Sitting on my desk, for the past month, is my annual renewal for the Romance Writers of America. Every year, I respond to their request for my dues with decreasing alacrity. It isn’t that I object to paying the money, it’s that I wonder why I continue to belong to the organization. Today’s post is all about therapy for the wishy-washy.
By any account, the RWA is a very large writer’s organization. Possibly the largest. It is something along the lines of 9,500 members (there is probably an exact number; too lazy to find it). Members range from New York Times bestsellers to people who are taking their first baby steps as writers. There are writers who are seeing their careers on the decline and writers on the ascent. In ten years of RWA membership, you can see the rise and fall of entire nations, in a manner of speaking.
By and large, the members of RWA are mostly women. Women who write the type of fiction that is persistently denigrated (”When are you going to write a real book?”). It’s possible that some got into the genre thinking they were doing it for the money, but you don’t stay because you’re going to get rich by writing. You stay because you’re a writer who wants to get better. Writing romance is not easy.
Being a member of RWA will not get you published. There is only one way for that to happen, and the organization — if it does anything very well, it’s
this — offers support, guidance, and even chocolate. Now, personally, I don’t get the chocolate thing, but every writer knows this: humanity has an amazing ability to take something you’ve created and bash it into bits. Over and over again. Chocolate helps. So does a really good w(h)ine.
But being a member will not unlock some secret door.
It takes a certain amount of bravery to admit that your read or write romantic fiction. Immediately, the instinct to establish your literary cred kicks into gear. There is always someone handy to cut your work or reading preferences down to size. I am at the age where I am comfortable with myself, and rather than racing to prove that I, too, have read and analyzed all the classics, I can enjoy the show. I never ceases to amaze me how many intelligent adults are willing to share their ignorance about something they don’t understand.
Romantic fiction is intrinsic to our species. We love the heroic, the happy ending. We garner hope from these novels — and we do so need hope. Sure, you can make fun of the happily ever after, but can you seriously argue that it doesn’t speak to most humans? There is simply less satisfaction to be gained from finishing a novel without hope. What do you do next? Slit your wrists because there’s no point in going on?
Being a member of RWA helps me remember the good things about the romance genre. It also reminds me of the bad. RWA is so rarely about the writing. You can’t teach talent, though you can certainly grow it. Writing, of course, seems to be a primary focus, what with the endless how-to workshops, but when you look closely, these are a far cry from intensive writing instruction. At the end of the day, writing is something we all go home to our laptops and do by ourselves.
RWA is so much more about business. RWA members are remarkably clear-eyed about the importance of appearances in the publishing industry — a good cover letter, a strong proposal, flexibility when it comes to edits. There is the reality of writing and the romance of writing. Perhaps the irony here is that romance writers have a very pragmatic view of the publishing business. And it is a business. Maybe not an efficient business, but publishers don’t go to contract out of the goodness of their hearts. Electricity bills don’t pay themselves.
RWA is also remarkably flawed and stuck on preserving the status quo. Some of this is self-serving — that is human nature. Some of it is lack of vision — this one reason I hesitate to renew each year. There is so much focus on the New York publishing houses, so little on choice. All around us, the entertainment industries are undergoing massive change. The economics of all entertainment — music, motion pictures, publishing — are shifting.
Yet RWA spends so little time focusing on alternatives and opportunities. Where are the serious, in-depth discussions about the shrinking mid-list (or, better yet, the shrinking list at all)? The ways that authors can build careers in an industry with limited production capability? I do not feel that this is an organization positioning itself for the future. There are, indeed, members who see what’s going on, but as an organization, RWA feels stuck in the past.
Part of this is, as I noted above, because the organization is massive. It is near-impossible to meet the needs of a membership as diverse as RWA’s. A start would be to modernize the modes of communication used by the organization. That would be really nice.
While I am not entirely certain that I meet the basic requirements of the organization, I can say that my own moribund (fiction writing) career has everything to do with where I am in my life and nothing to do with RWA. I don’t think that my continued membership will change those facts. Only more hours in the day will make a difference. Over the past half dozen years, I have built a successful, satisfying writing career that doesn’t pay the bills, but how many writing careers do?
Paying dues to RWA will not teach me to write better dialogue or craft better conflict or to even draft a catchy synopsis — though I will acknowledge that the foundations for success in these areas can be provided by the organization. I am at that point where I just need to keep on doing what I do best while getting better and better at it. I need to continue to believe that my vision is right.
At this point, it is all up to me. Which leads me to my original question. What does membership in the Romance Writers of America do for me? Ten years ago, the answer seemed to obvious. Five years ago, I felt confident in my response. Today, I am not so sure. What compels me to renew my RWA membership year in, year out?
During the course of writing this, I did, finally, renew my membership. Not for the reasons I’ve outlined above. Actually, fear motivated me. No, not fear that I will somehow miss something important, something that will rock my world. Good old-fashioned terror is what I’m talking about. Because the most important part of RWA, for me, is the friendships I’ve made. My problem is that I have some really scary friends.
It’s all about self-preservation.
Clearly I’m not making the most of my RWA membership.
How do I get chocolate? I need chocolate!
It’s not what I thought it would be, certainly. It really seems to me that those national dues buy a magazine subscription and the right to pay additional dues to join local and specialty chapters, which must be where all the fabulous benefits come in—at additional cost, of course.
This was my first year, and I really don’t think there will be second because other than being able to slap “RWA member” on query letters, I don’t feel I’m getting much for my money.
by Kerry Allen September 24th, 2007 at 6:11 amEvery year I battle with the same debate for the same reasons you mentioned. Unfortunately, even the social value RWA had pre-internet days (It was the only way to connect with other writers) is gone for me which leaves the organization’s value only in the nostalgia it represents. While I keep hoping it will find a purpose in these “modern times” I’m not holding my breath.
by Sarah McCarty September 24th, 2007 at 7:24 amI agree with Kerry. I can’t name any immediate benefits I’ve noticed from paying those dues every year - but I have gotten to enjoy an increasing annoyance at the leadership of the organization, the separatist attitudes, the cliques and the arbitrary rule changes. I haven’t renewed my membership to my RWA chapter and then it comes time to renew my general membership it’s going to be a tough decision whether or not I write that check this year, too.
Maybe it’s time for a new organization?
by Bernadette Gardner September 24th, 2007 at 7:34 amI don’t feel I see a lot of benefits from RWA.
by Chris Redding September 24th, 2007 at 7:44 amI see a whole lotta benefits from my local chapter.
I’ve found great people. I have oppurtunities to promote my book.
If I could belong to it without the Nat’l chapter I would.
I do feel for you in your soul searching.
I’m not ready to move on yet personally.
cmr
I’ve never belonged to RWA, and it hasn’t stopped me from building a great career, but I often wonder if I missed something along the way, because writers who did join seem to have built relationships with other writers, and that is a worthy goal.
Why have I never joined? Well, in the beginning I wanted to, but couldn’t afford the dues; Regency writing barely paid the bills.:roll: And then, when I could afford to, I wasn’t sure I wanted to.:neutral: I heard a lot about in-fighting and controversy, but not much about benefits.
So here I am, still not a member. I can’t really see joining now.
by Donna Lea Simpson September 24th, 2007 at 7:46 amI didn’t renew … for all the reasons you stated (and then some). Bottom line: RWA has nothing I want.
by Alessia Brio September 24th, 2007 at 7:50 amAs of right now I’ll renew. My local chapter is great and I do get benefits from attending those meetings. The first two conferences I attended helped me improve my writing. I can say that I am a better fiction writer now than I was before I joined RWA.
by Sara Thacker September 24th, 2007 at 8:18 amI also just renewed my RWA membership - after debating the pros vs the cons. I do that every year. Aside from the RWR, I get very little out of RWA as a whole. The most recent rule changes had me seriously considered letting my membership lapse, because the whole “Recognition” mess just drove home the fact that there is definite “clique-ism” going on.
However, if I let my RWA membership lapse, I’ll be forced to give up my local chapter and that’s something I don’t want to do. It’s provided me with so much and in so many ways, that I’m also not ready to move on. And that’s where RWA knows they have you. Can’t have local without national - no matter how little national really helps. So, I grit my teeth and write out that check every fall.
by Kimberly Nee September 24th, 2007 at 9:15 amI also can’t imagine not paying my RWA dues, because I’m a part of RWA Online. I don’t know what I would do without RWA Online. The benefits of that chapter far outweigh the price of dues for both the chapter and national.
That said, I think RWA really fails its published and newly pubbed authors. It is hard to see what the organization offers to those groups, mostly because it keeps arguing about who belongs in those groups instead of focusing on what it can do to help its members, then offering those benefits to anyone who could benefit from them.
Still, I’d rather have RWA than wander alone in the dark. And I don’t know how I’d survive without RWA Online. (www.rwaonlinechapter.org) Yes, that is a shameless plug, but I love my chapter.
Chessie
by Chessie September 24th, 2007 at 9:41 amLimited production capability?
When anyone with a computer can ePublish?
When I can plop my novel on my blog?
When I can POD myself one book at a time?
It isn’t about limited production capability, it is about the exact opposite. When everyone and her mother can publish a book online or even off, eventually who will want to pay for it?
That is the question that keeps me up at night.
by Kimber Chin September 24th, 2007 at 9:58 amI continue to renew because of my local chapter. I love my local chapter in Calgary.
I’m of the belief that RWA isn’t the magic answer…but only you have the power to make of it what you will. RWA isn’t going to get you published, you have to do that. RWA isn’t going to teach you anything, unless you actively go seek it.
And RWA isn’t going to change, unless change is effected from the inside. If you dislike the organization and want it to change, then you need to make an effort to change it. Join a local chapter, or an online one and start effecting change at that level…eventually it will flow. Yes it will take time, but change is like that…
by Vivi Anna September 24th, 2007 at 10:57 amIt’s all about the chapters for me. I can’t imagine not renewing. My local chapter ROCKS (San Francisco) and I can’t imagine not being a member of the Beau Monde. I get support, research, friendship, industry info, and wonderful speakers and workshops. And I love the national conference. It’s always a blast.
I guess it always seems to me that–like most things in life–you get what you put in. If you don’t have a local chapter and you don’t seek out an online chapter and you don’t go to the national conference, then yes, RWA “offers” you nothing.
by Kalen Hughes September 24th, 2007 at 11:17 amHi, Kassia! Cool to see you here :). One of these day’s I’ll find you in Second Life and we can have an actual conversation
But I digress from the topic at hand…
The points of the last two posters are vaild points and I suspect predicting the demise of RWA would be
premature. The organization does give some support to those who use it, either at the national or local level.
But like Kassia and others, I too, debated about sending in my membership check this year and for many of the reasons listed. Ultimately I decided NOT to join. Why? Two reasons. Kassia hit on one when she referred to the size of the organization. RWA has gotten too big and it cannot, by the laws that govern organizations, be all things to all members.
Romance as a genre is HUGE. It encompasses so much that all efforts to define it have resulted in omissions that split the membership into various ‘camps’. This is neither productive nor professional. While the national organization provides great workshops on the “other” of a writing career (producing those darn cover letters and queries), they cannot deal with all the subsets of the genre in any detailed way. Perhaps what they need to become is an umbrella organization with the various genre tucked up underneath?
But the second reason really was the deciding factor. Kassia mentioned RWA feels like an organization stuck in the past, but Kimber Chin really hit it on the head with her response. Instead of worrying about the definition of “romance”…we need to concern ourselves with the definition of “publishing”. It won’t be long before people are writing books that are only available on iReaders (no, it hasn’t been invented yet, but that’s only ’cause Apple hasn’t gotten to it yet. Give it another year, two at most). The delivery system of the written word to the reader is undergoing a change as massive now as the invention of the printing press all those years ago was to the people of the soon-to-be Renaissance.
And where is RWA in all that change? Arguing over which publishers can be included in their group.
What they fail to realize is that both readers and writers have moved on. The genre has moved on…the definitions have changed too fast for such a large organization to deal with in any sort of timely fashion.
So I’m not sending my check. I’ll put my dues money towards advertising in Second Life and buying ads in magazines and spend my time trying to keep up with a changing world.
by Diana Hunter September 24th, 2007 at 1:03 pmI guess I’m moribund too, because I just don’t see that ebooks are going to replace physical, paper versions anytime in my/our lifetime (unless someone invents the most kickass reader in the universe, and even then . . . ). As far as I can tell the emarket appears to be saturated and the epublishers are all reaching out to the print world to expand the market for their books. And most of the epublished authors I know view it as a coop to be among those chosen for the print programs.
I honestly think RWA should be broken down into several sub-groups (though it never will be). I’ve only been a member for a few years, but it’s plain to me that the needs of the vast majority of the members (the unpublished) are not the same as those of the published members. And the needs of the epubs may not be the same as the needs of the traditional NY pubbed. But this is why there are sub chapters (like PASIC), so that groups with specific needs can band together.
Would I be happier if RWA = PASIC and I didn’t have to pay extra dues? Maybe. But I can’t imagine that RWA would be the vibrant organization that it is if, like SFWA, we only took published members. The org runs on the backs of the sea of unpublished members.
It seems perfectly fine to me to say that you get nothing from it and you’re not going to be a member. I’m just not sure why this seems to be a repeating blog topic (this is a least the third time I’ve seen it on this blog).
by Kalen Hughes September 24th, 2007 at 1:48 pmKassia, you said it very well that RWA can’t teach talent. RWA can’t get you a publishing contract. It can’t guarantee fair contracts, good book covers, or agent representation.
I had already written two (unpublished) books when I “discovered” RWA via the local (Sacramento) chapter. It was like walking into a room of old friends and for that reason I don’t see me ever NOT renewing. as a writer, we lead such solitary lives in many ways, where are friends and family don’t *quite* get us and what we do, even if they are supportive.
I believe I would have sold without RWA, but I also believe I sold faster because of the information I learned through RWA and its chapters. Some stuff seems so common-sensical now–how to weed out the bad agents, how to write a query letter, how to write a synopsis, yada yada. All stuff you can probably learn without RWA, but WITH the organization you learn it better and faster.
Now that I’m published and my career is coming along, do I NEED RWA? Do I NEED any of the other organizations I belong to? Well, probably not. But I do need human connection with people who understand me, and that’s something RWA has in spades.
I also will continue to remain a member so I can give back to the people in the organization. I gained knowledge and the wisdom of RWA members, I’m happy to share what I’ve learned along the way. It may help some, it may not help others. But I’ll do what I can when I can.
For published authors, I do think RWA offers less than to unpublished authors. However, I belong to PASIC (and in fact am the incoming President) which is the Published Author Special Interest Chapter. This chapter alone is a reason for published authors to continue renewing their members. We have industry chats–access to editors and agents we may not have in any other forum. We have a strong, supportive, positive group of authors to help everyone at every stage of their career and every publishing house.
So, anyway, I don’t NEED RWA, but I WANT RWA. It’s not perfect. Far from it. But what organization is? Still, it fills a hole in my life and helps keep me sane. Otherwise, I’d probably wind up being a hermit in the middle of nowhere writing and forgeting how to communicate.
by Allison Brennan September 24th, 2007 at 2:41 pmI just renewed my membership yesterday. Not renewing never entered my mind. I don’t belong to a local chapter or a special interest one for that matter, so that’s not an issue for me. Sure, there are flaws in the organization, but nothing is perfect. Like someone else posted, I think being an RWA member helped me get published because I met other members who helped and mentored me over the years. That wouldn’t have happened on my own.
The most important things about RWA for me are the friends and relationships I’ve made over the years. The chance to attend the National conference every so often makes the dues worth it right there.
Plus I can’t forget about my hubby, who reads the RWR cover-to-cover as soon as it arrives. He finds it very entertaining for some reason. Wouldn’t take that away from him
by Melissa McClone September 24th, 2007 at 4:09 pmNice to know I’m the really friend while HelenKay is the scary one. I guess. Maybe being the scary friend would make me seem more interesting.
Great blog, Kassia. So many excellent points. Right now I’m with you, the friendships I’ve made within RWA, participating on the loops and attending National conference is what’s keeping me there. It was nice to know RWA was there when I first thought about writing that novel.
by Jill Monroe September 24th, 2007 at 6:14 pmI appreciate all of you who noted your local chapters as a reason to stay in RWA. For a variety of reasons — mostly the lack of time — I don’t participate with my local chapter except via email and the every-now-and-then newsletter article. But you’re all right in saying that the local support is worth the price of admission. In fact, one thing that didn’t make it into my piece was a remembrance of my first chapter meeting. Author Jeane Renick (who has since retired from romance writing) lead a workshop; it was a great introduction for me and started some lasting friendships.
Kalen — I suspect the reason this is a recurring theme on RTB is because RWA is a huge part of the romance writing community. Each of us chooses to stay a member or give up our membership (or never join at all) has a reason or a goal. And, as you can see from the various commenters, there’s a lot of push-me-pull-you feelings about the organization.
I’ve personally given up on trying to change the system, but I know there are a lot of people out there with the time and energy to keep fighting for change. I will support them as much as I can.
Jill…you don’t want to be scary. Trust me. You’re fascinating just the way you are.
by Kassia Krozser September 24th, 2007 at 6:41 pmSeems to me RWA is what you make it. It’s an organization which means it’s not perfect and can’t answer every person’s needs all the time. Do you need RWA to survive in publishing? No, you need alcohol and potato chips. That’s why there are bars and restaurants at these conferences. It also is helpful to have an editor who is succeptible to bribery.
But I would lose something significant in terms of friendship building, contacts and a sense of community if I were not in RWA. When I look at my previous involvement in RWA (near non-existent) and my current (much more active) I think the contrast between the two has more to do with me than RWA. If I don’t put in the time, can I complain RWA is irrelevant to me? Probably no (though I will try).
At last summer’s conference (the one Kassia did not attend - ahem), I decided not to worry about feeling shy or left out or whatever, which was not an easy thing. I hung out with people I liked, met new ones, listened to some impressive people speak (mostly this was not at RWA sponsored workshops) and otherwise enjoyed the more social parts of the conference. In the end I learned more about career, including to appreciate my own. I’m thinking that’s worth the membership price.
Oh, and I am scary. You should fear me, Kassia. Jill is well on her way to scary. so fear her too.
by HelenKay Dimon September 24th, 2007 at 7:52 pmThis is my first year as well with RWA, and I won’t be re-upping. Maybe if I hadn’t found all the other blogs and online crit groups before I found RWA, I would have a better perception of it, and believe it offered me something beyond what I can get elsewhere.
I guess my biggest disappointment with the group came when Triskelion caved. I expected more of an outreach to members to help them get rights reverted and royalty checks mailed. And I expected FAST action - or at least timely communication. Those are the kinds of issues I’m familiar with through other writers’ org such as SFWA, and those are the kinds of issues it takes clout to resolve. Query- and synopsis-writing advice and workshopping I can get anywhere for free. Having an industry-respected org with a handful of lawyers stand up for my rights as an author isn’t something I can get on my own. And no, I was not one of the Triskelion authors.
Some sort of editor and agent scorecards would be nice, too, rather than simply publishing lists of agents and editors that meet very liberal criteria. A screening process that assures me the agents and editors named in the members-only area of the RWA site meet fairly stringent requirement. But no. I simply have to input “Romance” in the search field of AgentQuery to be returned similar results.
I also dislike the whole PRO idea (and, yes, I am a PRO). To not offer writers the tools of the trade until they have a finished product in hand is ludicrous. Writers need to be able to ask questions and learn the ropes well before that first manuscript is finished. Same with PAN. I want to be prepared when I take that walk down publisher’s row. It’s too late once The Call comes. And if RWA doesn’t think I’m mature enough or wise enough to know when I need information, I’ll go find it elsewhere. Maybe 10 years ago information wasn’t readily available. Today …
If RWA wants to keep people like me on its roster, it needs to offer more than what I can find for free elsewhere. That might have been enough a dozen years ago. But like the rest of us, they need to promote themselves in new and exciting ways, and give their audience a reason for returning.
by phoenix September 24th, 2007 at 11:40 pmI pay my RWA dues each year with a sour expression, because I despise the organization’s officiousness. Like an enormous ocean liner, the RWA has become less and less maneuverable as it has grown bigger. Less able to be proactive about the realities of the romance publishing market. Less able to talk about changing times without sounding like somebody’s patronizing, hidebound guardian. And mostly, RWA at the national level seems overly concerned with not saying anything for which it could conceivably get sued. Which leads to RWA pronouncements that sound both like commandments from on high and veiled circumlocutions.
Maybe someone with vision and sense–and a genius for selling a new idea–will someday slap the RWA into shape, but that’s not my personal mission. That RWA exists at all is a good thing.
I remember attending my first RWA convention. It was a very long time ago. Decades. But I will never forget how utterly thrilling it was to finally meet other women who liked to read romances. Who wanted to write them. Who made sacrifices so they could follow their dreams. The RWA gave us a chance to meet each other, to learn from each other, and to support each other. The details are different for each of us. The RWA still provides that.
Of course with all the dues money and bloated conference fees coming in, there ought to be a lot more RWA presence. I mean, what the heck are they spending half a million dollars on every year?! No, don’t tell me. Lawyers.
by Poison Ivy September 24th, 2007 at 11:46 pmI re-upped with RWA for the second year, primarily because of the newsletter which, with my fledgling writing career, has been a valuable resource. I have not yet joined a local chapter, but I was considering that for this year. I haven’t attended their conferences, but I do have friends who have benefited from their RWA experiences.
I do, however, belong to the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers (RMFW). I have attended many of the free monthly programs and educational events, and this year attended their Colorado Gold Conference where I learned more about writing in 72 hours than I had in 10 years. I found their wealth of local published authors to be supportive, helpful, and great fun to be around. I came home with piles of notes and information, many new friends and a request for a partial from my very first editor pitch.
Whether it’s RWA or some other group, new writers particularly can benefit greatly from these conferences. Established writers may not benefit as much, but again, us fledglings are inspired and awed by your presence, grace, and willingness to share your talents and techniques.
by Vicki September 25th, 2007 at 1:18 amAll the way over here in Australia, I read this and feel like saying ’stop!’ In my experience (and I have been in a few volunteer-run organisations) all organisations of this type have a life cycle. They are started by a group of people who have a burning need/desire for what a group can offer. They struggle for a while (’a while’ can be a long time), with few people to do the work and even less money, then they either fade away, or finally gather some momentum and start going great guns. Then they go from strength to strength, they become recognised as some kind of benchmark and then…
Then they reach a size and age where things start getting entrenched. When committee and members refer to each other as ‘they’. At this point, there is a different kind of crisis, of disenchantment, when people who have outgrown the need of the group wonder what they are getting out of it and others who have joined on the strength of the organisation’s position find it has little to offer them. At the same time, if the group is big enough, there are still new people joining with the same enthusiasm that the original group had - but even they can find disillusionment if they find they have stumbled into a group where many older and wiser members seem to do nothing but grumble.
Then the organisation goes into a period of decline - it may not be reflected for some time in numbers or money but it is still a decline, because there is a malaise of spirit.
The good news is that often, if there is enough need for the group, it comes out the other side re-born, re-formed and ready to help many more people, even sometimes some of those who thought it had no more to offer. The other alternative is that it folds, sometimes, sadly, going down in hail of poisoned darts shot, not by bad people, but by people who feel hurt and betrayed.
It is presumptuous of me to offer advice. I don’t know any of you and I am not part of your group. But I am going to do it anyway, because I have too often seen the poisoned darts and it doesn’t have to be that way.
If you aren’t getting anything out of something, walk away. Or, if your friends are scary or you don’t want to leave for whatever reason, (such as supporting the newbies who do benefit, which is a reason I have paid dues to groups in the past) commit yourself to paying with a good grace, and only participating in what you want to do. If it is only going to the conference to see your sisters in prose once a year, then do that. And the rest of the time, forget it. You don’t have to do what you don’t want to do. You don’t need permission to stop doing something that doesn’t serve you. But don’t stay to be bitter and poisonous to the organisation or yourself.
Alternatively, if there is something that you want from the group that isn’t being provided, consider stepping up and offering to help. ‘They’ might just welcome you with open arms. If ‘they’ don’t want your help, or belittle your suggestions, take em somewhere else that does. But don’t let it ride you. Life is too short.
I truly do not mean to be impertinent, so if anyone is thinking, “what would she know? Bitch!”, I apologise. This is not aimed at any particular poster here. I just hate to see good people tying themselves in knots over things that just aren’t worth the time - and I have seen it happen too many times not to say so.
Good luck to all writers and any and all groups and individuals that can help them, I say. Most of us need all the help we can get.
Cheers, Imelda
by Imelda September 25th, 2007 at 2:06 amI let my membership go three years ago. I worried over it for a year but in the end it was the right decision. I lost my local RWA group in the process which in one way was the only reason I stayed as a member for as long as I did, but then I started to realize that my own group while being wonderful writers were only pro inspirational and regency romance and this became very evident when they refused to have any romance publishers come to their conference and that my target publishers in particular were not of the best interests to their group. So I walked away from both RWA and my local. After that I published with one of the unwelcome publishers. I’m not gong to say going it alone has been a barrel of monkeys but well I was alone before so I’m no worse off.
by Emjai September 25th, 2007 at 11:35 pm