Sunday, November 8, 2009

National Writers Union-Chicago Seeks Volunteers To Plan 2010 Events

To: NWU-Chicago membership
From: Martin Zabell (chairperson of NWU-Chicago)
Date: Oct. 14, 2009

At last night's monthly NWU-Chicago leadership meeting, the leadership agreed that we should begin planning our 2010 schedule.

What we need to do is formulate a schedule of events, perhaps one every two months, with one event being the building block for the second event and the second event being the lead-in to the third event, etc.

We also discussed specific events that would be of interest to the Chicago writing community and, once we found them, making these events part of our regular schedule. The events that were discussed most often were A. Self-publishing; B. Finding publishers and agents for books; C. Whether there is a future in blogging.

One problem we have had in the past is that not enough people have been involved in planning events. Thus, I am seeking people willing to volunteer their time to help plan the above events. And, of course, if you have suggestions for other events, please forward them on. We probably need four or five people to help plan each event. Someone from the NWU-Chicago leadership will be the lead planner for each event and will be the person to devote the most time for planning.

Please understand that these events could be an OPPORTUNITY for you to tell the world what you have done. In other words, you can help plan the event AND be a speaker. For example, if you self-published a book, an NWU event will an OPPORTUNITY for you to sell your book. And Event No. 2 can build on Event No. 1.

If we decided to plan a self-publishing event for April, we need to begin planning a couple of months ahead so I and other members of the leadership can also spend our time planning publicity for the event that you helped plan.

For the union to work, we NEED more active members. Participation is very gratifying and gives people a sense of belonging. I was an inactive member for a few years and am now active. It's worth the money you have already invested in our future if you also invest your time.

The union has made great progress since the former Chicago leadership in June was elected to national leadership. We are challenging an effort by Google to essentially take your copyrights for a ridiculously low price (better explanations can be read at nwuchicago.blogspot.com; or nwu.org), have been in the news more often for these efforts, are challenging textbook companies that have unfairly paid or not paid writers and editors, and are in the process of starting NWU-Chicago's first newsletter (which should come out by year's end).

For the union to take the next steps, we need your ACTIVE PARTICIPATION.

Shalom,
Martin Zabell

PS -- I would also appreciate it if you would inform me of other writing groups you belong to. This helps us plan future events. For example, if you are a member of a mystery writers or science fiction writers club, we can then co-sponsor events on more specific topics than those I have outlined above.

PS 2 -- Please phone me if you're interested at 708-832-2595. Please don't make me phone every single member of the union as I tried to do in August. I’m way too shy.

PS 3 -- I will post this notice on our Web site – nwuchicago.blogspot.com

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