It’s membership renewal season at ASJA. By renewing your membership – or joining or rejoining North America’s premier organization for self-employed nonfiction writers – you can benefit from the rich connections to clients and colleagues that ASJA offers.
During ASJA’s fall membership drive, we waive the application and initiation fees for new members, a $75 savings. The waivers apply only to new members. New members can sign up here, use the code: 2024FALLDRIVE. Welcome!
Here are 5 reasons why you should join ASJA, renew your membership, or reactivate a lapsed membership:
Connections
The freelance marketplace is crowded. It’s not always easy to get in front of clients. Client Connections, ASJA’s signature networking event, offers writers whose credentials make them eligible to be professional-level members one-on-one in-person or virtual meetings with editors, agents, publishers, content marketing managers, and other clients. At our 2024 virtual conference, more than 60 editors and agents participated in Client Connections! ASJA members are already reaping the reward of those connections.
ASJA professional members are the only attendees at the 2025 conference Feb. 24-26 in New York who can sign up for Client Connections 2025, which takes place Feb. 25.
Conferences and Events
ASJA’s conference planning team is hard at work crafting the schedule for our first in-person conference since 2022. The conference, “ASJA: Always in Fashion, NYC 2025,” features three days of educational sessions, keynotes, fireside chats, receptions, and special events, plus opportunities for ASJA professional members to pitch stories and themselves to writing clients. Get a sneak peek of conference sessions on freelance journalism, content marketing writing, and nonfiction books here.
If you become a member or renew your membership now, when registration for the 2025 conference opens, you’ll pay the member rate instead of the higher nonmember fee. (Membership is dependent on meeting eligibility requirements.) Watch for registration to open soon!
Community
ASJA connects writers with each other through in-person events, a private Facebook page, Tuesday Google Meet coffee chats, and local chapters. Being able to network and learn from other writers is a major bonus for freelancers who don’t have the same opportunities as staff writers to interact with their peers.
Networking with other ASJA members can put you in touch with people who may cover similar topics, live in the same area, or be at the same stage of their writing careers. It could introduce you to mentors whose wise counsel could help you break into new markets or introduce you to new opportunities.
Benefits and Perks
Connections with well-paying clients, conferences, and community aren’t the only benefits of being part of ASJA. Members also get perks! Highlights include:
- ASJA press card. Your ASJA press card establishes your bona fides as a member in good standing. Available on request and at no charge, it is a hard plastic card with your photo and with prominent MEDIA & PRESS marking.
- AP Stylebook discount. ASJA members receive a 20% discount on one single-user subscription to AP Stylebook Online each year and one registration for the AP Stylebook Workshop.
- Discounted attorney consultations. ASJA offers members discounted legal consultations with Joseph Perry, an attorney and literary agent well versed in the ins and outs of publishing and contract law.
- Health care insurance advice and access. For members who need to secure their own health insurance, ASJA offers access to health insurance options through a partnership with LIG Solutions.
Education and Advocacy
ASJA sponsors webinars at least six times a year where members and non-members can learn about a range of topics important to nonfiction writers. In 2024, webinar topics have included AI, writers, and the law; national publications to pitch right now; how to reduce stress and boost wellness during the workday; inclusive writing; and turning vacations into freelance gold. Webinars are free for members and typically $20 for non-members.
ASJA takes its advocacy role as the voice of freelance writers seriously. The organization champions the rights of freelance writers as independent contractors, journalists, and authors. This is particularly true for issues of national importance, including censorship, copyright, and legal or industry changes that prevent independent writers from making a living. Generally non-partisan, we do not endorse candidates for office but address issues via statements and press releases from our Board of Directors, as well as statements issued jointly by the Board and First Amendment Committee.
Retired Member Status, and Other Support
If you’re an ASJA member but are no longer working as a freelance writer, you can renew as a retired member. Retired members cannot attend client networking events, but pay only half the price of regular dues. And we won’t ask your age. If you come back to writing and want client networking benefits again, just renew as a professional member.
ASJA offers members and nonmembers even more support and recognition, through our championing of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion; our annual ASJA Awards for writing and nonfiction books; and through WEAF, our foundation to support freelance writers experiencing emergency financial hardship.
Keep your skills and the ASJA writing community strong by renewing your ASJA membership or joining ASJA today.