The purpose of the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval is to help Catholic bookstores and venues in their determination of the Catholicity of a work. This reassurance from a professional organization can assist authors in marketing and promoting their works.

Our process includes submission and awarding periods as follows:

• Accepting submissions January 1-31, awarding by March 31
• Accepting submissions April 1-30, awarding by June 30
• Accepting submissions July 1-31, awarding by September 30
• Accepting submissions September 1-30, awarding by November 30

These are the requirements for a book to be considered for the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval:

• Book is published OR will be self-published OR book is under contract with a publisher
• Author must be Catholic
• Book is Catholic in nature (for fiction, this means Catholic themes and characters)
• Book does not contradict nor disparage Catholic teaching
• Book does not speak disparagingly of an accepted Catholic practice (such as Novus Ordo Mass or Tridentine Mass) nor give the impression that only a particular Catholic practice is the right way to salvation.
• Book does not support heresies or New Age philosophies

One of the concerns we face as an organization is the quality of the work we stand behind. While we do reject titles when we have concerns with poor editing, there is now the opportunity for one resubmission with proof of professional editing.

We may request up to five hard copies and/or electronic copies for our evaluators.

The Seal of Approval application is here. If you are a Catholic Writers Guild member, you may apply free of charge.

We also need a team of volunteer evaluators!

To be an evaluator, you have to be a member in good standing with the Catholic Writers Guild. To evaluate a book, you read the title you sign up to read and complete the evaluation form. We ask that you have some background in the Catholic faith and that you are willing to look up things that may be questionable.

All evaluations must be true and faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.

These are the items we consider on the evaluation:

• Is the work libelous or slanderous?
• Does the work seek to foster hatred or conflict among individuals or groups, including racism, religious fanaticism, or anarchy?
• Does this work contain obscenity or promote anti-Catholic views of modesty, decency in language, actions, or basic morality?
• Does this work contain pornography?
• Does this work promote pre-marital, extra-marital, or nother non-marital sexual relationships?
• Does this work lack respect for the reasonable privacy of others?
• Does this work degrade the dignity of the person, including the promotion of euthanasia, abortion, homosexual actions or unions, child labor, or prostitution?
• Does this work promote the worship of false gods?
• Does this work attempt to draw others away from the orthodox teachings of the universal Catholic Church?
• Does this work use others’ proposals or ideas without credit or permission?
• Does this work present others’ work as the author’s own original ideas?
• Does this work violate any known laws?
• Does the author of this work belong to an association(s) or participate in activities that may compromise integrity, damage credibility, or cause scandal in the Guild’s sole determination that you are aware of? Examples include freemasonry, Catholics for a Free Choice, NAMBLA, a history of works opposed to the Guild’s values or ethics, excommication, etc. For example, these may be stated on the book jacket or may be from your prior knowledge of the author.
• Is this work so badly written or edited that granting the Seal of Approval would harm the reputation of the Catholic Writers Guild as a writers organization?
• Can you see this book in your local Catholic bookstore?

We have a “theological experts” team that is on-hand to answer any issues we have with doctrinal issues.

Meet the committee:

• Sarah Reinhard, Fearless Chair (or Big Boss Lady, depending on the day)
• Carol Ann Chybowski, Submissions and Evaluator Coordinator
• Mary Gildersleeve, Awarding Coordinator

If you’re interested in learning more about the Seal of Approval, email us at SOA -at- catholicwritersguild.com.