10 Reasons You Should Join the National Writers Union

1. Job Hotline--an exclusive project of the NWU to help members find out about dozens of freelance, contract, and staff writing jobs around the country.

2. Media Perils Insurance--a libel insurance plan designed to protect freelance and contract writers from unscrupulous publishers.

3. Health Insurance--a group health insurance plan with reasonable rates.

4. Affordable Membership Dues--the NWU offers a sliding scale fee structure, based on a member's income from writing.

5. Grievance Division--the NWU has established a grievance division, staffed by volunteer members with experience in a variety of fields, to help members get paid and retain rights to their work. This division has collected more than $1 million for our members during grievance handling.

6. Contract Advice--on-call contract advice from the NWU's network of knowledgeable contract advisors.

7. The American Writer--a quarterly publication of the NWU, featuring important industry news and union information.

8. Brotherhood/Sisterhood--tap into a growing nation-wide network of nearly 5,000 writers.

9. Resources--in addition to creating a collective licensing agency, the Publication Rights Clearinghouse, the NWU has an extensive agent database that rates agents on the basis of their track record with writers.

10. Information--the NWU publishes numerous pamphlets and booklets that give writers an edge in the marketplace, everything from sample contracts to a breakdown of copyrights to briefs on pending state and national legislation affecting writers.