American Independent Writers (AIW) was an American trade organization for professional writers. It existed from 1975 until about 2011, when, due to dwindling membership and financial problems, it went out of business.

History

It was formed as the ''Washington Independent Writers'' (WIW) in 1975 by a group of

freelance writer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

s in the Washington, D.C., area to address concerns over finding

health insurance Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...

, job searching, and to provide social opportunities to help writers overcome isolation. Its first meetings were held in the

National Press Club Organizations A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press ...

."History of AIW"
American Independent Writers official site. Retrieved 2011-11-28. The first meeting, in April 1975, was attended by 200 people. By 1987, WIW was the largest regional writers' group in the country."Writers Say Tax Changes Ruining Incomes"
by David Vesey, UPI, ''

The Durant Daily Democrat ''The Durant Democrat'' is a weekly newspaper located in the city of Durant, Oklahoma, Durant, Oklahoma. The ''Durant Daily Democrat'' serves all of Bryan County, Oklahoma, Bryan County and parts of other South Central Oklahoma counties. The Circu ...

'', August 5, 1987. Online at

Google News Google News is a news aggregator service developed by Google. It presents a continuous flow of links to articles organized from thousands of publishers and magazines. Google News is available as an app on Android, iOS, and the Web. Google rel ...

. Also a
"New Taxhttps://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn Rules May Put Writers Out of Business"
''

Schenectady Gazette ''The Daily Gazette'' is an independent, family-owned daily newspaper published in Schenectady, New York. ''The Daily Gazette'' also owns and operates ''The Amsterdam Recorder'', ''The Gloversville Leader-Herald'' and ''Your Niskayuna''. Histo ...

'', August 7, 1987. In 2004, it had 1500 members.

Services

Originally WIW provided services including "a monthly newsletter, Job Bank, social activities, directory of members, legal services program, health insurance access, grievance procedures, medical insurance, and a continuing round of workshops and seminars." By the 1980s, these had expanded to include political activism, and legal support and fundraising, most famously for founding member

Kitty Kelley Katherine Kelley (born April 4, 1942) is an American journalist and author of best-selling unauthorized biographies of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, the British Royal Family, the Bush family, and ...

from 1983 to 1984, when she was sued by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

in an attempt to stop her publication of his unauthorized biography, ''His Way''."Author of controversial Bush book gets warm D.C. reception"
, by Chris Otts, Scripps Howard Foundation Wire, September 20, 2004. The group changed its name to American Independent Writers on July 1, 2008, to open up more opportunities for grants and donations."How a Small, Regional Association Went National in 18 Months"
by Cecilia Sepp, '' Associations Now'', September 2009, Feature. Retrieved 2011-11-29.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Website
American writers' organizations Organizations based in Washington, D.C. Arts organizations established in 1975