Important Information and an Appeal

Site Developments

With the first quarter of 2015 now behind us the weather finally seems to be taking a turn for the better and despite what TS Elliot said April is a time of re-generation, rebirth and broad optimism. 

And what blue-ribbon period this first quarter has been for ABCtales.

The ‘read stats’ underpinning the newly introduced category of story and poem of the month confirm its introduction to be as immensely popular as we’d hoped.  Individuals and groups in the wider writing community beyond ABCtales (yes, there is one) have begun to pay even more attention to the site.  Talented new members have jumped aboard since the start of the new-year.  That’s great news but it also means that we will all have to up our own writing game if we are to compete with the newbies!

Two long established and very much admired members of ABCtales certainly did that recently.  I want to add to the congratulations extended to Silver Spun Sand and Jolono who both produced stunning pieces to win our recent competition.   Well done to them both.

 

Important Notice:  Interruption in Service

The success of ABCtales and its ever-increasing popularity means that pressure on the site’s technical platform; especially its server is significant.  The server has to be able to cope with massive daily up-load and constant user navigation.  To maintain a smooth user experience it is essential that periodic maintenance takes place.  Work on the server can only be carried out during normal European office hours and when this work takes place the site has to go off-line. 

Work is scheduled for the morning of Wednesday 8^th April 2015.  The site will not be accessible during this period. 

The technicians have assured us that any interruption will be kept to an absolute minimum.  Please bear this short break in service in mind and may I thank you in advance for your forbearance.

 

Jack O’Donnell

For those of you who are not familiar with Jack O’Donnell (celticman here on ABCtales) you can access information on his forthcoming novel Lily Poole here:

http://unbound.co.uk/books/lily-poole

I’ve read it and without any hesitation I can say that it’s one of the best things I’ve ever read.  Simply put, this book deserves to be in print.   That’s where you come in.  Click the link and be the one responsible for getting Jack’s novel past the 50% funded barrier.  You get a copy of the book when it comes out and your name will appear in it if you so wish.

 

Helping to Keep ABCtales On-line

Unlike many other on-line creative writing communities ABCtales is completely open access and completely free of charge but running the site is expensive.  It costs a lot of money to keep it going (think of the work that’s being done on Wednesday for example) that money has to be found from somewhere.  Again, unlike other writing sites ABCtales continues to resist the temptation of allowing commercial advertising.  That means users don’t get infuriating pop-ups, there are no distractions from unwanted canvassing and no user-data harvesting and the annoying spam emails that activity often generates. 

Allowing commercial advertising would alleviate the financial burden that the site faces yet even as this newsletter goes to press, commercialisation is being shunned once again.  So where does the money come from to keep ABCtales going?  The simple answer is…

You! 

Your voluntary financial contributions pay for the site. 

Without the kind donations that come from members ABCtales couldn’t carry on.  If you value the site and you feel that you get something from it - things like exposure, experience, feedback and the opportunity for collaboration –please show your appreciation by donating some money via the pay-pal button.  The pay-pal button can be found at the bottom of the homepage. 

Help keep ABCtales free of advertising and preserve its uncluttered interface and wonderful user-experience.  Please dip you hands in your pockets and make a donation, it really would be appreciated at this time.  Thanks in advance for your generosity.

 

Happy Easter everyone - now go and get some writing done!

 

Peter Hitchen.