Heads up, peeps! The pieces for inclusion in the e-zine have been shortlisted and the members will be contacted shortly both in terms of what they can expect from the process, and to the fact that this musn’t in any way raise their hopes. Much along the lines of the last issue, no piece is finalized until after the edit. If, for any reason, the piece is found lacking either by its editor or the Chief Ed or both, it will be struck from the issue no explanations. We ask our members and all involved to respect this decision.

As we’ve discussed; each piece needs a massive edit to make it into the ‘zine, and nothing’s safe. Work hard with your editors, and they’ll work hard with you; it’s a give and take relationship so make it work. Writers who cross poetry/prose boundaries will be working with different editors, so chances are if you’re a poet who doubles as a prose writer or vice versa, you’ll be working with two or possibly three different editors at one time. We expect you to make it work.

Editing will begin either Saturday evening or Sunday morning spanning for two months and ending in mid-January; publication is still slated for January ’09.

G’luck, g’luck!

– TPTB

Editing has yet to begin, but that’s mainly because we’ve put a new policy in place for e-zine selection. It took us 3.5 hours last Sunday to go through only two sections (The Abstract Thinker and The Poet), even though we left no room for idle chit chat. Because of the large quantity of material we had to deal with in this 6 month term, we’ve realized that maybe a meeting is not the best of ideas to get the job done. Enter Google Docs. Our resident “editor in chief” has put up an excel document that trajectorizes who voted for what, who’s responsible for what and in general, where they’re at in the editing business. It’s a transition from the way we worked to the way we will be working from this issue onward. It’ll be helpful to know where the individual editors stand on their individual pieces so when the executive call comes around, the chief ed knows what to do.

Meanwhile, please know that because your pieces have made it past Round 1: Selection and into Round 2: Editing, this does not necessarily equate that they’ll make it into the e-zine itself. If the pieces are found to be lacking in any way, or the editor feels the end result was not satisfactory, they will be stricken from the issue. There are some that have already been sidelined, and are subject to a substantial edit to be given e-zine accreditation. Please know that this is all subject to quality only, and it’s not personal.

Having said that, once everything is finalized and we’re ready to launch Phase 2: E-Mentoring, the respective authors will be introduced to their editors and the editing will begin.

Publication of Volume 4 is slated for January, 2009.

Our Karachi chapter has arranged for a proper reading this time around, where you’ll need to bring something to read although it isn’t necessary. Expect many participants to bring something, however. But hey, no pressure! Details are below:

What: Desi Writers Lounge Karachi Reading (officially, it’s the first reading)
Where: Cafe Avenue on Zamzama
When: October 20, 2008 @ 6 pm (Updated)
RSVP: If you’re a ‘Lounge member, head over to the Coordinations, Coordinations board and leave your mark. if you’re not a member, email in to readings@desiwriterslounge.net and we’ll address your queries.

That’s all for today, folks! Hope the Karachiites will see it fit to mosey over to the rendezvous point and engage in some fruitful intellectual banter. We’ve been told our readings are anything but boring!

Update: The meeting date has been bumped forward due to unforeseen circumstances for non attendance by some regular members.

Due to the wealth of material the editors need to read through, I’ve pushed the date of our meeting forward by close to a month, which of course means the editing process will begin a month later and end a month later.

Though we’ll try for a December 31 publication date, Volume 4 might see the light of day some time in the first week of 09. We’re committed to quality, and there’s a lot of material to wade through.

As you can see, we don’t take this task lightly.

Now that Eid has formally been announced, a very happy Eid to all our members and to the readers of this blog, if you celebrate it that is! Otherwise, it’s just another celebration.

In other news, polls have officially closed and votes will be tallied up along with holding an independent ballot by our moderating and editing board. Results of that will be discussed at length, a finalized list of pieces compiled and the associated authors contacted. Of course, just because you’ve made it into one phase of the polling stages, doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be in the e-zine. It simply means you’ve made it into that phase. 🙂 We’re very picky, and with each e-zine issue, our focus on quality becomes more acute and more necessary. Striving for publication for our members is a very real dream, and we know all what’s needed to get there. To that extent, we ask our writers to work with their assigned editors. For the next two months, these people are going to be your confidantes, your friends and the dragons breathing down your necks all rolled into one!

We know: it’s not a pretty process. It never is. But we guarantee it’s going to be one helluva ride, and the end result…well now, that’s just going to be dandy!

– TPTB

Polls will be closing on September 30, so now’s the time to vote. So far, we’ve received a very healthy response. A lot of people have been voting in terms of what they’d like to see in the e-zine. Nice to know democracy still works.

The recent attack on Marriott in Islamabad, has a lot of us worried for the safety of our friends and loved ones in the capital city. However, from the reports we’ve been receiving, all of them are (thankfully) safe. We just wanted to give a head’s up to any concerned party.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t called the people closest to the accident (F-6, F-7 and F-8 sectors in particular), now’s the time to call and ensure their safety.

We hope everyone is safe and sound, enjoying the comforts within their homes.

– TPTB

We, at the Desi Writers Lounge, otherwise known as “The DWL Mod Squad” are patting ourselves on the back for an intelligent foresight. What is this amazing realization, you ask? Submissions for this half’s e-zine and fourth issue, are closing today (September 15, PST). With over 9 pages of poetry and three odd pages of prose to go through, our work is cut out for us.

In other news, we’re going to scour all present and past material for possibilities of publication. Yes, that’s right…we’re thinking of compiling all the really brilliant content together, into a book or collection of short stories, and approaching local publishers; thus realizing the dream we dreamed a little over four years ago, of having our names as a collective, in print. In addition, we’ll be living up to our mission statement on our frontpage!

Who knows? Maybe somewhere down the line, we’ll actually own our own writers cafe? Baby steps, though, baby steps.

That’s it for this week’s update…apologies for it coming after two weeks, but things have been hectic. That’s a good thing, in case you were wondering!

– TPTB

Apologies for the lack of updates but we’ve been busy at the Lounge, what with the polls going up and all. This half promises to be chock full of a lot of poetry; writers seem to be a dying breed, and what few there are, are either suffering through massive writers’ blocks or are in between pieces or finally, just plain lazy to put up their most recent work. We hate you all! 🙂

Our present reading series, being held in Islamabad, will be concluding in March 2009 (coming full circle), and we’ll probably have two more readings before then. As to whether or not we’ll continue the series remains to be seen. One of the moderators and key organizers of the reading, will be moving to Karachi on a permanent basis, so it’s a case of the ‘ifs and maybes’ for now. We’ll keep this space updated, however, as things progress.

Meanwhile, polls are going up with an expiration date of September 30. The date by which new pieces will be considered for inclusion into the fourth issue, is September 15. The interim two weeks will then be plenty of time for the bulk of our membership who chooses to mass-vote at the end.

Questions, comments etc? You know where to put ’em!

– TPTB

September 15. That’s when you can no longer submit your work for the ‘zine. Why? Keep reading.

September 30. That’s the date when all polls on pieces (from December 6, 2007 onwards) close.

The interim two weeks give our members enough time to comb through pieces and vote for whether they think the selected should be among those who represent the site for the next issue. We’ve chopped down our issues from three to two (from quarterly, to biannually) and increased the editing period.

Whereas previously, our e-mentors and associated writers only had a month to shape up the material, now they have two. More time, more chances of spotting mistakes and less reason for me to cut whole pieces out of the running, before going to publication.

See? This way it works out for everyone!

If you’re interested in having your work considered for inclusion, and you’re not a member, register and start putting stuff up. You only have till September 15, after all! And then September 30, all polls close.

Confusions, questions, comments? Post em!

– TPTB

We turn four today (August 6) and as a community, we have come incredibly far. The present Orkut Desi Writers community is merely a ghost of what it used to be ye olde glory days. When we said goodbye, it turned more into a platform for advertisement as opposed to a place where serious writing could be done. Almost all of the present Desi Writers Lounge veterans are no longer affiliated with Orkut, and though our allegiance to the brand that is Desi Writers remains in tact, our loyalty to the community as it stands now, with nothing but our posts to prove we were once there, is questionable. And yet, without it we wouldn’t have forged the relationships we built during those formative years. It was our home for a year, before we realized it was destined only to be temporary, and then another year before we finally moved. Desi Writers Lounge itself, is a little over three years old since it became a domain name, about two when it became an identity.

When we turn five, we’re thinking of doing something extra special. After all, we’ll have been together for half a decade. Surely that merits some kind of response, right? Ideas for the bash are welcome.

Meanwhile, the planning for the grand international meeting/reading continue, as a tribute to incorporate our members stationed out of Pakistan and who can’t physically participate. In the end of course, it’ll be up to “the administrator” to make it happen. But it will happen. Admin’s committed to it, see. The last time that happened, the Desi Writers Lounge was born. Pretty decent track record, dontcha think?