Cross Membership

Had I not joined RWAustralia I would never have discovered RWNZ or RWAmerica. I didn’t join all three organisations at the same time - RWA in 2002, RWNZ in 2005 and RWAmerica in 2008 but now I couldn’t imagine NOT being a part of them.
Financial reasons tend to be the huge hurdle for most people when joining certain organisations. It was certainly the reason why I put off cross-membership, particularly when it came to RWAmerica.
The one thing to ask yourself is - are you aiming for a career as a published author? If the answer is yes, then budgeting membership fees is a must.
It’s an investment in your future career.
For me, cross membership into RWNZ was for access to their writing competitions. RWA & RWNZ have very similar comp’s - for catagory & single title, partials & a synopsis as well as full mss. It gave me double the feedback (something I was looking for not being able to access a crit partner or writing group) and it gave me twice the chance to get in front of an editor or agent if I finalled.
RWA/NZ also have an annual writers conference - how’s that for an adrenalin rush? To anyone who has been to either conference, imagine being able to attend another, consider the potential of accessing twice the knowledge, anticipate the networking and friendships you would establish by going to two?!?! While I haven’t yet been to an RWAmerica conference, the advantages certainly mirror RWA & RWNZ.
Tapping into the huge knowledge base of our published and unpublished, honing your craft through the opportunities made available to members (workshops, monthly newsletters, competitions, on-line courses, crit partner services etc.), networking with industry professionals and meeting possible life-long friends are the distinct pluses of cross membership.
If you’re serious about a career in writing - make it one of your goals - short or long term - doesn’t matter.
For me, the benefits of cross membership have more than offset the cost.
It has been, and will continue to be, worth it.