September 26th, 2009 / 11:27 am
Submissions
Call for Writers: Want to Buy a Pushcart Nomination?
So Shya’s comment on the No Colony post got me thinking. Shya said:
I want to get 65 people together, each write 150 words of a cooperative 10k word story, each pay $10, have it published in No Colony, and each get to claim the Pushcart nom. Who’s with me?
At Shya’s encouragement, I’m posting this call for authors.
(For those unfamiliar with No Colony’s submission guidelines, the editors of No Colony, Blake Butler and Ken Baumann, have offered automatic publication in the magazine and a Pushcart nomination to whomever pays the $650 fee. And we’d like to call their bluff (note: I am not good at poker, and I’ve heard Blake is very good, so take that into consideration before you hitch your wagon to our train))
What we’ll do is this: the first 63 people (Shya is #1 and I’m #65) to sign up in the comments section can take part, as long as they agree to pay $10 towards buying our 10k word story into No Colony plus the Pushcart nomination from No Colony (bonus: nude photos of someone’s mother, which we’ll have to share), and then each write 150word bricks with which to build the story. Each author will write his or her 150words on deadline in the order in which he or she signed up, and we’ll pass the story around so that it grows as each author writes on it. We have to get this done as quickly as possible so we can get into the long story issue. I will cut off signups if we reach the limit or if interest dwindles so that Shya and I can then seek out other authors.
Sign up in the comments section, and be sure to put a working email address in the email address field so that I can contact you with further instructions. If your email address bounces, I’ll move to the next person in line. Remember, the first 63 to sign up will be invited to take part in this project, which, no doubt, will cause all of us a small amount of indigestion.
If it works, it will be fun, and if it doesn’t work and no one cares or is interested, then no worries.
UPDATE: This project is now full. Anyone interested should still comment if you’d like to be in; I can keep you on a list in case someone else drops out.
Tags: No Colony, Pushcart Prize
Sign me up, Ryan. If you need any more writers, I’m sure I can round some up from New School.
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Me too. I don’t even write fiction, so a Pushcart nom on my first go will be awesome.
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I’m in. My e-mail address is daveerlewine@yahoo.com – you did ask for that right? ha ha
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I’d be down to chip in a ten spot and throw a chunk of words at that project. Sounds like fun. Count me in!
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“bonus: nude photos of someone’s mother, which we’ll have to share”
Read carefully! It says “a Pushcart nomination AND/OR nude photos of someone’s mother.”
Plus I want to know more about the mother in question.
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September 26th, 2009 / 2:22 pmRyan Call—
oh man, i didnt even see that and/or thing. i hope blake doesnt bail out on that one.
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September 26th, 2009 / 3:54 pmKen Baumann—
pushcart guaranteed, pics not
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September 26th, 2009 / 5:13 pmRyan Call—
thank you for clarifying, ken
September 26th, 2009 / 5:58 pmBlake Butler—
i so disagree..
;)
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September 26th, 2009 / 6:34 pmRyan Call—
oh shit!
September 27th, 2009 / 1:12 pmKen Baumann—
blake is my favorite
as is his mother ;)
everybody: ;) ;)
This is absurd, silly, and strangely awesome. I’m in.
If the mother is mine, I’m going to be very upset.
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September 26th, 2009 / 12:40 pmdavid erlewine—
bwua haaahaa
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yes! mattkirkpatrick@yahoo.com
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September 26th, 2009 / 1:42 pmMatt—
Also, our aim should be to WIN a pushcart. How much does that cost? I’m good for an extra 7-10 dollars.
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September 26th, 2009 / 2:24 pmRyan Call—
matt, i think you need to take that up with the puschart people. you can contact them by writing
Pushcart Press
P.O. Box 380
Wainscott
New York 11975.
or calling
Phone: 631 324-9300
you might tell them youre willing to buy an actual pushcart prize from them?
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September 26th, 2009 / 4:34 pmMatt—
I’m going to call them and see if I can make this happen.
September 26th, 2009 / 2:28 pmBAC—
i think pushcarts wins can only be bought with souls.
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I’m in.
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In.
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Even considering my year-long bout of writer’s block, I should be able to manage 150 words, though whether any of them will make sense is another matter entirely. So count me in for £6.24 (current exchange rate).
I will also enclose photos of Jesus’s mother. If you insist.
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totally in yo
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it’ll mean augmenting my drinking-money allowance, but i’m in.
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September 27th, 2009 / 11:21 amBAC—
e-mail:
carr.ba[at]gmail.com
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i’ve got a whole stack of dirty letters my mom wrote to my dad in their twenties. i’ll throw those in with the naked photos.
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And I thought people didn’t read the Internet on Saturdays. Anyway, I’m in.
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In too.
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I’m in
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September 26th, 2009 / 3:38 pmalec niedenthal—
email alecniedenthal@gmail.com
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Let’s fucking do this. IN.
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IN.
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I want to do it!
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I’m in.
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I am in for this yes please.
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Fantastic.
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I suppose so.
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Actually, what payment methods are allowed? Cash in an envelope?
I don’t have a bank account.
Also, can i still submit a 9000+ word story of my own? This is more complicated than i thought.
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i’m in
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a pushcart nomination—- now, that’s worth a lot,….
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In
nathanctyree@yahoo.com
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i’m in. haha: you will all regret this more than i will regret this.
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In
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[...] need that much. 65 peeps are gonna share at 10 buckaroonies each. I’m in. Read about it at HTML Giant and think about subverting the [...]
a 65 person reading would be pretty badass
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September 26th, 2009 / 6:09 pmAaron—
that’s awesome.
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I’m in.
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Count me in.
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jonathankellyoim@gmail.com
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In.
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I’m in. This will be monumental and hiliarious. (I just checked with my mom: she’s never posed for nude photos, thank god.)
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Count me in if there’s space.
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I’m in, if you’ll have me! cdibbz@gmail.com
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i’m in
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so in.
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was thinking about this more, and about who would have the advantage of wielding the most creative control over this project. putting yourselves, shya and ryan, as the #1 and #65 spots means you are giving yourselves the control of beginning and ending the story, which I think is significant (and also could be difficult for the ending, considering endings may need more than 150 words to build toward.)
Is 150 words a minimum or maximum limit? Or an exact limit. If it’s a min limit, than the story could get very long very quickly if people ending up writing more, like it could approach novel-length territory pretty quickly. If it’s a min limit, then the story could end up not even reaching the 9,000 count.
Also, is there going to be an editing process? Like will one person do a once-over edit of the entire piece as a whole? If so, that person may end up having the most creative control.
Is any one person allowed to edit what someone else wrote before to help steer where they want the story to go?
I’m not saying any of this is right or wrong, just thinking about stuff.
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September 26th, 2009 / 8:25 pmdarby—
Also, is there like an intention with this whole thing that has something to do with calling nc’s bluff? like we make the whole thing deliberately stupid, or a not-likely-to-be-published anywhere piece of writing. Or are we actually going to try and make a decent or unique piece of writing somehow, something I’m thinking more and more will be difficult.
I’d feel better about the work as a whole if it didn’t rely on people sequentially adding to a linearly evolving narrative. I think it would be more likely to succeed on a more abstract or collage-like plane. Like everyone supplies 150 words worth of sentences that don’t necessarily have anything to do with anything, and we allow control to one person to collage it all together in some interesting way.
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September 26th, 2009 / 11:12 pmDH—
I’m interested in a lot of these questions. I mean, if we’re just doing this for kicks and don’t care how it fits together, that’s cool and it’ll be fun. Alternatively, it could also be interesting to see how people pick up threads of a linear story and follow them out, and maybe it’ll be a good story and maybe it won’t. If we have one person pick and choose among elements, then it’s basically that guy’s vision – which is OK by me but not so interesting.
It could be exciting to think of another way to give the story some measure of coherence. For example, we could do something like the Spoon River Anthology, where each person submits their own character’s perspective of a common place or event or series of events. And, okay – maybe what we’d have a series of deadlines. First we might all vote on what our common event/place/issue is – like a high school cafeteria, or a small town after JFK’s assassination, or whatever. Then maybe the next day each writer submits a character sketch – something really basic, like “Ralph is sixteen. He wants to go to college. He’s just had a fistfight with his older brother.” This would have to go onto a Google doc spreadsheet of some kind, so we could all check out each other’s characters. Then I’d say to someone “Hey – Ralph is going to ask your character Kate to borrow money.” Maybe Kate doesn’t acknowledge this in her story and I can write it however I like, or she can tell me that she’s going to turn down my request, and we each end up with different perspectives on the same event. And so forth.
Um I guess I’m probably being extremely dorky about this and maybe what I’m describing is way too complicated for 150 words. But what I like is that it sort of fits the medium. Normally, you’re in charge of everything that happens in your story, but here you’re not. Other characters might intrude into your character’s life, whether or not you want them to, which is kind of how reality is. I mean, if I were the author of my own reality, I’d definitely write a reality where my mother called me less often. But I can’t. So she calls a lot. So there you have it.
Anyhow, that’s my contribution. Getting freaky linear-style is OK with me too.
PS – should I have received an email from you guys?
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September 27th, 2009 / 1:55 amRyan Call—
i have not yet sent an email. that email will come shortly i have been at a wedding all night and am very tired.
darbys questions are excellent. i have no responses at this time because i am very tired, but please know that i am not ignoring them. the email will come soon.
September 28th, 2009 / 10:32 amRyan Call—
okay to respond. shya an di have talked briefly, but basically we will not edit. nor do we want anyone to edit the text that comes before his or her text. id like to keep it at 150words exactly (give or take a tiny handful) the maximum in order to encourage a quick turnaround (65 x 150 = 9750words). yes, #1 and #65 give us some more control than others, but i think we can be fair in how we handle those two spots.
the idea is to have fun and create something worhtwhile. i think the more i think of this the puschart nom purchase was a good catalyst, but now it could become something else? i dont know.
the sequential ordering might lend itself to a narrative styled text, but i dont want anyone to feel limited by that. you are absolutey free to do whatever youd like withyour 150 words. it doesnt need to be narrative or linearly progress along or whatever. so it that sense it could be collage like; however, i dont want to give one person collage control.
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I’m in.
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I’m down! whoasweetjane@gmail.com
I’m fine with deadlines, but I’ll probably stick some aliens in there somewhere.
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I’m in.
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Want.
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I’m in if i’m not too late to party.
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September 26th, 2009 / 10:49 pmTim Horvath—
Sure. Mash-ups are fun.
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Why on earth not. I am in.
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is this another case of me missing the boat entirely?
i will build sandcastles alone
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i’m in. i counted the IN’s. there’s still room
bgemich@yahoo.com
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September 27th, 2009 / 12:18 amaudri—
edit > find > in
barry you are my hero
in this case
count my in among the ins
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hey audri. i need your mailing address so i can send your dogz 09 contributor copy. sorry. i couldnt find your email. bgemich@yahoo.com
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September 27th, 2009 / 1:16 amaudri—
hi barry
no problem
i will email you
bouzoukimilk (((at))) gmail (((dot))) com
for reference
merci
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I believe I am too late, yet if there’s room I am more than willing. Fine Madness nominated me for one of these years ago but of course I didn’t win.
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man, where are the fun projects for people who don’t got no ten bucks to spare
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September 27th, 2009 / 8:06 amGene Morgan—
I’ll cover your ten.
The Gene Morgan Fun Project Scholarship for Friends Who Don’t Got No Ten Bucks to Spare.
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September 27th, 2009 / 1:12 pmKen Baumann—
Catchy.
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September 28th, 2009 / 1:55 pmmatthewsavoca—
wow gene, thanks! i mean, gosh golly, that gene morgan is a helluvaguy
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hello. i’d like to be involved. dannycbarron [at] gmail com
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To my oversensitive nostrils, this smells like a Tao Lin-like publicity stunt, intended to bring meagre minor fleeting e-attention to Mr. Scanlon’s Forecast project.
Plus, the glory of the No Colony thing about receiving payment for the nomination is that it rightfully suggests that the nomination itself is totally freakin’ meaningless. Any old monkey can be nominated.
Inclusion in the Pushcart book is the only thing worth mentioning. And Mr. Henderson can’t be bought.
Peace out, JD
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September 27th, 2009 / 10:46 amGene Morgan—
I think it’s pretty obvious to most people how silly this is. I assume, and I could be wrong here, that people want to be involved more for the “fun” thing.
You should taker some time out, maybe go to the beach or something. It’ll be good for you.
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September 27th, 2009 / 11:07 amThe Jersey Devil—
Cool. Thanks. I forgot that some things are sometimes done for fun. But I can’t go out on the beach because my hands are too small. (I’m too fat to go out in the daylight. I ain’t built for goin’ naked. Hoy hoy is she uh boy?)
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September 27th, 2009 / 12:34 pmNathan (Nate) Tyree—
yes
it’s the funs i want
the actual pushcart nom means nothing to me
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totally in.
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think i’m too late. in if there’s room, though. deathbyragtime@gmail.com
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I’m counting close to fifty? I’m in…
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September 27th, 2009 / 3:53 pmRawbbie—
rawendeborn at gmail dot com
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I’m in if there is still room
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You know, you can just start a blog, call it a literary publication and nominate 6 people (or yourself) for the Pushcart for free. The nomination process really is that open.
http://pushcartprize.com/nominate.htm
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September 27th, 2009 / 6:17 pmJonny Kelly—
Why do that? It would be less fun and more boring. Plus, if this works then it could be one of the most co-operative stories ever written.
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September 28th, 2009 / 10:48 amRyan Call—
yeah, no this happens too i think, brent. i guess we wanted to try something different?
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Good job you people.
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If I counted right I think I’m #51, but I might suck at counting… but I’m in/ down.
Benjaminspivey@yahoo.com
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i literally started watching man push cart about an hour ago. then i read this. if there’s any room left, i’d be interested. deckfight@gmail.com
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I’m also enthusiastic if there is still room.
standardlinedelivery [at] gmail [dot] com
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Yes. In.
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I’m in.
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Not out.
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damn. looks like the 65 have already opted-in. fucking no fucking internet on the fucking weekends. i would have loved to get in on this bit of awesome.
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My $10.45 contribution will include all rights to the epilogue.
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We could use something like http://www.box.net for organization of the story.
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is there still room in the 65? i was stupid earlier and just went by Comment count, not taking into consideration multiple comments by the same person. i’ve 10 bones and 150 words to stir into the pot.
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September 28th, 2009 / 11:01 amRyan Call—
christopher, ive got you on the list. so no worries
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September 28th, 2009 / 11:41 amchristopher earl.—
much obliged, Ryan. cenewgent at gmail dot com, if you need it.
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This is great, would throw my ten bucks in, if still needed.
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September 28th, 2009 / 11:18 amRyan Call—
thanks timmy, youre in
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This sounds awesome. If you still need people/words/money, I’m in.
Cheers
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September 28th, 2009 / 12:13 pmRyan Call—
you’rein
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I have 150 words, 15 of them may be interesting. More importantly, I have ten dollars.
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September 28th, 2009 / 12:13 pmRyan Call—
youre in
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i’m in if we still need people, put me on deadline
peace,
richard
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and just to be safe, wickerkat@aol.com
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September 28th, 2009 / 12:38 pmRyan Call—
got you, youre in
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I’d love to be a part of this if there’s still room.
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September 28th, 2009 / 12:46 pmRyan Call—
you’re in
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Is there still room? As long as I can schedule around surgery next week, I’d love to join in. I’m a big fan of harebrained schemes.
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September 28th, 2009 / 12:49 pmRyan Call—
in
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September 28th, 2009 / 12:54 pmKellie—
Cool! Thank you.
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If there is still room, I’m in.
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September 28th, 2009 / 12:50 pmRyan Call—
caleb, you missed it by one minute, ill keep you on the ‘waiting list’ in case someone drops? is that okay?
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September 28th, 2009 / 2:59 pmCaleb J Ross—
Yeah, that would be fantastic. Much thanks.
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[...] The Puschart Prize nomination collaboration/purchase project is now closed. We have 65 people signed up. If you are still interested, you’re welcome to comment on that post so that I’ve got a backup list of people to contact in case someone else drops out. Thanks to everyone for signing up; instructions to follow in an email from Shya and me. [...]
If anyone else drops out, could I get in on this wondrous experiment?
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Count me in – I know it’s full (so far), but if there’s any opening, I’m so in.
Axel Taiari
http://www.axeltaiari.com
http://www.rottenleaves.com
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[...] So, it looks like I might be a Pushcart nominee. Sorta. [...]
that gene morgan, he’s so dreamy
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is he married? i think he’s married. how come all the goodns are taken
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I realize that I replied to someone else the other day instead of directly in the comment field. I hope such rash mouse-clickery does not invalidate my application.
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How’s the thing getting titled? Does Shya get to choose, or do we vote or what?
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September 29th, 2009 / 8:58 amchristopher earl.—
yeah. i had the same question. i didn’t know if it was actually going to be titled Exquisite Corpse, or something else. Shya said this in a reply email:
“I’m not sure about the title. I thought about ‘Exquisite Pushcorpse,’ or maybe just ‘Pushcorpse.’”
We’ll see, I guess.
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[...] So the No Colony Pushcart collage story thing is happening. 65 crazy people are going to work together on a story that will be published in No [...]
I would be happy to partake if anyone else drops out.
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color me there..
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[...] NO COLONY, posted an aside about publishing and Pushcart-nominating anyone willing to pay $650, Shya Scanlon called his bluff, and quickly rallied 65 people, each willing to fork over $10, to put together a composite of 150 [...]
[...] across a rather interesting little project over at HTML Giant http://htmlgiant.com/?p=15597 thanks to my friend Nik Korpon. I was out camping with the boy, our first trip doing such things, [...]
I know, I’m too late, but if it is still possible, I’d be glad to take part on it.
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[...] of the exquisite corpse Pushcart project, I got my section written for it yesterday. The thing has turned into a cluster of wow–it [...]
[...] is a deal for a Pushcart So, I was perusing HTMLGIANT a few weeks ago and stumbled across this. I’m down for pretty much anything odd, so I thought I’d give it a shot. Basically, [...]