Contact

The contact reference below covers how to reach the editorial and research office of Creative Writing Authority, the geographic scope of service inquiries handled, what information to include in an initial message, and the general response timeline for different request categories. Professionals, researchers, and literary industry participants use this page to route substantive inquiries efficiently.

How to reach this office

Creative Writing Authority operates as a reference property serving the national creative writing sector. Inquiries may be submitted through the site's contact form, which routes directly to the editorial desk. The office does not maintain a public telephone line; all correspondence is handled in written form to ensure accurate documentation and routing.

Three distinct inquiry channels are recognized:

1. Editorial and content inquiries — questions about the accuracy, sourcing, or scope of published reference content, including pages covering topics such as MFA Programs in Creative Writing, Literary Prizes and Awards, and Copyright for Creative Writers.
2. Professional and institutional inquiries — requests from literary organizations, academic departments, publishers, or agents seeking to clarify how the sector landscape is documented or to flag a structural gap in the reference database.
3. Research and licensing inquiries — inquiries from journalists, researchers, or legal professionals referencing published content in third-party work, including questions about attribution standards and republication scope.

Each channel follows a separate internal routing path, so identifying the correct category in the subject line reduces handling time by at least one business day.

Service area covered

Creative Writing Authority holds national scope, covering the United States creative writing sector in full — including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting, playwriting, and emerging hybrid forms. Reference content addresses programs, organizations, competitions, and regulatory matters (such as copyright and grant compliance) that operate under US jurisdiction.

Inquiries originating outside the United States may be accepted when the subject matter intersects directly with US-administered institutions — for example, a UK-based writer inquiring about a Writers' Residency program operated by a US nonprofit, or an international publisher referencing a US Literary Agent credential standard. Inquiries that fall entirely outside US jurisdiction are outside the operational scope of this office and will not receive a substantive response.

Geographic coverage does not extend to state-level licensing bodies or municipal arts councils as primary reference subjects, though those entities appear in context where they administer federally funded programs such as those distributed through the National Endowment for the Arts.

What to include in your message

A complete initial message allows the editorial desk to route and respond without a follow-up exchange. The following breakdown identifies required and optional elements by inquiry type:

For editorial and content inquiries:
- The exact page title or URL where the issue appears
- A specific description of the content in question (quoting the relevant passage is preferred)
- The source or documentation that supports a correction, if applicable
- Contact name and, for institutional senders, organizational affiliation

For professional and institutional inquiries:
- Organization name and role (publisher, MFA program, literary journal, etc.)
- A clear statement of the inquiry's purpose — sector documentation requests differ materially from partnership overtures, and the latter fall outside this office's scope
- Any relevant deadlines, particularly if the inquiry relates to an active grant cycle or submission window

For research and licensing inquiries:
- The specific content being referenced and the publication or project in which it will appear
- Whether the inquiry concerns attribution, factual verification, or republication permission
- A named point of contact and, where applicable, the name of the publication or institution commissioning the work

Messages that omit the page reference or the nature of the inquiry are returned for clarification before substantive review begins, which adds a minimum of 3 business days to the response timeline.

Response expectations

The editorial desk operates on a 5-business-day standard response window for all initial inquiries. Inquiries submitted with complete information and a clearly identified category are prioritized within that window; incomplete submissions are queued for a clarification request first.

A comparison of the 2 primary response tracks:

Responses are delivered to the email address provided at submission. The office does not issue telephone callbacks. If a submitted inquiry has not received an acknowledgment within 5 business days, resubmission with the original message date noted in the subject line is the appropriate next step.

Content corrections that are accepted following editorial review are applied to the live page and noted in the page's revision log. The submitting party is notified when the update is published. Corrections that are reviewed and declined are accompanied by a written explanation citing the source documentation relied upon by the editorial desk.