Message in a Bottle #16
Origin: The Isle of Write
Sender: 
Recipients: Steemit Creatives
When we washed up on the Isle of Write we found the peace and tranquility there so refreshing that we just knew we would need to share it with other creative folks like ourselves. A treasure map is our footer because--well--what's a remote island without a mysterious treasure hidden somewhere?
We even discussed having the "X" mark a spot in the forest, so that at some later date we could "unveil" our future plans by clearing away the trees and adding another marker. I still can't tell you what those plans are, but let's just say...the anthologies are just the beginning and merely a drop in the proverbial bucket.
Recently, I did one of the less fun things involved in my particular role at the Isle, and spent a grueling day researching and assembling a budget projection for the 8-Week Curation to Publication. The budget actually goes for twelve weeks because of course we need time to actually publish once we've curated sufficient wonderful stories and poems. And then we will be meting out promotional funds. Later this week I'd like to share some of that in another post, but suffice it to say at this point, the higher our post payout, the better promotion we will be able to swing.
Yeah, I know, duh.
Promotion is going to be a huge factor in how well the Isle does by these fantastic Steemians who will appear in the anthologies beside some talented, generous, and kind published authors, including some already on Steemit like 
Then something wonderful happened.
No, we didn't get instant gratification on the 
But that's not even the best part. It's the comments like 
And this takes me back to the beginning: with us washing up on the shore, shipwrecked, displaced, relieved. We worried at first about opening things up the way we eventually decided to do. We tried for the first month to keep things small, intimate. No public posts, just private invites to people we knew we would enjoy having there. We knew groups with just a couple hundred members who had wielded the banhammer daily, under constant assault from trolls, spammers, and time wasters.
And we didn't want to have to do that.
But when we simply could not keep the place to ourselves any longer, and we threw open the port, what arrived was the finest group of creatives ever to grace a single server. With well over 300 members less than a month after our first public invite, there is no drama. There are no trolls. Spam is rare and is almost always quietly whisked away by the greatest host a server could wish for, the incomparable 
I make new friends daily, most recently the mind-blowingly sweet 
But that might not happen.
And if not, it will be okay. Because today reminded me so powerfully what the real treasure of the Isle is. It is all of you who populate its Pub. Who workshop without wounding. Who light up the cabanas with your laughter. Who fill the Sharing Shores with what I believe to be the finest array of creative output around the Seas of Discord. And who are such good and kind souls that the Isle can be bursting at the seams, and still feel like a small, close-knit community of friends. And tonight, while I'm crossing my fingers and hoping like hell we get what we need financially to do really well by the anthologies, I'll also be counting my blessings.
Because I know that you all are the real Treasure of the Isle.
See what else the Isle is up to:
Isle of Write Islander Highlights! Week 2
In-Depth at the Isle: @Vitkolesnik
Isle of Write Curation Announcement!
Isle of Write Poetry Publication Week 2 Roundup
Community, Contest, and Curation, Oh my!
Conversations with Authors - Yahia Lababidi
