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BeWrite Closes Writers' Community

Started by neilmarr, January 25, 2007, 02:54:34 AM

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neilmarr

Hi guys:

Just thought I'd let you be among the first to know that the BeWrite Community is to close after seven years. Some of you here (including Ed) are members of long standing and may already have heard.

In personal notes to our most talented and productive members, I've highly recommended applying for membership of Cafe Doom. I honestly think these folks would be a real asset to CD or I wouldn't have made the suggestion (after all, I have no intention of leaving this site and I don't want to find myself in bad company).

The decision to close the writers' community and forums was reluctantly made to free up time for the publishing side of BeWrite.net  because we feel we can be of greater help to new authors through BeWrite Books now that many of the facilities we pioneered in the Community are so ably handled by newer sites. For instance, there is little to beat your crit system here at CD.

When the forums are locked tomorrow (Fri), just one *closure* thread will remain open. If Ed or anyone here who's also a BeWrite member would like to pop in and tootle the Cafe Doom horn, you'd be  more than welcome.

By the way, one  immediate benefit of closing the Community is that it frees up time for me and the other pro editors on the BeWrite Books team to assess an ever-growing number of novel submissions whilst still keeping its promise NEVER to let a slush pile develop. Maybe you'd like to keep that in mind if you ever feel you've not been given a fair crack of the whip by the big boys, simply because your name doesn't often come up over extended lunch at The Groucho.

For those who might be interested in the details, below is a round robin I wrote yesterday and which was sent out to all members last night in the name of BeWrite webmaster Cait Myers.

Very best wishes. Neil



THE SEVEN YEAR HITCH

Hello to all our BeWrite friends. This is a sad newsletter to send out ... but in another way, the news is a triumph.

Sad? Because we must announce the closure of the BeWrite Community on the seventh anniversary of our launch.

Triumph? Because we – and you – achieved our goal.

Here's the state of play: All BeWrite.net Community Forums sections and threads will be locked at midday (GMT) on Friday Jan 26. The forums will be removed entirely at midday (GMT) on Friday Feb 2.

In the meantime, a single *closure* thread and the Personal Message facility will remain active so that members may make arrangements for continued contact with friends.

BeWrite.net Community itself will also close and the current home page and all Community facilities offered there will be removed on Friday Feb 9. One of the reasons for this newsletter is to give you chance to download any archived work you might not have saved in your own systems.

On Feb 2, the Personal Message facility will be shut down, all membership registration will be suspended and filed personal details will be erased from our systems.

So where's the triumph in that?

Well, folks, the reason for making the difficult decision to shut up shop is pretty simple ... the Community has been too successful!

Remember our stated intent way back in January 2000? We opened *so that talent will not wither on the vine through sheer indifference*. We offered free professional editing and the chance to see your work perfectly presented online and in print and, as far as that dream book was concerned, to *open the door even if we can't open the floodgates*.

The result is over two million words of fiction and poetry exposed, BeWriters winning major writing contests and gaining prestigious exposure all over the world, nearly two hundred of you with your names on the spines of published books, either as sole authors or co-authors.

BeWrite Books – the small independent publishing house we opened to get you into print when the big boys wouldn't take a second look – has been such a huge hit that we simply no longer have the time to commit to that and to the Community organization.

So something had to give. And we feel the publishing side should take precedence.

The Community – unique in its conception in January 2000 – has now run its course and there are several other internet options. But there are few publishers like BeWrite Books, still willing to give a first-timer an even break.

We've enjoyed your company. I hope you've all got something out of being with us – even if to some it's been just friendship and encouragement to keep dipping the nib in the ink.

The three full-timers here – Alex, Neil and I – only realized tonight that not one of us has ever held a job for the length of time we've worked for you and BeWrite.net. And not one of us has ever felt their time so well spent.

Please don't think of this drastic move as the disappearance of friends ... it's only a change of address. There's time and opportunity to make sure of ongoing contact with everyone you'd like to remain part of your life through the PM facility on site for the next couple of weeks.

Some time during February, the www.bewrite.net site will be re-dedicated to BeWrite Books. Pop in from time to time. You'll spot the names of old pals there. And you can support them by reading and reviewing their work. We'll also try to arrange an occasional newsletter if you like to keep you up to date on how everyone's doing on the long and potholed road to literary achievement.

Heartfelt thanks to you all – our talented and entertaining members, past and present – and especially to those who have so generously given their time and skills to help others as members of our volunteer editorial team and as moderators on the busy forums.

Good luck to you all. And don't forget to write. Cait Myers

And with love and luck from: Alex Marr, Neil Marr, Heather Bryant and Sam Smith.


Walker

I'm sorry to hear the forum is closing, Neil. Bewrite was one of my first, and longest dwelt, stops on the super-highway of words. I was treated very well by the members there, but all the stuff that was going on a year ago really took the wind out of my sails (courtesy of the one whose name shall not be spoken). Honestly, CD is the only site I've actually continued to visit daily, for the most part. I hope some familiar names make their way over from Bewrite, it would be good to hear from them again, and needless to say there are some very talented writers there. Before I forget to say, I was certainly happy to hear that both Cait and yourself are doing well, Neil.
CD is a quality site with great people. We've all tried very hard to remain civil and friendly with each other over the years, and the resulting community has spawned some great friendships. Ed's worked hard to maintain this place, it would be good to see it prosper.
Glad you're staying, Neil. Please give Cait my best when you speak with her next.
:smiley:
"Lord, here comes the flood, we will say goodbye to flesh and blood. If, again, the seas are silent in any still alive, it'll be those who gave their island to survive. Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry."
Peter Gabriel.

SharonBell

Neil, thanks for allowing a newbie to post my first online fiction at BeWrite. It was a lovely place. Glad you will be continuing the publishing and looking forward to seeing more folks here at CD.
"Be good and you'll be lonesome." Mark Twain

www.sharonbuchbinder.com

Ed

Wow :shocked:

I've literally just got home from holiday, logged on to see what's been happening in my absence (not expecting anything to have changed very much), only to find this bombshell.  BeWrite was one of those sites I could imagine staying-put indefinitely, but I understand your reasons for shutting up shop, Neil - forums can be thoroughly draining at times, especially when members start bickering like children and ridiculous accusations are bandied about.  There have been times when I could happily unplug my modem and lay a hammer into it, thus turning my comp back into a word processor.

I'm glad to hear you will still be popping in to CD, and I'm flattered that you're sending folks our way.  We'll do our best to make them feel at home. 

Sorry to see BeWrite Community fold up.   :(
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

neilmarr

Thanks folks.

It's a sad old week for me. The BeWrite forums will all be locked in four hours (midday GMT Jan 26) and that pulls the plug on something that's been an important part of my life for the past seven years. Apart from all the constructive writing-associated stuff that went on there, I made a whole heap of good and talented pals.

Nobody needs to lose touch with friends, though. I'm sure many will pop up in other forums like CD (some are already members, of course). And we're leaving a single forum thread open for another week so that individual arrangements can be made for continued contact offlist.

If anyone's not a BeWrite member but wants to contact anyone over there, just drop me a line and I'll fix it for you: ntmarrATbewrite.net (use the @ sign, natch).

Very best. Neil

neilmarr

Hope you won't mind a last call on this one, folks.

The forums and PM facility over at BeWrite Community will be removed tomorrow at 12.00 noon GMT. So if there's anything there you'd like to copy and save, please get your skates on. The forums will have disappeared before US and Canadian chums wave up to their Friday, so tonight's the last chance for them to download work and make arrangements to keep up contact with friends.

Just for interest; since the BeWrite Community forums were re-jigged just over two years ago, more than 1,300 writers have had their registrations accepted, though -- as with all forums, especially writers' forums -- only a small percentage has been active at any given time. We've exchanged a little short of 60,000 messages and stories. Strange to think that I've read every single one of them and replied to several thousands and hundreds of PMs.

And there are coming up five million words of fiction and poetry in the Community archives. Those will be available for another seven days if anyone wants to download anything.

Cheers. Neil

Ed

Didn't seem like it would really happen until now, for some reason.  I remember feeling the same way when EOTW closed - right up until the last moment I thought somebody might step in and the site would get a reprieve.  Oh well, c'est la vie :/

I bet there's something I'll suddenly remember wanting to download from the forums the day after they're shut down :scratch:
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

Geoff_N

I have a BeWrite folder on my hard disc. Most of it is occupied by stories I've had a hand in editing in the community subs at BeWrite - 400 of them! Many are stories I havent posted onto the site because I sent suggestions to their creators and still wait for their replies! I have copies of several versions of some of them. I'm glad I did because at least three times their writers discovered they'd lost their originals.

It looks like my hard disc will benefit from the closure of that side of Bewrite. From a year ago I've been as busy doing mutual crits for the BSFA and a little on here - so no doubt that hole will soon be filled in.

Geoff

neilmarr

Since I had to pull out of editing every single BeWrite Community submission myself a couple of years ago, Geoff has become the natural head of a volunteer editorial pool that was developed to help get the best out of each piece of fiction before it was posted on the actual site (as opposed to less formally in the forums).

Without you and the gang, Geoff, this decision to close the Community would have been made in 2004. You've gone above and beyond the call and let countless first-timers know that somebody actually does give a damn.

There are other excellent writers' sites now (CafeDoom, for instance) to carry on the good work. No longer do writers have to work in isolation and create stories and poetry that get no further than a drawer in their desk.

Hopefully, closing BeWrite Community will free up the time to take serious writers to the next stage, which is first full publication in a properly published book. BeWrite Books has 100+ titles up and running and we aim to maintain a release schedule of two new books per month.

Thanks and good luck. Neil