Friday, July 2, 2010

Stories from the Journey -- An Invitation

There is a book brewing ... and you're invited to participate.  There are several threads weaving themselves together to form this possibility:

1.  Amazon.com has created CreateSpace.com, a self-publishing platform that allows books to go straight into the amazon.com pool of books and creates a marketing base.  It is a very well-priced option even with full-color images so we could have art work as well as stories, poems, quotes and other text.

2.  Diane from Contemplative Photography and I started talking about self-publishing a book about our journeys.  The only problem is that Diane is layering graduate school on top of an already busy schedule.  She doesn't have time to do a full book ... but she might have time to do a chapter.

3.  I keep meeting fascinating women artists/writers of a certain age who are on a spiritual journey and find that hearing their stories makes my heart sing.  I want more.  I have time and would be willing to mid-wife the project.

4.  Using a blog would allow us to gather material, find and invite others and gradually grow into a book.

So, what could this be?  A compilation that each of us could have for ourselves, friends and family.  A book that might appeal to and be helpful to other women on the journey.  Perhaps even an echo of "Chicken Soup for the Soul."

Who's Invited:
  • Women of a certain age (50?) who are doing some form of art as part of their process of connecting to spirit.
  • Women who are willing to tell their stories and have time to write a 500-word story about their journey every two weeks, accompanied by images or poetry whenever possible.  (I will post this onto the blog under your name.)
How to Participate:
  • Send an email to me:  jwycoff@me.com.
  • Write a short bio that will be part of each of your blog posts.  It can include links to your own blog or website.
  • I will send you a list of questions to stimulate your thinking ... but mainly we want your stories.  Please no lectures ... just what's happened to you along the way and what you've learned.
  • Write your first story and send it to me with images or other attachments.  That will start the process and then a story-post every other week will be the ideal schedule.  I think it will take about 10 posts to make a chapter so you might want to start thinking about the stories that most define your journey.
Feel free to invite other women who fit the criteria.  The worst that could happen is that we have more than one book.

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