FLYING ISLANDS UPDATE LETTER

 Dear all, 

               Now that all of this year's pocket poets are printed (and are, I am told, on their way to Australia -- hopefully in the air and not on the high seas), I think it is time to consider the FLYING ISLANDS situation more generally and to think about what is to be done!

Firstly to thank and congratulate everyone involved on their huge efforts towards this year's list. YOU are FLYING ISLANDS and without you none of this would be happening. I don't know why but, to me, this year has seemed like the hardest yet. It has certainly been a challenging year in multiple dimensions.

Here is a snapshot of FLYING ISLANDS' current position: when the books currently at the printers are launched we will have roughly 80 titles in the pocket poets series and 70+ authors. We have published roughly two thirds of the books in English only and about a third in parallel text translated editions. The other language has predominantly been Chinese, but we have also published books in or from French, Spanish, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Swedish, Bosnian, Indonesian and I bet I'm leaving somebody out.  

In terms of funding, it now seems likely that the well of funds from Macao is about to start drying up.  I think this is something that was always going to happen one day and the pandemic has pushed many things off the cliff. So it's great that we've come this far by the means available up until now.

We'll know in a little while whether we are receiving any funding for this year's books (according to the authorities, next year's books)... Luckily, we have the funds in the bank to cover all of this year's books. (So no need to raise funds to cover debt.) Next year is a different story. But we will soon know whether there is anything left in the tank for next year, or if funds need to be raised from scratch. 

A question now arises as to whether we should be moving our operations partly or mainly to Australia, on account of where our activity now mostly is and on account of the fact that printing costs are roughly comparable in Australia and China now and the shipping is very expensive. Until now, with our funding mainly from Macao, shipping from China has been a necessary expense. But that is not so clear, going forward. It is a matter for discussion,

The purpose of this e-mail is really to solicit help so that we can keep going and so that we can improve performance in a number of areas where we have thus far been pretty weak --- especially diversifying fund raising, distribution and sales, communication and publicity (inside and outside of the group), web presence, and more! I think we've been good at collecting and editing, translating, designing and publishing ...and, well... that's about it. One of the good results of not being so great at sales is that we've established a solid gift economy feeling for the press. Hopefully that means there's a lot of good will out there. 

But there is a lot to do!

One obvious way to raise funds would be to sell some existing stock, for instance by spruiking to libraries, for instance, through on-line sales. for instance through sales within our community. A number of people have recently told me how 'collectible' these cute little books are! But I know for a fact that I am the only person on the planet with a complete collection. So - collectors - there's an angle! And of course there is the possibility of crowd funding. And who knows what other possibilities. You all know that maths/economy is not my strong suit.

Please note that I, personally, am not volunteering to do more than I am doing now, apart from initiating this new discussion. I simply don't have the time or energy for it. I'm not whingeing about how much I have to do. (I enjoy it and it gives my life meaning to work with all of you. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with you on your books!) But I do want to begin stepping back a little and I do want to see the project overall go on, and from strength to strength.

I think we are now a big enough community that if some people can begin putting their hands up to do some specific jobs then we can be doing much better than we have until now. And of course we can involve new people. (Hopefully some of the under-50s too!) 

...

Please note that there are certain things that are not negotiable in this caper... Largely they concern ethos - Flying Islands/ASM is/are non-profit community publishing outfits 

SO

... we are not about to become a profit-making concern or an outfit that pays people a wage (other than the printer and the post office/shipping company)

and

... we are not about to raise the RRP of books above ten dollars ... that price point has worked well so far 

...giving authors their fifty copies plus more at cost if desired has worked well, so there is no reason to change this practice at the moment

... we don't want to change the fact that many of the books are swapped or given away 

... we want to maintain a commitment to keeping our publishing cosmopolitan and varied ... with some emphasis on translation and on parallel text publishing 

... we want to maintain a commitment to the idea that poetry publishing does not need to have a national basis 

... we want to continue selecting a list each year with gender equity and various sorts of diversity in mind (otherwise known as not being cliquey or privileging the privileged, but giving everybody a go)

I think those are the main points.

Let me say also that this is a good time for people to be thinking about new possible projects and new collaborations (involving translation or otherwise). Next year's list is not quite full, so there are some immediate possibilities if people are interested in pursuing a spot. And 2022 is (almost) completely open at this stage.

I would like to say to authors individually in the series that, in principle, after a respectable gap since your previous book, there's no reason not to go again... some have already done so ... This is not about creating a 'stable'; it's about giving poets a comfortable feeling that you have a publishing home (if you want it).

...

okay -- so maybe now it's time for 

A LIST OF THINGS WE NEED TO DO/ RESPONSIBILITIES NEEDING TO BE TAKEN ON 

- Communication - maintaining an an e-mail list and newsletter for authors, editors, translators, designers and other interested parties 

- Deposit copies to libraries 

- Sales (and offers) to bookshops and libraries

- Review copies and general publicity

- Entering competitions (if and where appropriate)

- Launches and festivals and other reading opportunities 

- Website and on-line sales (we really need to create a new website that facilitates sales)... so we would need a system for handling on-line sales

- Possible e-presence expansion (e.g. creation of an on-line mag or at least a dedicated blog for our authors/artists/translators... creating a dedicated permanent on-line presence) 

- Possible regular m/s competition )or other kinds of competition) 

- E-books (making and flogging, maybe at $5 a copy instead of $10) 

- video works/zooming / other formats

- outreach - involving younger poets and diverse communities

For sure, I will have left something important off this list and will think of it the moment I press SEND. But not to worry; that's normal. The other thing is that you may think of something we need to be doing that has not occurred to me at all. If so, please let me know. This is only the beginning of a discussion.

I know it's daunting when one tries to put all there might be TO-DO up like this as a list ...(just making the list is making me tired and anxious) BUT if ten people put their hands up, each to do something (or to help with doing something) then we would be well on the way...

If we can see ourselves as a community, we should by now have the critical mass of people to make this work. Of course not everyone is in Australia or Macao, and so it might be difficult to help from where you are. That's understood. But we do need to work on international presence too. So please do entertain us with your ideas, if you have them, from wherever you are.

Please note a number of people have expressed interest in taking on some of these things... but my aim now is to open a channel of communication among the willing, so as to have people take on specific responsibilities and so as to decentralize operations, as appropriate.

SO

Please let me know -- by writing back to me directly -- if you want to be part of this discussion about the future of FLYING ISLANDS. 

That will initially mean being on a closed e-mail list for the purpose of discussing these  issues outlined above.

In the near future... 

I'm hoping that at or around the soft launch at Markwell on Sunday December 20th (take note), we might actually be able to have a physical meeting to discuss some of these issues.

(Hopefully COVID restrictions will allow us to meet in the numbers [around 40 to 50 people] we have had in previous years.) But this is not yet known,

I have bcc'd everyone here because I do not want to bother people with e-mail they might not be wishing to receive, so please do write back just to me if you'd like to be part of the decision making process and hope to help get things done as we proceed into the glorious FLYING ISLANDS future. Then I shall create an e-mail group to discuss these things already mentioned plus whatever else people wish to add.

Apologies to any receiving this more than once... it's hard to know which e-mail addresses are the best for some of you. (And there are some others for whom I've not found addresses at all.)

And sorry for such a long message!

Hoping to hear from you soon.

with best wishes to all 

from 

🐈