A couple of months ago, after participating in an event called Blackbird Fly, in Staten Island, NY, I decided to put together a writing project, under the New Renaissance Ink imprint to continue the momentum and the positive energy of that event. I'm calling it the Blackbird Fly Project, and it will be the second annual project managed by the New Renaissance Ink "Let's Write for a Change" (LWC) Initiative. The purpose is to not only inspire and mentor the young ladies, but to also give them a glimpse into how the writing and publishing business work. I had to extend the original 31 May 2012 deadline, though. I'm hoping to get a few more quality submissions by 31 August, so that we can possibly reach our target publication date of May 2013.
The first project, in 2011, was called the Up from Here Project. If all goes according to plan, that project will launch a book in September of this year, and all proceeds will be donated to the Teaching for Change organization in Washington, DC.
This year, the Blackbird Fly Project is taking the LWC Initiative in a little different direction. I'm opening it up to young writers in the age ranges of 10-21 years old, and I'm paying each contributor an advance of $100, with a royalty of 40%, to be divided equally between the contributors.
I'm really excited about it, but it's hard to gauge the level of enthusiasm from others is. Folks say they want change. They say they want opportunity. And yet, it feels like a constant struggle to get people to do stuff more than just talk about stuff.
But, I'll keep plugging away, anyway. Here's hoping for more participation for the Blackbird Fly Project; but if not, maybe I can get the one contributor I have so far to consider writing and contributing more of her own work. If I can offer just one person an opportunity that she might not have had otherwise, then that's still a good thing.
The first project, in 2011, was called the Up from Here Project. If all goes according to plan, that project will launch a book in September of this year, and all proceeds will be donated to the Teaching for Change organization in Washington, DC.
This year, the Blackbird Fly Project is taking the LWC Initiative in a little different direction. I'm opening it up to young writers in the age ranges of 10-21 years old, and I'm paying each contributor an advance of $100, with a royalty of 40%, to be divided equally between the contributors.
I'm really excited about it, but it's hard to gauge the level of enthusiasm from others is. Folks say they want change. They say they want opportunity. And yet, it feels like a constant struggle to get people to do stuff more than just talk about stuff.
But, I'll keep plugging away, anyway. Here's hoping for more participation for the Blackbird Fly Project; but if not, maybe I can get the one contributor I have so far to consider writing and contributing more of her own work. If I can offer just one person an opportunity that she might not have had otherwise, then that's still a good thing.
