Sorority anthology
 

Hi GCers!


I've always had a love of reading and a skill for writing. I was just thinking about how I've been missing doing both since I graduated from college (yeah, I know...I'm strange! :) ).

I also love reading the stories posted on GC about all the great times you folks have had in your organizations from rushing to being an alumni. I have done some work with sororities, but I never got to have all the great memories you all did. Anyway, the two thoughts merged and I thought it would be really cool to write, or edit really, an anthology of stories from sorority members.

Yes, an actual, published book. :)

The deal would be this, sorority members from ALL types, NPC, NPHC, multi-cultural, local etc would submit stories about their personal experiences. Topics would include: the rush experience, special times with the big/little, fun times at events/mixers, philanthropy achievements, life lessons learned (sisterhood, leadership...), lifetime/alumni committment and the like. Young and elderly members alike would be encouraged to submit. Yes, I would be contacting all of the national organizations to inform them and enlist assistance.

I would NOT NOT NOT encourage nor accept submissions regarding bad experiences, hazing or ritual. This book would be solely for the purpose to present a positive image of greek life and to inspire sorority members everywhere.

People whose stories or photos are selected for the anthology would have their name and affiliation listed with their story. (I would do my best to make sure that a good-cross section of people are selected so that it's not just one sorority overwhelming the entire thing). If possible, I would like to give each person selected a free copy of the book.


Soooooo....here are my questions:

1) If I proceeded with said project, would any of you be interested in sharing stories? no submissions = no book. :( Many submissions = great book. :)

2) It costs money to publish a book and I am not independently wealthy. :) In general, if you saw this 150-page, hardback book in a bookstore selling for $10-15, would you buy it?


I appreciate any feedback you all can provide - I know how vocal the GC community can get. ;)


......Kelly :)

Kelly, I think it sounds like a "Chicken Soup" book but for Greeks...and we all know how well those books sell. I don't think you'd have a problem marketing it. I think it would also be a great read for those considering Greek membership! :)

I agree with what HotDamGam said, good luck with it !

Personally, I would not feel comfortable sharing my memories and stories and putting a price on it - maybe that's just me.

Furthermore, as I see it, it would basically be "us" writing the book, (all you would need to do is some mild editing and compiling), so why should someone else who isn't Greek profit from it? If the money was going to charity, I would at least be able to comprehend it. It really doesn't make a difference to me that it's in a positive light, when I would have little/no control with how someone portrayed me/my experiences. I don't like the idea of Greek Life as an industry of profit.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but the idea really just put me off. I have nothing personal against you!

Thanks,
Carrie

Most definately. I'd be supportive of the book if I knew that the book profits (at least a large % of it) was going to various charities. That is part of what greek life is about ;)

How did your Miss Sorority 2002 pan out?
http://130.94.21.174/gcforums/showth...=&postid=98879

What other greek projects are you working on?

response
 

I understand your concern and there is no obligation to participate.

Wow! I'm amazed that you said that. Anthology or not, there is a LOT of work and investment involved in publishing any work - much more than just "mild editing" (!?)

Would you feel better if I was in a sorority? I was a member of a local at one point so I am not exactly a "non-greek".

As for making a profit, I highly doubt that the book would make the New York best-sellers list. :) I'm not in it for the money - I doubt much would be made really! (I'd be lucky to break even). It's more of a project/hobby really. And with the lack of positive press for greek life, it would be a shame to pass up an opportunity to share the good things.

Uhm... I'm not sure how you come to that conclusion. With an anthology such as this, an editor normally edits and proofreads the submission for conciseness and clarity and/or sends it back to the author and asks him/her to do so. Copies of submissions are always sent back to the author(s) for final approval. In short: you write it; I proof and edit; you approve; I compile; book prints.

I understand what you mean here as well. Though, aren't there a lot of ways that people profit off of greek life in general? Ever buy a lavalier or a t-shirt or Keychains? These companies don't know the special meaning behind the letters but they'll still slap them on a bumper sticker and sell it to members for $5. And the members will buy it.

Frankly, I didn't even consider the thought of making a profit until you brought it up. I guess I just knew that a small specialized run such as this wouldn't be profitable anyway. The reason I asked if anyone would buy one was really to see if anyone other than the contributors would want to read it.

The idea of contributing a percentage to charity is a great idea. The only problem I see with that is picking *which* charity to support. Obviously, most all of the national organizations have an official charity and I'd be hard-pressed to pick one without looking like I'm biased. It would be difficult, but not impossible.


When my mom died a few years ago, someone gave me a book called "Letters from Motherless Daughters - Words of Courage, Grief, and Healing" by Hope Edelman (Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.). It is an anthology of stories all written by women who had lost their mothers. As I read, I realized that, though we're different people, we all have something in common.

It's that sense of connectedness that makes an anthology special - To be able to read inspiring stories about sisterhood, friendship and growth across decades, state lines and even organizations. There is something special about Greek life that the general public does not understand. I just felt like I wanted to capture that on paper. I did not mean to offend you or put you off.

If I get lots of feedback that says "your idea sucks"...then I guess it's a no-go! At least I'm making an attempt to solicit opinions from the people who matter the most.


......Kelly :)

I think it sounds like an interesting read, and I would buy it if I had the cash.

.
 

It was going great until September 11th. I cancelled it out of respect. I also wanted to retool it so it didn't sound so cheesy. I wanted it to be a scholarship for outstanding students more than anything else. Maybe I'll relaunch it later this year.

Other than alumnae affiliation with an NPC organization, nothing.

I guess I'm just a dork for trying to participate. :(

Re: response
 

If this was the case, why would any publisher want to publish this book? lol. Generally speaking, THEY are in it for the money.


One of my sisters pointed out that:
"You are not allowed to use your membership in AGD to make a profit for yourself. One AGD in Maryland sent out some flyers to alumnae chapters about some AGD stuff she had made that she was selling. IHQ sent her a letter about that really fast.

I think that the only way we would be able to participate (using our name) would be if profits were going to the Foundation or something like that."

While profits don't seem to be the reason you are going to do this project, it might be the concern of the IHQ's of the contributing members.

Because it would be self-published. Basically, *I* pay someone to print it and they print it without any rights to the material itself. No rights = no royalties.


That's a fair point - and, of course, since there are so many sororities, I have no way of knowing all of their policies without asking all of them. Again, a release would be sent to the national offices where applicable to inform them of the project. In this instance, I could just change my policy to state that no organization shall be named in the book.

If I may speak candidly, I *completely* understand this policy you mention. But, at the same time, I think that organizations shoot themselves in the foot by stopping positive projects because of fear.

I also know that some sororities, including mine -- Phi Mu, prohibit its members from talking to the media about the sorority. This may cross the media line and therefore keep some people from contributing.

I think the book is a great idea and I have had many great experiences since I rushed :) I would consider submiting something I also think that some of the profits should go to charities. I would definitly buy the book if I had the money though...good luck with it!!


Nichole

Re: response
 

Hi Kelly,


To answer your comments, I was simply commenting that the effort that goes into creating an anthology along the lines of "Chicken Soup for the Soul" (as an example) is much different than an original creative work. I wasn't trying to imply that you'd be sitting on your ass like a fat cat :), while "we" all did the work, but it probably came out wrong! :)

The only reason it matters to me whether you're Greek or not, is because I figure that if you were, you might understand why these stories are not something I would necessarily want floating around. Because I don't know you personally, I wouldn't take for granted what your approach would be. Don't think I'm assuming the worst of you or anything, it's just that not all editors actually come back and get approval from their informal contributors, - and perhaps the reason I'm a little sceptical is because I know cases where this has not happened and the person has been misquoted. I am also a little confused - first it seems that you want to print this book to improve the reputation of Greek Life, which is fine. But then you say that you assume that only the contributors would read it, and I would assume that the contributors already have a good impression of the System. Anyway, maybe you can see why I have questions here.

I understand that there is a lot of negative press the Greek System receives, but I don't think the answer is to publish a book. The way that Fraternities and Sororities are going to fight the negative stereotypes is by continuing to be active and visible in the community, become outstanding scholars and leaders, etc. Again, this is just my opinion.

For me, it's not about how much money is made, or that I want my cut or something -
I am fully aware that Greek Life is full of profit hounds - but that doesn't make me like it or accept it any more. In fact, I try to buy my paraphanalia directly from my own organization - whose intentions I trust. There are also companies that I've bought from in the past, when I've had to, that give part of their proceeds back to a charity. So, please don't assume that ALL members are stupid and buy things from anyone who slaps their letters on a shirt, etc.

As I tried to state in my first message, I'm not angry or trying to be bitchy, I am just expressing my opinion, which you solicited. I sincerely wish you the best, no matter what you do, because I'm sure you have the best of intentions. :)

Thanks,
Carrie

Frankly, I have to say I was really surprised to see that anybody is against this. I don't know that I would bother to submit to it, necessarily, but I can't see the harm.

This is not the sort of book, say, Random House would publish. We're puffing up our own importance if we think there's a market that big for it! The only way to do it would self publication, where basically the writer or editor pays for the printing services and then recoups his or her investment by book sales. And he or she rarely even makes back what he or she has shelled out. The hardest part is getting the book to stores. Your local B. Dalton won't pick up some random self-published book. Thanks to the internet, there is a bigger market today than 20 years ago, but it's still hard going.

No one would be obligated to contribute. But I can't believe that any national sorority would refuse to let members contribute IF the nationals were given the right to approve the material. Let's face it, Phi Mu HQ does not get excited when chapter X's rush chair tells the school newspaper, "We are so excited about meeting all the new girls this week." Non media-contact policies are designed to stop bad or inappropriate press, and if this was done correctly, it wouldn't be.

I am a writer and an editor professionally. Anyone who thinks the editor will just sit back on a divan and collect the profits without breaking a sweat is way off-base. Editing is hard work and involves a lot of boring administrative and fact-checking work. Given that this probably isn't going to be runaway bestseller, she probably won't be collecting any profits at all.

Now, Navane, I don't know you, so don't take this wrong when I say this is all true assuming you're on the up-and-up. I of course have no reason to believe you are not. If you got the support of national orgs, I think some people's fears would be allayed. If people are worried about the massive profits they think you'll be raking in, you could choose to divide any proceeds above an beyond publication costs equally among the NPC, NPHC, and Latino fraternity/sorority council (sorry, the name escapes me). Surely that's a philanthropy everyone could agree on. Well, it doesn't include locals, I suppose, but it's pretty broad.

I think you can see that there are differing opinions. As far as what I think it doesn't really matter,(but I'll tell ya anyway! LOL) What do YOU want to do?
Sometimes we limit ourselves because we fear rejection. Take what everyone is saying and weigh it against your own ideas.

Sometimes in books of this nature you have a mix of anonymous contributors along with people who allow their names to be used.
Also, many potential contributors might want to specify seeing the final draft prior to allowing their statements to appear. This would be in the individual releases.

I wouldn't have a problem with anyone making a profit from a book like this...it does indeed take a lot of time and effort to produce a quality project and since the motivation is stated to be positive for Greeks, I think it would be nice. Would I buy it? Maybe not for myself, but my daugter.