Promoting Yorkshire Authors

PYA-4F – PYA for the Future

A Discussion Document

Version 2, 19th October 2024

Objectives and Scope

Promoting Yorkshire Authors (PYA) is a Community Group (not for profit) with a sole aim of supporting its members in the writing community. This document has been produced to provoke discussion within the PYA Committee and the wider membership and acts as a framework to shape the future direction of PYA. Comments are welcomed during the discussion period which runs to the date of the PYA AGM (Annual General Meeting), January 22nd 2025.

PYA Vision

Advancing the work of authors who have a close connection with Yorkshire to improve the quality and recognition of their work worldwide.

This vision helps to shape the direction of travel of PYA and is useful in identifying the tasks that are needed to guide PYA into the future. What the PYA Committee is seeking is to create an active group of members to support it to deliver its vision by volunteering to champion each aspect of the broad vision, for which – see the next section.

Deconstructing PYA’s Vision

• Advancing
• Authors
• Yorkshire
• Quality
• Recognition
• Worldwide

To achieve the vision we need

• Infrastructure
• Technology
• Communication
• Network

So let’s take each item of the deconstructed vision and examine what are the goals  to achieve each aspect of the vision. Volunteer champions are needed for each of the task-areas identified above.

Advancing

Meaning: Progressing, developing, promoting, moving forward, elevating, boosting

Potentially:

• Educate members on how to promote their work.
• PYA promoting its members work through its Network.
• PYA training its members on how to promote their work by creating a network or using PYA’s Network.
• PYA creating opportunities for members to promote and/or sell their work through events.
• PYA members creating opportunities for all members to promote and/or sell their work through their own organised events.

Authors

Meaning: Writers, novelists, creators, essayists, playwrights, poets, dramatists, wordsmiths, scriptwriters.

Potentially:

• Encourage members to write.
• Encourage members to publish.
• Educate members on how to write better.
• Educate members on the writing process.
• Educate members on publishing options.
• Educate members on the publishing process.

Yorkshire

Meaning: Born in Yorkshire, currently living there, previously lived there, have a connection with the county or write books featuring Yorkshire.

Potentially:

• Predominantly limit membership to only those who meet the criteria.
• Encourage writers from across Yorkshire to join us.
• Work with other organisation in the county to help achieve our vision.
• Actively seek out partners in the county.
• Encourage our members to hold events that will help PYA achieve its vision.
• Encourage our members to participate in PYA events.
• Maintain and grow PYA’s membership.

Quality

Meaning: Worth, classy, excellence, high grade, of value, high calibre, distinctive, prize-worthy.

Potentially:

1. A quality marque awarded by PYA.
2. Educating members on creating a quality product – the craft of writing, proofing, editing, production and marketing.
3. Promoting only work pieces that meet PYA’s quality criteria.

Recognition

Meaning: Appreciation, credit, identification, acceptance, acclaim, commendation, praise, approval.

Potentially:

• PYA promoting the work of members it recognises through its Network.
• Educating members on how to use their network to become a recognised author through promotion of a quality product.

Worldwide

Meaning: Not restricting promotion and recognition to Yorkshire, the UK, Europe but inclusive of the whole world.

Potentially:

• PYA creating a viable global Network.
• Educating members to create a global network.
• Educating members on the process of achieving a global presence.

Infrastructure

Potentially:

• Member database (currently Mailchimp).
• Member communication (currently Mailchimp – bulk, newsletter, eMail, WhatsApp (one to one and one to many), Facebook, YouTube (broadcast)).
• Document storage (currently Wise Grey Owl’s Dropbox).
• Unstructured data (currently Word Processor – WORD and LibreOffice, Spreadsheet – EXCEL and LibreOffice and PDF).
• Graphical and Imaging (currently GIMP and CANVA) for logos, PYA assets, posters, banners, flyers and bookmarks.
• Finance (currently GnuCash, spreadsheet and NatWest Bank Account in PYA’s name).
• Website (currently implemented and hosted by Wise Grey Owl).

Technology

Current Technology:

• Mailchimp (member database and bulk communication).
• Wise Grey Owl hosted website (promoting PYA, the PYA Book Catalogue and member books).
• Facebook, YouTube, Google eMail and WhatsApp.
• Wise Grey Owl’s Dropbox (secure document storage).
• GIMP, CANVA – graphical applications.
• WORD and LibreOffice (member controlled), EXCEL and LibreOffice (member controlled).
• GnuCash (PYA Accounts and Finance – it is free).
• PYA Google Blogspot (this blog, for limited member communication).

Communication

Current Communication:

• PYA Espresso Mailchimp Newsletter.
• Google eMail for ad-hoc communication.
• WhatsApp for PYA Committee, PYA Subgroups and ad-hoc communication.
• Facebook Members Group – for member communication – but not all members.
• Facebook Open Group – for book promotion and member/non-member communication.
• YouTube Channel – for promotion, recordings of events and training.
• PYA Google Blogspot (this bog) – for member communication and a record of some PYA events.

Network

Meaning: Mesh, grid, web, lattice, structure, connections, interactions, chain, matrix, tangle.

Potentially:

• Media contacts.
• Industry contacts.
• Book inroads contacts (genre and non-genre specific – like schools, old people’s homes, libraries, community events, etc).
• Social Media presence (Facebook (Y), X (N), Instagram (N), TikTok (N), Mastodon (N), YouTube (Y), Others (are there others we should address?). Colours mean Red - We should potentially flip this condition, Green - We should potentially keep this condition.
• Global contacts.
• Active management of PYA’s network.