RWA PRO is *not* for Pros…

Watch out, ladies and gents, I’m on a real tear tonight! I was going to do a fun little meme but I’m not in the mood.

So this evening I got an email from the RWA National Board saying that, despite what I was told last year at this time (okay, eleven months ago) when I sold my book, I am *not* eligible to be a member of RWA PRO and have not been since I contracted my book. You see, according to the bylaws, as soon as I sell a book, I’m “PAN eligible” (though I argue that I am no PAN eligible, but only provisionally PAN eligible) which means that I’m kicked off the very active, useful, interesting, knowledgable, fun group of “PRO” (i.e., uncontracted but professional aspiring and small-press published) writers and shuffled off as a “provisional” member of the dead-as-a-doornail silent group of PRO members, who, in the last two months, have had exactly two conversations: one about baby kicks, the other about hotels near the conference in Atlanta.

Yes, this is useful information to me. And I’m sure this is useful information to people who have made their first sale and are looking for agents, or who are trying to turn their paltry one book deal at one house into a multibook deal at another house. After the announcement on the PRO Loop today, other recently sold members came on and said that they got all their useful info from PRO, that they neeed the helpful guidance of experienced members of PRO to find agents, deal with editos, talk about craft… and were told that they’d find much better info about finding an agent from the silent silent PAN loops, where, it appears, everyone either has agents or doesn’t want them (because they certainly never discuss them!) Other, uncontracted PROs came on and said it made no sense to them that the people who would be MOST USEFUL to them — i.e., the people who had just sold — were suddenly BANNED from giving out information about what had just happened to them?

WTF? Can anyone tell me why this makes a lick of sense? Can anyone tell me why the people that have the most to discuss about the process aren’t allowed to? Can anyone tell me why just contracted clueless newbies have less in common with small press published or teetering on the brink or agented or whatever “PROs” than they do with the old guard who have had everything together for the past few decades and really doesn’t want some newbie coming in and asking them what to do about finding an agent?

And, most importantly, if this is the policy, can anyone tell me why, for the many years I’ve been PRO, that there have been heaps of contracted members that remained part of the program up until the time their books hit the stands? Shall I name them all and get them in trouble?

I am SERIOUSLY distraught about this. I have been a fervent supporter of PRO since I’ve joined RWA, and I was even a PRO Liaison of my chapter last year (which, I heard obliquely, was apparently the reason I was given a pass), and I think this is the most blatant piece of bureacratic garbage that I’ve ever heard come out of the mouth of RWA, and, if you spend five minutes tottering about the blogosphere, you’ll see that they’ve come up with some real humdingers in the past year. And I just told the board liaison as much. I think the board liaison is a LOVELY woman, and she’s done a lot of wonderful things for PRO, and I really like her and support her a lot. I think, however, that this law is bullshit, and I’m going to fight against it.

For the good of all the suddenly contracted PRO members who need the good information they can get from PRO (say, the contracts bootcamp) about a billion times more than any staid discussion about baby kicks once every two months. We are in NO MAN’S LAND until our book comes out. We AREN’T in PAN, and the issues of PAN members are not all our issues. Sell through? we don’t even have a book to sell yet! But we’re to be shoved from the nest without any warning and forced into a group whose issues won’t even apply to us for another 18 months? Yeah, that’s a good idea.

For the good of the uncontracted PRO members, who are trying SO HARD to get to where the newly contracted are, who can benefit as much, if not more from the stories of people who actually made it across the invisible line. Yeah, let’s keep them from the people that have the most to tell them. Great plan.

And for the good of RWA as a whole, which is ready to bylaw itself into oblivion. I’m really interested to hear who suffers from the inclusion of contracted but unpublished writers in PRO. I haven’t heard an explanation yet. Just some whining about “why do you want to be with us when you can be with the big girls?” Um, because you guys are interesting talkative and knowledgeable and they aren’t?

My solution is simple — provisional PAN members are still PRO eligible. PAN members are not. So simple in fact, that for the past eleven months (since April 22nd, when the president of my chapter asked me to check) until now, I thought that was the way it was. And it’s the way it SHOULD be. In fact, I think that, on petition, any PAN member who wishes to remain a member of RWA PRO in, say, the position of mentor, should be allowed to do so. Tell me the downside. Published members being allowed to pass on their knowledge to PROs. Please, tell me why this is a bad idea. I’ll wait.

And if that doesn’t work, then I’ll argue tooth and nail that my book is not a romance, and therefore not PAN eligible. And then they can stuff it and I can stay in PRO forever. 😉

But I hope it works, because this supposed current system isn’t helpful for anyone involved.

If you are an RWA member, please comment here or email me to weigh in on this situation. Once I calm down, Iw ill be able to formulate a rational argument to take to the board/write a letter to the RWR/present at the General meeting, whatever it takes. As I said, the board people have always been really lovely to deal with on PRO issues that I’ve taken to them as a PRO Liaison, and I really hope that they’ll listen to my arguments on this matter.

Update: Please do not send me emails explaining the rules to me. I know the rules. I think they suck. Also, I’m not really going to be around for the rest of the weekend (folks are in town) so don’t worry if I don’t respond to you. I will when I get back.