Late last year, the Romance Writers of America suffered another blow as multiple officers stepped down from the board, leaving the organization without a president and secretary. (We reported at length on the development in our Jan. 5 issue.) At RWA’s town hall meeting last week, a complement of new, existing, and former board members were on hand to offer an update and answer questions. Clair Brett is now president (with 1.5 days in her role at the time of the town hall) and Siera London is secretary.
Chapter and membership numbers have continued to decline in the last year. This, of course, has serious repercussions for the fiscal health of the organization.
- November 2019 membership: 8,792
- December 2020 membership: 5,169
- December 2021 membership: 3,765
Members frequently ask if RWA bankruptcy is on the way as membership continues to drop and regional chapters disaffiliate. (Here’s an example of a recent disaffiliation announcement.) RWA’s executive director, Leslie Scantlebury, who has been in the role since May 2020, said the organization is consulting with an outside professional on options to financially stabilize and no decision has been made.
In the event RWA files for bankruptcy, it’s possible that RWA chapters would be released from their affiliation agreements, but it would depend on the type of bankruptcy that RWA files for. This is an important point because, when a local chapter dissolves or disaffiliates, it’s required to turn over its net assets to the national organization. Some chapters with significant assets seem to be hoping that the national organization does in fact go belly up.
Brett, in her new role as president, asked for understanding and patience. “All on the board have a fiduciary duty to do what is best for the organization, but none of that happens overnight.” She might have been alluding to the fact that some members have called on RWA to allow for chapter disaffiliation without penalty, which would likely be the end of the national organization if permitted. Brett said that the RWA is not the only organization financially struggling, implying that the pandemic and various controversies have affected other major writing organizations. (She did not specify which ones.) She underlined that the problems RWA has now didn’t happen in one month in 2019. “There were things that have been going on for 10 to 20 years,” she said. “We all know, whenever there is change or improvement, it is never a smooth road.”
Does the membership really want RWA to continue? That existential question was at the heart of the meeting because member behavior has undercut the efforts of the RWA to make progress. LaQuette, who has been transparent about the personal reasons for her resignation, made an eloquent and frank speech near the end of the town hall as members insisted on explanations for why RWA can’t seem to keep leadership in place for very long and how the organization could ever be made sustainable.
Part of RWA’s problem, LaQuette said, is that members “just hate us.” Members keep attacking the board and doing so in public forums. “If RWA sneezes, people on social media lose their minds,” she said. That, of course, doesn’t make people want to stay in unpaid board roles; it is too stressful. And that’s on top of the fact many today are burned out and feel like the world is on fire. LaQuette said it’s a wonder that anyone at all remains on the board.
Because of the continual and public attacks, it’s hard to get help from those outside the organization. The reputation of RWA has probably never been at a lower point. However, LaQuette said, there are people and institutions who want to help—but they’re afraid they’ll be attacked. “Publishers see our members on social media talking trash about us, denigrating the organization. Do you think they really want to be attached to that?” She continued, “I’ve had a lot of pleasant conversations with publishers who are willing to work with us on the sly, meaning they will do things but not in a way that makes it seem like they are publicly supporting RWA. That’s good, but it’s also bad because then we can’t publicly show that we’re actually getting better, that people want to support us.”
Bottom line: The message from the board couldn’t have been clearer: To continue in any meaningful way, the RWA needs member support, and it must take care of its business in house rather than in public forums. Social media dynamics continue to damage RWA’s brand and its ability to do business or keep board members who can withstand the emotional toll it takes on their lives. RWA’s leadership made an urgent plea for member support: In the words of LaQuette, “The only way we’re going to get better is to do it together.”
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
