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Joined: 3/14/2011
Posts: 10
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I'm a member of RWA and the Beau Monde specialty chapter, but not a local chapter. I find online communities work best for me because I'm writing and thinking about writing after hours and at odd times. I'm also not normally an outgoing person.
But recently I've been thinking maybe I should get involved with the local chapter, though it's only once a month meetings. Do you belong to RWA? Do you attend local meetings, how often, and if so what are the biggest benefits you get out of the meetings?
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Joined: 4/3/2011
Posts: 20
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Hi Elaine -
A lot of what you can get out of a chapter depends on which chapter you join. I used to belong to my local RWA chapter, but I didn't find the meetings to my taste. The people are super nice and all, but the meetings drove me crazy.
On the other hand, my Sisters in Crime chapter has really interesting chapter meetings, so there it's totally worth joining the local chapter.
The best advice I can give you is to visit your local chapter meetings. Most of them will let you sit in on a meeting or two before joining.
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Joined: 4/3/2011
Posts: 8
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I belong to my local chapter, and it's a critique chapter. We meet twice a month. The first meeting we have some kind of program - guest speaker from the industry or something - and do one critique. The second meeting of the month we do 2 critiques. So beyond having a really supportive group, we learn from each others mistakes and from the knowledge of everyone in the room when we talk through the critique.
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Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 8
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I just joined my local chapter in January and I've gotten a lot out of it. It isn't a critique chapter, but I didn't join it for that reason, since I'm already in a critique group. I just wanted to meet other romance writers in the area and talk with them, since none of my critique buddies write romance or fantasy (my 2 genres). In addition to monthly meetings, our local RWA chapter has a half-day brainstorming session once a month, which I like, because it's very informal, it involves food (!), and we can pass around our queries or synopses for feedback or discuss issues that are blocking our stories. I also feel more confident going to the local chapter's conference this summer, because I'll know some people there.
Anyway, I would also suggest you attend a meeting or two and see if it fits your style.
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I was a member of the Valley Forge chapter for six years and loved it. I joined the RWA after meeting some members online, because I found that as a group they were knowledgeable, supportive and friendly. We had speakers almost every month, often agents or published writer who were willing to share what they knew. I learned a lot about writing there. And to was fun to meet and talk about writing with people who knew. For me it was also fun being the only man in a room full of women thinking about romance 
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Joined: 2/14/2015
Posts: 16
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I joined RWA back in 2010 when my first books was e-pubbed in hopes of garnering some connections and learning a few tips. But I really didn't other than get a scathing review of one of my now best-selling books via one of their "review submission" portals. I let my membership lapse but was thinking of reviving it mainly to join the local chapters (Metro Detroit and Northern Ohio) which both have cool contests I probably should enter.
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Joined: 11/17/2011
Posts: 1016
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Hi Liz,
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I am taking a peek at your work on Amazon. Is that where your best-seller title comes from? I'm not published yet myself, but I'm trying to understand how this works, for future reference.
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Also, the small publishers you have gone with, do you recommend that route (versus do-it-yourself)? What do you believe did they did for you in terms of sales? (Hard to determine, I know.)
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