During the May 10 board meeting, Gary Zelinski was volunteered to head up a committee dealing with issues with Dispatches magazine. Especially the poorly-thought-out and executed article by Sandi Linhardt (pasted below).
Issues
Before publication, someone from the board (or someone appointed by the board) should approve each issue.
I think this organization is amazing. We truly have caring people on the board and in membership, volunteering their time and doing their jobs well. They are kind, considerate, and I consider them good friends.
Every day, it seems, more and more people are learning about MWSA and the opportunities we offer, and they (figuratively) come knocking on our doors.
MWSA is always looking for book reviewers. Not only can reviewing/scoring a book increase your writing skills, it gives you an insight to whatand how books are written and received by the general population.
I receive multiple inquiries monthly regarding...well, everything, from Dispatches (which I do answer) to membership, reviews, conferences, complaints, you name it. I try to forward the ones not pertaining to
Dispatches to their rightful email addresses, but sometimes I miss the mark. I hope the person to whom I incorrectly forward an email passes it on to the correct recipient. I mean, we are an organization, aren’t we? Not just a bunch of people assigned various tasks?
It recently has come to my attention the MWSA website claims Dispatches pays for published articles.
That literally was/is news to me. I’d not been told that was a thing. I don’t even know when the proclamation was advertised on our website, but the revelation did illuminate some snarky emails I’ve received over the past year.
A member recently contacted me and asked me how much I paid, and would they get paid for previous articles. They sent me a screenshot of the web page and a link so I could read it/find it for myself. I’ve requested clarification on whom is paying, how much per article, and to whom do I send the bill but have not had any valid response from anyone I’ve contacted.
At any rate, as far as I know, Dispatches does not at this time pay for published articles. MWSA charges for advertising in Dispatches... maybe that’s from where the confusion came. Although I get paid for my services, I am a mere cog in this organization’s wheel. I don’t get paid nearly enough to pay members for their submissions.
I do hope you enjoy your quarterly magazine and you find the articles pleasant, informative, or entertaining, though. If I ever get an answer on who is paying for articles, I will let you know.
Until then, Enjoy and In Joy ~ Sandra.