Note the Responsibility-Taking Active Voice

While I was busy doing research, the SB,TB crew put up an interview with Gayle Wilson, the Romance Writers of America president-elect, although Wilson makes it plain “she is answering for herself, and not as a spokesperson for the RWA” when she says things like “I believe that one of the biggest problems this year has been our failure to communicate promptly and appropriately with our members…We have… made mistakes. We regret them, and we have learned from them. I know that simply saying that will not reassure outraged members, but I hope that by our future actions we can restore the trust that was damaged this year.”

It’s very exciting, though, to see the RWA’s incoming leader state unequivocally that “the organization doesn’t define the genre; the genre defines the organization. And the genre is vibrant and growing and evolving.”

15 August 2005 | uncategorized |

No Love Lost for Romance Publisher

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books is fast becoming my go-to blog for news from the romance segment of the publishing industry. First there was the brouhaha over the RWA awards ceremony, and this morning they report on one small publisher’s challenge to RWA’s bestowals of legitimacy. The SB,TB reader comments show this issue isn’t cut-and-dry, and it raises a lot of interesting questions about the role writer’s groups can play in advocating for their members by keeping publishers “honest” (in the broadest sense of the term).

15 August 2005 | uncategorized |