Catalog

“If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.
~Paulo Coehlo

We love the catalog. It’s beautiful. It makes us proud of our organization and our members.

That’s why for over 4 weeks Catalog Editor Erin Jameson and President Barb Froman researched and ran the numbers on multiple ways to save it—and yet, like most other non-profits and businesses, the Board faced the current facts.

  • The project was losing an-ever increasing amount of money 3 out of the last 4 years.
  • Printing and mailing costs skyrocketed 30% in 2020 and are expected to increase again this year.
  • Many of our primary mailing targets—bookstores—are collapsing or had gone out of business.

As much as we adore the beauty of the catalog, it was no longer financially feasible to sustain the project. The Board approved ceasing the publication of the 2021 Catalog.

Immediately, the Board approved a new project, the brainchild of our Web Manager, Doris Eraldi.

Its working name is called The Bookshelf. (We’ll have a community-contest later to name it.)

How Bookshelf will work:

  • Members will use a web-form to submit one “book listing.” Their listing will include a photo (cover or headshot), a headline, 150-200 words of descriptive text  (They can name their awards if they chose)  and a link to their author website.
  • It’s searchable and can be grouped under their genre. EX: Historical Fiction,  Children’s Fiction, Romance, etc.
  • Listings are limited to one year. And the listing can be changed if a member has a new book coming out. Listings automatically expire and remove themselves if a member doesn’t renew.
  • When a listing is clicked, the book will appear on a full author-page and include a link to the author website. (The previous Author website pages and Speaker’s Bureau pages needed to be removed from the WWW site to shore up safety risks.)
  • Once the Bookshelf is up and running smoothly, Stage 2 is to allow additional author listings for a nominal fee.
  • PROS: It’s a MUCH broader marketplace for members. It’s searchable. It improves authors’ SEOs by linking to their websites. It’s has low administrative costs, and it is much more cost effective than a printed catalog.
  • Cons: It can’t be held in one’s hands.

When Will This Happen:

Our goal is Jan 2022, when the majority of member renewals begin. It might happen sooner, but it takes time to build a new system and work out glitches as it meshes with our present system. It will look beautiful like the rest of the WWW website.

So, there will not be a catalog this year. This was not an easy decision. Each person on the Board and Professional Services Staff put members first and was brave enough to change in order find a financially feasible way to support our members.

It is our goal to have our daughters, sons, granddaughters, and grandsons join this great organization in the years ahead.

Thank you to all former catalog editors for your labors of love in creating this lovely document. 

Thank you, members, for your patience and support. Together, we walk into a bright future.

Barb Froman, President 2021

Erin Jameson, Catalog Editor 2021

“For everything there is a season….” Ecc 3:11

Catalog of Authors’ Books

To purchase books, call your local bookstore, order from an online bookseller, or the publisher or website listed.

View 2021 Catalog of Authors’ Books

Periodically, WWW sends all-member emails that are filled with noteworthy information. Since WWW communicates with its members exclusively through email, please add web@womenwritingthewest.org to your contacts/safe-sender/whitelist, or whatever method you use to ensure inbox delivery of WWW emails. Additionally, for your convenience these emails may be accessed on the WomenWritingtheWest.org Members Only page by clicking on “Recent WWW Member Emails.”