There were four people who attended the ChatRoom session (unless some
of you have figured out that "cloaking device" option ;-) :

  Win Wenger
  Mark Joyner
  Max Sandor
  John McPherson

  Mark Joyner couldn't stay long and had these 3 things to say:

 1. There will be a celebrity chat with Win on 1 May 8PM CST at the
    "Hot Rod Your Head" chatroom:  'http://www.botree.com/chat.htm'
    Your attendance would be appreciated

 2.  My company is developing a search engine...
     ... it's in Beta, but please everyone check it out and let me 
     know what you think:  'http://www.searchhound.com'

 3. There is some potential in electronically publishing these books
    you brilliant writers devise.  Win can tell you about that.

  That left three of us to hash out what's happened in this Project 
since its inception, and what particular things seem to need to be
done.  Of course, the following didn't have the benefit of the 
other 26 list subscribers, so there are bound to be inadequacies, 
oversights, etc.  The original transcript, as messy as it is, is on
the web page.

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  TOC:

  On the structure of the group
  On what we need
  On publishing example stories to get the ball rolling
  Ideas
  Motivation
  Action items

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  On the structure of the group:

1. The default setting: pretty much the aggregate we have now, writers 
   who co-author make whatever arrangements with one another they please,
   or not at all as they please. We share information, inspiration, ideas,
   encouragement, but the arrangement as a whole remains nebulous or 
   anarchistic until we decide on specific structures we want to help us 
   along that we're willing to invest attention in. 

2. A step above that, probably also in reach of us all, is an inventory
   of everyone's interests, skills, what you see in this project, etc. 
   to make it more convenient to call upon one-another.

3. Maybe an amorphous structure might make sense, aside from delighting
   the libertarians (:-), in that on a self-initiated, person-by-person
   basis, when and if rewards start flowing, they'll clearly flow to 
   those who produced the particular stories. [incentive]

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  On what we need:

1. more stories (writers, but of course anyone who writes functions
   as a 'writer')
2. more illustrations (artists, or become such ourselves with computer
   paint programs)
3. a good publisher (publish a few stories on the Net to attract them,
   plus color illustrations on the Net are cheap, as opposed to those
   in a story book)
4. a CD burner
5. inventory of talents, skills, interests, etc. of Project associates
   (self-introductions? someone to conduct interviews one-by-one? or
   perhaps a simple process of getting to know each other better?)
6. inventory of proposed specific projects which need assistance

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  On publishing example stories to get the ball rolling:

1. Dew Song v2 will likely be the first product from this project.
   I, and perhaps Win, need to go over it one more time, and 
   Bonnie Tutaro will add 4-5 more good panels to work with (e.g.,
   illustrating the solutions that each of the friends dreamed up).
   Then we're going to go ahead with publishing it as a lead single,
   and split any profits 50-50.

2. The original Philosopher's Stone seems ready to go as is, and.
   is "b-e-a-utifully" illustrated by Bonnie Tutaro.

3. We have the makings of a series beginning with the revisition one
   of us is making in Philosopher's Stone, which is closer to "how"
   than "what", where the original Stone is more "what" than "how".
   Larry's idea of turning Stone into a film seems worthwhile.
   Win would like to change the name of Eddie Wills in the revised 
   series, but keep the original story.

4. We have some complete and near-complete stories illustrating
   capitalism and libertarian values, a series of what stories 1-2 
   of which may well be publishable soon.

5. Some time ago, Win wrote a story about the "Azlotzis" (sp?).
   Now may be the time to publish it.

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  Ideas:

1. Beta test and market research:  It occurs to me that the acid test of
   kid's stories is whether or not kids like them and find them worth 
   reading. proposed:
   a. sending out a few copies of stories for beta tests ... even if 
      only for feedback on the verbal part of the story.
   b. float to our group what any parents or older siblings or cousins 
      noticed about the preferences of young children re: stories.
      For instance, Wenger's experience as a parent indicates that,
      for young children, collections and volumes weren't nearly as
      preferred as short single story books.  This one observation 
      suggests a good focus might be simply to start publishing
      "singles" one by one, and then later go for coherent volumes
      (perhaps for older kids).

2. Include notes on a suggested reading style: have the out-loud-reader
   imagine the scenes as vividly as they can, and read slowly and 
   luxuriously so the kids can create and savor their own imagery.

3. Perhaps artwork isn't so crucial ... part of the effort might be to 
   have the kids imagine this stuff as it's being read to them, perhaps
   with directions to the out-loud-reader (e.g., parent) to ask such 
   and such questions at thus and so points, short imagination or
   visualization games, etc.

4. Extensions made by the kids themselves: 
   a. include sections where they take a turn, e.g., after Sylvia, John
      and Aurora in Dew Song v2, to see a scene not in the book but 
      which "obviously" is part of the story, and then describe it 
      (as if to the three friends) ... first being in the story, then 
      beyond the story
   b. along with the given story illustrations, perhaps an occasional
      white space can be left for the child to draw in an idea of 
      his/her own.
   c. encourage spin-off stories - sequels made not by us but by the 
      kids, with just the barest nudge from us to get them started...
   d. perhaps entice older kids into writing stories for younger kids, 
      and adults into stories for older kids...

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 Motivation:

1. Start publishing and marketing the stories now ready, and as 
   tangible hard copies are produced, and as profits come in to 
   the authors (and perhaps comments and reviews by children and
   families), others may get more inspired.

2. Some of us want more structure ... they're the natural ones
   to build the very structure they need, and of course can 
   invite others in the larger group to join with them.

3. Those of us who have a number of story ideas, simply start
   writing them up and posting them.  Others may feel inspired
   by example.

4. Post results of collaborations ... teamwork may also inspire
   by example.

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 Action items:

1. Win and I publish the modified Dew as a single. 

2. The default amorphous arrangement of the group stands, until
   other involved members feel they need more structure AND are 
   willing to help put that together, probably as sub-groups.

3. Set up another time for a chat - have to work that out with Mark -
   and see if we can't get a broader based involvement.

4. We ask for an inventory of skills and interest. 
   Win will design and post a brief questionnaire.
   Perhaps a second inventory will be made of proposed projects.

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