Seal of Approval, First Quarter 2023

If you are a dues-paying member, you should have gotten this e-mail last Friday; however, I’m posting it here again to try to catch more of you.  Of all the programs the CWG has done, this one is the one that most directly helps Catholic writers in their marketing efforts and is a boon to Catholic bookstores as well.  We really need dedicated people to keep it going.  We’ve been blessed with Sarah, Carol-Ann and Mary–will we be blessed with you, too?

–Karina

One of our most successful programs is the Seal of Approval, which vetts books for quality and Catholic content with the goal of marking those qualified to stand on the shelves of Catholic bookstores.  Three wonderful ladies have been handling this:  Sarah Reinhard, Carol-Ann Chybowski, and Mary Gildersleeve.  This year, however, Mary needs to bow out, and Sarah is looking for an apprentice/ assistant.   Would you be willing to help out?

The Seal of Approval runs on a quarterly schedule, and handles ten to thirty books a quarter.  We have a cadre of around twenty-five readers.

Below are the duties:

Mary Gildersleeve, SoA Awards Coordinator:

Once winners were chosen, SoA Coordinator took care of the letters, which involved:
•    filling in the blanks for the Yes List and emailing the SOA art
•    sending that information to Margot Davidson, so she could mail hard copy seals
•    sending drafts of No letters to Ann for proofing, suggestions, etc.

SoA Coordinator, Sarah Reinhard (apprentice/assistant needed):

Monthly:  I fill out Committee report with updates on needs and achievements of the SoA committee.

As Needed:  I correspond with officers on the needs and issues of the SoA that cannot wait for the meeting.

Right before a submission month:
•    promo on Guild blog

During submission month:
•    Forward subs to Carol Ann
•    Once a week, I usually do a once-over on the spreadsheet, touch base with Carol Ann, make sure there are no flaming emails or such. Some weeks, it seems to be an hourly sort of thing. Other weeks, I don’t even know SOA exists.
•    Part of this time frame also includes sending follow-up emails to authors as their electronic copies come through.
At the end of the sub time:
•    I check the spreadsheet and verify that we do have electronic copies of all the books (sometimes I just email Carol Ann and she checks)
•    Remind Carol Ann that we need to recruit readers, give them the timeline, get info lined up
During the eval time:
•    forward evals to Carol Ann as they come in
•    alert authors where hard copies need to be sent
Near the end of eval time, closing in on awarding time:
•    touch base with Carol Ann (and Mary) with the titles that I think need to be evaluated by Core Team (I also monitor this through the eval period…if I see a flag go up, I’ll read the evals and see if we need to get on it)
•    I also make the “call” on some titles—sometimes, our evaluators are a little overzealous in rejecting a book
•    At the end, as we get to awarding, I’ll email Carol Ann (and Mary) and give them the Yes List, the “I’m Not Sure” List, and the No List.
Mary then took care of the letters, which involved:
•    filling in the blanks for the Yes List and emailing the SOA art
•    sending that information to Margot Davidson, so she could mail hard copy seals
•    sending drafts of No letters to Ann for proofing, suggestions, etc.
On occasion:  Authors will not be happy with the Committee decision; I am the person who deals with their replies. Carol Ann (and Mary) do not.  I consult with the officers when there is an issue that needs consideration.

After awarding is done,
•    I copy the list of Yes titles into the SOA google doc, email it to a list of Guild members (Ellen, you, Ann, Maria for the newsletter, Jen for the blog, and a few others who I can’t remember offhand)
•    I move the titles off the working part of the spreadsheet into the archived part of the spreadsheet
•    I move the decline notes into a different part so our working doc is clear again

Please contact Sarah Reinhard at soa(at)catholicwritersguild.com if interested.