– by Nancy Ward, Coordinator of Committees
With the Catholic Writers Online Conference behind us we have three months to prepare for the big Catholic Writers Conference – LIVE! Chairs Ann Lewis and Ellen Gable Hrkach announce the theme is “Openness to God’s Will,” an attitude we can all aspire to attain. The conference is set for July 26-July 29, 2016 in Chicago at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center and Hotel, in conjunction with the Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show. Look for the press release coming soon to a blog near you, and do pass it on!
Here’s what’s new the other committees.
Blog: Kathryn Cunningham and Dennis McGeehan – Kathryn Cunningham reports that Teresa Frailey, our young adult reviewer of Catholic/Christian young adult books, has decided to move on. Other responsibilities are taking her time after almost two years of doing this monthly column. Her writing has grown. Ideas and suggestions welcome for a young adult column.
CALA (Catholic Arts and Letters Award): Carol Ann Chybowski is following up with judges for the Catholic Arts and Letters Award to be announced and presented at the CMN trade show during our live conference in July.
CBN: Dawn Witzke – The Paradise Project by Suzie Andres was the fiction selection for the April Catholic Book News. The non-fiction chosen was Connie Rossini’s Trusting God with St. Therese. Congrats to both these Seal of Approval winners on the special PR.
CWCO: Karina Fabian and Laura Lowder – We’re treading water for the next few months with the online conference. Nothing new for CWCO, although we need feedback from the volunteers talk about a between-times event and whether CWCO will be held annually or biennially.
Facebook and Social Media Posting: Karina Fabian – Things are going well. We are promoting CWCL registration and soon will have details on the speakers and other events.
Membership: Maureen Smith – Membership is going strong. March brought 2 new members and 5 by mid-April! March was a bit less than usual but we had a huge influx during the month of February because of the online conference. I have 671 members listed on the spreadsheet.
SoA Committee: Ellen Gable Hrkach is serving as temporary chair. The biggest news is that Erin McCole Cupp had to step down because of illness and I offered to take her place temporarily. Thank God for Ellen! She reports that the online training module has been completed and 38 experienced and novice evaluators have taken the new training and passed the test with 100%. Several others have taken the test but have not yet received 100%. We took only 12 books this quarter. There was a glitch with the link for the form not working properly for about half an hour on April 1st. It was finally fixed, but by that time, most of the spots had been taken and several authors complained that they did not get one of the spots. We discussed reopening the submission period, but we all agreed that we could not take any more books this quarter.
We are hoping to get more evaluators on board now that training is completely self-directed. I am emailing new members and inviting them to join as a SoA evaluator. A complete list of books that have received the Catholic Writers’ Guild Seal of Approval can be found on our website at catholicwritersguild.com
Speakers Bureau/Educational Outreach – Dennis McGeehan can add your name when requested.
Zenit – Dennis McGeehan – I would love to have one more person on the Zenit committee to help select CWG Blog posts to submit to Zenit.com.
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
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.