Critter Notices
Critters is 30!
Last November, Critters turned 30 years old! Wow! Thanks so much to all of you, who've made it such a resounding success!
FEATURED BOOK
Professional Members
We encourage authors and artists who are professionals in their field to join the workshop. Defintions are below for what we consider professional in various writing, artistic, and other fields.
Definifing "Professional" — Writing
For writing workshops, we define "professional" as being a full, voting member of the appropriate professional organization (or eligible to be one). For example, for science fiction writers, "pro" means being an "Active" member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Similarly for mystery writers and the Mystery Writers of America, horror writers and the Horror Writers Association, romance writers and the Romance Writers of America ("PAN" program), and so on.
Members of the Authors Guild, Novelists, Inc., National Writers Union, Writers Guild West, Writers Guild East, etc. at the highest membership level are considered professional in the genres they have professional publications.
Generally the hallmark of such level of membership is having sold publications to highly respected publishers (e.g. Random House, The New Yorker, Paris Review, etc.) for substantial payments in advance of publication. Self-published works, royalty-only sales, or sales to semi-professional markets aren't considered as professional for workshop "pro perks" purposes.
Definifing "Professional" — Art, Music, Film, etc.
We're in the process of determining what are the best definitions in each other workshop area, and will update this page as we go. Your Critter Captain isn't an expert in these fields thus welcomes your guidance. Generally the guidelines should be similar to those for writers, such as professional-level membership in the appropriate organization (or eligibility for it), which usually revolves around making sales to highly respected places and generally getting paid well for it.
