IT'S ON... we have a swag load of marvellous short stories appearing in our first almanac, and the almanac will be skidding off the printer at any moment*... like a Jubilee Train somewhere south of Westminster, kicking up sparks on the London Underground.   
  But we have (temporarily)* *gone over budget! Which is no surprise. No, it's expected! Given the massive volume of cracking submissions that were spat onto the desks of our editors (Rachel Edwards & Sean Preston) and the inclusion of Tasmania based illustrator, Tony Thorne's wonderful images - well...

There are a lot of incidentals too - the ISBNs, the international transfer fees, the galley printing... So we just need a little more to keep us solvent before the sales start flooding in.  

It's like this... sometime back in early 2014 when this project started kicking along we asked ourselves to consider, what is important? The first answer was obvious, great writing that makes for excellent reading, The second; fair treatment and recognition for the work writers do. From day one we have been committed to paying writers for the hard yards they put in. The hard day's night. 
  This is a pretty radical statement in an age obsessed with ideas like austerity and growth with no middle ground. It's also a pretty significant commitment for a publication that was started on some paper that was previous wrapped around a pile of hot chips, somewhere on the Salamanca docks, or was it Deptford High street? or the peak of the Pinnacle road looking out on the Derwent? No, maybe outside a two bit bar on the East End. It was certainly on one river or another: the Thames or the Derwent. 
  The fact is we have temporarily blown the budget through the payment of the writers. And that can't seen as anything but a good thing. If we had done it any-other way we would have changed the name to 'Exploitation: London Tasmania' but that's been done to death, right?

  SO OUR COMMITMENT IS CLEAR we will follow through and pay writers, - and pay them before the dosh from book sales comes in. We have found great stories and we are getting them out there, and we will continue to promote writing from two unique and disparate places. And mostly we will build and develop cultural links that transport people; understanding, tolerance, and ideas. 
  We are being cheeky (following the huge amount of support and goodwill we received for our first campaign) but our motivations are sound and we are honest.
 So please pledge, share, spread the word, do what you can, and we will do our very, very best too.
 
TRANSPORTATION PRESS 'THE CORE'
*Early December
**this money will be regrouped from sales - but the problem is that these happen after the print run....

THE FUNDS WILL be used to pay a myriad of microsopic essentials  - and to pay the writers before the sales come in. We've raised enough money to go to print and pay the writers, but just not together. We would like to pay the writers up front - and the money that comes in from sales in the new year will go towards the next edition. But more than this, the funds will demonstrate a commitment from you and the community,  to getting Tasmanian and London writers read beyond the track they usually beat about, and by doing this we will promote and showcase the great cultural richness that these two places are fortunate enough to have.
The money we get will also allow us to drive and fully resource the first edition in a vigorous  fashion, and from the sales of the first edition we will finance a second. And just as we are excited about the first edition we are pretty pumped about issue two.

As a sneak preview we can say our London and Tasmanian editors (and team) will be working with an Iranian editor, and we will be aiming to showcase Tasmanian and London writers alongside Iranian writers, the best writers from these places, with the hope we produce some positive, tolerant, constructive connections.  And we will be continuing to transport writers, and to move boundaries, making big leaps and waves in a world that cries out for it.  

TRANSPORTATION PRESS 'THE CORE'