by Nancy Ward, Coordinator of Committees

Fall by Severin Winkler (Freeimages.com)
Fall by Severin Winkler (Freeimages.com)

The CALAs have been awarded and the big live conference is over but not the memories. Our new website was launched. The talks and workshops gave us new inspiration for our writing projects. The editors gave us hope at the pitches and we reconnected with good friends made new ones. It was a fun way to network.

As fall comes upon us, we turn our networking efforts to our interactions on Facebook and our CWG committees. We even have a new Volunteer Facebook group to match our skills with the needs of CWG. Here’s what’s going on and what’s coming up:

Blog: Kathryn Cunningham and Dennis McGeehan – CWG Author Book Blasts will begin again this month. Any Author who wants to be considered for a book blast feature should contact Michael Fraley ASAP.

CALA (Catholic Arts and Letters Award): Carol Ann Chybowski – CWG President Joe Wetterling presented the CALA awards at CMN. Unfortunately, neither of the winners was at the conference, so publisher Ellen Gable Hrkach of Full Quiver Publishing accepted the awards for them.

Dena Hunt won the CALA for Adult Fiction for The Lion’s Heart. In the YA/Children’s category, the winner was A World Such as Heaven Intended by Amanda Lauer.

CBN (Catholic Book News): Dawn Witzke – The latest Catholic Book News edition features the CALA winners listed above.

CWCO: Laura Lowder and Karina Fabian – Laura and Karina are setting up a schedule for cranking up the online conference to be held early next year.

Facebook: Karina Fabian We are moving our private Facebook group to secret status. We generally have 10 people who aren’t members ask to join for every one member that does. It’s a pain for the admins. A secret group lets us send invites only to members or give them a special link to request joining, so we can still get folks in. We will put the link in the newsletter.

NEW! Facebook group for Volunteers: Dawn Witzke manages the new clearinghouse for matching volunteers with the needs of the committees. Some interesting discussions have appeared there. Join the conversation and begin networking while serving in CWG.

Membership: Maureen Smith – We are switching to another membership system. CWG President Joe Wetterling has been taking care of it recently and is training me in the new system. It makes membership a lot easier! More than 20 new members joined since the conference.

Newsletter: Caesar Chacon – Our new Newsletter Chair reports that the newsletter will be distributed via MailChimp on September 10. Watch for the new format and give him your feedback.

SOA: Ellen Gable Hrkach – Carolyn Astfalk, SOA Evaluator Coordinator, put out an appeal for Seal of Approval evaluators: “As it stands now, we are taking 10-12 books each quarter. Those slots usually fill up within a day if not an hour or so. Clearly, more authors are seeking the SOA than our volunteers can handle. Not only that but this quarter, for instance, we’re struggling to find evaluators for even those 10-12 and that’s WITH many of our evaluators reading 2 or more books. (Each book is evaluated by a minimum of three evaluators. We prefer to have four.)
“Online training is provided at the volunteer’s convenience. Once you’ve passed the training (by taking the quiz as many times as is necessary), you will receive an email each quarter with a selection of e-books. Read your book and fill out the online evaluation form. That’s it. As a volunteer, you receive free electronic books for your personal enjoyment. Your critical reading skills are enhanced, and evaluating is done at your convenience on your schedule so long as you submit before the deadline.”

CWG Fiction Critique Group –  Contact Don Mulcare.

CWG Non-Fiction Critique Group –  Contact Nancy Ward.

For other concerns and suggestions about our fabulous committees, contact Nancy Ward, Coordinator of Committees.

Nancy Ward, convert, journalist, author, and speaker, writes from Texas about Catholicism, conversion and Christian community at NancyHCWard.com, JOYAlive.net, and other websites and magazines. Through her Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story workshops, retreats and DVD, she shares her conversion story in Catholic parishes and at conferences, equipping others to share their stories. She contributed to the award-winning The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion, facilitates two Catholic Writers Guild critique groups, serves on the Guild’s Board, and speaks at national writers conferences.