FAQs
These are the questions we get asked most often. They are (mostly) reproduced verbatim from feedback relayed to us by our chapter coordinators, and from email queries. The answers were written by Annie Zaidi, Manisha Lakhe and Peter Griffin. The page was last updated on the 8th October, 2007.
We think that we have managed to answer just about everything. If we haven’t, do email us (editors AT caferati DOT com) and let us know. Use Caferati FAQs
as your subject line, please.
Click on a question from the list below to jump straight to the answer, or just skip the list and read the whole lot, starting here. Clicking on the word top
below each answer brings you back to this point on the page.
• How and when did Caferati start?
• What, and cut out the verbiage, please, is Caferati?
• Why does Caferati only permit writing in English? [new]
• What are the differences between the forum, the blog, the email newsgroups and Caferati Creative?
• How many members does Caferati have?
• How do I contact Caferati ? Whom do I contact?
• What are Caferati’s activities?
• What are Caferati’s achievements?
• What’s next on Caferati’s mind?
• What is Caferati Creative? [new]
• Where can I find the book published by Caferati?
• What is Stories at the Coffee Table? What is SatCT?
• Are there any eligbility criteria for Caferati membership?
• I can’t write but I am good listener/reader. Can I join?
• Is there an age limit (upper or lower) for joining?
• Let me clarify: do I have to part with any money at all, under any circumstances?
• How do I join Caferati’s blog?
• Caferati restricts some offers to active members.
What exactly is the definition of active
here? [new]
Membership-related, but specifically about the city chapters and read-meets
• In how many cities is Caferati active?
• What the heck is a read-meet
anyway?
• How do I subscribe to a newsgroup for my city?
• I’m on the [city name] newsgroup. Does that make me a member of Caferati?
• Who are the read-meet moderators?
• Who are the read-meet hosts? Are there any requirements for read-meet venues?
• How often do read-meets happen? [new]
• Must I clear what I want to read with the moderator before a read-meet?
• Can we discuss works of great authors in read meets?
• Read-meets frequently have themes or writing triggers. Is it mandatory to write on the theme listed? [new]
• Do I have to pay anything to attend a read-meet?
• What do members learn at these such read-meets?
• What can be posted to or discussed via the city chapter newsgroups? What is discouraged? [new]
• My city isn’t on Caferati’s list. But I’d like to attend a read-meet. What do I do?
Posting your writing, feedback on your writing, the forum in general
• Where can I read and react to other writers and their writing?
• What happens to our works if we post them at Caferati? Any copyright issues?
• Does Caferati pay me for my writing?
• Does Caferati have any awards or prizes for writers?
• Does Caferati guarantee that my writing will be seen in print?
How and when did Caferati start?
Caferati began as an online network called Bombay Writers’ Cafe (on the networking site, www.ryze.com), in July, 2004. The bulk of our interaction still takes place there.
The idea of meeting in the real world came up a few weeks later, and our first read-meet happened on a rain-swept August evening in 2004, at Bandstand, in Bandra, Bombay, India. It was attended by all of ten people, with only one person reading original work. The others lost no time in giving feedback and suggestions for improvement. That day, we also discussed the possibility of future read-meets, and ground rules for interaction.
At the second read-meet, things were very different: more people, many more readings, much more feedback and, of course, discussions about creative liberties, the industry and business of publishing, and finding our place in the sun.
Like the cliche goes, there was no looking back, after that.
Within a few weeks, we realised that this writers’ group was not going to be a Bombay-only affair. People from all over India, and some from other countries as well, joined the online network. Thanks to the fun we had at our first few meets, and the reports on the message board (which have become a tradition) and the blog, members in other cities wanted to organise read-meets in their own cities, complete with coffee and snacks and arguments about creative liberties and the business of publishing. Some enthusiastic souls went ahead and did the spadework, read-meets began in several other cities, and BWC
morphed into Caferati
(which combines the cafés
that writers seem to have an affinity for, with literati
).
Since then, there have been dozens of meets—once a month, on an average—held under the Caferati banner. More cities are joining the bandwagon, even as we write.
What, and cut out the verbiage, please, is Caferati?
Caferati is a forum for writers in English.
We use a message board on Ryze as a discussion and workshopping area, we run a blog that showcases some of our best writing, and we meet in the real world to share our writing in events we call read-meets (and these read-meets are coordinated via local email newsgroups).
We also run a few email newsletters, free and open to anyone to subscribe to; Caferati Contests sends out information on contests for writers that we run ourselves, or in collaboration with other organisations; and Caferati Listings, which covers contests that we hear about, calls for submission, writing opportunities, jobs for writers and the like; and Caferati Updates, which is for general news about Caferati, and used rarely. These newsletters go out on a whenever-we-have-the-time-and-enough-content basis.
Why does Caferati only permit writing in English?
We believe any forum or group must have some focus. This is the one we chose.
Why? Because we, the people who run Caferati, share a little experience and a lot of passion for writing in English.
Please note that we do not look down on or wish to denigrate writing in other languages. (Annie also writes in Hindi and Urdu; Manisha has published poetry in Hindi; Peter is, alas, unilingual, though he writes fluent SMSese and has been known to converse easily with MBAs, designers and techies.)
Please also note that many of our members translate and transcreate work from and to other languages, and that this is actively encouraged.
What are the differences between the forum, the blog, the email newsgroups and Caferati Creative?
http://bwc-network.ryze.com, a.k.a. the Ryze board, a.k.a. the forum, a.k.a. the discussion group, a.k.a. the message board, is an online space where all members of Caferati can post their writing, respond to other people’s work and discuss issues of literary import.
The blog features writing from our forum, selected by a small team of curators. But everyone is free to comment on whatever is posted there, including non-members.
The email newsgroups are meant to help members of local chapters keep abreast of Caferati happenings in their cities. However, some of the chapters also use the mail groups to inform each other of local events that are relevant and of interest to writers (for instance, a book reading, launch or play). And, since members living in the same city frequently become friends, newsgroups are also sometimes used to organise informal gatherings, just to hang out, no readings.
Caferati Creative is a publishing company that Caferati’s moderators also run. More about it here.
How many members does Caferati have?
Almost 3000 registered on our Forum. Over 500 in our Facebook group. The list grows from day to day. Perhaps a few hundred of those participate on our forum and in our read-meets with any degree of regularity. This does not include members who have only attended read-meets but lack the desire or web connections to participate online.
Like we never tire of saying, we like meeting other talented people. We like to experiment with creativity. We like to discuss other people’s writing, and show our own to our peers. Basically, that’s why. As Caferati grows, and we put our fingers into other pies, our reasons for doing what we do, may change, naturally. If they do, you’ll hear about it here first.
Members pay their share of expenses at read-meets. Caferati’s presence on Ryze has, since March 2005, been paid for by Mahesh Murthy, friend, supporter and sometime contributor. Caferati’s web site (where you are now), was paid for by Peter Griffin, was temporarily hosted on server space donated by Annie Zaidi, and currently lives on web space provided by Ashwan Lewis of Absolutely Geeky. Megha Murthy and Ashwan Lewis have, at various times, done massive amounts of backend work for us for nothing more than a smile.
How do I contact Caferati ? Whom do I contact?
You can email us at editors AT caferati DOT com. That address auto-forwards mail to Annie, Manisha and Peter. One of them will respond. All the city chapters also have volunteer-coordinators, and their own mail groups. These groups help members keep abreast of what is being discussed or planned in those cities. Any queries on these groups will be answered by the local volunteer coordinators.
What are Caferati’s activities?
We are essentially a writers’ group. We write, we share our writing, news about writing and writing opportunities, and by giving constructive feedback, we hope to encourage budding writers, as well as help them improve.
Most of this happens online, at our message board, where members are free to post their writing.
We also try to have regular formal writing exercises on the board. Participation is not mandatory, but is encouraged.
Once a month (usually), members in various cities organise what we call read-meets
(you’ll find an explanation below).
Now and then, a local chapter might decide to organise a special event. For instance, our Pune group held a scripting workshop in 2005, with a professional coming in to guide and instruct participants, which eventually spun off into an independent theatre group. Delhi and Bombay have had on-the-spot writing exercise sessions instead of a read-meet. Delhi has workshops where experts came in to discuss the art of criticism with reference to fiction, non-ficton and poetry, poetic form, and the craft of editing. Bombay has started a series of member-conducted mini-workshops as part of regular read-meets. But these other activities depend entirely on the initiative taken by local volunteers and group coordinators. These events and activities may or may not be free of cost.
Every now and then, we mail out a newsletter, Caferati Listings that informs its subscribers about opportunities for writers. That includes paid work, freelance or full-time, calls for submissions, contests and other opportunities. Please see this page for details, and go here to subscribe.
And our older Caferati Contests
newsletter send out information about contests that Caferati runs, collaborates with others to run, or supports.
What are Caferati’s achievements?
Achievements are hard to measure, and since this is our own site, you’re entitled to take anything we say with a pinch of salt. But here’s what we’re most pleased about.
We set up Caferati to give giving writers a shared creative space, where they can interact, meet, receive feedback and hone their skills. Today, we have close to three thousand members on our Ryze discussion board, which is abuzz with activity 24/7, and sixteen active city chapters (with a few more in the making) which organise read-meets that are looked forward to with much pleasurable anticipation by members. We’re proud of that.
We had, in 2004, organised a nation-wide short fiction contest, taking off from an idea born at one of our readings. We received over 150 entries from all over India. The best entries have been compiled into an anthology of short stories, titled Stories at the Coffee Table (SATCT for short). We hope to follow this venture with similar contests in other genres.
We’re also proud of the fact that some of our members have participated in, been short-listed for, and won writing contests, and that quite a few have gone on to find buyers and/or publishers for writing first workshopped on our message board or blog.
In January 2005, we were invited to be part of the Literature section of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival; we hosted an evening where we presented some of the best of our writing. In February 2005, we were invited back to do a similar evening. That wasn’t all. We have, in February 2006, also collaborated with the Kala Ghoda Association to conceive and manage two very successful contests, and we created and managed the official festival blog, The Kala Ghoda Times. And in February 2007, we were invited back, this time to run four contests (two of them, the Poetry Slam and the Graphic Flash, never done before in India, as far as we know), and the blog.
In January 2007, we were invited to be a part of the Jaipur Heritage International Festival’s Literature Festival, where we hosted an evening that featured an Open Mike session and the launch of our book, Stories at the Coffee Table We have also assisted publication groups (like the Times of India, DNA, the newspaper, and Zubaan Books) in the publicising of their Calls for Submissions and the like. And we have frequently run recruitment calls for organisations.
What’s next on Caferati’s mind?
This web site will be the first to know every time we think up something new and unleash it on an unsuspecting world. We’re open to suggestions, by the way. Write to us.
Caferati Creative Private Limited is a company set up by Manisha Lakhe, Annie Zaidi and Peter Griffin. Very broadly, it aims to publish writers in English, both by conventional methods and through new and emerging media. Please see this page for more details.
Where can I find the book published by Caferati?
Here.
What is Stories at the Coffee Table / SatCT?
SatCT stands for Stories at the Coffee Table.
It is an anthology of short fiction, and Caferati Creative’s first print publication. It is a collection of the best entries entered in a short story contest we ran a while ago.
Are there any eligbility criteria for Caferati membership?
Everyone’s eligible, but there are two basic criteria:
1. We prefer that you are above 18 years of age.
This is because we do not want our members to be restricted to writing fit to be read by minors (though writing for children is very much a valid and lively part of our activities). We realise, of course, that there is no way we can vet the age of a random web visitor, so we have to trust in parental supervision keeping children away from our message board, and the vigilance of our members. (In the future, we do want to look at creating safe spaces where children can come online to write. Until we can ensure the safe
bit, that will remain a gleam in our eye.
2. You should write in English.
We believe a writing group must have some focus, and that we, the people who run Caferati, should stick to an area where we have some competence.
This is not to say we frown on writing in other languages. Most of our members are multilingual (only natural in a country like India, where most of our membership lives or has roots), and participate in other writing groups as well. The more the merrier, we say, and the better for writing as a craft, hobby and profession, which is, after all, what we seek to promote.
(It is also pertinent to note here that many of our members have a keen interest in translating and transcreating
work from and to other languages, and that this is actively encouraged.)
0. You should be not just open to feedback but positively turking for it.
We thought this was obvious, but apparently there are people out there who don’t actually want feedback but still want to join a writers’ forum. Go figure.
I can’t write but I am good listener/reader. Can I join?
Yes, of course! Welcome! May we get you a chair? Writers love readers above all else. Our forum will benefit from your feedback. (And yes, that means we do want feedback from you, though of course there’s no way we can stop you from just lurking.) At our read-meets, the accent is on participation, and you will be expected to workshop your writing at least now and again, so perhaps you may not enjoy them as much.
Is there an age limit (upper or lower) for joining?
No upper limit. Eighteen is the lower limit. Yes, we realise that this cannot be enforced in a virtual environment. But we try.
Simple. Click here. Or copy and paste this address into your browser address bar — http://www.ryze.com/signup.php?r=0&networkname=bwc — and hit Go
.
That link will take you to a page that will ask you to join Ryze (joining is free), and once you have completed their online form, you automatically join Caferati.
If you are already a member of Ryze, then simply go to our network page — http://bwc-network.ryze.com — and hit the Join
button. That page also has a list of (and links to) Caferati’s local chapters, which you can also apply to join, if you wish to. You can also find that list further down this page, here, and to the right, on the navigation sidebar of this site.
At the moment, no. If we change that at some point, it will be with plenty of advance notice.
Let me clarify: do I have to part with any money at all, under any circumstances?
If you attend a read-meet, you will have to pay an equal share of any expense incurred by the coordinator and host. (Please see this answer for more details.)
Participation in any of our online activities is free at present. We may, in the future, consider a small membership fee, but that will only be when we can offer our members more facilities than we do at the moment.
Please note that free
refers specifically to membership of Caferati’s forum, blog, newsletters and city chapters, and not to the providers of the services we use. Our forum, where most of our online activity happens, is part of Ryze, the business networking site. Ryze’s basic membership is free at this time (they have premium Gold and Platinium packages, but you don’t need one of those to participate on Caferati’s forum), but that may change depending on Ryze’s goals and business plan. If Ryze changes its policies, we hope to be able to inform our members well in advance, but we cannot guarantee this. Our blog is run on Blogger, and we use Googlegroups for the mailing groups that help our local chapters coordinate read-meets and the like. Both services are owned by Google, and are currently free of cost, but you understand that we cannot possibly guarantee that it will stay that way forever. (Yes. We do have to state these kind of things. People can, and have, asked.)
How do I join Caferati’s blog?
You can’t. The blog now features selected work from our forum, and membership of the curating team is by invitation only.
Caferati restricts some offers to active members.
What exactly is the definition of active
here?
Active
to us is someone who has been on our forum for at least a few months, and who has posted with some degree of regularity. This could be original work, interesting links or educative stuff for other members, or (and this is a minimum requirement) comments and critique on writing by other members. We occasionally make an exception for members who are only active at our read-meets. Usually, though, the offers we restrict tend to be online—listings of personal sites, books and the like—so we figure that people who want to take us up on those had better be online too.
Why the insistence on commenting on work by others? Well, we have had many who come online only to post their own work. We don’t have a probem with that, honestly. It’s always nice to read new writers. But when they only collect feedback on their own work and don’t return the favour, they are not really giving back to the community. And we prefer that our members both give and take.
Oh yes. While we’re on the topic, we’ve had people coming on to the forum only when they want to promote their books, events, etcetera. And they still seem to think that they’re contributing to Caferati and want us to help promote their stuff. Sigh.
Membership-related, but specifically about the city chapters and read-meets
In how many cities is Caferati active?
Online, it really isn’t possible to say. Our members come from all over the world, from places big and small. We do not insist that they identify their locations. As to real world read-meets, at last count, we had fourteen chapters that have met at least once: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Dubai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kanpur, Lahore, Lucknow, Madras, Nagpur, Pune, and Singapore.
Boston, Colombo, Goa, Indore, Jodhpur, the San Francisco Bay Area, London and Kuwait are on the cards and will, hopefully, join the gang any time now.
What the heck is a read-meet
anyway?
Basics.
It is a group of writers meeting at a pre-decided location, and reading out their writing to the others present, for feedback and suggestions.
Ingredients:
A few writers who think they will benefit from peer review, a coordinator willing to organise a venue with enough place for those writers to sit around and chat, a moderator to steer the proceedings, and yes, plenty of coffee. (Certain heretic members have been known to serve lime juice, tea and other beverages.)
Where?
We have found that a member’s home makes for a great venue, with costs for the coffee and snacks being shared by all present. We have also tried, with varying degrees of success, more public spaces: libraries, bookshops, seasides, gardens, coffee shops, offices, you name it.
When?
Once a month in each city, on the average.
How long?
We have found that between two and three hours is ideal. Shorter, and things get rushed; longer, and you test the patience of even the most gracious host.
Protocol:
• Those who want to read their work must send it in to the moderator in advance. This is not a vetting process; it just helps the moderator plan the event, making sure everyone gets to read, and that there is a distribution of genres and styles.
• Works read must take less than seven minutes to read aloud, unless permission is specifically sought and obtained from the moderator in advance. This is to allow as much participation as possible.
• Sometimes, members from other cities send in material to be read for them. But since the focus is face-to-face interaction, and since those not present would not benefit from that process any more than they do on the message board, the writers at the meet always get first priority.
• Feedback is requested from all present, and usually restricted to a few minutes, with the moderator choosing when to move on to the next writer. Writers are free to ask for specialised feedback, otherwise it is taken for granted that they want general feedback on style, content, and the writing.
• Writers who do not want feedback are definitely not welcome. Writers who want only praise are hereby formally advised that this rarely happens.
How do I subscribe to a newsgroup for my city?
Find that city’s newsgroup’s home page (you’ll find the current list and links to each newsgroup here, and on the sidebar of this site) and click on join.
Remember to answer the question on that page, which goes like this: Please tell us about yourself, why you want to join this group, and how you found us. [Blank Join requests, or requests that show you haven’t read our web site will be deleted.]
No, don’t expect us to know or remember your email address from other interactions.
I’m on the [city name] newsgroup. Does that make me a member of Caferati?
The newsgroups are just a convenient method for city coordinators to keep in touch with members in that city, and keep them informed about read-meets. When you join a city newsgroup, you are only guaranteed information about read-meets. To get feedback on your work on a 24/7 basis, you’ll need to join our Message board.
Why or how is someone chosen to run a local chapter? What are the qualifications to be a City chapter coordinator?
Do I have to be a published, professional writer of great seniority?
Nobody is chosen
to run
local chapters. Enthusiastic members who can spare the time volunteer to organise and coordinate Caferati activities in their cities. But they do not run
anything. Caferati, by and large, runs itself, with minimal supervision. We do not ask for any qualifications, except for a love of writing, and a desire to promote it as a hobby, craft or profession. We do insist that these volunteers be regular participants on the message board. That is, they must frequently post original work, or, at the very least, provide feedback to those who do. No, these people are not necessarily a senior
writers, either in age or writing experience, though such individuals are more than welcome to volunteer, provided they stick to our basic rules on coordination and feedback.
Who are the read-meet moderators?
The role of the moderator at our read-meets is to frame a general order to the readings, steer the proceedings, facilitate participation by all present, and ensure that feedback and discussion stays on track. Moderators at read-meets are usually initially chosen by the coordinators (and quite often, at least in the early days of any given city chapter, the coordinators double up as moderators), but more usually, they are selected by a process of rotation or consensus among the members of that city’s chapter. Sometimes, an invited guest who is an experienced and/or respected writer, may guest-moderate, but that is only by member consensus.
Who are the read-meet hosts? Are there any requirements for read-meet venues?
Anyone kind enough to offer their space—home, garden, terrace, office, meeting room, whatever—as read-meet venues qualifies as a host in our books. Requirements? Enough space to seat at least a dozen people (cushions and mats or carpets will do fine, and if you need to hire extra chairs, those present will share the expense), and a reasonably quiet environment (quiet enough for a soft-voiced writer to be heard by all present). You don’t have to worry about being able to cater the event—coordinators usually order snacks and stuff—but it would be nice if you let us use your kitchen to heat food and make beverages. And we’ll help clean up after ourselves.
How often do read-meets happen?
The goal is for each city chapter to meet once a month. Some chapters meet less frequently. And, of course, if there is enough enthusiasm and participation from members of any given local chapter, they are free to meet more often.
Do I have to bring along original writing at my very first meet or is it okay to just observe for the first couple of times?
Whatever you’re most comfortable with. We can assure you that if you do choose to read, you’ll find yourself in a very supportive environment. We don’t bite. You will, however, be encouraged to bring your own writing the next time. This is, after all, a writing group. We kind of expect people who join to be writers.
Must I clear what I want to read with the moderator before a read-meet?
Yes, do please send in your work to the designated moderator before a read-meet. That’s one of the reasons they exist. But please note, this is mainly so that the moderators can plan the read-meet better, making sure everyone gets to read; it does not imply censorship. While there are no restrictions beyond those guidelines that we follow on our forum, you are requested to check in advance if there will be minors present before you read work suitable only for adult ears. And please accept the moderator’s verdict if s/he asks you not read a particular piece of work.
I get stage-fright. / I’m not comfortable reading aloud. / I have a soft voice. / I have a sore throat. How do I participate in a meet?
No sweat. We understand. Many of us are similarly afflicted. Here’s a plan: When you’re sending in work you’d like to present at a read-meet, tell the moderator that you’ll be present, but you’d like someone else to read for you. Arrangements will be made.
Can we discuss works of great authors in read meets?
Yes, but only at the discretion of the moderator, and only if time permits, and not more than one author per read-meet. We know that there is much to learn from the masters, but that can be done just as effectively on our message board. Besides, we believe that a reading group is a more appropriate forum for such discussions. Caferati is a writers’ forum and the focus is very clearly your original writing.
Can I read articles on social issues? Politics? What about medicine, military, and other specialist topics?
You can read anything, if you’ve written it yourself. Just remember that you’re communicating with other writers. Expect - even demand - feedback on the writing. Do not expect, leave alone demand, that others will rally around your dashing white charger. Yes, writers are part of society, and yes, you want to use your writing as a tool for change, but this is a place to hone your writing abilities not evangelise your causes. We will be lenient about enforcing this guideline (and indeed we have turned a blind eye in the past), but please do not push it. Above all, do not, please, do not, get into heated discussions and flame wars that have to do with the content of your opinion pieces. Those will be discouraged. Actively. If we suspect that your intention is merely to provoke, we will delete your posts without asking you first. If you post or read articles written by someone else, then they should be relevant to writing, literature, or related themes. And of course, they must respect copyright. It’s usually advisable to post an extract and a link, when something is available online.
Read-meets frequently have themes or writing triggers. Is it mandatory to write on the theme listed?
No. Themes are not mandatory. You are free to present off-theme work.
Some of us need the challenge of a theme. Some of us find them inspiring. But they are never imposed on all members. What we do is divide the read-meet into two sections, one of which is devoted to the work that’s on theme, the other to anything else that members want to read.
Do I have to pay anything to attend a read-meet?
Caferati does not charge an admission fee or attendance fee. But there are some costs incurred, which are shared equally by all present. These could include the cost of snacks and beverages, hire of chairs and the like, and, sometimes, venue hire charges. These are always at cost, and since advance payments are made on members’ behalf by these kind souls, we insist that payments must be paid on the spot. These payment are usually in the two-digit range. Anything higher, and the coordinators usually specify the cost in their event notifications.
Members are urged to be considerate with their RSVPs. Please let us know well in advance if you plan to be there, or if you’re cancelling. Read-meet coordinators spend their own money to make arrangements, so it is very inconsiderate—nay, it’s downright rude—to land up unannounced, or to not show up after you’ve said you will. When you come to a meet without prior confirmation, you put a strain on the arrangements the coordinator has made, and possibly deprive the other members of their share of space and refreshments. When you ditch, either other members present wind up paying for your share or the coordinator does, or stuff goes to waste.
Must I absolutely, compulsorily, mandatorily be a member of the message board before I can participate in a read-meet? / I don’t have regular web access / I break out in hives when I see a computer / what is a message board?
You don’t absolutely have to be a member of Ryze to join in the read-meets. We encourage this because works can be posted online. That, you see, is where all the regular action is: 24/7, always on, no geographic distances or time zone differences getting in the way. When you participate on the board, you get to share your work not just with members from our city but with all our members around the world. And you get to read and interact with writers from all over the world. However, if you do not have a PC or regular web access, and choose not to join for those reasons, we’ll understand completely.
What do members learn at these read-meets?
Learning is an extremely subjective process. All the same, many of us discover, with mixed feelings, that we’re not alone in our struggle to write, be published, be listened to. Some people learn, to their dismay, that they aren’t the, er, last word in writing. We learn that talent lurks in the unlikeliest places, but that there’s always room for touching up and polishing the rough edges. We learn to respond, without prejudice, but with patience. We learn to be gentle with criticism. We also learn to be unsparing with it. We encourage those who are just beginning to write, express our delight at discovering new talent, and scold those who refuse to work on their craft under the guise of being unaffected by public opinion. That much learning we can guarantee. For more, come to a read-meet with an open mind and find your own learning.
What can be posted to or discussed via the city chapter newsgroups? What is discouraged?
The city chapter newsgroups are meant primarily to help members in those cities to plan and coodinate Caferati read-meets. I.e., to suggest or offer venues, finalise dates and times, finalise themes, suggest or offer to moderate.
Members are also welcome to post information about non-Caferati events and opportunities in that city, provided that are relevant to writers. (For writing opportunities that are not geographically limited, members are requested to post them on the forum, or to submit them to Caferati Listings.)
Unless they are relevant to writers or writing or read-meets in your city:
• Do not post your poems and fiction and essays and other writing to the city newsgroup. Please post those only in the forum.
• Do not post email forwards. Save those for your personal address book. Thank you.
• Do not post petitions, even if they are for very worthy causes. Send those directly to people you know, please.
• Do not get into discussions or debates.
• Do not post replies that are meant for one person to the entire newsgroup. (Remember that when you hit the the reply
button to an email from the newsgroup, by default, your mail will be addressed to the entire newsgroup. Please take the time to copy and paste the sender’s e-ddress into the To
field of your email.)
Please correct or gently scold the members who do these things, no matter how well-intentioned. They are wasting your time and bandwidth, and that of every other subscriber to the list. If you think the city chapter coordinators who administer these lists may have missed such spam, please alert them directly. Do not add to the clutter—and risk provoking needless arguments—by posting to the entire group.
My city isn’t on Caferati’s list. But I’d like to attend a read-meet. What do I do? Um. Well, you could visit one of the cities that does have an active local group. Yes, we’ll stop trying to be funny.
If you think you can get together a few writing enthusiasts to form a Caferati chapter in your city, do let us know. We’d love to help you. We may even be able to look through our files and dig out some names of people in your city whom you may not know directly, and help you work together. Mail editors At caferati Dot com. Take a look at the questions that have to do with city coordinators, read-meet hosts and read-meet moderators first, please.
Posting your writing, feedback on your writing, the forum in general
On our message board at http://bwc-network.ryze.com. You must be a member of both Ryze and Caferati’s forum to post your work. (Anyone in the world with a net connection can read posts, though.)
Where can I read and react to other writers and their writing?
On our message board (http://bwc-network.ryze.com) and on our blog (http://caferati .blogspot.com).
Anyone in the world with a live net connection can read these sites, but you do need to sign up to respond and critique on the board. Commenting on the blog is free to all at the moment, though we’d prefer you left us a name.
The forum is moderated. Posts do not appear until a moderator approves them. Posts that flout the guidelines posted on the forum’s home page do not find their way up. Also held back are posts that breach the Ryze Terms and Conditions.
The moderator on the discussion board is a composite entity called Caferati. :) The people who have access to that identity are Peter Griffin, Manisha Lakhe and Annie Zaidi.
The same triumvirate has the powers of high, low and middle justice on the blog.
What happens to our works if we post them at Caferati? Any copyright issues?
You retain the copyright to all your original work. You also have the ability to remove any of your own writing at any time should you wish to. If you do not want your work to be considered for inclusion on our blog, all you have to do is say so in your post.
If Caferati and its editors, at some stage, want to publish your work in areas or media other then the blog, we will do so only with your explicit permission.
As to the risk of someone copying your work, we make no claims or guarantees. You stand just as much chance of being plagiarised on Caferati as you do with any other open forum on the web. You, and only you, can weigh the benefits of an audience at no cost to yourself, and interaction with other writers, against the risk of loss of intellectual property, and reach a decision that you are comfortable with.
Is work displayed on Caferati’s message board or blog considered published?
Does it prevent me from submitting that work to a site / publication / contest that states it requires unpublished work?
This is related to the previous question, but deserves a place of its own as well.
Different publications and contests have different standards and rules on this matter. To find out about a particular publication or contest, please check their web site (if available) or ask them directly.
Our understanding of published
is that the work has gone through some form of editorial selection. On the Caferati board, on blogs, and other online fora where there is no vetting process, work posted would not be considered published.
Note also that some publishers and contests use payment as the criterion. We find that incomplete. Many reputed magazines and publishers—particularly of poetry, alas—do not pay their writers at all.
Does Caferati pay me for my writing?
Short answer: Not at this time.
Longer version: On the message board and the blog, no. Likewise for the submissions to the contests we run or to books or periodicals or other material that we may publish , unless we specifically state that in our notification emails and web-pages (or any other promotional material).
Does Caferati have any awards or prizes for writers?
Not yet.
(Except, that is, for the Stories at the Coffee Table contest, for which the prize was publication, in a book that Caferati published, marketed and promoted, one free Author’s Copy, plus a discount of 40% on any further volumes the published writers may choose to buy.)
We have had, on occasion, token prizes offered for mini-contests on our message board. But those are purely for fun.
Not yet. Yes. But one day…
Does Caferati guarantee that my writing will be seen in print?
No.
Um. Quality. Perseverance. Luck.
Why did my startling / brilliant / sensational / marvelous / world-changing example of writing at its very peak that my mom, significant other and all my best friends said was wonderful not receive any response at all?
Many possible reasons suggest themselves.
Caferati’s members may have liked your work, but just could not think of what to say by way of response.
The usually active members may have been busy or on a holiday, or in a bad mood.
Perhaps it was an exceptionally busy day on the board, and people missed out on your post altogether in the flurry of new posts.
Perhaps you never comment on other people’s writing. Remember the old wisdom: behave with the world as you would like the world to behave with you.
And, perhaps, maybe, not many people liked that piece of writing but they were unsure of how to tell you this. Perhaps they felt that you would be be upset by negative comments. You can minimise the chances of this happening by mentioning in your post (not in the header, please, that sounds very needy) that you are looking for feedback, perhaps even indicate where you think you need help—because that shows you are a keen student of writing, someone who attempts to be objective and ruthless about her/his own writing.
And, perhaps, perhaps, it is faintly possible that, your mom, significant other, and your best friends love you more than they love your writing.