Houston Bay Area RWA | Member Articles | The Business of PRO, by Ann Peake

Member Articles | The Business of PRO

The Business of PRO

by Ann Peake

Houston Bay Area is dedicated to encouraging and supporting the romance writers, both published and aspiring, in its membership.

With so many new and intermediate writers in our chapter, the initial focus of HBA's PRO Program has been to foster a supportive environment and provide information to help writers attain PRO status. However, the benefits of becoming a PRO continue after the completion and submission of your first manuscript.

Primarily, PRO creates networking opportunities for PRO members within RWA and with publishing professionals; PRO seeks to inform PRO members about current publishing industry issues and practices; and PRO strives to educate PRO members about a career in romance writing. How exactly are these goals accomplished?

The PRO Yahoo Groups bring members together to share industry scuttlebutt, the joys and trials of the writing life and RWA news. Specifically:

PRO Industry Loop - Industry trends & Issues.
PRO Craft Loop - Everything from naming characters to subplots.
PRO Organization Loop - A list for Pro members to discuss RWA-related business, chapters, and the organization as a whole. It is also where PRO announcements are made on every- thing from agent and editor appointments to PRO bootcamps, booklets & newsletters.
PRO Writers Life Loop - Everything that doesn't fit elsewhere. Recent discussions include dealing with rejections and success.
The PRO Ask An Author forum gives members a chance to ask questions of published authors and industry professionals on topics ranging from craft techniques to career planning.

At the RWA National Conference PRO members enjoy PRO track workshops, a PRO Retreat, and are scheduled ahead of general attendees for editor and agent appointments.

The PRO Career Series is a series of three booklets designed to help the prepublished deal with a range of topics such as how to respond when you get The Call to deciding if an agent is right for you. Currently, the PRO committee is hard at work on a marketing and publicity guide, a basics guide and a career guide.

On the PRO Members Only pages, you'll find information on contracts, articles of interest to our members, chapter PRO liaison contacts, our PROspects Newsletter and other information you need. Check out the RWA website for more details on all of these exciting programs.

Ann Peake is Houston Bay Area's first PRO Liaison. When she's not mentoring and serving her HBA constituency, she writes gripping fantasy novels with strong romantic elements.