Due to the combined workload of the e-zine editing and coordinating the first transcontinental, Internet meeting, any subsequent readings held in either Islamabad or Karachi have been pushed back to somewhere in 2009.
As always, if you’re interested, send in the material to readings@desiwriterslounge.net and it will be featured on a first come, first serve basis.
That’s it.
– TPTB
Planning is moving forward for the first international meet of Desi Writers Lounge, pushing back boundaries of distance and geographic location and spanning continents, this is by far one of the most elaborate meetings ever. Getting everyone to the location is a Herculean task in of itself, everything else will (hopefully) fall into place.
Meanwhile, polls have started going up for the next e-zine issue, planned for July, 2009 with polls ending on April 15, 2009. January and July seem to be our publication points. It goes without saying that the editing process has been streamlined to incorporate the varying times and availabilities of our editors and their accompanying wards.
Publication is slated for mid January of the new year.
As for the much touted transcontinental meet, it comes to be December 25 on man’s greatest invention: cyberspace.
We’ll let you know how that goes!
– TPTB
Here’s the thing: editing began close to 9 days ago for three of our editors, while two are pushing back their dates until they become fully available to their wards. So whereas some of our shortlisted candidates may have heard from their editors, there are some among that list and new candidates that have yet to be contacted because their editors are a little busy.
Obi should get in touch with his wards by Tuesday, and Shehla aka “Clarice” will be available from Dec 1 onwards. Editing concludes January 16, 2009 so you guys won’t be lagging behind too far.
Meanwhile, work is continuing on streamlining all pieces that are being edited. It’s going to be sad to see any of the material go down the drain, which might also happen if the editors don’t hear back from their respective wards soon and so aren’t satisfied with the final outcome. Be warned of their wrath!
They hold the future in their hands…
– TPTB
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