Self-published author membership checklist

Thank you for your interest in joining the CWA. Membership is subject to meeting the membership criteria and completing the application form does not guarantee membership.

Your eligibility will be assessed against an array of criteria aimed at establishing your professionalism as a crime writer. Each criterion awards a number of points. To be eligible you must attain a minimum 8 points.

Before beginning your submission please read the notes below.

These are here to help you understand the points process and help you gather all the information you need before starting to complete the form as you will not be able to save your application once you have begun.

• I'm ready to submit my application

Main eligible work

The “main eligible work” is the work or body of work on which you rely as qualifying you for membership. It must be:

(i) a published full-length crime novel or work of crime-related non-fiction over 65,000 words

or

(ii) a published body of work, all with a significant crime element, totalling a minimum of 65,000 words.

This total can be attained through one full-length novel or non-fiction work and/or several novellas and/or a collection of short stories or essays published in one anthology or a range of anthologies. The crime element must be evident in all pieces of work whether fiction or non-fiction.

The work or works may be for adults or young adults.

You will need:

• Name of qualifying work(s)
• ISBN of qualifying work(s)
• Publisher name(s) if any (e.g. Matador)
• Date of publication(s) (dd/mm/yyyy)
• Approx. word count(s) (if under 65,000 words)

Sales: 2 points

To gain points, you will be required to provide evidence of sales of the main eligible work totalling one of the following:

• 300+ print books
• Books with a min. 7000 pages read (per Kindle Normalised Page Count)
• 500+ ebooks

You will need:

• Statements from Amazon or from an author services publisher such as Matador as proof of sales

Professional developmental editing: 2 points

To gain points, you will be required to provide evidence that the main eligible work has been the subject of an independent professional critique and/or structural/developmental editing.

You will need:

• Name of editor(s) or service(s)
• URL of editor(s) or service(s)
• Contact email of editor(s) or service(s)
• Title of book or works edited

Professional copy-editing: 3 points

To gain points, you will be required to provide evidence that the main eligible work has undergone independent professional line or copy-editing and/or professional proofreading.

You will need:

• Name of editor(s) or service(s)
• URL of editor(s) or service(s)
• Contact email of editor(s) or service(s)
• Title of book or works edited

Professional book cover design: 2 points

To gain points, you will be required to provide evidence that the cover for your main eligible work has designed by a professional.

You will need:

• Name of designer(s) or supplier(s)
• URL of designer(s) or supplier(s)
• Contact email of designer(s) or supplier(s)
• Title of book or works for which the cover was designed

Additional work: 2 points

To gain points, you will be required to provide evidence that you have self-published another work that would itself satisfy the criteria for “main eligible work”.

You will need:

• Name of qualifying work(s)
• ISBN of qualifying work(s)
• Publisher name(s) if any (e.g. Matador)
• Date of publication(s) (dd/mm/yyyy)

Writing awards: 2 points

To gain points, you will be required to provide evidence that your books have won or been shortlisted for an award. An admissible award may be aimed at self-published writers or otherwise, and need not be a crime-writing award. The CWA Membership Secretary reserves the right to ascertain those awards deemed to be of sufficient standing and/or relevance.

You will need:

• Name of award
• Name of organisation making the award
• URL of winners list – if available
• Whether you were a winner or shortlisted
• Title of the work achieving the award
• ISBN
• Year awarded

Professional shop window: 2 points

To gain points, you will be required to provide evidence that:

• you have, and maintain a dedicated website or blog to your books or works (2 points)

or

• you have, and maintain a dedicated author page on Facebook or other major platform (1 point)

A maximum of two points only is available. You will not gain points for both a dedicated website or blog and dedicated author page on Facebook or other major platform

You will need:

• URL of your website or blog

or

• URL of your author page on Facebook or other major platform

Membership of other organisations: 2 points

Membership of one of the below associations is sufficient to secure the maximum 2 points; additional points are not awarded for membership of multiple organisations.

If you are a member of a similar but unlisted organisation, please provide its name and details, and inclusion will be considered by the Membership Secretary whose decision on the issue will be final.

• The Society of Authors
• The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi)
• The Historical Writers’ Association
• The Romantic Novelists’ Association
• The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain
• American: Mystery Writers of America
• American: International Thriller Writers
• American: Writers’ Guild of America (East or West)
• Canadian: Crime Writers of Canada
• Australia: Australian Crime Writers Association

You will need:

• The name and URL of the organistion of which you area member if it is not listed above

Testimonials: 1 point

To gain points, you will be required to provide the names of three current members of the CWA who would recommend your crime writing.

You will need:

• The names and contact email addresses of 3 CWA members willing to provide testimonials

• I'm ready to submit my application