I would like to thank Shirley Hailstock, RWA President, for saving me $75. Shirley’s President’s Column in the August issue of the Romance Writer’s Report cemented my decision not to renew my RWA membership after belonging for 14 years. I considered writing a Letter to the Editor in response to the column, but said letters are limited to 350 words and I have well over 1000 to say on the subject.
I did not attend the RWA conference in NYC this past month. Finances at home, with my husband one of the hundreds of thousands of tech employees out of work, did not allow for the expense - no matter the networking possibililites and the time with old and new friends on which I missed out. NYC is a fabulous though very expensive city to visit. During the months of June and July, however, I received via snail mail and email five invitations to various publisher functions - functions sponsored by the publishing houses and not affiliated in anyway with RWA. These parties and dinners and balls would’ve been one of my primary reasons for traveling to NYC, giving me time to schmooze with my editors and my agent as well as time to visit with friends in person and catch up on what we might not have covered in our daily online correspondence.
According to Shirley Hailstock, however, I should pay RWA approximately $400 - the conference fee - in order to attend these functions and enjoy the company of my friends. You see, according to Shirley, if not for RWA I wouldn’t even have this opportunity.
Strangely enough, this seems to contradict the ruling that allows non-RWA members to enter the RWA-sponsorerd RITA Contest. Do these entrants also have to pay the conference fee in order to attend the ceremony? Of course not. There is a separate RITA ceremony ticket which can be purchased by non-RWA members. In this case, should these authors remove themselves from the hotel premises for the duration of the conference and avoid networking with any of the attendees? According to Shirley, it seems so. Quoting from her President’s Column: “It is no secret that an unregistered writer could steal volumes of free information and networking opportunities simply by hanging out in the Conference hotel.”
Excuse me? “Steal” volumes of free information? STEAL? How exactly would an unregistered writer be stealing information? And what information would an unregistered writer be stealing? Is she implying that there is, after all, a publishing secret that can only be found within RWA? Information, perhaps, that one wouldn’t hear via writers loops and online dicussions with writer friends? I have never, in 14 years of belonging to RWA, carried home information from a conference that I would’ve had to steal had I not been registered. I have heard within days, within hours of the conference’s end, any and every bit of information that might possibly be of interest to me. I talk to both of my editors as well as my agent on a regular basis. What information could I possibly steal, as an unregistered writer, that I am not hearing from my industry contacts and published writer friends?
Quoting Shirley again: “Several arguments defending this freeloading practice have been given by non-paying attendees.” (Can I just say here that had I attended the Conference without paying that I would feel libeled by being called a freeloader?) One of the reasons given is that RWA no longer offers anything to the writer in question. May I say here that I heartily agree? What has RWA done for me as a published author? I have given workshops at two of the last four conferences and the partial fee comp is a joke - when it is even refunded, which has yet to happen for my Denver 2002 workshop. I’ve yet to hear a RITA winning author say the award has done a thing to forward her career. RWA gives me no networkinig opportunities that I haven’t managed to make for myself. As an unpublished writer, yes, I benefitted greatly. I also gave back, organizing local chapter conferences and contests, etc. At no time did I sit back and take from RWA without volunteering in the organization that had done so much for me.
But now? Nothing. Nada. (If I’m missing anything here, feel free to point it out.)
Shirley also addresses the issue of cost by saying, “You paid airfare, hotel, food and incidentals, but couldn’t muster the registration fee? It would probably be the cheapest expense you have.” Excuse me again? Muster? What right does this woman have to assume she knows anything about my finances? And could she possibly be anymore condescending? Yes, this is the leadership image I want from my writers organization - NOT! (This is, actually, just another in a long line of reasons I did not and will never vote for Shirley Hailstock for any RWA office, the first incident happening after the National Reader’s Choice Awards were given out at RWA in Washington DC three years ago.)
Next year my dues will go to NINC, an organization addressing my needs as a published author. And I will gladly pay the full registration fee to attend the conference in March.
