Page 1 of 6

 1 2 3 >  Last ›

2025 Membership Renewals

December 03, 2024
2025 Membership Renewals

We recently sent you an Email regarding a discounted rate for 2-year membership renewals; an issue was identified with the some of the instructions in that Email and we wanted to send a follow-up with corrected instructions, as well as clarify some details of the renewal process with the new website, based on questions and feedback we've received.

CHANGING MEMBERSHIP LEVEL

In the previous Email, we mentioned that members currently on 1-year membership terms could take advantage of the December discount for 2-year renewals by changing their membership level -- however, the membership management system will not allow for a level change if renewal is pending for their existing membership level (which is the case for members with a renewal date of December 31st).

If you attempted to follow the previous instructions but were unable to find the option to change your membership level, please follow these steps:

  1. Login to view your Membership Profile page at https://members.crimewriterscanada.com/Sys/Profile

  2. Look for a yellow box near the top, containing the words "Membership renewal initiated."

  3. In the same box, click on the link titled "Cancel renewal and void invoice".

  4. After doing that, you should then be able to see the "Change" link (to the right of the details of your current membership level), clicking on that should allow you to switch to a 2-year membership term.

CLARIFICATION OF MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL PROCESS

Since the launch of the new website earlier this year, we've been using a new membership management system & that has introduced some changes to the renewal process. At 30 days before your renewal date, the system will generate and send a renewal invoice -- this is done so that members have sufficient time to renew their membership before the due date; the renewal invoice is not due until the actual renewal date, and is not a receipt/payment notice.

If membership hasn't been renewed by 30 days past the renewal date, then that membership will be considered "Lapsed" and the renewal invoice will be automatically voided. And there are several additional renewal reminder notice sent before that point (15 days before the renewal date, on the day-of, and 15 days after the renewal date) to ensure that memberships don't expire unintentionally.

AUTOMATIC RECURRING RENEWAL PAYMENTS

The membership management system that's part of the new website includes support for automated, recurring renewal payments -- due to technical factors and policies of the payment processing system we use, this is currently available only for the 1-year membership terms, and not for 2-year terms. If your membership is currently 1-year and you renewed your membership 2024 via the new website, then automated recurring payments are most likely already enabled for your membership.

When paying online for a 1-year membership renewal (or new membership), the system will automatically enable recurring payments -- though this can easily be turned off if you would rather send payment manually (see below for the steps to check if automatic recurring payment is enabled, and how to disable it if desired). On the renewal due date, the system will automatically process membership renewal & payment; a copy of the invoice & the normal renewal reminders will still be sent before that point, however you don't need to take any action related to them if you have enabled automatic payments, as your membership will be renewed automatically.

HOW TO CHECK IF AUTOMATIC RECURRING PAYMENTS ARE ENABLED

The easiest way to determine if automatic recurring payments are enabled for your account is to go to the "Invoices and payments" portion of your account profile: https://members.crimewriterscanada.com/Sys/Profile/Finances

From there, if recurring payments are enabled you should see a button labeled "STOP RECURRING PAYMENTS"; if that button isn't present, then recurring payments aren't enabled for your membership.

HOW TO DISABLE RECURRING PAYMENTS, IF ENABLED

If you currently have recurring payments enabled and wish to turn them off (E.g. if you prefer to send payment manually or offline), simply go to the go to the "Invoices and payments" portion of your account profile: https://members.crimewriterscanada.com/Sys/Profile/Finances

From there, click on the "STOP RECURRING PAYMENTS" button. After doing that, your next membership renewal will not be processed automatically & you will need to re-enter your payment information (or send payment offline) instead.

QUESTIONS & ISSUES RELATED TO MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

If you have questions, or need assistance related to membership renewal, please don't hesitate to ask. The quickest way to get assistance is to Email us at membership@crimewriterscanada.com, and we will get back to you as quickly as possible.


AN APPEAL TO MEMBERS

We can do more and you can help

December 03, 2024
AN APPEAL TO MEMBERS

We are asking for your support for our ambitious plans to do more of what we already do well—expanding our programs to promote and support Canadian crime writing. To do more, we need additional financing, staff, and volunteers over the next year. You can help!

As you probably know, we’re currently in a period of transition. We have a new management team. We’re upgrading our membership management and accounting operating systems, improving the performance of our website, and expanding our communications channels and social media presence. During this challenging period, we’ve continued to deliver essential membership services, manage our internationally recognized awards program, produce webcasts and workshops, podcasts, and author interviews, and we’ve significantly raised the profile of CWC, our author members, and their published work.

We plan to continue improving our member services and our mission of promoting and supporting Canadian crime writing.

However, our capacity to expand these programs for greater impact is severely limited by our lack of funds and staff resources. So, we’re asking for your help to raise funds and actively support our efforts. The current CWC management team is limited to two contracted part-time staff members and a few pro-active volunteers. Our annual budget is thinly stretched across these limited activities so we can avoid operating at a deficit.

Our primary sources of funds, until now, have been membership fees, sponsorships, and the annual awards program. However, we now have the opportunity to solicit donations as a registered charity under our official designation as a National Arts Service Organisation which supports Canadian crime writing.

Our ambitious plans for the future are being documented in an updated Strategic Plan.

To fulfill our mission of promotion and support of Canadian crime writing more effectively, this updated plan will focus on the following themes:

  • Pride in our forty-year legacy of internationally recognized award-winning best-selling authors and our more recently acclaimed highly accomplished author members.
  • Prominence as the internationally recognized pre-eminent Canadian professional association for crime writers of mystery and suspense, thrillers, short stories, true crime, and non-fiction.
  • Professionalism in our management and operations, the delivery of member services, mentorship and the development of new writers, and our commercial relationships with sponsors, supporters, and contractors.


You can help Crime Writers of Canada achieve these important improvement objectives now. Please consider supporting our mission, and help us provide more stable and predictable financial resources and additional staffing for key committees, staff positions and programs by contributing in any of the following ways:

  1. Accept our Special Offer for early renewals and new memberships received before December 31,,2024 with a 20% discount for a two-year membership.

    Professional Author Member
    @ only $224 versus 2 X $140 = $280, saving $56.
    Associate Member @ only $152 versus 2 x $95 = $190, saving $38.
    Supporting Member @ only $152 versus 2 x $95 = $190, saving $38.

    This discount is valid until December 31, 2024. Your early membership renewal will NOT affect your expiry date (e.g, if your membership expires in February 2025, a two-year early renewal before December 31 will extend that membership until February 2027).

    If you are currently on a 2-year membership term, then simply click the "RENEW NOW" button (below) before December 31st to take advantage of the discount.

    If you are currently on a 1-year membership term and would like to take advantage of the discount, you will need to change your membership level. To do so, please see the instructions here.

    If you have already renewed your 1-year membership, you can still take advantage of the discount by changing to a 2-year membership -- to do so, please follow the instructions above. Once payment has been received for your new membership level, we will send you a refund for the difference between your previous membership level and the new one.


    OR

    You can also renew your 1-year membership on your renewal date at the regular membership rate of $140 (Professional Author Member) or $95 (Associate and Supporting Members).

    RENEW NOW
     

  2. Make a tax-deductible donation to Crime Writers of Canada as a National Arts Service Organisation before December 31 and immediately receive a tax receipt applicable for 2024. Any amount, large or small, will make a difference and inspire us to do more for Canadian crime writing.

    DONATE NOW
     

  3. Volunteer your time and expertise with one of the national committees – Strategic Planning, Membership, Awards, Marketing or Finance – or actively support your Regional Director with local activities and author events.

    Please contact our Executive Director or Regional Director to discuss our needs and where you might be able to help.


We look forward to your continued support and active engagement in promoting and supporting Canadian crime writing and working with your fellow members. Please share this appeal with your contacts, readers, friends, and fans of Canadian crime writing who may also wish to join us in these efforts.

We sincerely thank you for your time and appreciate your consideration of this appeal.

The Executive Committee of Crime Writers of Canada,

Winona

Del

Ludvica

Erik

Winona Kent

Del Chatterson

Ludvica Boota

Erik D’Souza

Chair

Vice Chair

Executive Director

Marketing & Communications Manager


Upcoming Webinar: Using a Newsletter to Attract and Keep Readership

Tuesday, November 26th, 7:00 pm ET

November 15, 2024
Upcoming Webinar: Using a Newsletter to Attract and Keep Readership

Join author Amy Tector as she shares insights on leveraging her newsletter to amplify her writing and connect with readers. Discover how she crafts engaging content that promotes her work and builds a vibrant community.

Presenter

Amy Tector has spent more than 20 years plumbing the secrets squirrelled away at Canada’s national archives, Library and Archives.Amy’s debut novel, THE HONEYBEE EMERALDS was published in spring 2022 and was a finalist for the Indie Book Award Best - First Novel. Her second novel, THE FOULEST THINGS, was the first in a loose trilogy centered on murders and mayhem in the archives. It was a finalist in the Crime Writers of Canada awards. SPEAK FOR THE DEAD was the second in the series and the third is HONOR THE DEAD.Amy has a PhD in English literature and lives in Ottawa, Canada with a daughter named Violet, a husband named Andrew and a dog named Daffodil. She is an enthusiastic, but incompetent, cross-country skier.

All CWC members will receive an email invitation to join us on November 21th.


Wayne Ng Book Launch + Yet Keen Seniors’ Day Centre Fundraiser

Sat Nov 9, 2024, | 2pm | Yet Keen Seniors’ Centre | 755 Somerset West, Ottawa

October 31, 2024
Wayne Ng Book Launch + Yet Keen Seniors’ Day Centre Fundraiser


Celebrate the launch of Wayne’s latest book, JOHNNY DELIVERS, the stand-alone sequel to the CWC award-winning LETTERS FROM JOHNNY, and support the Yet Keen Seniors’ Day Centre with food, fun, raffles, a silent auction, mahjong, music and more!

Tax receipts will be provided for donations above $20.

📕About JOHNNY DELIVERS by Wayne Ng

In 1977 Toronto, eighteen-year-old Johnny Wong tries to save his chaotic family and their Chinese restaurant from debt, by invoking the spirit of Bruce Lee and selling weed with deliveries. All this while juggling a first love, high school, and uncovering sordid family secrets.

🏮About The Yet Keen Seniors' Day Centre

Yet Keen is a program of the Somerset West Community Health Centre, dedicated to reducing isolation and enhancing the wellbeing of Chinese-speaking seniors in Ottawa. Established by the community for the community nearly 40 years ago, it remains the only language- and culturally-specific drop-in centre in Ottawa where Chinese seniors can socialize in their mother tongue—a crucial aspect of supporting both their physical and mental health.


Crime Writing Experts Panel: Author Showcase

Nov 3, 2-4 pm, Mill Street Library

October 31, 2024
Crime Writing Experts Panel: Author Showcase

Join us to hear from members of the Crime Writers of Canada as they share about their writing and the process. Experts in the field of crime writing, these authors are local to Southern Ontario and ready to share their varied stories and tips. From political crime thrillers to paranormal novels and noir mystery, there is something for everyone in this author showcase.

Save the date! Refreshments included.

Author Lineup:

Jim McDonald - Jim's writing experience covers journalism, theater, a completed novel, a second novel in progress, and a published book of short stories Smash Palace.

Peter Thomas Pontsa, author - His political crime thriller, Outfoxed: An Inspector William Fox Adventure, is an international mystery filled with action, suspense, adventure, and romance.

Angela Van Breemen - Past Life's Revenge, is a suspenseful crime thriller with a twist of spiritualism that solves cold cases using the paranormal.

Hyacinthe M. Miller (H.m. Miller) - In Kenora Reinvented, a former soccer mom is shoved by a series of life events into having to start over in middle age. After many rejections and rookie mistakes, she ends up wining as a private investigator and in second-chance romance.

Kris Purdy - Writing myster fiction drawing inspiration from real people, without exposing their identities or getting too personal.

Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson - Writes a wide variety of crime and crime- adjacent fiction. His first novel, The Road to Heaven, a noir mystery set in Toronto during the 60s, was recently released by Dundurn Press.


Upcoming Members-only Webinar

What is Access Copyright and why you should affiliate

October 22, 2024
Upcoming Members-only Webinar

What is Access Copyright and why you should affiliate (if you haven’t already)? (Tuesday, October 29, 2024, 7:00 pm EDT)

For over 35 years, Access Copyright has been a vital part of Canada’s cultural infrastructure, helping to ensure that royalties are paid when published works are copied. Discover how the organization represents the reproduction rights of Canadian writers, visual artists and publishers, and facilitates ethical content sharing by Canadian organizations. As well, learn why you should affiliate with our organization (it’s free!) and how to join our community of 14,000 Canadian creators and publishers.

Presenters

Bil Antoniou

Bil Antoniou serves as Royalties and Client Services Associate at Access Copyright. Through his role, he works as part of a team that helps address the needs of creator and publisher affiliates, as well as seeing to the administration of licences for Canada’s private and public colleges. In his free time, Bil writes, podcasts and acts.

Robert Gilbert

Robert Gilbert is Manager, Communications and Marketing at Access Copyright. Responsible for all external communications to the organization’s members, affiliates and customers, he ensures that Access Copyright is seen as a strong advocate for Canadian creators and publishers, and their right to be fairly compensated for the copying and sharing of their published work. In addition to his work at Access Copyright, Robert writes a popular music newsletter on Substack.


Vicki Delany Live in Spain

At the the Getafe Festival Negro in Madrid

October 18, 2024
Vicki Delany Live in Spain

Vicki Delany, author of the Cozy Mystery series MISTERIOS AT THE SHERLOCK HOLMES BOOKSTORE, will visit Spain on the occasion of the Getafe Festival black in Madrid. The writer of#ElementalQueridaLectora and#UnCadáverEnBakerStreet will be next Saturday, October 26 at 18h in Espacio Mercado (Pl. de la Constitución, 5, Madrid) in an event open to the public. Vicki will chat about her work and the Cozy Mystery phenomenon with Maica Rivera and Estibaliz Montero (@bookodissey). At the end of the match, there will be a signing session for all fans of the series.

"I’m honoured to be their first-ever cozy writer, and I’ll be interviewed about cozy novels in general and my own Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series in particular on Saturday October 26 at the festival. The interview will be translated live, as I do not speak Spanish," says Vicki. 

✍️

The Mesdames and Messieurs of Mayhem’s launch of their latest anthology, The 13th Letter

Saturday, November 2nd, 2 to 4 pm at Sleuth of Baker Street

October 18, 2024
The Mesdames and Messieurs of Mayhem’s launch of their latest anthology, The 13th Letter

The Mesdames and Messieurs of Mayhem’s official launch of their latest anthology, The 13th Letter, is on Saturday, November 2nd from 2 to 4 pm. The launch is at Sleuth of Baker Street bookstore, 907 Millwood Road, East York.

The 13th Letter is our 6th anthology and contains stories by 22 established and emerging crime writers, most of whom are members of Crime Writers of Canada. “M” is the 13th letter of the alphabet and stands for Mesdames, Messieurs, mystery and of course, murder!

The stories range from outrageous comedy to noir, from classic mysteries to thrillers.

All CWC members are most welcome. The event is a chance to meet fellow crime writers and to hear their works. Also a wonderful chance to browse Sleuth of Baker Street for more new reads and that one rare edition you always wanted.


2025 CRIME WRITERS OF CANADA AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE CALL FOR ENTRIES

October 01, 2024
2025 CRIME WRITERS OF CANADA AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE  CALL FOR ENTRIES

1 October 2024 – For immediate release

Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) is pleased to announce the opening of the 2025 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing.

This year’s categories are:

  • The Miller-Martin Award for Best Crime Novel sponsored by the Boreal Benefactor with a $1000 prize
  • Best Crime First Novel, sponsored by Melodie Campbell with a $1000 prize
  • Best Crime Novel Set in Canada sponsored by Shaftesbury with a $500 prize
  • The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery sponsored by Jane Doe with a $500 prize
  • Best Crime Novella sponsored by Carrick Publishing with a $200 prize
  • Best Crime Short Story
  • The Best French Language Crime Book
  • Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book
  • The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm (Hamilton) with a $300 prize
  • Best Unpublished Crime Novel manuscript written by an unpublished author sponsored by ECW Press with a $500 prize


All prizes are awarded in Canadian Funds

The Shortlist will be announced on April 25th, 2025.

Winners will be announced May 30th, 2025. 

Full details about the competition can be found on the Crime Writers of Canada’s website: About the CWC Awards of Excellence

CWC is grateful for the support of Our Awards Sponsors

  • Shaftesbury is an award-winning creator and producer of original content for television, film, and digital. Building on a library of award-winning children’s programs, Shaftesbury has an extensive slate of new child and family programming.
  • Canadian book publisher ECW Press is one of the most diversified independent publishers in North America. ECW Press has published close to 1,000 books that are distributed throughout the English-speaking world and translated into dozens of languages.
  • Based in Toronto, Canada, Carrick Publishing was formed in 2010 by Donna and Alex Carrick. With over 20 titles, Carrick Publishing works closely with established and new authors to bring their work to readers.
  • David Simpson a lawyer in Hamilton and the Districts of, Brant, Halton, Haldimand and Niagara, has a tradition of over fifty years of legal services. He sponsors “The Brass Knuckle” Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book in memory of true-crime author Robert Gordon Knuckle (1935-2019).
  • Melodie Campbell is the author of 17 books, 60 short stories, and is the recipient of ten awards, including the Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence. She has taught fiction writing since 1992 and maintains a special interest in encouraging new writers.
  • Jane Doe chooses to remain anonymous.
  • Boreal Benefactor, a Canadian author, chooses to remain anonymous.


About Crime Writers of Canada

Crime Writers of Canada was founded in 1982 as a professional organization designed to raise the profile of Canadian crime writers. Our members include authors, publishers, editors, booksellers, librarians, reviewers, and literary agents as well as many developing authors. Past winners of the Awards have included such major names in Canadian crime writing as Mario Bolduc, Gail Bowen, Stevie Cameron, Howard Engel, Barbara Fradkin, Louise Penny, Peter Robinson and Eric Wright.  We would like to thank our sponsors and volunteers, and the many participating publishers, authors and judges for their continued support.

-end-

For more information about the Awards of Excellence, contact Ludvica Boota at awards@crimewriterscanada.com

To enquire about becoming an Awards sponsor, contact the CWC Awards Chair, Hyacinthe Miller, at awards@crimewriterscanada.com


Page 1 of 6

 1 2 3 >  Last ›