Who Can Join?

We help writers who are Christian achieve excellence, whether you write for business, community or church readerships, whether you write inspirational or secular material. If you write, The Word Guild is for you!

Membership in The Word Guild community is open to anyone who is a writer or editor or who is interested in writing, and is a Christian who affirms The Apostles' Creed.

In order to join, you do not need to write predominantly "Christian" or "inspirational" material that is published in the church press, is sold in Christian bookstores or deals with faith, religion, theology, spirituality and related subject matter. In other words, the writer needs to be Christian, not the material!

Our membership includes the whole range of ages and experience levels, from students and people who are aspiring writers but haven't been published yet, to professional writers and editors who have decades of experience and have published many articles or books. We also welcome non-writers who work in related fields such as church or public librarians, booksellers or avid readers to show their support by joining us as affiliate members. Our mandate is connecting, developing and promoting Canadian writers and editors who are Christian, but a few Americans have chosen to join us.

Our members write and edit in many genres, from humour, biographies, poetry, children's picture books, devotionals, suspense novels, musicals for community theatre and television scripts -- to interior design and gardening articles or physical fitness columns. They get published in everything from trade publications, technical manuals and textbooks to national daily newspapers, denominational magazines, Internet sites and community weekly newspapers. Our authors are published through a gamut of methods: mainstream, multi-national royalty publishers, small literary, academic or regional presses, large or small Christian publishing houses, or independently producing their own books.

The Word Guild's goal is to strengthen the Canadian Christian writing and publishing community and to raise the bar for excellence and professionalism. By taking concrete steps to accomplish that (such as our conferences and writing awards programs), we are working toward our longterm goal of impacting the Canadian culture through the words of writers, editors and speakers with a Christian worldview.

The Word Guild's mandate is to be a co-operative effort, with all members working together to expand the quality, scope, impact --- and markets for -- our writing and editing. Yes, we must charge a membership fee in order to cover a portion of our administrative costs. But we need each member's participation in order to serve each other.

New! Discounts for multi-year memberships

Some of you have been requesting this, and it's now available! Now you can pay for your TWG membership for two, three or more years at a time -- saving yourself both money and the annoyance of renewal reminders every 12 months.

Dual memberships are also available, for two people from the same household (such as husband and wife, or parent and child).

Think you can’t afford to renew your membership? Check again! TWG membership is equivalent to the cost of a small Tim Horton’s coffee and one Timbit a week for associate members – or an extra-large coffee and three Timbits a week for professional members! And it costs even less if you sign up for two or more years.

See the discount fee details on this PDF document.

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Membership Categories

The Word Guild has three categories of membership:

1. Professional Member

Anyone who agrees with our statement of faith and (a) is employed full-time as a writer or editor or (b) has produced a sufficient body of published work to accumulate a total of 50 points according to our professional member assessment.

To join, fill out this membership application PLUS the professional assessment form and mail them to The Word Guild, 698A Highpoint Ave Waterloo ON N2V 1G9, along with a cheque for $99.75 ($95 plus $4.75 GST) for a one-year membership. (See above for discounted rates for two or more years membership.) New members add a one-time $21.00 ($20 plus GST) administration fee. This fee covers your initial membership setup and new member package that will be mailed to you upon registration.

2. Associate Member

Anyone who agrees with our statement of faith and is engaged in writing or editing as a personal interest, developing the craft of writing, or beginning to put together a body of published work.

To join fill out this membership application and mail it to The Word Guild, 698A Highpoint Ave Waterloo ON N2V 1G9, along with a cheque for $61.95 ($59 plus $2.95 GST) for a one-year membership. (See above for discounted rates for two or more years membership.) New members add a one-time $21.00 ($20 plus GST) administration fee. This fee covers your initial membership setup and new member package that will be mailed to you upon registration.

3. Affiliate Member

Anyone who agrees with our statement of faith and is engaged in a related field such as publishing, bookselling, printing, education, other media, public relations, etc.; is a church or public librarian; is an avid reader; or who simply wishes to show support and to keep updated through receiving TWG member mailings and materials.

To join, fill out this membership application and mail it to The Word Guild, 698A Highpoint Ave Waterloo ON N2V 1G9 along with a cheque for $61.95 ($59 plus $2.95 GST) for one-year membership. (See above for discounted rates for two or more years membership.) New members add a one-time $21.00 ($20 plus GST) administration fee. This fee covers your initial membership setup and new member package that will be mailed to you upon registration.

Check here to see the benefits of membership.

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