Hello everybody!

What’s going on with our group projects?

A good question and one which deserves a comprehensive answer.

I’ve had a few messages via PM, and a couple of people have queried progress on Facebook. This update has even been delayed while I tried to get my head around the issues.

We started out this year full of good intentions regarding our plan to produce three anthologies, but sadly things have not gone to plan—a little like the way a plot should be in a story, but this is the real world. Our plan disintegrated.

The primary target was to publish a Freedom-themed anthology to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support. We also intended to produce a children’s collection of stories, and a horror-themed anthology.

In order to give our primary project the best chance of succeeding this year, we set the other two anthologies for later in the year.

1. In June after a long period of stagnation, I stepped in to get the first collection back on schedule. My thanks go out to all of you who read, edited and read again over a four-week period. We beat the deadline I set for us, and I got the MS formatted, but for various reasons, it has been stalled again since July.

2. The children’s storybook was to be next in line, but once again with minor issues cropping up, and a few amendments to the original idea it has been held up. On a positive note, due to pricing changes, Sylva will now be creating the book with coloured rather than mono illustrations when we go ahead. (Whoohoo! heard around the world).

3. Our third project was a horror-themed anthology, which was scheduled for publication in October. Eric is the main man for this one, and he was content to let the other two books take priority. Not surprisingly, we’d be asking too much of Eric, and all who were taking part to attempt a good job in less than two months.

Where do we go from here?

I’ve been in touch with the appropriate contacts over recent days. To avoid producing a low standard product, both the children’s collection—controlled by Sylva and the horror-themed collection—controlled by Eric, will be re-started in January 2019.

Sylva Fae

To avoid disappointment for all those taking part in those two books, they can go ahead simultaneously—and neither will be subordinate to any other group endeavour.

Eric Lahti

– This will allow Sylva, her authors, illustrators and editors as much time as they need.

– It will give Eric and his band nine months to produce something from nothing—target publication is around Halloween 2019.

If this year has done nothing else it has underlined that we can all be full of good intentions, but the important aspect of those intentions is ensuring we follow-up. As was accurately assessed by one of our most supportive members a few days ago, our group is wonderful when it comes to short-term queries and fixes. Unfortunately, it seems that unless they are personal, long-term projects do not produce the same level of commitment. That’s not a criticism—it’s a fact.

I’d like to take this opportunity to once again thank all of you who stepped up to the plate and helped with the multiple sessions of proof-reading and editing.

Ian D Moore

If anybody has a query regarding their ‘Freedom’ story please PM me, and not Ian–he is otherwise occupied. As things stand at the moment, unless you wish to remove your story, it will remain in the MS.

Should anybody use their story elsewhere prior to publication of the Freedom anthology, again, please PM me so I can remove it and reformat the document.

Facebook policies – marketing?

Melanie P Smith

Unless anybody out there knows differently, nothing has been set in stone by the FB policy-makers regarding the payment of fees for ‘marketing’ as an indie on timelines, groups, etc. As a group, our position is that we’ll utilise the outstanding authors’ brochure produced by Melanie. There is no panic, so please don’t all submit all your information to Melanie at once. There is an appropriate file on our FB page for updating/submitting information to be included in the brochure.

We have other ventures underway, guided by IASD members, but I feel it would be best to let them establish their parameters and we’ll update everybody when things settle down–pre-Christmas.

I apologise for this update not being a barrel of laughs, but time was moving on and somebody had to bring you all up to speed.

This has been Tom Benson, reporting for the IASD.

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