Dear writers
Guess what! This month you get an extra week of writing. Yes, there are five Thursdays in this month and that means that there is no meeting this week.
The next meeting is at 7:00 on Thursday 5 April.
Story Story Winner
Well done to Conor Ritchie on winning a short story competition. He is the second member this month to achieve this, after Adrian Hallchurch won the Apocalypse prize. This has been a great start to the year and proves that our new calendar is inspiring you not just to write but to test your writing with the wider public.
Here is Conor's message:
I just wanted to send you a quick message to say that I’ve won a short story competition! The reason I wasn’t at last week's meeting was, in fact, because I was racing to submit it before the deadline.
The announcement, and the story itself, should be published on the web this week. I’ll do a blog post on the OWG site (with a link) once it has.
I hadn’t written any short stories before starting to come to the Original Writers Group – and I’ve only started entering competitions in the last few months – so I just wanted to say a sincere thanks for the push that the OWG has given me!
News on The Anthology
The following was written by Andy Hickmott on behalf of the Committee. I would personally like to thank Andy for the amazing amount of work he has put into the Anthology project.
I want to bring you up to date about the anthology. As a group, we remain committed to promoting our talented members’ best work in published anthologies, and we are delighted that so many of you expressed a desire to have your work included. The quality of work submitted for the anthology was impressive. But (and there has to be a but) we do not yet have enough good work to put together a truly compelling anthology.
Fortunately, we get to see a regular flow of new writing twice a month at our group meetings. (If you have not attended a meeting for a while, please try to come again soon: the group is flourishing and the writing standard is remarkable!) With the continuing creativity and dedication of all our members we are confident that we can over time assemble a collection that every member will be proud of.
In the meantime we understand that our members who have submitted work to for the anthology will be anxious to see some progress. We will not disappoint you! We are putting together an online showcase of our members best work – the work that will eventually be included in an anthology. In fact, the showcase is already up and running – and just waiting for your finished work! (Andy, who developed the site, has put some of his own work on it just for testing. This will be replaced by your work as soon as it is ready.)
If your work is showcased on the site you will be able to
- Read your best work on line in a professional, publishable format
- Share your work with family and friends – and with agents or publishers
- Download your work onto a computer or e-reader
- Read and comment on the work of other talented members (and they yours!)
We will shortly be contacting those members whose work has been accepted for the anthology and seeking their consent to publish it in the showcase. As always with publication, since it is essential to protect the rights of both the authors and publisher, members will be asked to sign a formal agreement*, but we have kept this as simple and fair as we can.
Soon you will soon begin to see a regular flow of great writing appearing on the web and beyond! Rest assured that Original Writers will be promoting the site heavily, through the existing website, Twitter and by way of its members all spreading the word. This is a movement you will want to be part of!
*For information, here are the proposed conditions of publication. Writing will only be added to the site if its author agrees to these conditions. Likewise, by agreeing to publication on the site we will assume that you agree to them. They are not very onerous.
1. Definitions: ‘Author’ means a member of Original Writers whose Work is to be published on the Showcase and subsequently in the Anthology. ‘Work’ means an entire piece of writing submitted to Original Writers by the Author, along with any subsequent editorial changes made by Original Writers. ‘Showcase’ means the websiteBestOriginalWriters.Blogspot.
2. By agreeing to have his Work added to the Showcase, the Author
a. Confirms that the Work is entirely his own work (or, where it includes the copyrighted work of other writers, that he has obtained their permission for its use) and that he indemnifies Original Writers in full in regard to any infringement of copyright relating to the Work;
b. Retains all rights to the Work and is free to submit the Work to other publishers and/or to enter the Work into competitions, noting that prior publication by Original Writers may disqualify the work for entry into some competitions;
c. Grants Original Writers an irrevocable non-exclusive licence to include the Work in the Showcase and subsequently in one or more Anthologies;
d. Agrees that Original Writers may edit and reformat the Work so that it conforms to the standards it chooses to adopt for the Showcase or Anthology, including the use of extracts and/or abridged versions of the Work;
e. Acknowledges that Original Writers is the sole copyright owner of the Showcase and Anthologies; and
f. Understands that no payment will be made to the Author by Original Writers for the Work, that publication does not entitle the Author to free or discounted copies of the Anthology, and that the costs and funding methods for producing an Anthology have yet to be decided;
g. Accepts that any technical failure or other denial of service affecting the Showcase may be beyond Original Writers’ control and will not seek any damages in respect of any failure from Original Writers (nor, for that matter, the providers of its web services).
3. By accepting the Author’s Work and publishing it in the Showcase, Original Writers
a. Undertakes to acknowledge at all time the Author’s rights to the Work and assert those rights in all publications;
b. Agrees to provide a proof copy of the edited Work before it is published for the first time;
c. Undertakes to make the Work freely available to a global audience for reading online in the Showcase and downloadable from the Showcase in a PDF format for home printing or transfer to an e-book reader;
d. To include the Work in the next Anthology;
e. To include in the Showcase a hyperlink to the Author’s profile page on the Original Writer’s site (from where they may, if they wish, add a link to their own website or blog if they have one).
4. The grant of licence in the Work to Original Writers is irrevocable, but Original Writers will be sympathetic to Authors who have an opportunity to publish the Work commercially elsewhere on condition that it is not published elsewhere in print. (No such consideration will be given in respect of the Author’s self-publishing of the Work.) Original Writers may, at its sole discretion, accept a request not to publish the Work in an Anthology. In that situation
a. The Work will remain on the Showcase and will remain available globally to download in PDF format;
b. A hyperlink to the published work (e.g. its Amazon listing or the publisher’s webpage) will be added to the Showcase when it becomes available;
c. Original Writers will voluntarily and permanently relinquish its rights to publish the Work in an Anthology.
5. This agreement is non-transferrable: Neither Original Writers nor the Author may transfer the rights and obligations it confers.
6. This agreement is subject to the laws of England.
