The Word Guild offers four categories of membership:

1. Student Member:  $30 ($26.60 plus HST)

• Any student who is enrolled in full-time studies (undergraduate, graduate or seminary), is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, agrees with our statement of faith and is engaged in writing or editing as a personal interest, developing the craft of writing, or beginning to put together a body of published work.

2. Associate Member:  $65 ($57.55 plus HST)

• Any Canadian citizen or permanent resident who agrees with our statement of faith and is engaged in writing or editing as a personal interest, developing the craft of writing, or beginning to put together a body of published work.

3. Affiliate Member:  $65 ($57.55 plus HST)

• Anyone who agrees with our statement of faith and is engaged in a related field such as publishing, bookselling, printing, education, other media, public relations, etc.; is a church or public librarian; is an avid reader; is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada; or who simply wishes to show support and to keep updated through receiving member mailings and materials.

To join as an associate or affiliate member, fill out the online membership application. The cost is $65 ($57.55 plus HST) for a one-year membership. New members add a one-time $20 ($17.70 plus HST) administration fee.

4. Professional Member:  $105 ($88.50 plus HST)

• Any Canadian citizen or permanent resident who agrees with our statement of faith and (a) is employed full-time as a writer or editor or (b) has produced a sufficient body of published work to accumulate a total of 50 points according to our professional member assessment.
  • Before you fill out the online application, download the Professional Assessment PDF form or the Professional Assessment Word document, to use as a worksheet to tally your publishing credits. Please send the completed Word document as an attachment to our administrative assistant by email: info[at]thewordguild.com
  • To join, fill out the online membership application, select Associate as your membership type, and check the box to apply for professional membership.
  • The cost is $105 ($88.50 plus HST) for a one-year membership.
  • All professional membership applications are subject to peer review. Please allow several weeks for this process.

To qualify as a professional member of The Word Guild, you must have a sufficient body of work. Any combination of the following, that totals 50 points, qualifies you for professional membership.

Note: Works cited in the professional membership application must have been published/produced/performed (i.e., works in progress don’t count).

Professional Criteria:

Type of Work	Points
Print periodical articles, stories, reviews, columns	1 point per 500 words published (e.g. a 2,000-word article equals 4 points)
Major writing projects (e.g. manuals, promotional campaigns, government reports)	10 points each
Radio or television documentaries, plays, screenplays	1 point per 5 minutes of performance time
Published books of fewer than 40,000 words	15 points each
Published books of more than 40,000 words	25 points each
Poetry	2 points for every poem published in a paying market(1 poem per issue of a publication)
Song Lyrics	2 points for every song lyric that has been published, or produced on a recording made for sale to the public
Editing	1 point for every four hours of paid editorial work
Other	May be allowed at the discretion of the membership committee. Send an inquiry describing your experience to info[at]thewordguild.com.