Forays Into Capitalism

(Update, July 2: Please excuse our thin issue this week…we’re backing off for the Fourth of July holiday. Have a safe week!)

Lady or Gentleman,

We’ve got a few announcements for you.

ANNOUNCEMENT #1:

Today, we are launching the Burnside Writer’s Collective’s Online Store.

For the past few weeks, we’ve been thinking up concepts and building our store over at CafePress.com (a brilliance business concept, by the way), and we think you’ll enjoy what we’ve got going so far. We’re also pleased because maybe the store can provide some meager income, or at least funding for other projects (more on that in a second).

To peruse our wares, simply click here. We’ll admit that things are a little on the spendy side, but that has more to do with CafePress than us…their base charge for quality shirts is a little high, but we didn’t want offer up cheap products. I’ve had bad shirts and I’ve had good shirts, and we unanimously agreed that we didn’t want our customers suffering the indignity of crap shirts.

We want to thank James Carter, graphic designer extraordinaire, for bringing out concepts to life. Keep checking back, because we’ll be constantly adding products.

But your relationship with our online store is more rich than simply buying. We want to hear your concepts. We are a collective, after all.

If you have ideas for a t-shirt, sticker, or any of the other products available on CafePress, email them to us at reviews@burnsidewriterscollective.com with the subject heading “Design Idea”. If we like your idea, it’ll be added to the fray, and you’ll receive 25% of all profits. If you actually come up with a ready-made design, you’ll get 50% of profits. We will be picky, however.

(For those curious about our “Solidarnosc” design…it’s simply a beautifully written word that means “Solidarity” in Polish. The story of the logo can be found here. Our friend Jim Chaffee has a solidarnosc flag hanging in his house, and we’ve been enamored with it ever since.)

ANNOUNCEMENT #2:

It’s nearly time for the ‘07-‘08 Burnside Fantasy Football League to begin. We’re still a few months out, but I’ve actually got the league ready. We learned from our mistakes last year, and this year’s league will feature 14 teams rather than 20. We’ll be loosely following the rules laid out by Bill Simmons in an article he wrote last year.

This league is not first-come, first-serve.

If you were in the league last year (and especially if you made the playoffs), you’ll have first priority. If you’re a contributor, you also have first priority. After that, we’re accepting applications. If you’re interested in playing, tell us why (creatively…no listing how well you did in past seasons) in an email sent to reviews@burnsidewriterscollective.com.

The 14 will be chosen by us. We’re also not playing at Yahoo! Fantasy any more…this year’s league will be at FoxSports, which offers way more options for free. We want serious applicants…no one who’s going to drop out three weeks in…and we want people who can talk eloquent trash. The deadline for applications is July 15th.

(Update: Chad Gibbs [contributor] and Bryan Allain [runs donaldmillerfans.net] are in! Only 11 slots left…)

ANNOUNCEMENT #3:

Some of you may be wondering if there will be another edition of The Ankeny Briefcase. The very short answer is yes.

The long answer is that we’re making some exciting changes, and the second edition will be very different from the first. For one, we learned not to put me in charge of shipping. The long delays between ordering and actually receiving the book will not happen again. For two, the second edition will not be strictly short stories. For three, we’re planning on releasing more than once per year.

We’re not publicly accepting contributions yet, but if you have a short story, poem or journalism proposal, please feel free to send it to reviews@burnsidewriterscollective.com. PROPOSALS ONLY, PLEASE. DO NOT SEND A FULL MANUSCRIPT. Tell us what your article/poem/story is about in a few lines.

I’d go into more detail, but we want to keep things shrouded in a thick band of secrecy for now. Suffice to say, we think you’ll be very pleased, and we’re very pleased with the project’s direction. Some of the money from our online store will be going toward the new edition.

Thank you, as always, for coming to this site, and for telling your friends about it. We also appreciate you taking part in our polls, which have enabled us to shape our direction. Please keep spreading the word, because the more folks involved with the Collective, the more folks contributing and reading and taking part in discussions, the better.

Sincerely,
Jordan Green
Editor
The Burnside Writer’s Collective