Monday, November 23, 2009

Picky...picky...

So this is just another reminder to me that we are not alone on the web. We need to remember what we say on the web is public and it can always be held against you.

RWA is not allowing the renewal of Jane Litte's general membership due to blog and twitter activities that have stated something to the effect of, "I have not ever written a book or plan to write one." For those of you who don't know she keeps up the Dear Author blog and participated in #romfail twitters.

Copy of the letter:
http://img115.yfrog.com/i/uvb.jpg/

Original blog post:
http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/11/23/rwa-wants-associate-members-who-foster-relationships-between-readers-and-authors/#comments

When it comes down to it, there are many people that are members that feel that way but have not said so. I do think she is being singled out because of her public persona, and she could join in another aspect as a publisher/editor or agent or some other professional nature, but the technical reasoning behind this decision means there is some kind of task force or some policing going on at the moment that just seems uncalled for. If someone is willing to shell out the $100 they should be able to join. Singling people out like this reminds me of high school and the way the popular crowd could diss anyone they wanted and get away with it.

I know the people who run RWA have been busy this week just dealing with Har-Hoe, but was this really necessary?

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