WHAT DO I GET IF I SIGN ON?
So, let’s start from the beginning. (If you accidentally landed here, you may want to take the door down to the left where the tour begins.)
Right now, I’m here to take you on the Grand Tour of the ship where you will find out who we are, what we do, and whether you’d like to join our crew of merry revolutionaries. You can come with me to each of the stops below, or find the information [add link here].
If you have any questions, you can leave them in the comments below each stop, or email: quarterdeck@aswewrite.com.
Now, let’s begin the tour…
WHAT IS QUARTERDECK?
WHAT IS AS WE WRITE?
As We Write started out as a below sea level pandemic panic room here on The Resilience. This was back in 2020, while I was still all alone on the ship, and I designed it to be a happy place. I wanted a writer’s room where I could forget about viruses, lockdowns and the fact that life would never be quite the same again. A hideout where I could focus on my creative writing.
In Roll on August, I tell the story about how I happened upon two other independent writers, Leto Armitage and F.K. Marlowe, and how they were the first two who moved in to share this space with me. A couple of months later, I met M.W. McLeod who came on a trip with us and decided to stay on as our resident Ship’s Sea Witch.
WHAT IS THE NEW PARIS COMMUNE?
The New Paris Commune is the name our Ship’s Belle bestowed upon our writers’ camp. Our writers’ commune. In April 2022, we’d moored the ship on the Seine so that I could take part in Camp NaNo. We had a tent over at the NaNo camp, but there were too many problems with the messaging, so I invited a few people to come back to the ship and camp out on the riverbank with us instead.
But New Paris Commune? Isn’t that what the French revolutionaries called themselves? Didn’t they do horrible things?
Yes, it is. And yes, they did. But their dreams were good and they wanted to build a new and better Paris. So do we, but our Paris is a city of the mind. Most of us are Indiepub authors, those shameful, despised creatures. We accept our label and embrace it, wearing it with pride like the communards of old wore their scarlet caps.
We have great dreams, and we are building our own place in this new world where self-publishing is a viable option. We’re building it out of the stories we bring to the world on our own terms. We are revolutionaries, you see. Writers who have turned our backs on the establishment and the crumbling, cut-throat world of traditional publishing. Together we are building our own citadel of words. One day soon, we may even storm the Bastille.
We are revolutionaries, you see. Writers who have turned our backs on the establishment and the crumbling, cut-throat world of traditional publishing. We have great dreams, and we are building our own place in this new world. Building it, on our own terms, out of the stories we bring forth together. Our own citadel of words. One day soon, we may even storm the Bastille.
So, does this mean we are a raging group of left-leaning rebels? No. But kinda yes. We have no stated political or religious leanings or affiliations, but let me put it like this: If you are wearing another type of red cap, favour a certain old book over science, applaud a recent US high court ruling and believe that vaccinations are about government control, you wouldn’t enjoy our company.
If, on the other hand, the above makes you cringe and:
- You are an adult (over 18!);
- You are writing with a view to publishing your stories in some form (see FAQ below), or already have published stories out there; and
- You’d like to be part of an active, supportive writers’ group with a shared platform,
Then we could potentially be a good fit for you.
WHAT DO I GET IF I JOIN YOU?
If you sign on to sail and camp with us, you get an invite to our camp that you access through Discord. A tent of your own will be waiting for you when you arrive, and your new fam will be excited to get to know you.
In camp, we share resources and knowledge. In your own tent, you can post questions, pictures etc to help people get to know you as a person and as a writer. You can also pop into your fellow campers’ tents to hang out with them, leave them messages or just to get a feel for who they are. But that’s not all.
We have a number of general or special interest and entertainment tents, there are rant tents, a perv tent, a canteen, a pub and a place to share jokes. But we also have craft tents where we share snippets, discuss WIPs, ask each other for help with anything from formatting to promotions etc.
As a crew member, you get a bonus family of great storytellers who love to share, support and lift each other up. We will hold your hands when you’re hurting and celebrate every milestone and success with you.
If you make it through the first three months and decide that you want to stay, you also get your own spot as a featured author on this site, in our shop and on our social media. Furthermore, you get a group of writing buddies who will be happy to engage with you in camp and on socials, and who will help retweet and shine the light on you and your stories.
Every author should have some kind of platform, and we encourage our crew members to keep working on theirs. However, most writers are really bad at selling themselves. As a member of our crew, you get to board a platform that is already in place and growing. Whether you’re already started to work on yours, or just pulling your hair wondering where to start there is a place for you here.
We are still building, growing and expanding, but since we started in late 2021 we have put together:
- a Discord server (our camp)
- a YouTube channel
- a collection of social media accounts
- a website (this one)
- universal book pages
- landing pages
- a joint newsletter (sign up here)
- an email server yourname@aswewrite.com
- a combined audience of over 50,000 followers (Sep -22)
Last, but certainly not least, we all have a tendency to inspire each other to be brave, try new things and jump off whatever cliff it is that we’ve feared for too long. And we have a lot of fun while we do it.
Quarterdeck is the command centre, or central control point, of The Resilience. Here we have the Captain’s quarters, officers’ lodgings and the main reception area. It is also the place where we keep the Ship’s Log and colours.
Other than yours truly, the people who are instrumental in the running of this ship are the Quartermaster, the Ship’s Sea Witch and the Ship’s Belle. To learn who they are and what they do, just keep walking with me and I’ll introduce you to the whole crew.
WHO CAN JOIN OUR WRITERS' CAMP?
We have an admissions process that is clearly defined and we invite three new members every three months. Our campers suggest writers they think would make good additions to the crew to the Quartermaster who brings the list to Quarterdeck where candidates are ranked in accordance with our person specification and the balance we try to maintain.
This may sound very formal, but there is a method to this madness. We pride ourselves on having a diverse group of writers, and we want to keep it that way. We want to have a good mix of origins, ages, professional backgrounds, writing experience, genres, abilities, genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations, locations etc.
We skillshare in camp, so there may be times a certain skill or genre may bump someone higher up the list, or move them down a peg or two. Not being invited does not mean you’re not good enough or that we don’t like you – it just means you weren’t a good fit at this point in time.
Before the final decision is made, and I reach out to invite the new recruits, we put the names back to the camp. The crew can lend support to a candidate, or privately bring any concerns they may have to Quarterdeck’s attention. We will not invite people who have already been found to break camp rules.
So, if I’m not friends with a camper I can’t get an invite? No, you can’t, but you can make it known to us that you would like to join our crew (see FAQ below).
WHAT DO I NEED TO DO BEFORE I JOIN?
If you have received an invite, there are a few things you need to read through before you make your decision:
- First of all you need to read this post. Please leave a comment below to show me that you did. Yes, I’m serious.
- You may want to read the Ship Belle’s post, Welcome to Paris, to get a better feel for what kind of people and revolutionaries we are.
- You definitely need to read the rule book. It’s not that complicated, but we have a total of 10 camp rules that we do enforce. Simply put, they all amount to the same thing: Don’t be a dick! Leave a comment to show me you’ve read it.
- You may also want to read the rest of the same housekeeping post as it includes a map of the camp and an introduction to the other crew members.
- You need a phone, tablet or computer and you need to download and install Discord if you’re not using the app already.
- That’s it. You’re done. There is a FAQ section below. If you have a question that’s not in there, bring it to camp, leave a message below or shoot me a message and one of us will get back to you with an answer asap.
- Ready to sign on? Continue to What Happens Now? below.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
If you have been invited to join us, read Step 1 to 6 above and follow the instructions. Done? Get back to me and let me know you’re ready to jump off that cliff.
If you haven’t been invited, but would like to be, get in touch with me or anyone in the crew and let us know. There are also some tips on things you can do to increase your chances of getting an invite in the FAQ below.
Now, if you’ve made it all the way here, thank you very much for joining us for the grand tour today. We appreciate your time and hope to see you again someday soon. And before you go, don’t forget – you are good enough.
Kram,
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
HOW CAN I GET AN INVITE?
Although you can’t apply to join us, you can let us know that you’d like to. Check our Housekeeping info to see who to get in touch with and how. Other than that, check our linktree and come talk to us on socials, leave comments on our blog posts and videos, and help us retweet our promos. The more we interact, the better your chances.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
Nothing. Crew membership is free and will continue to be so. If you can and want to support us financially, you can do so by spotting us a cuppa through ko-fi, signing up to be a patreon, buying something in our merch shops, or buying and reading our authors’ books. Check our linktree for more informtion.
WHAT GENRES DO YOU APPROVE OF?
All of them. Almost. We don’t believe in banning books, and it makes no difference to us what you write with a few exceptions that are clearly stated in our rule book. If your writing is all about how to hurt people who didn’t, or couldn’t, consent, that’s a no for us. Describing bad things is one thing – celebrating them is something else entirely. To see what kind of books our current authors have published, please see Let’s Read.
WHO ARE THE OTHER AUTHORS IN CAMP?
For a complete and up-to-date list of campers, please see our Housekeeping document.
PLEASE NOTE
This site is supported by our readers, and our content may contain affiliate links. If you choose to buy something through one of these links, we may earn a small commission to help keep the ship afloat and the kettle boiling.
