Welcome to Our New Members
Welcome to St. Louis Writer’s Guild! SLWG brings writers together for the purposes of inspiration, encouragement, creative and professional growth, and friendship. We’re happy to have you join our outstanding legacy. We were founded in 1920 by six local writers each a highly accomplished author. Tennessee Williams won our short story contest in 1935. You can read all about our history on our website’s Who Are We? section. You are now a part of it!
Electronic Newsletter
Make sure you subscribe to Here's News! our electronic newsletter sent out two to three times a month, which will keep you informed of all our news, including our members’ accomplishments and announcements and the events of our fellow nonprofit literary organizations. Please make sure your spam blocker doesn’t block our email, and please make a habit of reading our emails promptly and carefully because we use the newsletter to inform our members of important matters that require their attention. Also, be sure and post your own announcements and accomplishments on our Blog and send us a link if you’d like us to promote your news in Here's News! to news@stlwritersguild.org.
Quarterly Newsletter:
You will also receive our quarterly print newsletter, THE SCRIBE, which will come to you by US mail. It contains special “members only” content not offered to the public through our electronic newsletter or our website. We are always seeking volunteers to cover events and contribute to our newsletter. We also feature a member every issue, which our Newsletter Editor assigns. You can contact the editor at newsletter@stlwritersguild.org
Online Accounts for Members-Only Features:
If you requested log on accounts on your application for our Discussion Board and Blogs, the Webmaster will send you your account information very shortly. If you want accounts to access our Members-Only features but didn’t request accounts, please contact the Webmaster at webmaster@stlwritersguild.org for your accounts. Your accounts will allow you to access market information, community contests, job opportunities for freelance writers, and offer you the privilege of posting messages to our Blogs and Discussion Boards, among other online privileges. Get accounts to help promote yourself. You can also use your Discussion Board account to keep your membership information, such as your email address, mailing address, bio, website link, bookstore information, writing formats and genres, current.
Opportunities to Advance Your Writing:
The SLWG mission is to further literary arts by connecting, supporting, and promoting writers and literary organizations. For this reason, we host and participate in events that encourage writing development, the achievement of successful careers as writers, and publication. Above all, we focus on excellence in writing. If you are interested in advancing your writing skills, we strongly encourage participation in our lectures and workshops and in those community workshops we promote (often at a discount). You can also join a SLWG critique group. Read about them on our website to see if they’re a good fit for you. Members are also at liberty to start their own groups and writing partnerships. We have a critique group and writing partner directory (coming soon).
Publicity for Members:
SLWG helps promote our members on our website and in our newsletters, including their works and accomplishments, their writing-related businesses, and their activities, such as book readings and signings. Members also have the privilege of posting their own articles, accomplishments, news, etc. on the two blogs. This is one of our most valuable and effective benefits!
Website Listings to Promote Yourself
This is another one of our most valuable and effective benefits! Members can have themselves listed in various places on the website. These are just an example:
- Public membership directory, which agents and publishers can view
- Private membership directory, which members can use to network with other members
- Online bookstore displays books published by members with links to online bookstores
Professional Writing Services
Members can get help with their writing projects and receive a minimum 10% discount. Our Freelance Professionals can help you with writing-related needs, such as editing, proofreading, book coaching, book development, website content and design, etc. Members who use our Freelance Professionals will receive a discount of at least 10%. Do you qualify to be listed among our Freelance Professionals? Send inquiries to: freelance@stlwritersguild.org, but you must be a member to be listed.
Speakers Bureau
Our Speakers Bureau lists members who give lectures, workshops, and seminars. If you qualify and are a member, send your information to: webmaster@stlwritersguild.org.
Events, Maps, etc.:
We tell all our members that, above all, attendance of our events is the single-most important contribution any member can make toward the success of St. Louis Writers Guild. Almost all of our speakers and venue hosts provide their services and accommodations to us free of charge. They hope we bring in a nice crowd to appreciate them. They also hope that our events will result in some purchases of books and refreshments. We know our members can’t purchase every book from every speaker, but take advantage of the opportunity to obtain autographed copies for your personal collection or gifts when you can. Please do order food or a drink from our restaurant hosts when you attend Open Mic Night or similar events. We appreciate our sponsors very much and want to help them.
Typically the Guild holds three to four “Regular events” each month; they include:
First Saturday - Workshop
Kirkwood Community Center
10 am – 12 pm
Second Tuesday - Open Mic Night at Wired Coffee
Wired Coffee – Sunset Hills
7 pm – 9 pm
Third Thursday - Month-Lecture Series (odd-numbered months only)
Borders – Brentwood
7 pm – 8 pm
Third Tuesday - Loud Mouth Open Mic Night
The Mack – St. Louis
8 pm – 10 pm
Additionally we announce Special Events from time to time, some of which we host and others we participate in.
We do a good job of keeping our website updated, so be sure and check it regularly. You can find program details, information on featured speakers, maps, and directions by visiting our Calendar and our Spotlight pages. Please register to attend all SLWG events (not required, but very helpful to us) so we can prepare enough handouts and other accommodations for our attendees. Also, arrive 45 minutes early at Borders-Brentwood events to enjoy coffee, food, and friendship with fellow members in the café.
Change of Email Address and other Contact Info.:
If your email address or other contact information should change, you can update it yourself by logging on to our Discussion Board and clicking on the link called Manage My Accounts, located on the left sidebar. Please take special care to keep us informed. We don’t want you to miss our newsletters.
Questions:
Email is the best way to get a quick response on a question. You can find our contacts listed on the website. Just click on Contact Us from the Home page. Try to direct questions to the appropriate contacts (website problems to webmaster@stlwritersguild.org, changes in membership information to membership@stlwritersguild.org). General questions about SLWG or programs, etc., can be directed to info@stlwritersguild.org.
If you need immediate assistance, our telephone number is 314-974-2395 during our regular office hours: Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm. The office is closed on holidays. Messages left on weekends or after hours will be returned as soon as possible on the next business day. If you have an urgent matter and are unable to make or take calls during our regular office hours, you may use email or leave us a voice mail message stating the best time for us to call you back
Involvement:
We are looking forward to getting to know you at our upcoming events. You can be just as involved as you like in SLWG. You will not feel “new” as many of our members have joined in the past year or so, and most of our leaders and volunteers actually took on jobs or activities for our committees or even began serving on the board very shortly after they became members. Experience is not required! SLWG is a great way for writers to meet other writers. You have friends here.
Volunteering:
Volunteering is a great way to get involved, and there are benefits to volunteering. Besides specific benefits of each job, SLWG recognizes volunteers as Members of Distinction. Check out our Members of Distinction page for benefits. If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out our Volunteer form.