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Ehymns
Lurker
Joined: Sep 18, 2006
Posts: 21
Location: Shanghai, China
Status: Offline
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 Posted:
Oct 16, 2009 - 07:54 PM |
 
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| Post subject: Share your Shanghai experience and get it published :) |
Hi guys,
A friend and I are working on a pro charity book project called Shanghai Kaleidoscope. It's bilingual project with the objective of compiling stories from both past and present international students as well as Mandarin-enthused expats living in Shanghai.
Basically, we are looking for photographs, illustrations and also stories about expats' life: difficulties you encounter, funny experiences, romance, study tips, city travel, Shanghai economy, preparation for the 2010 World Expo, letters to home, poems, your understanding of Chinese culture etc.
The writing submissions should be around 200-1500 words, and can be written in English, Chinese, French or Indonesian. The deadline is November 1, 2009. Submissions can be sent to admin[at]shanghaikaleidoscope[dot]com
What is in it for you?
- After editing and compiling everything into a book, copies will be sold to the general public. A generous percentage of the profits will be donated to a selected Shanghai charity (stay tuned to updates on our website). Those that have participated will have their names listed on our website (www.shanghaikaleidoscope.com) and book, as contributors to both the project and the charity.
- Each person whose work has been selected to be published will also receive a complimentary copy of the book. (we will let you know if your story has been chosen)
Welcome to contact me if you have any question 
Thank you. |
Last edited by Ehymns on Oct 25, 2009 - 10:16 PM; edited 2 times in total |
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bhbernstein
Reacher
Joined: July 28, 2009
Posts: 346
Status: Offline
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Oct 19, 2009 - 01:22 PM |
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Cool.... the writers / photograhers do all of the work and the OP and friends amke the profit... I wonder if her friend owns a charity. |
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Ehymns
Lurker
Joined: Sep 18, 2006
Posts: 21
Location: Shanghai, China
Status: Offline
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Oct 20, 2009 - 07:34 PM |
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| Post subject: more about the project... |
| bhbernstein wrote: |
| Cool.... the writers / photograhers do all of the work and the OP and friends amke the profit... I wonder if her friend owns a charity. |
w
Hi,
Honestly, I feel very sad to see this kind of reaction. I can't blame anybody. I know some people might take it this way. Only we who work on this project know how much time, money and energy we have spent and will have to spend to complete this book.
Some times I even think it would be much easier to publish a book which contains is done by a person (I myself write, paint and photograph a lot - real a LOT).
But there are some reasons why the book is titled 'Shanghai Kaleidoscope'. When you see the world through a kaleidoscope, you will find how colorful it is, and those different colors can coexist in a very nice way and make a beautiful image in the overall view.
There are four main ideas behind this project:
1. Sharing experiences
My friend and I have been in Shanghai for almost five years now, we have meet people from different countries and different culture backgrounds, we enjoy the stories we exchanged and continue to learn from each other. We are hoping that those who share their stories also learn from the process. Sharing is about giving and taking, and sometimes, about taking and giving. We took our 'lessons' in Shanghai, and part of them might be useful for others.
2. Providing references
This is closely related to the first idea, but more specific.
Some people are really good at 'hunting' for places. Maybe some are bored by people's questions, so why not write them down? Or maybe if they want a broader audience they never had? Why not giving it a try?
3. Building bridges (among cultures)
As you see this is an abstract expression. Shanghai is a multinational city. Prejudices and stereotypes are hard to avoid. We are hoping that through the writings and other works in this book, foreigners and the Chinese can get better perspectives of each other (also apply among foreigners). Chinese writers are also giving their side of views in a chapter of this book (sort of dialog between cultures).
4. Coloring (your/our/their) lives
We hope that the articles/other kind of writings, photographs, drawings and paintings people have composed not only will make them happy for themselves, but also others. This 'others' includes readers and those who benefited from the selling of this book.
You know, this is really up to you to participate or not. This 'Kaleidoscope' is the symbol of that ideal society, where we can coexist nicely and support each other. It doesn't belong to an individual.
We (my friend and I) are just 'lending' our selves as the tools to make this thing happen.
About the charity, no, we don't own it (I wish we have, in that case we can make sure every penny is distributed correctly to those who really need it).
We are students who are still in the University.
We believe in education, we want to do something for those who don't get the chance for going to school and here we are working on it.
We are here asking those who want to participate for this cause (or those who want to get their works published).
I can not erase people's doubt.
I just ask you to give faith a chance.
It's your choice.
Regards,
E.
--------
“Though I know everything will vanish from sight,
I still want to leave something” – Daodao
“虽然知道一切都会消失不见
可我还是想留下些什么” ——刀刀 |
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Michael
Moderator
Joined: Mar 22, 2002
Posts: 6101
Status: Offline
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Oct 20, 2009 - 09:16 PM |
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I think its a good project. I don't think they are going to make a ton of money on it, but it has the potential to do some good, whether or not they give anything to charity.
However, since you are promoting the charity thing, it would be important that you follow through. Choose your charity upfront. Put something about the work in your journal. Be specific x percentage of the money over costs is going to this or these charities. And then publish a forum post, story, press release or something that says you have followed through to the public. You build up credibility this way. Charity here is often a marketing ploy and most who have been here a while have heard it. We sure learned the hard way after sponsoring a charity event and having one of the organizers take off with all the money.
There could be lots of other ways to get support for your project. Be happy to talk about it sometime. |
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bhbernstein
Reacher
Joined: July 28, 2009
Posts: 346
Status: Offline
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Oct 21, 2009 - 12:55 PM |
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I agree with Michael. If you list out the charity and the percent of profit or percent of the sales amount that will go to it, my sarcasm will be greatly reduced. This forum has been used by many Chinese and other Nationalities looking for freebees from Expats to finace their hopeful way of life.
If this is a "real project" then I wish you luck. |
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sk_sabz
Newbie
Joined: Oct 21, 2009
Posts: 4
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Oct 21, 2009 - 05:34 PM |
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An update on the charity thing -
As that part has been given to someone in our team to deal with, I can only update everyone on what I have learnt from that end. We have approached several charity organizations in Shanghai and they were pleased about us wanting to help. Initially, they were all like "yes, yes we want the money" but as soon as we mentioned "can we place your logo on our website as proof" they became reluctant to be a part of this.
As I have to continuously understand a typical contributor's perspective on this; for the sake of everyone helping us, it will not be possible at the moment for us to contribute to a charity that refuses to be the "face" of this project. So while we urge these charities to reconsider, we are also on the search for more cooperative charity orgs.
As I have been part of charity projects in the past, I was surprised to learn that in Shanghai, contributing to charity is one of those "do it in hiding" things because it causes the person or people receiving the donation to "lose face".
That said, we are asking everyone here to contribute written works. We have not asked for financial contributions. It baffles me how 'some' people would prefer to spend 5 minutes of their precious time bashing our announcement and upsetting the OP (who happens to be a friend of mine), when the 5 minutes could have been put to better use (e.g. composing a short, funny Shanghai experience and sending it to us).
@bhbernstein - I don't know what you intended to differentiate between "...other nationalities" vs. "expats" - but I'm sure that any "expat" who's been here long enough would know that if girls such as ourselves wanted to get "freebies" to "finance our hopeful way of life", begging people for articles wouldn't be the route we'd have taken. |
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Marakanis
Fire-eater
Joined: Jan 11, 2009
Posts: 2944
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Oct 21, 2009 - 06:06 PM |
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Eh, may as well write and publish my own book if I'm going to put in the effort to compose my experiences into stories for yours. Then I can give all the money to my favorite charity. Me... |
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bleepingbleeper
Reacher
Joined: June 18, 2009
Posts: 231
Status: Offline
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Oct 21, 2009 - 06:40 PM |
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| sk_sabz wrote: |
| As I have been part of charity projects in the past, I was surprised to learn that in Shanghai, contributing to charity is one of those "do it in hiding" things because it causes the person or people receiving the donation to "lose face". |
all those beggars in shanghai and the rest of china...are they ashamed or scared of losing face? they are pretty blatant (and sometimes aggressive) and out in the open if you ask me... |
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sk_sabz
Newbie
Joined: Oct 21, 2009
Posts: 4
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Oct 21, 2009 - 08:02 PM |
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| Marakanis wrote: |
| Eh, may as well write and publish my own book if I'm going to put in the effort to compose my experiences into stories for yours. Then I can give all the money to my favorite charity. Me... |
Good luck with that.
| bleepingbleeper wrote: |
| all those beggars in shanghai and the rest of china...are they ashamed or scared of losing face? they are pretty blatant (and sometimes aggressive) and out in the open if you ask me... |
I was pretty surprised too, but I will send you a PM explaining the actual situation, and perhaps you will understand why they have every reason to feel that way. |
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Marakanis
Fire-eater
Joined: Jan 11, 2009
Posts: 2944
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Oct 21, 2009 - 09:10 PM |
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And good luck with your book. Judging by the way you came on here to bust everyone about being cynical, I'm sure you're off to an AMAZING start... |
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sk_sabz
Newbie
Joined: Oct 21, 2009
Posts: 4
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Oct 21, 2009 - 10:19 PM |
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Cynical? My friend wouldn't have sent me the link to this thread if she hadn't felt bombarded with one accusation after another. You guys are well past cynicism at this point.
We've already provided our direct contact email to answer all your questions, explained that we understand the expected skepticism and yet you continue to throw insults on the public forum which is downright unconstructive and a waste of time.
Talk to us if you're interested or if you might be, and don't talk to us if you're not. It's as simple as that. |
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Marakanis
Fire-eater
Joined: Jan 11, 2009
Posts: 2944
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Oct 21, 2009 - 10:56 PM |
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It's past skepticism. I now know you can't pull it off. Way too standoffish.
Change your attitude or your project is doomed to fail. You also need to change your approach to how you get your stories. Interviews over beers will go a lot further, and don't be afraid to write it yourself. Not everyone is a writer, and expecting people who may have great stories but no interest in writing to do it for you is a bit naive. |
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bhbernstein
Reacher
Joined: July 28, 2009
Posts: 346
Status: Offline
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Oct 22, 2009 - 12:31 PM |
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| Marakanis wrote: |
It's past skepticism. I now know you can't pull it off. Way too standoffish.
Change your attitude or your project is doomed to fail. You also need to change your approach to how you get your stories. Interviews over beers will go a lot further, and don't be afraid to write it yourself. Not everyone is a writer, and expecting people who may have great stories but no interest in writing to do it for you is a bit naive. |
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sk_sabz
Newbie
Joined: Oct 21, 2009
Posts: 4
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Oct 22, 2009 - 05:11 PM |
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| Marakanis wrote: |
| You also need to change your approach to how you get your stories. Interviews over beers will go a lot further, and don't be afraid to write it yourself. Not everyone is a writer, and expecting people who may have great stories but no interest in writing to do it for you is a bit naive. |
We do interview people. It seems as if the OP has left that out...We don't expect everyone to enjoy writing, so we have sort of written their account for them.
Snippet of our ad:
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Not into writing much? That's OK, just let us know when you're available for an interview and we'll write the article for you!
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---
Another update:
- The website should be up very soon. I'm still adding some final touches to it but I will try to get it up before the end of the day. We will update you from there.
- Also, we can only publish a limited number of articles, so it might come down to one person per country. 
- Don't forget, everything will be translated into English & Mandarin; this is a great opportunity to send a shoutout to the wonderful Chinese youth who will form part of our reader demographic. As many of them don't have foreign friends, they are eager to know more about our opinions, lifestyle and lives in Shanghai. |
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