Welcome!

Welcome to the new, improved website of the Writers Alliance of Gainesville! I’m so pleased that you have navigated to our site, and I want you to feel at home.

A redesign of WAG’s website was Susie Baxter’s top priority when she became our new president in January 2015. “The original website served us well for several years,” she said, “but WAG’s non-techie volunteer staff found it extremely difficult to update, and adding additional features was practically impossible.” Susie, Jani Sherrard, and I worked as a team over the course of four months to bring about what you see here.

The website redesign team has only been a driving force, however. We’ve had a great deal of help from other members of WAG and the Board of Directors. These include writers, editors, proofreaders, photographers, technical experts, administrative experts, and others. We are very grateful in particular to Art Crummer, who expertly maintained the old site during the development of the new one, and Wendy Thornton, who provided a great deal of content for this new site. Don’t let anyone tell you that “past president” is a cushy title.

We are proud of the work of our designer, Raghu Consbruck, and our developer, Hari Jagarnauth. Their creativity, skills, thoughtful preparation, and professionalism are reflected in every link and button on the site.

This new site has a plethora of information for WAG members. Upcoming programs are front-and-center on the home page. Here you’ll find information about our next meetings and special events, as well as access to other parts of the site.

If you are a member of WAG, I encourage you to access the members-only area by clicking the “Login” button at the top of the home page. You should have received a user name and password from us in your email already. Once you log in, the members-only link in the navigation bar on the left will appear.

As you explore the members-only section, you’ll see familiar information like “WAG Brags,” a page for contest listings, a page for conferences, a listing of publications by members, and a form for updating your contact information if anything changes. In addition, we have a members’ forum where you can interact with each other in a supportive environment, trading information on writers’ resources, writing craft issues, and marketing. I’m sure members will have many ideas for what this richly collaborative area could contain, and we welcome suggestions.

Non-members may join WAG through the membership page and members may renew there as well. The Bacopa Literary Review has its own section of the site. We encourage you to learn about WAG’s critique pods on their dedicated page. I invite you to explore all the sections to see what is offered. If you notice areas that can be improved, please let me know by emailing me. We want your experience to be a good one.