5 Reasons to Write for the CWA Blog

by Jody Wallace & Emily Hall

With the human need to communicate with other humans, it’s not surprising that blogs—originally web diaries or web logs—burst onto the internet scene not too long after internet use became mainstream. Whether the blogs detailed a person’s life and opinions or had a more professional bent, blogs were very popular before social media became the predominant avenue of online interaction and still have a big influence today. 

The CWA has had this blog for several years, though it was re-established back in 2023 with a fresh purpose – to give YOU, our CWA members, an outlet to publish your work. Whether you write fiction or non-fiction or whether you write about cats or a craft, there is a place for you here. 

If you’ve been hesitant to submit for any reason, keep reading because we have 5 convincing reasons why you should write for the CWA blog:

1. Start a Conversation

Blogs have the advantage over social media of corralling and organizing conversations about a specific topic – namely, the topic of the blog itself. While you could scroll through various Facebook posts or BlueSky threads to educate yourself on the gist of a conversation that happened, it’s certainly not as easy as opening a specific blog post and reading through the comments. Blogs are set up more like articles with a Q&A afterward than the free flow of interactions on tons of topics all at once that can characterize today’s social media. A blog discussion can go deeper and further and make it easier to find and share educational links or opinions with people interested in the topic, all while preserving the exchange at a single web address. 

The CWA blog has been running a series of interviews with CWA members, and we encourage members to consider submitting more articles to the blog and using its comment section for discussion. Our Facebook group is certainly enjoyable, but Facebook doesn’t always cooperate with sharing the latest posts and comments due to its algorithms. Blogs like ours don’t have algorithms, so anyone who visits the blog can easily see everything that has been posted and all the related comments. 

2. Educate Others

Blog entries help members as well as people outside CWA engage in discussion and draw more attention to our organization, responsible communication about cats, and all the wonderful folks within CWA. 

If you know a lot about a particular topic, have a specialization of some kind, or advocate for a cause important to you, the CWA Blog is an excellent platform to share about those things. We welcome entries on all kinds of topics – from cats to writing, from art to marketing, and more. Share your knowledge and educate others about your area of expertise by submitting an article to the CWA Blog!

3. Reach New People 

A post by you can introduce new readers to your content, allowing you to increase your circle of peers, readers, fans, and new cat friends. After all, it’s not just CWA members who read the blog.

It also increases our website’s internet rankings in searches by improving our SEO. The more people who happen to come across CWA online, the more opportunity we have to gain new members and grow as an organization. It’s a win-win!

4. Win Awards

Did you know that material posted on the blog is eligible for the annual CWA Communications Contest? No more wondering about where to publish your pieces so you can participate in the contest! As long as your CWA Blog submission meets the contest requirements and rules, you are welcome to enter it into the contest. 

There are plenty of other online writing contests as well. While they might not all be specifically cat-related, chances are your work will fit into at least some of them. The CWA Blog gives you the outlet to be able to publish your work so you can enter it into whichever contests you’d like.

5. Experience the Editing Process

When you submit a piece for the CWA Blog, the Blog Committee (which is composed of professional freelance writers and editors) reviews it and decides whether or not to accept it. (Spoiler alert: We’ve never denied any submissions before, so don’t let this step intimidate you!). Once accepted, we each read through and make our editing suggestions. 

We typically only do light editing for grammar, clarity, and formatting. If we think larger edits are necessary, we will work with the author to get those taken care of. There might be a little back and forth, but the process doesn’t usually take long. 

By submitting to the blog and getting  a taste of the editorial process, you will be more prepared if you were to ever submit to larger publications or even write your own book. Think of it as a way to dip your toes into the editing waters.

Topic Ideas

If you, like I often do, find yourself with a completely blank brain when it comes to thinking of blogging topics, here is a list of suggestions that we would love to publish, and I’m sure all our members would love to read! Feel free to reach out to the members of the blog committee to discuss topics or even get some suggestions.

1. Musings about cats from a personal perspective (please include pictures of your cat!)
2. Recommendations and advances in cat health
3. Information about TNR, cat rescue, and such
4. Link to recent scientific or other studies about cats and a discussion of the information from your point of view
5. Reviews of cat products in which you do not have a financial interest
6. Reviews of cat media, programs, videos, etc in which you do not have a financial interest
7. A literature review of any larger cat projects you did, such as the historical links you consulted when writing a novel about cats from Egypt.
8. A history of the cat meme, cats on the internet, or other catty pop culture topics
9. Poetry about cats
10. Flash fiction about cats 
11. Snippets of historical cats or cats in the arts
12. Stories from cat vets or folks in cat rescue and fostering
13. Cat humor or cartoons
14. Cat art that you made, and a description of how you did it
15. Crocheting for cats or other handicrafts, such as making your own cat tree
16. Articles about the technical aspects of cat writing, such as how to do descriptions, self-editing tips, craft, voice, nonfiction vs fiction approaches
17. Articles about the publishing process for cat writing, such as finding editors or cover art, submitting to magazines, publishers looking for cat-themed writing, formatting books, self-publishing, etc.
18. An article about why my cat Pip won’t cuddle with me and how it’s not fair because I love her and want to bury my face in her squooshy fur
19. An article about popular cat names or naming conventions
20. Recommended cat products for holiday gifting in which you have no financial interest
21. Examinations from scientific, observational, or comic perspectives of cat behavior
22. A list of cat writing prompts for either fiction or nonfiction (hey, that’s what we are sort of doing right now!)
23. Differences between types of cats, or which is the best “wild cat” and why (it’s clearly the Pallas cat)
24. Questions you personally have about certain cat-related topics and the research you have done that invite commenters to chime in with ideas and answers
25. Examinations of the various strategies in getting the word out about adoptable cats, like some adoptable cats and their descriptions that have gone viral
26. Tips for photographing or videographing your cats for fun and profit
27. Cat anatomy: all the colors of toe beans, why cats have two sphincters, what is the primordial pouch, cat whiskers and their purpose, do tigers purr, etc
28. Cat grooming and when to just shave their butt hair off
29. Cat preferences for sleeping, indoor environments, cat toys, etc
30. Cat food: what it tastes like to a human, and how do you know that?

Blog Submission Requirements:

1. Blog entries do need to be previously unpublished, with a few exceptions — contact the blog committee  to discuss!
2. Blog entries can be short and sweet or long and detailed, but medium length seems to be the sweet spot. The minimum word count is 500.
3. Blog entries can include a brief bio of the author, a book cover or other promotional image, and a link to a website of your choice – a great opportunity to promote yourself
4.  Blog entries should include photos, so this is a great opportunity to show off a few of the 238,472,698 cat photos we know you have on your phone.