Romance Writers of America
 Romance Writers of America is a national
non-profit genre writers association--the largest of its kind in the
world. It provides networking and support to individuals seriously
pursuing a career in romance fiction. To visit, Go to: http://www.rwanational.org
RWA was founded in Houston, Texas,
in 1980 by 37 charter members. Frustrated with writing conferences that
seemed to ignore romance writers, and individually voiceless against
daunting New York publishers, the founding members realized the need to
unite. They organized writing conferences geared to nurture the careers
of romance writers, created a nationwide network of romance writing
peers that shared information and supported each other. The result is
the 9,500-member strong writers association that is today considered
"The Voice of Romance." Currently, RWA has 9,500 members worldwide;
with 1,600 members published in book-length romance fiction. The
writer-members of RWA have worked as doctors, engineers, attorneys
military officers, actors, artists, stay-at-home mothers, scientists,
mathematicians, musicians, business women, scholars, teachers and a
hundred other professions. Some resign from their work to write, others
balance a career in another field while writing romance fiction. RWA
has more than 140 chapters throughout the world, with chapters in
almost every state in the U.S. Some individual cities have multiple
chapters--such as the three chapters in Houston, Texas.
Once RWA members become published in
book-length romance fiction, they may join a distinguished group of RWA
members known as the Published Authors' Network (PAN). PAN members have
mobilized to study and enact change in areas of the industry that
directly affect published authors -- areas such as contracts and
royalty statements, pseudonym usage, romance novel cover art and
general author rights.
Romance Writers of America hosts a
national conference in a different U.S. city each summer. More than 100
workshops are offered with topics ranging from beginning writing skills
to the business side of being a working writer. Romance fiction editors
and literary agents search for new talent in scheduled one-on-one
interviews.
RWA recognizes the best of the industry
in an Awards Ceremony held yearly at the National Conference. The RITA
Awards, the highest award of excellence in the romance genre, are
presented to the best published romances of the year; and the Golden
Heart Awards are presented to the best unpublished manuscripts.
The National Conference is slated to be held in the following cities through 2009:
- 2006 -- Atlanta, Georgia
- 2007 -- Dallas, Texas
- 2008 -- San Francisco, California
- 2009 -- Washington, D.C.
RWA members receive news on the
industry, in-depth looks at publishing and articles on the craft of
writing in RWA's monthly professional journal, the Romance Writers Report.
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