I’ve just received my membership pack from The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (or WGGB for short). I’m now officially a candidate member which offers a fair old chunk of benefits including access to professional advice and support. There are a couple of things I’m not eligible for right now, but these aren’t important to me at this stage of my writing “career”.
Along with my membership card there’s a glossy magazine (that’s published quarterly and this is the summer edition that they’ve sent me) welcoming all new full, candidate and student members. Interestingly I see that Russell T. Davies has only just become a full member, which surprises me given how much he’s contributed to television drama over the years. I’d have expected him to have become a member ages ago.
As well as the welcome pages, the magazine also features interviews with fellow Guild members along with news of the up and coming Guild awards 2012 (which I’ve missed out on – voting ended on the 15th June).
In order to become a full member, I’ve got to accumulate 8 points. 4 of which I could earn just by remaining a candidate member for four consecutive years. Once (or in my case IF) I sell a piece of work for which I receive reasonable compensation that’s favourable as per the Guild rates and having done so by written contract, I earn 8 points and therefore can become a full member. Or I could earn 4 points for submitted work that isn’t favourable or falls directly under Guild rates.
Either way, in order for me to become a full member of WGGB I need to sell, sell, SELL.
So let’s see what happens. No matter what the outcome, I’m very supportive of the WGGB and to writers as a whole, so even if it doesn’t work out for me personally, I’ll happily contribute something to the Guild to keep up the good work.
