It’s Writing Organizations week here at Genreality and I’ve been asked to talk about the Horror Writers Association. I can’t imagine why they want me to talk about that one. <grin>
I joined the HWA back in 2001, when I was just starting out in my writing career. I’d been aware of it for awhile and when it looked like I was actually going to pursue a career I writing horror and dark fantasy it made sense to join the one organization that was devoted to helping professionals in that area.
It’s current mission statement reads:
The Horror Writers Association exists to promote and protect the careers of professional horror writers and those seeking to enter their ranks, while at the same time using its best endeavors to raise the profile of the horror genre in the publishing industry and among readers in general.
At the time I joined, the org had lost a lot of its direction. Originally founded by Robert McCammon and Joe Lansdale, it had started out as a group devoted to helping horror writers through networking and genre awareness. You have to remember that this was back in the days before the internet was a worldwide phenomenon and when horror as a genre was booming. It was the first time horror writers had banded together to help one another survive the harsh realities of writing for a living. By the time I joined, the purely professional status of its membership had expanded to include anyone with an interest in writing horror, regardless of whether you’d ever actually professionally published anything or not.
In my view, when you dilute the message, you dilute the effectiveness of that message.
Membership in the org was split into three categories – Active voting members with professional publications to their credit, Affiliate non-voting members who were still trying to break through that publishing barrier, and Associates made up of those working in the field who were not writers, namely editors, publishers and the like. I joined as an Active member thanks to the advance I received from the small press publisher that first published RIVERWATCH and I’ve been a member ever since.
I’m a firm believer in trying to fix things from the inside out, so rather than sit on the sidelines and bitch about the problems I thought the organization had, I threw my hat into the ring to run for president later that year. Much to my everlasting surprise, I was actually elected!
I served for four years as head of the organization, stepping down in 2005, and much of what we accomplished was due to the hard work and energy that my co-officers and Board of Trustees brought to the mat with them each and every day. Together we worked to bring the organization back to its original goal, that of helping professional writers succeed in a difficult and challenging environment, while at the same time promoting the horror genre as a whole. Personally, I think we did okay. We restored the publication requirements to get in the door, for Actives and Affiliates alike. We brought some of the prestige back to the Bram Stoker Awards and tied them to a weekend long professional event to help our members keep moving the ball forward with their own careers. We increase the standard pay rates we thought were acceptable for writing short fiction in today’s market and watched as many of the venues publishing short fiction raised their pay rates to meet the new standard in response.
I stepped down a few years ago and the administrations of Gary Braunbeck and now Deborah LeBlanc have continued that trend. I even ran for Trustee recently so that I could continue to have a hand in making the HWA the kind of 
writing organization that writers can be proud of joining. Under Deb’s leadership we’ve become active at major publishing events such as Book Expo America and Pocket Books just published a new HWA anthology, BLOOD LITE, the first in many years. Major Horror Writers such as Peter Straub, Clive Barker, Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong and more have all returned to the fold.
If you write horror and dark or urban fantasy, there are a number of benefits to being a member. Networking with writers and editors in the field comes in at the top of the list. An annual presence at major events such as Book Expo America is right up there as well. Information and discussion on the organization’s private message board. The hardship fund. The monthly newsletter. Participation in the Bram Stoker Award voting process and award celebration. Agent listings. Reviewer listings. A contract reference section. I could go on. While some of these benefits are more targeted to newcomers than veterans, there is no doubt that the current administration is working hard to balance that and I for one am looking forward to seeing what 2009 brings to us.
So there’s a quick look at the HWA and what it’s all about. I’m happy to answer any questions anyone has about the org or its history, so feel free to use the comment section.
