Big Announcements Are Here!

Readers,

We have two bits of news for you, and we’d like to thank anyone who kept checking back with us to find out what that news was. If you were expecting a release date for a new Donald Miller book, or you’re looking for a Jerry Falwell admission of getting “massages” and buying meth, we’re sorry to disappoint you.

NEWS #1: The Ankeny Briefcase, Vol. 1 is now available to pre-order! While the book won’t actually be shipped until December 1st, we’ve got a few extra little perks to include with the first 200 copies, so you’ll want to pick your issue up ASAP. Some of the perks include:

- The first 200 copies will be hand-numbered and customized by an Ankeny contributor.

- Being the first on your block to own a copy of The Ankeny Briefcase.

- Other things we’ve got up our sleeve.

If you’re confused right now, The Ankeny Briefcase is a collection of short stories and assorted oddities from unpublished writers, including BWC’s very own Chad Gibbs and Aaron Donley. The collection is edited by myself, Ariele Gentiles and Kim Culbertson. We’ve been working on it for quite some time now, and we’re very pleased to finally make it available. Click HERE to pre-order your copy today!

NEWS #2: In January, www.burnsidewriterscollective.com will be moving to a weekly publishing date. We figure we’re ready for the next level, and we think our readers will like us more if we put out more articles more often. More.

What this means is, we’re going to want all the contributors we can get. For those of you who don’t understand the submission process, it works like this:

A. You write and article.
B. You send your article, preferably as a Word document, to reviews@burnsidewriterscollective.com.
C. We read your article, and publish it if we think it fits with the magazine.

Easy as pie.

That’s it for the news.

Quick update on my television review: got a chance to see 30 Rock this week, and it was hilarious. I’ve only seen one episode, but it was nearly on par with The Office. Certainly better than Studio 60, which was absolutely cloying and awful in its last episode. For those of you who caught it, what father would be ashamed of his son working for a television show? Come on!

We’ve got some great new writers for you this issue. Susan Isaacs is an actress/writer in Southern California, and she’s hilarious. Her first article for us appears in this issue, and I think she’ll be contributing more and more often.

But that’s not all! Ben Rogers is also a very funny writer, and he’s joining the Burnside ranks this issue with an essay on swearing, and why editing profanity down to its first letter absolves us of all wrongdoing. He’s blowing the lid off bad language…seriously.

Instead of doing my usual thing where I describe an issue in one paragraph, I’ll now just be listing a table of contents, complete with links.

Pamela Rivers, a teacher in California, weighs in on our educational crisis.

I think people should vote, but please, vote smart. I think Penny would agree.

Susan Isaacs weighs in on eco-terrorism ad its insidious link to Trader Joe’s.

New contributor Ben Rogers analyzes a new kind of profanity.

Trisha Hubbs weighs in on her experience as a cog in the media machine.

Jon Adams previews the NBA season.

We review The Decemberists’ latest, a Donald Miller/Derek Webb event, REM’s new greatest hits album, and a new feature: Burnside Introduces. In this case, we’re introducing The Decemberists.

Thanks so much for reading.

Sincerely,
Jordan Green
BWC