About NAIWE

Our Mission

NAIWE is a professional association for all publishing professionals! We exist to help members succeed with our unique focus on creating multiple streams of income.

We’ll cheer you on when your first novel hits the shelves or the first printing of your business book sells out. We’ll support you as you add new skills to your repertoire and learn to make a great living doing what you do best.

We believe in professional freelancers and in-house publishing professionals who love the rhythm and cadence of the language and are committed to polishing even the humblest prose to its highest luster.

At NAIWE, we know that a career in the publishing industry isn’t all about the art. It’s not all about the money either. Your work is about the joy of creativity, the freedom of working independently, and the fulfillment that comes from creating an authentic, abundant life, earning a living doing what you love to do. We believe that taking the road less traveled is often the best way to go.

We encourage everyone in the publishing industry to belong to two professional organizations. The first is a large, general, career-building association such as NAIWE, and the second is a smaller craft- or genre-focused association that will help develop additional skills in the minutiae of your craft.

“Whatever your specific field, if there’s a National Association . . . , join it.”

From Zen and the Art of Making a Living by Laurence G. Boldt (2010)

The bottom line is this: If you are serious about your career, we want you to join us, because we’re serious about helping you succeed. Countless experts list joining a professional association as one of the first things you need to do when you commit to a career, and we want NAIWE to be your career-building association. We look forward to welcoming you as a fellow member.

Our Commitment to You

We will regard commercial and literary freelancers with equal respect.
We will help you learn how others are creating multiple streams of income and how you can too.
We will be open to emerging trends and technologies to help you meet the goal of earning a living as a wordsmith.
We will provide encouragement, information, and an internet presence to help you transition from employment to freelancing.
We will encourage professional growth by providing information, industry news, and special resources.
We will provide a Board of Experts to offer ongoing inspiration and training in various freelance specialties.
We will be responsive to the needs of members and will continue to add benefits as the association grows.
We will support and supplement the marketing efforts of each member by collective marketing of the Association.
We will encourage networking across industry lines.
We will advocate for the written word through the annual celebration of Words Matter Week during the first week in March.

Our History

The National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE) is a professional association that was founded in 2007 as the National Association of Independent Writing Evaluators. As the association grew, we discovered that the original name simply wasn’t big enough for our members or our mission, so the name was changed with the dawn of 2009. Although our name contains the word “National,” we are international in scope and reach, and our membership is not restricted by geographic borders. In fact, NAIWE is known internationally, and we welcome professional freelancers from all locations.

Members include novelists, copywriters and copyeditors, proofreaders, writing teachers and coaches, business writers and editors, academic writing evaluators, indexers, book cover designers, project managers, public speakers, and other specialists.

NAIWE provides an online presence and guidance for freelance best practices and general support that allows readers, editors, publishers, and potential clients to find you.

To help members with their marketing, NAIWE allows content from member blogs to be easily found and shared on our social media platforms and elsewhere. Today, NAIWE has expanded its focus to include helping its members develop multiple streams of income.

Our goal is to help you earn a living with words and have the career of your dreams.