Praecedo—August 2012
We’re coming up to two thirds of the way through the year. How have you been getting on with your writing? Slow, painful, stalled? Or whizzing through the word count and already onto second, third or more draft? Time to ‘fess up and tell the world how your projects are getting on. This month we’ll be looking our stories straight in the eye and giving you an honest appraisal of how much progress we have each made with our projects.
This month we say hello to a new writer on the site, Janelle Ward. Janelle has been a keen supporter of the Form & Genre Challenge, submitting how-to articles and we’re delighted to have her on board as a regular writer. Janelle steps into the shoes of Jim Bronyaur who has had to step down. We’re sad to lose Jim as a contributor, but delighted that the reason he has had to give up his slot is due to being overwhelmed with his writing and publishing work. We’re delighted to hear that Jim is finding success with his writing, and are enormously grateful for his contributions to the site. We hope you still drop by to visit in the comments Jim!
The second act is ending, and in the best traditions of storytelling it should end on a bombshell revelation with a cliffhanger. And so it does.
After 5 years with Write Anything, as a subscriber when it was Write Stuff, to becoming a regular writer, through the change to Write Anything and then becoming Managing Editor two years ago and overseeing changes in format and the move to our self-hosted site—I’ve decided to step down as both Managing Editor and, for a while at least, as a writer on the site.
This isn’t an immediate resignation, so you can put away the champagne and stop the celebrations—I’ll be in post until the end of the year. But it does mean we have a need for a new Managing Editor, so I am inviting anyone interested in becoming Managing Editor of the site to contact me at the following address—writeanything [at] emergent-publishing [dot] com—to provide details of your suitability for the role.
Firstly, this is not a paid position. We’re all volunteers, and do it for the love of it. Secondly, it takes a lot of commitment. Writers can and do drop out at short notice, but if the site editor does, then it can be disastrous.
I’m looking for someone who has a deep love of writing, and a desire to help others to discover that same joy and to nurture it in them. Write Anything is a site for all writers, but our primary focus is on helping those at the start of their writing careers to find a voice and get set in the right direction. Experience of editing for a website is desirable. A shared commitment to our Vision Statement is essential.
You will have management of the content of the site, and manage the other editors. You will be responsible for creating the monthly posting schedule, coming up with the monthly themes (or your own vision of how the site should work). As well as overall management of the site, you will also be responsible for editing and scheduling the posts of your pod of writers. You will be the first point of contact for the site, dealing with guest post submissions, requests to run competitions and reviews, and applications to become a regular contributor. You will have a large measure of autonomy over the site, although overall control will rest with eMergent Publishing.
Still interested? Email me, and tell me how you fit the above, and what your ideas for the site are. I’ll accept expressions of interest up to September 30th, then shortlist and discuss with candidates over the course of October. The new Managing Editor will be announced on November 1st, and work with me up until December 31st, learning the ins and outs of the site.
I’ll not say goodbye—I’ll save that for December. For now I’ll look forward to hearing from the next Managing Editor who will take the site onto great things.
I am sharing this link with all I know in the hope that you are inundated with passionate and excited people willing to take on the challenge of continuing the wonderful work you have done.
You will be missed – but its comforting too – to know you won’t be far away.
Oh no! That’s terrible news!
I mean, er, congratulations on your decision
It’s sad to see you go, but best wishes in all that you do. It’s been great getting to know you a little bit on here