The Dreamwords Project
It's strange to note that writers are at the bottom rung of the publishing industry. Looking at the changes coming our way and those already here, large corporations are gearing themselves to build the systems that will form the chain, starting at the manuscript, and ending in the readers' consciousness. As these systems evolve, writers can either sit back and let others herd them to a new model or they can build it themselves.
We know the craft, we can organise ourselves, we can exclude scammers, we can make sure money flows to the author and not away, we can help novices learn, nurture talent, slough wasteful practices; we can reshape a whole industry. I am not talking about an association of writers where committees bog things down. I want to use the power of the net to make things happen at speed; to push the best talent and work to the top so that writers no longer have to go through the idiotic and wasteful practice of printing paper and spending a fortune on postage in order to gather rejection slips. I've opted not to join that line and I don't think the future needs it.The Dreamwords Project, at this stage, is no more than a prod in the dark to find out if writers have the same interest in changing things as I have. This is not about attacking the industry, but about using our skills and ideas to make sure that, whatever lies ahead, writers are at the heart of it and not at the tail. A savvy publisher should welcome our involvement, but we do not have to ask anyone's permission. We have the keys - will we use them?
My priorities lie with writing, and I have a responsibility to those who have had the faith to back my work. Thus, I will not waste my time, if the interest is not there.
To find out, I am going to ask two writers I know to subscribe to the Dreamwords Project newsletter and ask them to do the same, passing the message that we, the writers, intend to shape the publishing world of the future. We will welcome publishers, agents, distributors, editors, readers and anyone else with a stake in the industry, but it will be our vision that we will push, no one else's. Think of the power that a million readers and writers could wield.
We can make this happen. We can destroy the slush pile and build something better. If you want to join me, then subscribe to the authors' newsletter below and shake this silly business to its core.
The Dreamwords Project Newsletter