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What do you think? Do you belong to the RWA and if so, why do you belong to it? It’s the largest romance writing organization and it provides a number of tremendous benefits to writers but right now, I don’t belong and I am wondering if others find the benefits useful or can you find the same benefits in other places?

Here are what I believe are the benefits of belonging to RWA:

Access to countless romance writing resources.

If you’re new to romance writing or getting back into writing then you won’t be able to find a larger collection of craft, marketing, and professional information. There are courses and events on everything from writing dialogue to planning your ebook tour. Even if you never go to a chapter event or a national event, the information and education that you have access to is unprecedented.

Can you find books and courses on these topics, absolutely. But you’ll spend more money buying these books and attending these events than you will on your RWA membership. And you can trust the info shared by RWA. They even have an online university.

Emotional and professional support.

RWA wants to help you succeed as a romance writer. The organization is built upon the foundation of helping romance writers create a career.

“Romance Writers of America® (RWA) is a nonprofit trade association whose mission is to advance the professional interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy. RWA works to support the efforts of its members to earn a living, to make a full-time career out of writing romance—or a part-time one that generously supplements his/her main income.” (https://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=504)

In my experience with the organization as a whole and with chapters, both online and off, this is absolutely true. I’ve always felt supported to succeed. True, you can get support from smaller online organizations and local offline writer’s groups and I have tried my share of them. However, I’ve experienced a higher degree of professionalism through RWA than anywhere else.

Motivation

Okay, this benefit is in part up to you. Because you can pay the membership for RWA and then never visit the website or attend a meeting ever again. However, if you check in once a month, if you read the newsletter or go to a meeting every couple of months, it really does help you stay motivated to pursue your goals and to finish that manuscript! Sometimes all it takes is an occasional reminder to help you stay motivated and focused.

If you’re not a member of RWA, I’d love to hear why not and if you are, what are your experiences and do you recommend it to others?

Personally, I think I’ve just convinced myself to renew my membership.

Happy writing!

Annette