Let’s be honest: writing has never been a path to fame or fortune. As writers, very few of us achieve overwhelming economic success. Enough to survive, to keep us together between grants and residencies, or just enough to keep writing for the demands of publishers. Publishers themselves are mostly looking for the “next bestseller,” and the changing market is making even that tactic outdated. For young writers, the landscape looks bleak.
And yet still, we write. Our reasons are varied: for the joy of the written word, for the effect our art can have on readers, for a mode of self-expression to keep us sane. We write because we must–because there is something that needs to be said, experiences that need to be communicated.
Communication is meaningless without an audience.
The Author Collective is our response to this bleak landscape. First and foremost, a Collective provides a network and support system for like-minded authors. By hosting workshops, readings, tours, and providing respectful critique and commentary on each others’ work, a Collective does much of the work traditionally left up to marketing teams, writers groups, or individual writers. Secondly, it allows readers to find writers they like by engaging directly with authors, and allows authors to reach out to readers through webmedia and events. Finally, a Collective eases some of the financial burden and time-consuming work needed for indie authors to promote themselves by sharing tasks, marketing projects, and capital, allowing all members of the Collective to devote more time to their passion: writing.
Our collective brings together diverse voices who defy genre and form. The core editorial and production team is comprised of Amy Borg, designer, organizer, and nonfiction writer; Jesse Rice-Evans, event coordinator and high poetess; Allison Smith, web marketing genius and nonfiction essayist; Eben Fenton, editor extraordinaire and fiction writer; and Chett Tiller, research guru and short-form fabulist.
