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Member News: Our Writers Retreat Is Almost Here!

Member News: Our Writers Retreat Is Almost Here!

 

It pains me to say it, but summer is almost at an end in my part of the world. The best I can hope to do is muster some excitement for new opportunities that coincide with a new school year. A new routine to incorporate writing, being one!

The Guild has its retreat, back from hiatus, planned for October. We have enough registrants to make it a viable event, but if you’ve been procrastinating, please register ASAP to make sure to save your spot. It promises to be a worthwhile event: a Catholic writer’s dream, if you ask me!

Also, please share news of the event with fellow Catholics and pray for its success. You can share our social media posts or copy and paste information from the details below.

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The Catholic Writers Guild’s Retreat for Catholic Writers has returned and is scheduled for October 9-13, 2023, at St. Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt, Michigan.

The retreat offers ample time away from life’s distractions to focus on writing, whether it’s developing a proposal, polishing a manuscript, banging out a first draft, or meeting an editorial deadline. Time is provided for critiques by fellow Catholic writers.

Deacon Greg Kandra, best known for his popular blog “The Deacon’s Bench,” will deliver daily reflections. Deacon Kandra is an author, speaker, blogger, and award-winning journalist, who was ordained a deacon in the Diocese of Brooklyn in 2007.

Cost, including room and all meals, is $875. The retreat center is conveniently located five minutes north of Lansing, Michigan, an easy drive from the airport, and a shuttle is provided.

Register at bit.ly/CatholicWritersRetreat.

 

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Thank you to Guild member Nancy Bechel for this beautiful image incorporating our prayer!

You should be able to right-click on the image and save to your computer or save to your device, keeping it handy on your desktop or wallpaper so that you can make a habit of praying before writing.


Heartbeat

We hit a milestone – 60 users online at once!

Whether you’re a new member or you missed the email invitation in your inbox, we’d like invite you to join the Catholic Writers Guild Heartbeat community!

More than 250 of our members have joined, and it has become a lively place for our members to discuss, chat, critique, plan meet-ups, and more!

If you are an active member (meaning your dues are paid up) and have not received or have lost your invitation, reply to this email, and I’ll be sure you receive an invitation. (If you’re not a member, you can still access our Sunday night chats and the public portion of our community.)


God, Your Writing, and You

Guild member Karina Fabian is compiling a book of inspirational stories (nonfiction) around writing as Catholics. The idea is to make it a gift to the Guild to give all members and to sell on Amazon (with proceeds to the Guild). These are short stories about how God has affected your writing in a concrete way, stories about saint writers, success stories, etc. This is NOT a devotional or a lessons-style book.

IMPORTANT: To contribute, please read and follow the guidelines.

Due date: Oct 1, 2023.

No compensation. Each contributor gets a one-sentence bio with a link per story.


Seal of Approval

Remaining application dates for 2023:

  • Fri., September 15

During the 24-hour application window, you can access the Seal of Approval application form. Reminder: If your book has received an Imprimatur, it is ineligible for the Seal of Approval but receives all benefits associated with the Seal. More information on the Seal of Approval process.

To become a volunteer evaluator, email the SOA committee at [email protected]. Training is provided.


Check Your Spam!

If you’re waiting on a reply from an official Guild email account (one ending in catholicwritersguild.com or catholicwritersguild.org), please be sure to check your spam or junk folder. Unfortunately, our messages have a way of ending up there.

If you’ve not received a reply to a message in a reasonable amount of time, please check your junk or spam folder before resending your message.

With rare exception, I personally reply to messages within 2-3 days, maximum.


Copyright 2023 Carolyn Astfalk

CWG Member News for April 2022: Live Conference Registration is Open!

Here we are at the cusp of another Easter! April is nearly half behind us, and the Catholic Writers Guild is looking forward to the return to its live conference in July. Amy Cattapan and a group of dedicated volunteers are working to bring you a spectacular conference. I hope you’ll consider attending! Please see below for more information, including an important instruction regarding registration.

May this Holy Week provide you with many opportunities to grow closer to our suffering Savior.

Carolyn Astfalk
President

 


Catholic Writers Conference Live!

Our live conference returns this year, held in conjunction with Catholic Marketing Network’s Momentum 2022 July 25-28, 2022 in Schaumburg, Illinois. The full Catholic Writers Guild schedule will be finalized and shared very soon.

Registration is being handled through the Catholic Marketing Network. When you register, remember to click on “Catholic Writers Guild Track.” This is the only way for CMN to properly credit the Guild for its registrations, which help to cover our expenses.

 

Ride/Room Sharing

If you’d like to share costs with fellow Guildies by carpooling or sharing a hotel room, complete the forms linked in the member newsletter dated April 12 and then contact other members by email to make final arrangements. (Missing your copy of the newsletter? Check your spam folder before emailing [email protected])


Testimonials Wanted!

Would you like to share a brief (max 25 words) testimonial like the one above about the Catholic Writers Guild for our social media promotion? This could be a general testimonial or something about our conferences, awards, Seal of Approval, critique groups, or other activities. Please email your testimonial to vicepresident@catholicwritersguild.com.


Volunteer Opportunity: Bigmarker Managers

Do you like tech and want to help the Guild? We need of a couple of volunteers to manage the Bigmarker system. (It’s as easy as Zoom.)

What you need to know:

  • To increase our webinar offerings, volunteers are needed for beyond the annual online conference.
  • Assistance is needed with setting up the online conference. (The next will be in Winter 2023.)
  • Webinar masters are paid (usually a percentage of paid registrations).
  • Training videos are available as well as assistance from our resident Bigmarker expert, Karina Fabian.

Interested? More questions? Ready to commit? Let us know.


CWG Member News March 2022: Opportunities Galore!

We’ve been gearing up to revive some activities that have fallen by the wayside, asking you to prayerfully consider where you can pitch in. This month, we have some concrete opportunities. Please read on for details.

I pray that despite the many distractions and crises in our world, these grace-filled weeks of Lent bring you closer to our suffering Savior.

Carolyn Astfalk
President


[Editor’s note: email addresses and links to members-only forms are included in the newsletter sent to all CWG members. If you did not receive your newsletter, which was sent on March 10, first check your spam folder before emailing [email protected].]

By Popular Request

There was great interest at the online conference in a listing of members and their websites, podcasts, and social media. This will help our members connect, share ideas, and promote each other’s work. We’ll provide access to a spreadsheet with this information in our next newsletter. Please fill in the members-only Google form linked in the March newsletter if you’d like to participate.

Showcase Your Writing

Write for the CWG blog! We’d love to revive the blog as a showcase of member writing. We have a survey for members who would like to help with this project as a monthly writer and/or editor. We’re also seeking blog committee members. Please fill in the members-only form linked in the March newsletter, and our CWG blog project manager, Katelin Cummins, will be in touch.

Social Media Help Wanted

We could really use a volunteer or two to assist with social meda. Currently we have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and MeWe. We also have some software to help with certain social media scheduling. We’d like to post about twice per week, plus engage with our followers. Interested? Contact information is available in the March newsletter.

 

Testimonials Wanted!

Would you like to share a brief (max 25 words) testimonial like the one above about the Catholic Writers Guild for our social media promotion? This could be a general testimonial or something about our conferences, awards, Seal of Approval, critique groups, or other activities. Contact information is available in the March newsletter.

CWCO Wrap-up

Our pitch sessions were a great success! To clarify last month’s update: Twenty-seven pitches resulted in manuscript requests. An additional eleven pitches sparked some interest that may result in a later request. Thanks to all of those who coordinated and participated! If you attended the conference, you should have received email links to the recorded sessions. If you did not, please let Carolyn know.

Ohio Writers: Let’s Start a New Chapter

We’re looking for writers interested in starting a Catholic Writers Guild Chapter in the Cincinnati/Dayton Area. Contact information is available in the March newsletter.

Catholic Writers Conference Live 2022

Mark your calendar and make your reservations! Our live conference returns this year, held in conjunction with Catholic Marketing Network’s Momentum 2022 July 25-28, 2022 in Schaumburg, Illinois (same location as last year). Would you take a couple of minutes to fill our this interest survey? It will help immensely with the planning for the event. Thank you!