors, follow the links below. Note: Terri Gillespie had a family emergency and could not be with us, but is certainly worth learning more about.
Join us April 9th at our new venue edition of Hometown Novel Nights—Pretty Good Books, Lagrange, GA
Go to our event tab to see all the upcoming HNN programs, events, and workshops on tap for 2022! We are growing. If you are an author or aspiring writer, contact us. HometownNovel@hotmail.com
March 26th, Sharpsburg Community Library, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM — ALL HNN Writers and anyone interested in participating in Hometown Novel Nights Author events and HNN Writers’ Critique Groups & Workshops should attend this organizational meeting. Future meetings at the Sharpsburg Library will be bi-monthly (May 28, July 30, September 24, November 26). Please mark your calendar and plan to attend whenever possible. Our meetings will include helpful tips and topics to help us as writers.
At this March 26th meeting, we will share more about all the 2022 events, programs, and workshops on the calendar already with several author slots still available. We will also talk about upcoming HNN affilitated/hosted author events on the calendar. You will learn more about three upcoming Book Festivals over the next 12 months.
Why attend? Hometown Novel/HNN Writers is Organizing!
What began four years ago in a coffee shop in Senoia as an idea has grown with author programs, venues, events, and workshops impacting aspiring writers, published authors, and engaged readers South of Atlanta including Fayette, Coweta, Carroll, Troup, Meriwether, Harris Counties, and beyond.
HNN venues in 2022 include: Newnan Carnegie Library; Corner Arts Gallery, Studios & Gifts, Newnan; Pretty Good Books, Lagrange; Warm Springs Cellars, Warm Springs; Rogers BBQ, Hogansville; Sharpsburg Town Library & Community Center, Sharpsburg. And, we are working with the Carrollton Writers Guild about us hosting a program this Fall in Carrollton’s County Art Center as a prelude to Carrollton’s Lit Fest in 2023.
Organizing means involvement and engagement beyond promoting and selling books!
This new HometownNovel.comwebsite and our social media presence on Facebook & Instagram has helped us grow, and requires help to handle posts and inquiries. We can soon allow members to add relevant posts on our website and on social media pages intended to inform, edify, encourage, and entice new authors and aspiring writers to join us. We also need to reach our growing audience–avid readers that will want to attend our programs and invest in our books. Who can invest a few hours each week to help us build this website and monitor our social media pages?
Our Email mailing list is growing which means we need someone to assist Donna Black in coordinating and scheduling email communications.
Hometown Novel/HNN Writers has developed a visible branding image and we need someone to build on that image while creating event and program media promotional images.
Every program, event, and workshop requires planning and coordination. We need one or two people to assist Mike Brown & Sharon Marchisello to take the lead with upcoming events, programs, and workshops.
As the organization grows so does our need to maintain and recruit new members. We need someone to handle our membership.
We have grown without any financial involvement but we also have lost opportunities to help our fledgling organization grow even more. There are local community literacy programs and events we could sponsor. We need someone to handle our finances and banking.
This is a “writers helping writers” non-profit organization. We need everyone to lend a helping hand so we can fulfill our vision of presenting new local authors and their books to local audiences South of Atlanta, and help aspiring writers to publish their stories.
