Twenty-some people who help directly and indirectly to make this newspaper possible met together in May to discuss ways to transition Works in Progress to a more sustainable mode. Lots of good ideas—now for people to execute them!
For over a decade the person principally responsible for creating and shepherding this paper was Sylvia Smith. At some point, even for Sylvia, with her extraordinary commitment, this role became unsustainable.
The existing set-up still relies almost entirely on two people to produce the paper, plus a group of 6 people who distribute it. (Check the masthead for other vital roles that a few individuals perform.) We are taking this summer to see whether it is possible to distribute the task of writing and producing the paper more broadly, in order to keep the paper going into the future. Below are a couple of the suggestions.
WIPWriters Group. A major focus of the discussion was the need to receive more contributions every month. In addition to our regular call for submissions from all and sundry, there is the idea for a WIPWriters Group. If you’re interested, shoot us an email to olywip@gmail.com.
Become a WIP Stringer! This is a good option for busy people—and for someone who would like to “get their feet wet” in the WIP stream with the possibility of becoming part of the process. As a stringer—from time to time send interesting items, pictures, cartoons, neglected stories to reprint, events, notices, jokes, dingbats, outrages, signs of hope, etc. to augment and diversify our pages. As the official definition of “stringer” tells us, the relationship between the newspaper and the stringer can be very loose!
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