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US author association the Romance Writers of America is facing a membership revolt after being accused of failing to "recognize the new digital world as a viable publishing option". A faction calling for change believes that the RWA's strict membership criteria is discriminating against digital publishers, and e-book-only authors. A publisher must offer at least a $1,000 advance in order to qualify for membership.
According to a piece on the US news website the Examiner, nearly 300 RWA members have joined a Yahoo group to discuss the issue, networking accounts have been set up on Facebook, Twitter (#RWAChange) and MySpace. A website domain has also been aquired.
The group were inspired by Deidre Knight, author, and owner of The Knight Agency, who argued on a blog that: "Many digital authors far exceed that amount [$1,000] in royalties, or sell more than 5,000 copies of print editions of their e-published titles. The problem with RWA’s simplistic criteria is that it ignores one crucial fact. Our industry is changing radically, with traditional publishers seeking innovative models for overhauling their distribution and content."
But RWA's president Diane Pershing responded: "Calling RWA out of step with the times because it does not think the 'no advance/high royalty rate' business model is fair to all its authors is a rather narrow way to define the organization. Just because something is currently popular with those who have chosen to embrace it doesn’t make it necessarily right. Or wrong, either. Time alone will tell, and, in time, RWA will make any changes necessary to further the professional interests of its members. That’s what RWA is all about."
And, she defended the RWA's belief that its authors should be paid advances: "The publishing industry is in a constant struggle to survive, authors’ numbers dip and rise and dip again; they are dropped, they are signed, and nothing is ever certain. This is why RWA must be a strong and loyal advocate for them RWA believes it is crucial to stand firm in our conviction that an author has a right to guaranteed payment for her work."