RWA Unity My Arse

For the moment, I'm boycotting the RWA national conference in 2009.

I'm sure many of you are aware of the petition that was intitiated by RWA member Kristen Painter regarding the unfair treatment of ebook authors by RWA when it comes to entering the RITA contest.

If you have not signed the petition, and you are a dues paying member of RWA, I urge you to consider doing so

Let me preface my opinion on this by saying that Romance Writers of America, as an organization, has done a lot of good for a lot of writers. With that said, sometimes the actions of the organization come off as looking more than a little cloak and dagger when it comes to unilaterally looking after the interests their (paying) membership.

Now is one of those times. Once again, ebook authors are on the losing end of RWA's practices.

While the published theme of the month of RWA is "unity", the organization's practices toward that portion of their membership who have signed on with epublishers is suggestive of anything but member unity.

Given the success of the Kindle ebook reader,a substantial number of ebook authors, and ebook outlets such as Samhain and Ellora's Cave, it's time the organization that claims to protect the interests of *all* romance writers gets with the millenium and acknowledges that epublishing is a viable, lucrative career path for a romance authors.

While I have a print title coming out this summer, ebooks are my bread and butter. In my opinion, my e titles are superior to my print title, and my eventures promise to make me far more money over the long haul than my print publication ever could.

Until RWA chooses to allow PAN members who have written ebooks to enter the RITA contest alongside their print published peers, I see no reason to attend the national conference.

If RWA intends to charge me the same dues as print published members, then I expect equal access to the same member benfits enjoyed by my print published sisters.

Now I remember why I boycotted joining RWA's PAN membership in the first place.