Become a Member of MWPA

Memberships

Standard Membership | Student Membership | Find Maine Writers Membership | Promotional Membership | Publisher/Institutional Membership | Supporting Membership | Contributing Membership | Patron Membership

To purchase a gift membership for someone else, please call us at the office.

Student Membership $35

All of the benefits of the Standard Membership. Applicants for a Student Membership must (1) be under the age of 18 or (2) possess a valid undergraduate student identification at the time that membership is established or renewed. Graduate students are not eligible for a student membership.

*Please include your school’s name and student ID number on the application form.

Standard Membership $55

The Peavey is the MWPA’s weekly email newsletter. Every Thursday morning, members receive local and national literary news, event listings, MWPA announcements, and a whole lot more. Click here for a few past edition of The Peavey and more details.

Every month, MWPA members, supporters, and partnering organizations receive Ex Libris Maine, an email filled with new book releases by Maine authors and publishers. MWPA members are eligible for free listings, which are sent to thousands of avid writers, readers, librarians, booksellers, and literary professionals.  *Not a member, but still interested in receiving Ex Libris Maine? Simply add your name and email address to the email sign-up form on our homepage.

All MWPA members receive steeply discounted rates for our workshops, conferences, writing retreats, events, and programming, including submission fees for our annual Maine Literary Awards competition.

If you take advantage of even one discounted fee per year, the membership pays for itself. A typical workshop fee for members might be $75, for example, while the cost to nonmembers would be $125 or more.

Give & Take is a members-only program that connects writers of all levels who are interested in working with a critique partner to have their own work critiqued and to critique others’ work. The program provides an opportunity for writers to both become more effective at assessing the strengths and weaknesses of a piece of writing, and to receive feedback on their own work. The application opens in January, May, and September; click here for more information on applying.

Looking for a new author portrait? Portland-based photographer Molly Haley offers a special 25% discount to MWPA members on her portrait session. You and Molly will pick a place in nature or in the city to meet and wander together, creating portraits along the way. Afterwards, she'll send you a curated digital gallery with several portraits to choose from.

Molly Haley has been a regular contributor to magazines such as Down East, Maine Women, and Maine Farmland Trust's Maine Farms, as well as having been published in O, The Oprah Magazine, NPR, The Washington Post, PBS Newshour, The Sun, and others. She photographed The Healing Garden, a book written by Deb Soule of Avena Botanicals, and published by Princeton Architectural Press in April 2021.

Reach out to schedule a portrait session with her at molly@mollyhaley.com and mention MWPA.
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We curate several lists for MWPA members:

• Maine-based Calls for Submissions

• A Guide to Writing Groups that lists groups across the state, and we periodically ask groups to update their listings and indicate if they are open to new members.

• A Guide to Literary Professionals that lists writers, editors, designers, and other professionals who hire themselves out to offer different kinds of editing, coaching, design, and other services related to writing.

• We also offer selected Talks & Presentations on demand.

Find Maine Writers Membership $65

All of the benefits of the Standard Membership, plus:

Find Maine Writers (find.mainewriters.org) is dedicated to profiling Maine’s many diverse and talented writers, publicizing their work and accomplishments, and connecting them with readers, editors, literary agents, publishers, and potential employers. Find Maine Writers is a members-only benefit of the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.

Promotional Membership $125

All of the benefits of the Standard Membership and the Find Maine Writers Membership, plus:

Distribution of one press release per year to the MWPA’s proprietary in-state media list.

One-time marketing, publicity, and website consultation (30 minutes)

Please note: With promotional memberships, the MWPA is able to assist authors with a book either about to be published or just recently published within the last two months. With older books, it is difficult for the MWPA’s promotional services to be of help.

Publisher/Institutional Membership $160

The MWPA’s Publisher/Institutional Membership is for businesses and organizations that support the MWPA mission and make use of our statewide network. Staff members of publishers and institutions may take advantage of many benefits offered to individuals, such as significant discounts on all MWPA programming.

The MWPA website will highlight all member publishers with a special Maine Publishers page that includes a logo and blurb for each publisher member, as well as covers of upcoming books.

Publishers may submit any book published—including books by authors they publish who are not MWPA members—for the monthly Ex Libris Maine newsletter.

Subscription to The Peavey, the MWPA’s member’s-only weekly e-newsletter featuring literary news, events, opportunities, and stories from Maine and beyond. In addition, publishers may submit all of their author event listings for The Peavey; the newsletter is not able to include listings for fee-based workshops and events; events with “suggested donations” will be considered.

When submitting for the Maine Literary Awards, publishers may pay the members’ rate when submitting books, regardless of whether or not their author is a member; the author, however, must meet all residency requirements outlined in the award guidelines.

Supporting Member $250

All of the benefits of the Standard Membership, Find Maine Writers Membership, and Promotional Membership, plus:

Supporting Members receive critical feedback on their writing or manuscript from either an MWPA staff member or someone from our network of affiliated writers, editors, and literary professionals.

Please note: Critical feedback will be limited to ten pages of prose or five poems, and a half-hour in-person or phone conversation.

The MWPA will help you set up a reading or event to promote your soon-to-be-published work.

Please note: The MWPA will use all of its resources to attempt to set up a reading or event, but cannot guarantee success.

Supporting Members receive free registration for one MWPA writing workshop at any time during the membership year.

Please note: Writing retreats and 10-week masterclass workshops are not included as options for free workshops.

Contributing Member $500

All of the benefits of the Standard Membership, Find Maine Writers Membership, Promotional Membership, and Supporting Membership plus three complimentary workshops.

Patron Member $1,000

All of the benefits of the Standard Membership, Find Maine Writers Membership, Promotional Membership, Supporting Membership, and Contributing Membership, plus one of the following: (1) an invitation for you and a guest to attend one of our literary parties as co-hosts or (2) an invitation to attend either our annual spring or fall writing retreats. You also receive our unending gratitude!

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Not ready to become a member? Believe in our mission, and want to support us? We thank you.

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