CWG Member News: Conferences, Member Perks, and Opportunities

My husband captured the image above as he was driving through the Pennsylvania countryside last week. Isn’t is beautiful? I may be oversharing this image from my little corner of the world, but who can’t use a little more beauty in their lives?

As writers, we’re about the business of creating beauty. Made in the image and likeness of God, we share in creating beauty in myriad ways, including through words. A bot may be able to string together coherent sentences, but I think that humanity excels at creating beautiful narratives.

Please read on for upcoming opportunities, including our 2023 conferences! It’s not too early to register for our annual online conference. If your membership is current, you’ll see an email with discount codes in your inbox next week.

It’s also not too early to be thinking of our live conference in the spring. Do you have knowledge, experience, and wisdom to share? Now is the time to apply to be a speaker.

The world needs the beauty you create!

Carolyn Astfalk
President

Register today for the Catholic Writers Guild Online Conference!

Seeking speakers for our 2023 live conference, May 30-June 1, 2023, near Chicago. Apply now!

What Catholic Writers Guild member perk would you like to see?

The board is gathering ideas to add to our membership benefits. We’re thinking of things like course, software, or product discounts. For example, a Scrivener discount or a member code for IngramSpark. If there’s a member perk you’d like to see, please send it to Pat Chalmers at drpjchalmers@gmail.com with as much detail as possible (e.g. product/service, website, value, contact information, whether a similar organization offers such perk) so that we can follow up.

Catholic Writing Prompts: Let’s create some!

We only received a handful of member-written prompts last month.
Would you consider submitting some prompts?A while back, we received an email request from a member for Catholic writing prompts. Not finding any online or among our membership, it seems like a simple creative resource we could provide – together!Each member is invited to contribute up to four writing prompts – two fiction, two nonfiction.

We’ll share these prompts on our website. And, depending on volunteer support and response, we may share these on social media. They could also be used for flash fiction contests. What do you think?

Submit prompts

Volunteer Corner

Annual officer elections are just around the corner! Please take a few moments to consider whether you are being called to serve your fellow Catholic writers as an officer in 2023.

CWG Blog

Our blog is a place where Catholic Writers Guild members can publish their articles and showcase their writing. We are looking for volunteer editors to edit one or more article per month or to join our substitute editor team.

Substitute editors are available to consider covering for regularly scheduled editors when needed. If you are interested in being one of our editors, or writing for the blog, please contact blog@catholicwritersguild.com. Thank you!

Opportunities

Occasionally the Guild receives email messages from businesses and ministries seeking our writers’ services. I’ll share these here for our members to contact directly.

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Associate Children’s Editor, Pauline Books and Media

Looking for someone with:

• an in-depth knowledge of Catholic theology

• experience in working with children

• a love of children’s literature

• an aptitude for editing

The position:

• can be on-site or remote

• full- or part-time.

The full details about the job are here:

https://www.catholicjobs.com/job/4745154614

Editorial Administrative Assistant, Pauline Books and Media

We’re looking for someone with:

• organizational ability

• attention to detail

• familiarity with Microsoft Office 365

• knowledge of the Catholic faith

The position:

• is on-site in Boston

• is full-time.

The full details about the job are here:

https://www.catholicjobs.com/job/4745154615

Check Your Spam!

If you’re waiting on a reply from an official Guild email account (one ending in catholicwritersguild.com or catholicwritersguild.org), please be sure to check your spam or junk folder. Unfortunately, our messages have a way of ending up there.If you’ve not received a reply to a message in a reasonable amount of time, please checking your junk or spam folder before resending your message.

With rare exception, I personally reply to messages within 2-3 days, maximum.

Seal of Approval

The Seal of Approval application opens for the 1st quarter on Monday, January 16, 2023 at Noon EDT. Once open, you can access the Seal of Approval Application Form for 24 hours. Reminder: If your book has received an Imprimatur, it is ineligible for the Seal of Approval but receives all benefits associated with the Seal. More information on the Seal of Approval process.

Application dates for 2023:

Mon., January 16
Fri., April 14
Fri., July 14
Fri., September 15

You may notice that the dates have shifted from the beginning of the month to the middle. This was done to avoid regular conflicts with New Year’s, 4th of July, and Labor Day.