Gupton is right about the different types of membership in RWA (general, PRO and PAN), but this isn't quite correct:Once I have a contract, I graduate to PAN. To be eligible for PAN you have to have a book published with an RWA-recognized publisher (a contract with one will get you provisional PAN status). There are a number of hoops a press has to jump to get recognition: they have to have been in business for more than a year, have national distribution, offer royalties, and sell at least 1,500 copies of a hardback or trade paperback or 5,000 mass market or other format romance title each year. I know, because I'm stuck in PRO with anyone who's finished a manuscript. We sold more than 1500 copies of Price in a year, but it was the very first romance the press had ever published, so there's no yearly history of romance sales. I only care because I was in D.C. for the Lammies last year, which is always held in the same city as BEA and the night before it starts--I'd have loved to participate in the RWA signing and get the cheap pass ($55 for all three days, as opposed to $100 for a single-day pass). Maybe next year...

veinglory wrote: "I think the group should be for published writers" Oh, I see. Thanks for clarifying. Jules wrote: "So, there is a tier system." Hmm. I'm sure this works for RWAS, but it sounds a bit too complicated for a two-hundred-member organization. But perhaps the EAA members will have more thoughts on this. MJ wrote: "I only care because I was in D.C. for the Lammies last year" Darn, did I miss the Lammies in D.C.? (Not that I probably could have afforded the admission fee.) Speaking of which . . . Gaylaxicon in D.C. in 2008! (I know, I've said that here before. I'm still excited.)

As someone who has never been over there before - the first thing that hits me is the colours. A sick shade green with yellow and red text. It really makes me feel rather ill, I don't want to look at the website. The second thing is the graphics on the page logo's etc seem rather dated. The third thing (after I've forced myself to look at the website) is it doesn't say exactly what it does. Fourth - I can't take it anymore I really need to leave this site, it is giving me a headache. I would suggest a more neutral colour scheme - plain pale background (No patterns) and dark text. (White background and black writing works). A misson statement as well (or if there is one put it in a more obvious place). The current quote Honoring Literary Merit and Achievement in the Writing and Publishing of Erotic Literature. on the main page doesn't tell me a great deal.

Thanks! Those are the two things everyone seems to agree on: Needs a new design and needs a page explaining the organization's mission. I'd thought of the latter; I'm onto the former.