It just dawned on us here at Slush Pile Reader HQ that we have a site comprised of amazing writers from all walks of live and from all over the world. Basically we are sitting on a goldmine of talent. We have a teacher from Virginia, a journalist from India, homemaker from England and a college student from Alabama. We have doctors, a policeman, full time writers ad even a massage therapist, all of whom, regardless of background, share one thing – their love of reading and writing.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am curious about the Slush Pile Reader members. What brought you to our community, what got you started writing, what are your dreams and ambitions. Who are you?

I know many of our members have specific knowledge Some are particularly experienced and talented at editing and have an abundance of information on the subject. Others are great at developing plots, whereas some excel at typecasting or scenery. Others are English teachers with an astounding knowledge of literature. Some are experts at crime writing others at Sci Fi. All of you have some particular talent.

So here’s my thought – wouldn’t it be great to know more about your fellow Slushers? Wouldn’t you love to share their knowledge and benefit from their experience? I know I would.

This is an invitation to all Slush Pile Reader members to share your story and your expertise with the Slush Pile Reader community. The Slush Pile Reader blog is open for contributions. The subject matter is free – write what you know, what you are passionate about and want to share.

Do you want to tell us about yourself, and why you write? Do you have the chops to write a tutorial on editing, we would love to read it. Do you want to talk about the development of crime plots in the Internet era, or the Elizabethan novel, or the future of Manga, or whatever it is you love, please do! If you have a blog entry in you, write it down and email it to me. I will post them in the order they arrive. I can’t wait to see what you got.

A few weeks back Karen Bessey Peace, one of the most prolific members of the site and longtime contributor to the Writers’ Tag wrote an excellent and much appreciated piece. When the official Writers’ Tag was launched, Eugene Saint, Writers’ Tag instigator and pro extra ordinaire, contributed with a detailed background and explanation of the Tag. So following in their footsteps, who wants to have a first go as Slush Pile Reader guest blogger?

Well, here we go again. Once in a while, lengthy articles on the state of publishing pop up in the most reputable of magazines. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for it and the articles are great – well researched and thought provoking and much needed. The only thing is – they are kind of repetitive and, well old. What they are saying is nothing new, at least not to us, the team at Slush Pile reader, or for that matter to you, the Slush Pile Reader’s authors and readers. If it were, you wouldn’t be here, would you?

The latest article is wordy, but worth a read. It dwells a bit too much on e-books and the wonder of the iPad (What do you all think of that one?! Is it the second coming or just another fabulous marketing ploy by Jobs et al?) but it touches upon quite a few very relevant topics. The best quote I believe is the one by Tim O’Reilly, of O’Reilly Media who believes that the publisher’s model is fundamentally flawed: “Publishers never built the infrastructure to respond to customers.”. In other words, the old school publishers have forgotten one simple little thing – asking the customers what they want to read. In extension, no matter how obsolete some want to make out brick and mortar book stores to be, without them publishers wouldn’t have a clue on how to sell or to whom, since that is the only market data they have to go on. Basically publishers do no market research, have no data on their customers, and basically publish books based on nothing more than feeling and instinct, kind of like putting your finger up to the wind to see where it blows from.

The opposite of what Slush Pile Reader is all about…

Here’s the deal – everyone complains about the low margins and the decreasing profitability of publishing. Publishers do not like Amazon’s pricing and they get their knickers in a twist over it, claiming they absolutely need e-pricing to be higher since they are already losing money. How on earth can they loose money on a 9.99 e-book is beyond me? If people can make money on a snickers bar, they can make money on a virtual product that has already been vetted and produced in the off line world. E-books is just another outlet – it doesn’t entail greater costs. The reality is – it is not pricing that is flawed but costs. It is possible to lower costs (fancy offices, meetings, oodles of staff…) and make the profits higher for everyone, including the author, without whom there would be no publishing industry after all (which many publishers seem to forget and often they act as if they are indeed granting authors a favor simply by gracing them with a second of their time). By selecting books based on facts, not on gut feeling or the picking of manuscripts based on who knows who and who is the best cookie pusher – but on, gasp, literary merit and what the readers actually want to read, more books would be sold; costs cut, profits increased and everyone would be merrier for it. N’est pas?

Change is slow, especially when it comes to an existing giant of an industry that has been run the same way basically since Gutenberg came along. Ignoring the way it has always been done, and sticking to ones guns is vital. Remember change seldom, if ever, comes from within an industry. E-book readers were not invented by the giants dominating publishing. With authors and readers like all of you here at Slush Pile Reader change will come from the customers themselves and finally books will be published based on merit and demand, not arbitrary reasons such as luck, nepotism and some more luck.

What is Writers’ Tag?

Writers’ Tag is a game played here at Slush Pile Reader in which individual writers collaborate to write a first draft manuscript. There are no preconceived characters or plot – they are developed as the story progresses – and there are no rules (and apparently no moral or ethical values beyond the policies of this site) to limit the scope of the story. You start by just starting. After that, each writer adds his/her entries to the story until we have a completed manuscript. That’s it. It sounds simple and it is simple – at least in theory.

The origin of Writers’ Tag lies rooted in a game known as Artists’ Tag. Predicated on the hypothetical that “Anyone who draws a dozen thumbnail sketches per day for six months will develop the skill-set required to be a professional artist”, in 1972 a handful of Fine Art majors at Key West Community College (of which I was one) began playing a game wherein we would start with a blank sheet of paper and a token object that was fairly easy to draw, say a cube or a star. The point of the game was to move the object around the page using various means. For example: Artist No.1 might draw a cannon and shoot the object to the upper corner of the page. Artist No. 2 might fly the object back across the page in a jet, where Artist No. 3 might parachute it back to the bottom of the page. It’s possible a spider could pick up the object from there and… you get the idea. The game would progress thusly until the page was full. There are no winners or losers – though some would argue there are only winners.

Everybody likes to watch artists create something where before there was nothing. It is an incredibly powerful learning experience to observe a master apply his/her trade – be they a musician showing you a new chord change or a painter with a more effective brush stroke. The same thing applies to writing. Every time one puts pen to paper it should be a learning experience for both reader and writer alike – and it should be fun. Enter: Slush Pile Reader.

After attempts to gain a foothold for Writers’ Tag at other sites – the results of which have ranged from so-so (owing to technical incompatibilities) to dismal failure (owing to administrative disinterest bordering on dissuasion) we found Slush Pile Reader. Here we’ve found a kindred spirit. The SPR Administration has been nothing but supportive of our efforts (Pascal and Johanna have actually joined in the writing) and it would take a better wordsmith than I to express our true gratitude and appreciation of their efforts — but I can tell you what’s happening now.

The two biggest challenges we’ve had are: 1.) Writers being tagged who simply don’t have the time, at that moment, to add their bit – or worse, have time to add to the story but no time to adequately absorb what’s already been written – and 2.) More than one writer writing at the same time, thereby tripping over each other.

These problems have been effectively overcome by what Daniel (The head tech dude here at Slush Pile Reader) et al have been coding for us. As of now there will be a Writers’ List to which writers may sign up to be part of a particular Tag. They’ve also added an electronic Token. Akin to the conch shell of Lord Of The Flies fame, whoever possesses the Token is responsible for adding the next entry. Those on the Writers’ List are eligible to grab the Token (thereby reserving the next entry) when they feel they have something to add to the story. So now, writers on the list for a particular Tag may grab the Token by simply clicking on it (when it’s available) then start writing. Writers’ Tag has also been given its own Heading and dedicated space on the Forum. A “Tag Master” will be assigned to each Writers’ Tag when it is started (this will also allow multiple concurrent games). The Tag Master will have Moderator’s edit capability in order to edit and update any post on their assigned Writers’ Tag thread. There are more enhancements in the planning stages too.

Why Writers’ Tag?

1. Writers’ Tag taps the creativity in each of us. You never know what scenario you’ll be faced with. To say it’s a challenge is to understate the fact. You’ll be amazed how much a single round will sharpen your writing skills – as you write your way out of the pan and into the fire. :^)

2. Writers’ Tag generates additional interest in the site. Lots of people check in just to see what’s happening with the latest Tag. You just never know what might happen next. Nobody knows – it’s not like you can Google it. As was recently observed: typically when you read a book, the rest has already been written. That’s not the case with Writers’ Tag. Not to mention, folks just naturally love serials.

3. Writers’ Tag is a vehicle for showcasing your writing style and skills. In short, if folks like your Writers’ Tag entries then there’s a good chance they’ll check out your MS. By the way, that would seem a fairly strong argument for putting some real thought into your Tags.

4. Most of all, Writers’ Tag is Fun! As the MS grows so too does the synergy of the writing group. I feel very close to the excellent writers with whom I’ve had the privilege of writing. I’ve learned a lot too and have recently had a go at things I never would have attempted in the past (I’d never written a “love scene” in my life until a couple weeks ago). So, it’s much more than just fun.

The actual nuts and bolts of the process are detailed under the Writers’ Tag Forum heading. Do yourself a favor and come check it out.

Eugene Saint