The Guild is more than a referral program.
Community is the peer layer — the part that turns a referral program into a craft guild. Directory. Discussions. Events. Showcase. Council. Conduct. We're building it deliberately, not from day one. Here's what it will be, and where we are right now.
Why the Community isn't live yet.
A community of one is a chat with the Founder. A community of three is a group text. A real community needs enough Guildmembers that meeting someone new in here is normal, that threads get answered without us prompting them, and that town halls feel like rooms instead of one-on-ones. We're intentionally holding the launch until the Guild is large enough for that to be true. The pillars below are what goes live when it is.
Six pillars, one space.
Each pillar ships when there's a real reason for it to exist. Guidelines are already live because the conduct standard applies from the day a Guildmember joins.
Member Directory
Find other Guildmembers by tier, language, and how they reach their audience. Useful for cross-promotion, asking how someone solved something, and seeing who's around.
Threaded Discussions
Long-form questions, wins, and asks — not a chat firehose. Apprentice and Journeyman threads stay open; Artisan+ threads include private subforums for higher-tier strategy.
Calls & Town Halls
Monthly Founder town hall, Fellow office hours for any Guildmember, and tier-specific cohort calls (Apprentice onboarding, Journeyman intensive, Master discipline).
Referral Showcase
A live wall of books published by writers your fellow Guildmembers brought into Penworth. Real proof of what the program produces. Filter by member, language, genre.
The Guild Council
Fellow-tier governance: termination appeal panels, tier advancement votes, and policy input on changes that affect Guildmembers. Visible to all; participation is Fellow-only.
Community Guidelines
The living code of how Guildmembers conduct themselves. In force from the day you join — not when the forums turn on.
The Community Guidelines.
The conduct standard is in force from the moment a Guildmember joins — not when the forums turn on. Six commitments: represent Penworth honestly, disclose Guildmember status when recommending, no spam or unsolicited bulk outreach, respect the privacy of referred users, use only approved brand marks, and never impersonate Penworth staff or Guild Council. Three documented violations in 12 months is grounds for termination.
Read the full GuidelinesThe Community grows one Guildmember at a time.
Every Guildmember is admitted through application and voice interview. There's no shortcut — and that's the point. When the Community opens, you'll be in a room with people who chose to be there with intent.