merry-christmas-and-happy-new-year-j-ram-free-imagesj1343302-640x640Here we are in a big transition from 2016 to 2017 with many changes and successes to celebrate and more to come! My deepest gratitude for all my hard-working committee chairs who have made 2016 a banner year for CWG. Here are a few highlights:

Facebook- Karina FabianMembership in our Facebook group rose to 331. After too many non-members requesting to join, we moved to a secret group. In addition to the regular posts, we get several posts a day from members, almost none of which are self-promotion. Nearly all generate a few comments as well. I’d guess we’ve had about 800 posts this year with about 2500 comments.

CWCO: Ann Lewis, Karina Fabian and Laura Lowder – During our 2016 online conference in February, we had four moderators for 23 presentations given by 18 presenters to 129 attendees. We also had two pitch practices to prepare 38 writers to pitch to 11 publishers. These publishers were definitely interested in 24 submissions, another 11 conditionally, with only 3 rejections for manuscripts that were mismatched with the publisher’s market. Now we’re gearing up for a second year, with an additional 6 volunteers in the planning stage.

Communications/Social Media: Karina FabianThree volunteers posted around 2000 posts to Facebook and Twitter promoting the Guild or member books. Member newsletter started to remind everyone of contacts, upcoming events and benefits.

Newsletter: Cesar Chacon – I volunteered to help produce the Official Member CWG Newsletter that I named Quill & Cross. To date, I am the only member, with Karina Fabian giving me instruction and periodic help. We put out a newsletter for September, October, November and December. I’m looking forward to a great new year.

Membership: Maureen Smith – There’s not much to say in the way of membership, it’s been very easy with the new system!
Joe – do you have numbers for this year compared to this time last year?

What’s ahead? 

Here’s a list of other committees and whom to contact to get involved in our great CWG networking community.

Blog: Kathryn Cunningham and Dennis McGeehan

CALA (Catholic Arts and Letters Award): Carol Ann Chybowski

CBN (Catholic Book News): Dawn Witzke

CWCL: Ann Lewis and Ellen Hrkach

Retreat: Ann Lewis and Margaret Rose Realy

SOA: Ellen Gable Hrkach

Zenit: Dennis McGeehan

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.