Why join the Colorado Authors League?

Membership Benefits Include:

• Inclusion in CAL's membership directory with options to include your headshot, bio, and book covers
• Eligible to have your books represented in CAL's Genre Pages
• Access to members' only information and resources
• Access to CAL's newsletters, updates, and info on special events
• Eligible to join the CAL Goodreads group and pull your books onto the bookshelf
• Eligible to join the CAL Facebook Group and become more involved with the CAL community
• Eligible for book and poetry promotions on CAL's social media pages
• Eligible to participate in in-person meet-ups, events, and cooperative promotion and support groups
• Eligible to participate in retail co-op booths and consignment racks
• Eligible to enter the CAL Awards and use CAL Award stickers on your books if you are a winner or finalist
• Eligible to nominate candidates for the annual Lifetime Achievement Award
• Eligible to become a board member or serve on a committee

Colorado Authors League Statement on AI

First, though, a statement on what it is to be an author. An author experiences life and love, tragedy and despair. If authors don’t know something personally, they interview experts and research a topic. And they turn what they know and what they’ve learned into something brand new if they’re writing fiction or take a new spin on an old topic (with footnotes and credit given) if writing nonfiction. Authors are responsible for what they write. Authors own what they write, and they can be liable for what they write.

AI does none of this. It cannot be held responsible or claim ownership on writing.

AI, by definition, does not experience life (at least not yet); it can only steal what others have researched and written. It gives no credit where credit is due. At this point, it can’t be an “author.”

Therefore, books written by AI cannot be considered an author’s work, even if they put their name on it. Books written by AI will not be considered as a basis for membership in CAL, nor can they be submitted for the CAL Awards. We believe that any writing by AI must be labeled as such. And as ghostwriting explodes with the main goal of hiring someone to publish books fast, it is a similar issue. CAL expects that anyone taking credit for the writing of a book to be the actual writer of that book.

There are ways, however, to use AI as a writer. Inspiration, prompts, fine-tuning a sentence, etc. are perfectly acceptable. Using it to write the whole thing is not.

Also, for illustration and book cover design, AI can be a tool, but it should not be the only creator of your illustrations and cover designs.

All authors accepted by CAL must meet a professional standard.

1. Are you a Colorado resident, or have you been a Colorado resident in the past AND

2. Have you authored a book that is available for sale and was published in the last 3 years OR

3. Have you written short stories, poems, or essays (total of 3) that were published* in an online or physical publication in the last three years, either individually, in a chapbook, an anthology, or a magazine for which you received payment or received recognition OR

4. Have you written op-eds, features, blog posts, or news articles (total of 3) that were published in an online or physical publication, newspaper or magazine in the last three years for which you received payment or received recognition for your contribution (i.e. Huffington Post, New York Times Op-Ed) OR

5. Have you written a stage play or screenplay that has been optioned, performed, or published* in the last three years

OR

6. Have you illustrated a book or designed a book cover that was published and available for sale in the last three years?

If you answered YES to number 1 and YES to 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, we welcome you to apply for membership!

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*Published means Traditional Publishing or Self-Published, either in print or digital format. Publishing to one's own blog, however, does not qualify.

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Meeting the above criteria is not a guarantee of membership. If you are approved, you will be contacted via e-mail as to how to pay the annual membership fee of $60.

Apply Today!

Questions? Send to lauriemarrwasmund@gmail.com