WHEN ARE WE GOING TO....

I'm not sure how much interest would be shown by a legitimate publishing house, but both of those ideas could be (relatively) easily achieved through a print-on-demand site such as lulu.com. I put the idea to Tony about a year ago, but never received a response. I also floated the idea with the Magazine's upcoming Guest Editors, but only Ewan seemed up for it. If there is sufficient interest, then I would be happy to support the project. (Not so sure about posing nude, though. People would be more likely to pay for me to keep my clothes on.)

UKAuthors produces an anthology every year with pieces nominated and voted on by the members and it seems to generate quite a bit of interest. I understand though that it requires a lot efforts in producing it as, I'm sure, does the ABC magazine. If it generates funds for the site I think the idea might be worth considering.

"Or a calendar? We could pose naked" Drops jaw on floor. You mean you're wearing clothes? And there I was, trying to imagine that abctales audience is dressed!

Jon Stone and other ABC luminaries did the literary naked at UEA a few years ago. I think it was fairly successful. Personally, I don't pose for pictures fully dressed, let alone disrobed. I agree that given the availability of Lulu, an ABC book wouldn't do any harm. It's not a good way to make money - at least not when compared to the probably less onerous task of persuading the site's 25 most active contributors to just send Tony a cheque for £20. But it might be good fun.

I'd just like to respond to Mac's comment if I may. I know who you're referring to, Mac. Unfortunately, the person in question had removed all their work from the site, making it rather difficult for other members to read and subsequently vote on it:-) I've got a copy of that calendar - it's fab! And yes, it's a huge amount of very unprofitable work http://www.ukauthors.com http://www.ukapress.com

I'm under the impression that 'Now now children, play nice' is Tony Cook's line. I hate it when people steal successful lines that have a calming effect on others before I do! Now what was I planning to steal? Hmm. Oh yes and I'd better hurry: I agree that given the availability of Lulu, an ABC book wouldn't do any harm. Yours, Crackersville

I'm not 'not playing nice', I'm merely trying to clarify, since Mac seems to think this person was treated unfairly. But of course, things don't simply stop dead at the voting deadline (which, if I remember correctly, WAS June last year), but continues well into October, behind the scenes - we try to get the book out in November each year, but even that's a struggle sometimes. This person's work could have been up for most, if not all, of the voting period, but it's not just a matter of votes, but the work being available after the voting. If the work was missing at the time when the voting was being tallied, when all nominations are checked to confirm all the pieces are available to include (that the site members/work voted in are still on the site), then it could not be included. Any work that is not on the site at that time, is not available to the editors for use in the anthology, because each author has to be contacted (last year there were over 60), blurbs have to be written, photos and bios have to be sent, work has to be edited, files (interior and cover) have to be formatted and so on, ad infinitum. Obviously if an author has left the site, all this, on their particular piece(s) is impossible to carry out. Hope this clears it up. Anyway, I think an ABC book would be great too, but as you can see (and that's only a fraction of what's involved), you'll need a few dedicated people willing to spend quite a lot of time on it, over quite a long period of time, if you want a professional-looking tome. http://www.ukauthors.com http://www.ukapress.com

I liked the "Early morning London" project where talers could enter a comp to get their pieces in a collection of photography. It seemed to have a wider audience than pure poetry and prose. I still see copies in London bookshops now and again. Still, I wouldn't mind a 'Best Of' anthology for this site. jude "Cacoethes scribendi" http://www.judesworld.net

I agree that a Best of anthology would be a wonderful event but it boils down to time. I simply cannot run the site and prepare the book - it won't do much more than cover its costs, I'm afraid. However, if anyone else would be prepared to take on the task of putting together an ABCtales anthology then I would do all in my power to help and assist - and to promote it. Any takers?

Well, since I am handing over Magazine editing duties for at least 6 months, I do have the time to devote to this project. And some experience of pulling together content. Whilst I agree that people should be able to nominate pieces - including their own - for inclusion, I believe there also has to be some overall editorial control. Size, length, shape, etc would be determined by price. How much would you be prepared to pay for such a book? What should the markup be?

Wilky - I would be happy to work with you on selection - and I agree that it should be a final subjective choice. However I would like to see nominations come in from one and all for their favourites - there are some gems back there in the annals of time!

"However I would like to see nominations come in from one and all for their favourites - there are some gems back there in the annals of time!" It would certainly be good to get stuff from the famous Joe Dunthorne, the famous Drew Gummerson and the famous Tim Clare. I think the famous Laura Hird was on here at one point, too. Is Fish famous yet?

It think an anthology of poems and prose of the week would be a simple method of getting a wide selection from some of the site's favourite and more prolific writers and some of the lesser knowns as well. That would fill half the book for starters. The rest could be filled on a nomination basis. Some of our best writers (Rokkit, Jack Cade, Fish, Pesky, Spack, Span) would no doubt have several or even many of their pieces nominated/ voted and could perhaps have a little section each? jude "Cacoethes scribendi" http://www.judesworld.net

Some of our best writers (Rokkit, Jack Cade, Fish, Pesky, Spack, Span) would no doubt have several or even many of their pieces nominated/ voted and could perhaps have a little section each? Sorry, not interested at all. As democratically as possible please. OW, wouldn't have. Yours Crackersville

Skunk makes some good points here. Plus, this thread has not been particularly lively and has almost petered out after just a few days. Doesn't fill me with confidence, before I embark on this project, whether there's actually much of a market for a 'Best Of' book or a 2010 Calendar. I would hope to create something with some objective artistic merit rather than a 'vanity' publication. Like a bumper hard copy issue of the Magazine, I suppose. But what do you want?

I think it would be very difficult to do a best ever book - featuring the best of all the writing posted on here since the site was launched - through a democratic process. If people want nominations and voting, it would be more practical to do a - ABCtales 2008 anthology - where people nominate and vote for the best stuff put up over the last year. I also think it would be worth having a go at selecting the best ever stuff put up here over the last nine years (although I expect a lot of it has been taken down again) and trying to produce something slightly more commercial. That's not a democratic process, though. That would only be practical if it's done by a person or small team of people on the basis of their own taste.

That last paragraph pretty much describes how Best Of anthologies are done. This would be the approach for production of something commercially viable - start with a group of cherry picks, then a board of editors/judges who are well known or at least well regarded and preferably already published select those for inclusion. This is the legitimizing approach from the market perspective and (opinion) a good thing as it always trends to the quality work.

that calender idea doesn't sound that bad. and I am 18 now. :D

How about if we themed it to a challenging or controversial subject? Or made it into the literary equivalent of a concept album where individual pieces were in some way linked to an overarching (not sure if that's the right word) story or thought-provoking topic. In my view it needs to have some kind of hook to it. Otherwise it might seem like just another worthy collection of prose and poetry. Fascinating to the contributors and those who know them but of little interest to anybody else. Indeed I would go so far as to suggest we need to brainstorm what might be a controversial or thought-provoking theme that might get media coverage for the book. We could then look for the pieces to match that theme or encourage ABCtalers to submit suitably themed work.