Hi Forward Friends and Family,
I wanted to give you all a head’s up that SPD is in possession of the remaining 127 copies of Forward. Those copies are the end of the original print run.
A few things: I don’t think we’re going to do another print run of this edition of Forward. Some of it is that we’re no longer partnered with Aforementioned Productions, some of it is contracts and logistics, and the other thing is simply time.
When I said essentially fuck it, let’s make an anthology, my life was in a much different space. I was able to make the time to answer a lot of emails, find a team of people to work with (who were wonderful!), read every submission, and deal with a lot of bureaucracy and talking to people. It was great. It was stressful. It was terrible. It was great.
The other thing beyond my increasingly shrinking free time, is that I don’t want to invest the money and time and resources to maintaining just this one anthology. I want to do something else. Some things I’ve been considering: doing another anthology (although I don’t think I would be able to really do this and do this well until, um, 2021), publishing a much smaller book with only three writers and doing corresponding criticism although this involves establishing my own small press and LLC, or one suggestion is to take whatever money comes out of the sales of Forward, and use it to invest in starting a local reading series that brings small press writers of color to a community that will read and buy their books, and pays the writers for doing this. Or if I can’t do any of these things, donating the money to a writer or editor of color, who need the funding for a project for BIPOC. If you have a great idea, let’s talk.
Forward is being taught in classes this fall (in Texas, in Arizona, in Ohio). It’s in several libraries (you can Worldcat it! But it’s in several university library systems, it’s available to the fine people of Portland, Seattle, and New York City through their public library systems). I will make sure it’s available in some way digitally. It will keep living.
I just wanted to thank you all one last time for all the things you’ve done for Forward! Volunteering, submitting work, buying it, reading these newsletters, reaching out and supporting the authors.
Megan