I am now an Associate member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America.
Which, to be honest, doesn’t do me a whole lot of good at this point in my career. The organization does a lot of good work–“We host the prestigious Nebula Awards, assist members in legal disputes with publishers, and administer benevolent funds for authors facing medical or legal expenses”–and while it would be nice to win a Nebula someday, the other services are ones I hope I never need. But it’s nice to know there’s someone there to back me up if I need it, and for now, to be part of the system helping others.
It’s also, of course, a networking opportunity, though with the rise of the internet maybe a less important networking opportunity than in past decades.
And it’s a milestone: another box to check off on the way to feeling like a “real” writer.