The State of TAF (2021)

By Don Vaughan and Maya Spikes

A message from TAF Founder Don Vaughan:

Every year, the President reports on the State of the Union. With 2021 in the rear-view mirror, we wanted to do the same regarding Triangle Association of Freelancers.

Despite the pandemic, 2021 was a very good year for TAF. Our membership continued to grow, and we now have nearly 170 registered members. Pivoting to Zoom for our monthly meetings and TAF Talks allowed members from throughout North Carolina and surrounding states to join us, and enabled us to reach out to guests from across the country.

Our accomplishments were numerous, and include 10 TAF meetings (on Zoom) with guests, five TAF Talks (standup comic Gary Gulman; award-winning science fiction author Nancy Kress; National Magazine Award-winning journalist Sean Flynn; screenwriter, novelist and SNL alum Alan Zweibel; and award-winning fantasy writer Ursula Vernon) and a well-received Book Promo Party. We also published our third anthology, The TAF Reader, themed on the books on our shelves.

This year TAF members were especially productive. Some have completed, or nearly completed books. Others found great success with a number of national magazines, most notably Writer’s Digest, which published features and columns by Kristy Stevenson, Alison Hill, Frank Hyman and Elaine Klonicki. I also sold a few features to Writer’s Digest, including a collaborative effort with Jenni Hart that was published in the January/February 2022 issue. We have some regular bloggers, and several started new blogs this year.

The pandemic prevented us from hosting an in-person conference in 2021, but the Conference Planning Committee has been hard at work for months finalizing Write Now! 2022, which will be held on Saturday, April 30. Registration is now open!

As our membership grew this year, more and more TAF members came forward to offer aspiring writers information, advice and insight into writing, editing and freelancing. Our “brain trust” is one of TAF’s greatest assets, and I encourage everyone to take advantage of it.

As the TAF family continues to grow and flourish, I would like to encourage new members to introduce yourselves via the TAF Google group and tell us what TAF can do to help you achieve your publishing dreams. If you’ve got questions, we have answers.

All the best,
Don

And now, a few words from Executive Director Maya Spikes:

 2021 was another crazy, unpredictable year. 

Many of us continued spending at least some time working from home, due to the ongoing pandemic.

Writing sometimes feels like a lonely journey. Even if we have our family and/or visiting friends around us, most writers go to a home office or any spare room, close the door, and write.

Fortunately, our members stay connected with each other while inviting new members to join us. This included publishing TAF’s third anthology about the influential books on our shelves, along with hosting very active email threads in TAF’s Google group, our monthly Zoom meetings, and TAF Talks (moderated online conversations with prominent writers, editors and other industry professionals).

I also really enjoyed TAF’s Book Promo Party in early December. Writers (with the exceptions of marketing writers and copywriters) are often uncomfortable promoting their own work. I’m glad TAF is creating opportunities for writers to share their books in a supportive community and I hope the book promo party becomes a regular TAF event.

Hopefully, we will be able to connect in person in the new year, particularly at the Write Now! 2022 conference in April.

I’ve enjoyed being a part of TAF for another year. I’m inspired by so many of our members who work hard on their own writing projects while making time to support other TAF members and the general writing community.

Happy writing!
Maya

Don Vaughan has been a full-time freelance writer since 1991. During that time he has published more than 2,500 articles and columns in an eclectic array of publications, including Writer’s Digest, Encyclopedia Britannica and MAD Magazine. Don is the founder of Triangle Association of Freelancers.

Maya Spikes has written articles and blog posts for websites, magazines and newspapers for more than 10 years. She won a North Carolina Press Association Award for her work at The Independent Tribune. Maya provides copywriting services and also mentors other writers via her Facebook group The Write Plan. You can read her blog at www.mayaspikes.com/blog.