Tag Archive for: how can you help the CWG

Catholic Writers Conference Live! A Two-fer Blog for conference goers (and stay-at-homers)

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Are you headed for this year’s Catholic Writers Conference Live? If you are, check out my blog from last year regarding conference etiquette. It was good advice then, and I can’t think of a thing to improve on it. Just substitute the words Somerset, New Jersey for Arlington, Texas.

If you’re not able to go to the conference, you can still share in the excitement and even network. Go to http://www.catholicwritersconference.com/ and see who’s going to be there. If a particular publisher or presenter interests you, go to their website and see if they have a Twitter account – and then follow them. It will quickly become clear who is tweeting and which threads have value for you and your situation. You can even jump in on conversations if you have salient points to contribute. One caveat here: Unless someone invites such, do not pitch via Twitter. And, as always with social media, remember to keep your tweets polite and on-subject.

Are you one of the lucky ones going to the conference? Tweet, blog, and Facebook your experiences. Engage your followers and create a ripple effect that no one else can. Encourage questions and/or discussions that you can facilitate simply by being present at the conference. Get on the Catholic Writers Guild blog and website. You have much you can share.

Like so many other enterprises we undertake as Catholics, it’s not ‘all about me.’ Be generous with your abilities and presence, whether it’s at the conference or from home. Support each other at the conference, and share with those unable to come. This is a unique opportunity to live your faith – evangelization in an unanticipated form!

Let’s all make this year’s Catholic Writers Conference Live the best ever!

 

Volunteer Drive: Volunteer Coordinator

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Karina Fabian is getting the ball rolling on getting more folks involved in the Guild, but we need someone who can run this program on a regular basis. The Volunteer coordinator would:

–Keep a running list of volunteer needs (The Committee Chair will supply the info)
–Contact new members about opportunities.
–Contact all members about opportunities through a quarterly article posted in the newsletter and blog (or more often if needed)

This is a fabulous way to get to know the members of the Guild, make some new friends and keep our Guild running strong.

If interested, please contact Karina Fabian karina(at)fabianspace.com

Volunteer Drive: CWG Wiki

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CWG MEMBERS ONLY: This is the next in series of activities the Guild does, and that it needs volunteers to help with. The CWG wants to be a force for promoting quality Catholic works–and quality works by Catholics. Won’t you give of your time and talent for this worthy endeavor? If the program below doesn’t appeal to you, but you want to help, check out the other programs here.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a place where you could find just Catholic authors? Dave Law, the man with the mad computing skills, is setting up a wiki for the Guild. It will concentrate on Catholic writers, living and dead.

Wiki authors: Once this is set up, we need wiki authors to write and post the articles. This will require research, references, etc. We will include Guild members, but they must adhere to the same standards of research. (So if you write your own wiki, you will need to keep it biographical and not advertising, and include references.)
Wiki Editors: We will need some editors to fact-check the articles.

If interested, contact Dave Law at davealaw(at)shaw.ca

Volunteer Drive: Facebook

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CWG MEMBERS ONLY: This is the next in series of activities the Guild does, and that it needs volunteers to help with. The CWG wants to be a force for promoting quality Catholic works–and quality works by Catholics. Won’t you give of your time and talent for this worthy endeavor? If the program below doesn’t appeal to you, but you want to help, check out the other programs here.

Did you know the Guild has a facebook page? (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Catholic-Writers-Guild/122546024421) We have members as well as non-members that view it. It’s a great tool for getting the word out to interested Catholic writers. However, aside from blog notices and chat notices (and the times that I see something newsworthy about a member), it doesn’t get many posts. We’d like to improve that, so we need:

Posters! Two or three people who are on facebook to once in a while check out some Guild members’ profiles for news, and post it on the Guild page. (Awards, honors, births, weddings, etc.) (15 minutes every couple of days)
Someone(s) through the list of people who “like” the Guild page, and invite them to subscribe to the blog. (Takes about 15 minutes a session.)

If interested, contact Karina at karina(at)fabianspace.com

Volunteer Drive: Publicity

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CWG MEMBERS ONLY: This is the next in series of activities the Guild does, and that it needs volunteers to help with. The CWG wants to be a force for promoting quality Catholic works–and quality works by Catholics. Won’t you give of your time and talent for this worthy endeavor? If the program below doesn’t appeal to you, but you want to help, check out the other programs here.

We are starting at ground zero on this one. Right now, our publicity efforts have been haphazard at best. However, the wonderful Clare Bills has agreed to start by being out press release person. She also wants to brainstorm with other committees about coordinating efforts. Right now, however, she needs

Contact lists: Do you have a Catholic contact list you’d be willing to share? Maybe for magazines, podcasters, reviewers, etc? If so, pass them on to clarebills(at)live.com.

A Social Media Marketer: Clare has a of expertise to share in the realm of traditional publicity. However, she is not yet up to speed on harnessing the social media phenomenon. Someone with that expertise would be a great help.

A Crew: People who will send out press releases, call radio stations, process publicity requests, etc. We’re only talking about promoting the Guild activities, but you can use the knowledge and resources you gain here to help your own publicity efforts.

Contact Karina Fabian karina(at)fabianspace.com if you can help.

Volunteer Drive: Inside the CWG Newsletter

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CWG MEMBERS ONLY: This is the next in series of activities the Guild does, and that it needs volunteers to help with. The CWG wants to be a force for promoting quality Catholic works–and quality works by Catholics. Won’t you give of your time and talent for this worthy endeavor? If the program below doesn’t appeal to you, but you want to help, check out the other programs here.

Inside the CWG is our monthly newsletter. It’s grown into a great source of information about the Guild and has some great marketing tips, too. However, Maria Rivera, our intrepid editor-in-chief needs:

WRITERS: folks to do regular columns, book reports/critiques, once-in-a-while columns, etc. This is a once-a-month commitment for a short article (500 words or less)
EDITORS: Folks who can look the final over for typos, etc.
LAYOUT: Someone familiar with HTML to codify the document. (It’s simple stuff, mostly links and bold-italics and such)

For more information, contact Maria Rivera at mariarr(at)wi.rr.com

Volunteer Drive: CWG Guest Chats

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CWG MEMBERS ONLY: This is the next in series of activities the Guild does, and that it needs volunteers to help with. The CWG wants to be a force for promoting quality Catholic works–and quality works by Catholics. Won’t you give of your time and talent for this worthy endeavor? If the program below doesn’t appeal to you, but you want to help, check out the other programs here.

One Sunday a month, we have a guest speaker attend out online chat. They talk about their books, publishing, or some other aspect of writing. This is a great way to meet some wonderful people!

Theresa Henderson is the fearless leader, but she would like the following.

An Assistant: This person would help her in

1. seeking our people to come to the chats (We have a list of presenters to contact and are glad to seek more.)
2. getting their bios
3. sending out the notice (We have a template you fill out and send to the people listed)
4. send a reminder e-mail to the guest of honor
5. send a thank-you note to the guest afterward

We also need moderators for these chats. They run very much like the CWCO chats.

If interested, contact Theresa Henderson at steve_and_theresa(at)yahoo.com

Volunteer Drive: Catholic Writers Conference Live

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CWG MEMBERS ONLY: This is the next in series of activities the Guild does, and that it needs volunteers to help with. The CWG wants to be a force for promoting quality Catholic works–and quality works by Catholics. Won’t you give of your time and talent for this worthy endeavor? If the program below doesn’t appeal to you, but you want to help, check out the other programs here.

The Catholic Writers Conference Live is is one of our biggest events. Not only do we provide valuable information and networking to authors, but we provide a Guild face to publishers and bookstore owners at the accompanying Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show. This is BIG, and we will need help before, during and after the conference. The conference is August 2-5 at Valley Forge, PA. We need helpers both now and/or during the conference. Many folks who have helped with this conference came away with new friends, new writing and marketing opportunities, and even new writing contracts.

The Laudable Laura Lower will coordinate volunteers this year. If you are attending the conference and want to help, please go here to sign up: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GVSVRSL

NEED NOW AND DURING CONFERENCE:

The Excellent Ellen Gable Hrkach will again coordinate the booth on the trade show floor. Here is where we contact publishers, wholesalers and bookstore owners. She needs an assistant coordinator for the booth. This person will assist Ellen Hrkach in evaluating books that have been asked to be part of the booth to ensure they do not contradict Catholic principles. Contact Ellen at ellengablehrkach(at)gmail.com

LOCAL TO VALLEY FORGE? We will need someone to buy some supplies, get us a coffee urn (borrowing if possible), etc. The Guild will reimburse and get you access to our Sam’s or Costco membership.

BEFORE THE CONFERENCE:

–Someone to schedule book signings. This person will take names of members who want to do a signing and make a schedule for the booth.
–Someone to create a schedule we can put in the CMN program brochure.
–Someone to print items for the booth–this varies from brochures to business cards to cover art or other art for the booth. The Guild will reimburse you for printing costs.

DURING THE CONFERENCE:

Booth Set-up/Tear down the booth: We have a fabulous booth and CMN gives us a terrific spot each year. This is done on Tuesday afternoon, so you’d need to come to the conference a day early. Tear down is usually after the last day of the conference. It’s a lot of fun–sometimes, we get free stuff from the other booths that don’t want to deal with carrying stock home!
People to man the booth: You will watch the booth, talk to people about the Guild, man the coffee pot, keep things neat, etc.
People to work with the authors at the book signing: You’ll make sure they have a sign and pens, and make an announcement over the PA system.
Technical Assistant: To handle AV equipment for presentations
Presenter Aids: You will make sure presenters are at their classroom on time, lead the group in a short prayer and introduce the presenter. You may also get supplies (pens etc) and water for presenters.

Volunteer Drive: List of Programs

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Have we really been around only five years? The Guild started out as a small group of folks on Yahoo that wanted to do something more than chat about writing. They wanted to band together to become a force for Catholic writing and Catholic writers–and to help themselves in the process.

In just those few short years, we went from a chatty Yahoo group to a national non-profit corporation that hosts two conferences a year, runs two newsletters (one for members and one for bookstores and readers), has a process to evaluate the Catholicity of a book (the Seal of Approval), and even has a national award–the Catholic Arts and Letters Award, which will be given out at the live conference in August. Just as nice: Probably 20 people or more can attribute their book contracts or writing gigs to something they’ve done in the Guild. And we’ve done all of this on a shoestring budget.

How are we doing this? Volunteers. People who give of their time and talent to make these things happen. We are growing, and the demands are growing, too. We need more folks helping out, even if only a task or two a month.

Why volunteer? It is work, and we know folks are busy. However, volunteering gets you a lot of benefits, too:

–Making friends: Our volunteers band together on and off the project. I’ve made some of my best friends in the Guild.
–Networking: Working with the Guild can give you a way to make contact with publishers, other writers, and folks in other areas of publishing. Several of our volunteers have found this foot in the door helpful. (Like I said–writing gigs have come about as a direct result of Guild work!)
–The satisfaction of being part of something bigger than yourself. The Guild is going to be a force, not just for writing, but for promoting our faith. What a mission! We are doing God’s work on earth.

What do you need to volunteer?

–DEDICATION: We don’t need folks to volunteer a lot of time, but we do need to know that if you volunteer for a task you will complete it or get help if needed. Most tasks take less than an hour a week, or are a once in a while thing.
–Eyes, ears, a computer with internet access and a phone. Very few of our volunteer tasks need special skills, and we are willing to train folks for specific tasks as needed.

Where do we need volunteers? Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sending out information on the various programs and projects we have, and what kind of help we need, both on the new CWG blog (http://blog.catholicwritersguild.com) and via direct mail. Please be on the lookout for them, and if interested, contact the program coordinator. However, here are the absoluter basics: If you are willing to help now and want to contact me directly, please do so at karina(at)fabianspace.com.

Seal of Approval: Needs a coordinator to take half the books; readers to evaluate the books. To help with the Seal of Approval, contact Sarah Reinhard at sarah(at)snoringscholar.com
CWG Chats: An assistant coordinator to find and schedule special guests once a month; moderators to run chat (like at CWCO). If interested, contact Theresa Henderson at steve_and_theresa(at)yahoo.com
Inside the CWG: Reporters; editors; layout person (layout person must know HTML): Contact Maria Rivera at mariarr(at)wi.rr.com
Publicity: We’re just putting this committee together, so we need leaders; people to contact the media; people to compile contact lists, etc. Contact Karina Fabian at karina(at)fabianspace.com
Facebook: Some folks to post news; ask folks to “like” the pages or follow our blog. Contact Karina at karina(at)fabianspace.com
CWG Wiki: To be a list of articles specifically about Catholic writers. Need writers and editors and fact-checkers. If interested, contact Dave Law at davealaw(at)shaw.ca
Volunteer Coordinator: Someone(s) to contact new members and get them involved, track and fill needs of committees. If interested, please contact Karina Fabian karina(at)fabianspace.com
CWG Blog: Glad to take more guest bloggers. Contact Jennifer at currentresident(at)fitzes.com.
Catholic Writers Conference Live/Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show: This is big and we have many needs both before and after the conference. Contact Ann Lewis at annlewis(at)joesystems.com.

If you aren’t sure how you can help, please check the blog each Thursday for our call for volunteers. I will be posting more detailed duties and needs. We can do so much for Catholic writing if we work together–and you can benefit personally as well!

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P.O. Box 77
Eaton, IN 47338

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