In the past, one of the main functions of the MWG was the administration of a number of prestigious medical book awards. Sadly for a few years now the awards have been without a sponsor, and the terms offered by publishers to medical writers have deteriorated substantially.

We suspect that the concerns of medical writers are often closely aligned with those of academic writers  - though perhaps medical writers are more likely to be able to negotiate improvements to their contracts. Swapping information between the two groups could prove very illuminating and we would like to suggest that, at least in the short term, the two groups share a single discussion forum until we get a better sense of the issues.