MISC.WRITING FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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10.3 Great Britain

[from the WGGB Web site:]
The Writers' Guild of Great Britain was established in 1958, its mission, then as now, was to ensure that writers of all media are properly represented. For nearly half a century we have been ensuring that writers are properly paid and accredited. The nature of the media industry may have changed but our central philosophy has remained the same.

Writing is by nature a solitary business--but membership of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain means that writers need not be isolated. Together, writers form the strong organisation needed to get a fair deal in today's increasingly competitive and ruthless market. More than this, we offer a way in which writers can become part of a community, the chance to swap stories about unscrupulous producers and meet people you admire.

[from the ALCS WWW site:]
The ALCS is a collecting society for writers in all genres: writers who can be rewarded for the re-use of their work by photocopying, off-air recording and electronic means. . . [It] was founded in 1977 to enable writers to receive fees that are uniquely or more effectively handled collectively. Today it represents more than 35,000 members and associates, and collects and distributes fees to many more individual writers in Britain.

[from the Society of Authors Web site:]
Since its foundation in 1884, the Society of Authors has been the major British association for writers of fiction and non-fiction. Its particular strength is in the area of book writing, but membership is open to all authors, illustrators, playwrights, and radio and television scriptwriters.

Its full-time staff advises members in all aspects of writing, including the detailed vetting of contracts. It conducts negotiations for collective minimum-term agreements with publishers in association with the Writers' Guild, and offers legal help (including litigation when an issue of general concern to authors is at stake). It maintains a watching brief on all matters relating to copyright, which is becoming increasingly important in this electronic age. It runs a number of social and informative events for members, and administers a number of literary awards.

The Poetry Society exists to help poets and poetry thrive in Britain today. It is a registered charity and has been in existence since 1909. The Arts Council of England, grants from trusts and sponsors, and sales of membership and publications support it. Members include poets, teachers, librarians, and all kinds of readers of contemporary poetry.

(Information from the Writer's Guild of Great Britain WWW site)

As well as giving awards for various purposes, the SAC publishes a Writers' Register (for writers of fiction and poetry).

Contact Viv Adam

For playwrights who have had work produced professionally; planning to set up Writers' Register for dramatists.

Contact Elsie Lindday

A self-help group for playwrights.

10.4 New Zealand

10.5 United States of America

PEN American Center: 568 Broadway New York, NY 10012-3224 phone: (212) 334-1660 Fax: (212) 334-2181

PEN Center USA West: 672 S. Lafayette Park Pl, Suite 41 Los Angeles, CA 90057 Phone: (213) 365-8500 Fax: (213) 365-9616

Professional writers' organization concerned with freedom of expression issues. Membership requires one published book or equivalent in shorter works.

This group provides to its members contract consultation services, health insurance plans, and grievance resolution services, among other benefits. The NWU is affiliated with the United Auto Workers Union (and thus the AFL-CIO). According to an previous FAQ maintainer, they appear to be a cross between a real labour union and a writer's advocacy group.

The Authors Guild is the USA's oldest professional society of published authors, with over 6,600 members in many different genres. Our staff of attorneys and legal interns review our members' publishing and agency contracts, intervene in publishing disputes and hold many seminars and symposia on issues of importance to writers. Recent topics include editing, contract negotiation, and multimedia and electronic publishing rights. The Guild also produces a quarterly Bulletin full of the latest publishing, copyright, tax, legal and legislative news and advice.

Membership is open to writers who have had a book published within the last seven years, or three works published by general circulation magazines within the past 18 months. First-year dues are $90.

Writers Guild of America West: 7000 West Third Street Los Angeles, CA 90048 Phone: (323) 951-4000 WWW: http://www.wga.org/

Writers Guild of America East: 555 West 57th Street New York, NY 10019

This is a professional writer's union. Membership in the Writers' Guild of America is limited to individuals who have made sales totaling 12 points on their arcane scale (story or screenplay for a feature film is 12 pts. each, story or script for a sitcom is 6 pts, etc. ad nauseam). The sales must have gone to WGA-signatory production entities; the writer cannot have been involved in the company in a hiring capacity. (This is to prevent a writer from joining the guild by paying for a vanity production.)

There is a "signatory" status for agents representing writers for the WGA. Any guild-signatory agency is prohibited from charging a reading fee. WGA will provide information on "scale" to anyone. The West branch has the script depository which can be used (for a fee) by nonmembers. The East branch sells the "Professional Writer's Teleplay/Screenplay Format Guide" (last price quoted was $4.55 via money order, which includes postage).

[from the SCBWI Web site:]
The SCBWI acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, booksellers and others involved with literature for young people. There are currently more than 10,000 members worldwide, in over 70 regions, making it the largest children's writing organization in the world. The SCBWI sponsors an annual National Conference on writing and illustrating books and multimedia as well as dozens of regional conferences and events throughout the world. It also publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, awards grants for works in progress, and provides many informational publications on the art and business of writing and selling written, illustrated and electronic material. The SCBWI also presents the annual Golden Kite Award for the best fiction and non-fiction books.

NCWN sponsors all kinds of workshops (fiction, poetry, technical writing, etc.) throughout the state including the remote/rural areas, It also sponsors (very legitimate) contests and other activities, and publishes a bi-monthly newsletter with a "Submit It!" section containing market information, much of it not found in the Writer's or Poet's Market directories. Its annual conference is in November. The NCWN publishes an annual directory that lists the small presses and litmags in N.C. and the addresses of writers willing to answer questions on specific topics.

[from the MWA Web Site:]
Mystery Writers of America, Inc. was established in 1945 by a dozen or so like-minded mystery writers for the purpose of promoting and protecting the interests and welfare of mystery writers and to increase the esteem and literary recognition given to the genre.

[from the RWA Web site:]

The mission of the RWA is:

(a) to promote excellence in romantic fiction,
(b) to help writers become published and establish careers in their writing field,
(c) to provide continuing support for writers within the romance publishing industry,
(d) to promote mutual support among members,
(e) to promote and advocate an "author-friendly" environment in the publishing industry,
(f) to be a strong voice within the romance publishing, wholesaling, and retailing industries,
(g) to strive to maintain and increase the market share of romance fiction.

General Membership is open to "established romance authors and writers interested in pursuing a career in romance writing." Associate Membership is open to "booksellers, editors, agents, and other industry professionals."

[from the HWA Web site:]
The HORROR WRITERS ASSOCIATION (HWA) was formed in the 1980s to bring together writers and others professionally interested in horror and dark fantasy, and to foster a greater appreciation of dark fiction among the general public.

To this end, among other benefits, the organization issues a regular newsletter, presents the Bram Stoker Awards, and provides members with the latest news on paying markets. We have sponsored a series of successful members-only anthologies. Members also gain access to the private HWA areas on various online services, including Genie's Science Fiction Roundtables, Compuserve's SFLitForum 2, SFF-Net, and Dueling Modems, and can, if they choose, receive informational bulletins by e-mail.

[From the By-Laws at their Web site:]
The purpose of the [Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.] shall be to promote the furtherance of the writing of science fiction, fantasy, and related genres as a profession--in so doing, its activities shall include, but not be limited to, informing science fiction and fantasy writers on professional matters, protecting their interests, and helping them deal effectively with agents, editors, anthologists, and producers in non-print media: encouraging public interest in and appreciation for science fiction and fantasy literature; sponsoring, editing, and disseminating writings, papers, books, pamphlets, and other publications which exemplify science fiction and fantasy literature of high quality; conducting conferences, public discussion groups, forums, lectures, and seminar programs; and furnishing any service or performing any kind of work connected with this stated purpose.

[from the STC Web site:]
The mission of the Society for Technical Communication is to improve the quality and effectiveness of technical communication for audiences worldwide.

STC is an individual membership organization dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of technical communication - it is the largest organization of its type in the world. Its 20,000 members include technical writers, editors, graphic designers, videographers, multimedia artists, and others whose work involves making technical information available to those who need it. Through the efforts of a small, full-time staff and a large network of volunteers, STC promotes the public welfare by educating its members and industry about issues concerning technical communication.

11.0 Are there any on-line groups?

You bet--hundreds if not thousands of newsgroups, mailing listservs, Web pages--'way too many to track in an infrequently revamped FAQ. A few of particular interest are listed below; via them, one can find many other resources.

11.1 Usenet newsgroup: misc.writing

A Usenet newsgroup, misc.writing is a huge discussion devoted to "writing and topics of interest to writers." Amidst the chatter, running jokes, and other oddities are threads on publishing, writing, characterizations, how writers cope with the various adversities that face writers, and other pertinent information.

NOTE: misc.writing has a high noise-to-signal ratio but its denizens like it that way.

11.1.1 The Official misc.writing Web Site

Located at http://www.scalar.com/mw/. The site has a current copy of this FAQ and much information on writing, including links to resources, some maintained by the denizens of misc.writing, others independent of the newsgroup. See the Writer's Mailing Lists section for subscription information about several online writing workshops/mailing lists.

11.2 Usenet newsgroup: alt.writing

A Usenet newsgroup that is much smaller and more focused than misc.writing, alt.writing concentrates on the "nuts & bolts" of writing. Since it is in the "alt." hierarchy of Usenet, not all newsfeed have this newsgroup. A request to your Internet Service Provider usually will prompt the addition of this newsgroup.

11.3 Usenet newsgroup: misc.writing.screenplays

The Usenet newsgroup misc.writing.screenplays is devoted to screenwriting and discussions of the film and TV business from a writer's POV.

11.4 Listserv: The Fiction Writers Workshop

An electronic writers' workshop is being run as a listserv list called the Fiction Writers Workshop and based at Penn State University, with separate lists for fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and novels. The list owner is Rheal Nadeau, and members can get information about the list by sending the following message to listserv@psuvm.psu.edu:

SUBSCRIBE FICTION yourfirstname yourlastname

11.5 Listserv: Writer's Workshop

Topics: "Although started for discussion of writing, submissions, critiques, various mind-joggers, and exercises also are passed among the participants. All postings are archived and available to participants."

Subscription: The workshop is self-serve - send email to listserv@vm1.nodak.edu (or listserv@ndsuvm1.bitnet ) with the message:

SUBSCRIBE WRITERS yourfirstname yourlastname

11.6 Listserv: DOROTHY-L (for mystery fans and writers)

Access is either through the newsgroup bit.listserv.dorothyl, or via e-mail; to subscribe, send the following message to listserv@listserv.kent.edu:

sub DOROTHYL [your name]

Check the DOROTHY-L New Subscriber Web page for more information.

11.7 Listserv: TECHWR-L (for technical writers)

Technical writing -- or, more broadly, "technical communication" -- as one of the specialized branches of the writing profession, has its own mailing list, which is carried on some systems as the newsgroup bit.listserv.techwr-l.

If that newsgroup does not exist at your site, you can subscribe by sending a message to

LISTSERV@VM1.UCC.OKSTATE.EDU

Leave the subject line *blank*, and include on the first line of the message

SUB TECHWR-L yourfirstname yourlastname

For example: SUB TECHWR-L Kate Vincent

The list is unmoderated and is available in either digest or mail form. [This information is taken from the longer "Information from TECHWR-L Listowner" posted periodically to the list by owner Eric Ray (ejray@okway.okstate.edu).]

11.8 Critters Writers' Workshop

From the Critters Web Page:

"Critters is an on-line workshop/critique group for serious writers of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. The ultimate goal of Critters is to help writers improve, not only by having their work dissected by other members, but also by learning to dissect their own work (by, of course, dissecting others). The value of the latter is often overlooked by beginning writers."

"It works something like this: Suppose you submit a short story or chapters of a novel . . . You email your manuscript (in the proper format), it gets put into a queue of stories; in about a month, when it bubbles to the top of the queue, it (and a batch of others) are emailed around to the members (or they can get them off the web page). Critiques are due within a week. Most pieces get 15-20 critiques."

Critters has over 1,000 members and has been around for more than four years.

11.9 WWW Page: Miholer's Screenwriting Resources

Located at http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~miholer/. Among other useful info and links, this Web page contains The Screenwriters' Internetwork, which helps screenwriters find and create small, on-line groups for peer evaluation, instruction, and encouragement.

11.10 WWW Page: For the Love of It

Located at http://www.ForTheLoveOfIt.com. A Web page with an international volunteer panel of film and tv pros who answer questions and offer advice on production, screenwriting, and other facets of the industry.

11.11 WWW Page: Wordplay - Professional Secrets for Screenwriters

Located at http://www.wordplayer.com. A collection of screenwriting information, geared toward the beginning writer. Upon completion, 52 essays covering all facets of screenwriting, written by working screenwriter Terry Rossio. A full course in writing screenplays, covering both business and creative issues. Guest columns from industry professionals, with practical advice and real-world perspectives, written by people doing the jobs today.

11.12 Bix, Compuserve, AOL, the WELL, GEnie

The BIX system has several active writers' groups. 'writers' is a general group for writers and wannabees. 'writers.pros' is for published writers only. Focus tends to be on computer-related journalism, though the trials and tribulations of everything from fiction to history to textbooks to poetry get discussed. 'writers.talk' is for chatting with authors and friends. 'new.writers' is for newcomers.

COMPUSERV, AOL, the WELL, and GEnie also have writers' groups.

12.0 Who do I contact about additions to this FAQ?

Please post updates, corrections, and suggested additions to the newsgroup misc.writing. The html version of the mw FAQ is formatted and maintained by Stephanie Kwok (aka the mw webmaven), who makes only those changes agreed upon by the members of misc.writing.

This document will be posted on or about Monday of each week to misc.writing. A current version will be posted to news.answers and misc.answers on the third Monday of each month.

Our thanks to Laurie Sefton for putting the original FAQ list together.

12.1 What's New?

This document was updated in January 2000. Changes since last edition:

1. The section on cover lettters was expanded.
2. The section on query letters was added.
3. Several addresses in the second part were corrected.

12.2 Ye Olde Disclaimer

This article is provided as is without any express or implied warranties. While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this article, the maintainer and contributors assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. The use of both American and British English spellings in this FAQ is a result of the multiplicity of its authors.