Shaman Writer's Club

Prospective Members

The announcement of the cancellation of the Shaman Writer's Competition should not be taken to mean that we will also phase out the Club.  We still passionately believe that writer's of family history fulfill a very important function in the preservation of our roots.  Unfortunately, judging from the dismal response to the contest, there are precious few writer's out there that feel qualified to enter a contest.

I can think of two possible explanations.  The first may be a writer's reluctance to to tell all of the story.  Since providing pdf files of the the first two chapters of We, The Shamans on the web site, I've lost track of the number of downloads.  Both chapters in one way or another deal with telling the whole story.

The second reason could be that a lot of would be Shaman, writers of family history, may feel totally inadequate when it comes to writing.  I know I did when I wrote The Soul of the Land.  It would have been very helpful if I could have had someone who could have answered the many questions that came to mind.  As I pointed out in We, The Shamans, writing is a learned skill.

Either way, the club could be a useful tool in learning how to conduct the research, organizing the material and writing the story.  Working together could make it easier.

Let us know if Aspen'd Publishing can be of service.  We would like to help.

Revisions to the Shaman Writer's Club

As many of you may have noticed I've deleted all of my previous postings to the Shaman Writer's Club.  The reason being that judging by the lack of interest, I needed to take another look at what it should be and do.  So, for the short term at least, I will rely upon visitor comments to provide direction.  The same will apply to Club Members.  Postings will be in response to specific questions, in other words the membership will determine what will be addressed and when.

In response to points made by a number of interested individuals, the Shaman Writer's Contest has been expanded to include all forms of family history preservation.  As a result, writers of autobiographies, biographies, and memiors as well as family histories are eligible to participate.  And the membership fee has been changed to a one time, $35.00 instead of an annual fee.  Joining the club provides the following benefits: 

THE MISSION - To help members in all phases of research, organization, writing and publishing of all types of family history.

MEMBERSHIP - Open to anyone that would like to join.

MEMBER BENEFITS - One free We, The Shamans book, an exclusive "Members Only" blog site for writers with common interests to ask questions and share information, and a $25 entry fee discount when entering the writing competition.

Let us know if there are any issues.

Coming Soon

We are in the process of setting up a new Shaman Writer's Club site.  Stay tuned!!