The Footy Almanac website upgrade
The Footy Almanac – a community of writers and readers on sport and sporting life – is crowdfunding to ensure that the Almanac concept, the appeal of which remains a delightful mystery, continues to provide opportunities to writers and readers. The rewards offered are to raise funds to:
1. Upgrade the website (a significant cost) – estimated launch date of Oct to Dec 2015
2. Publish a quarterly eMagazine – estimated launch date of May 2015
3. Further develop systems which makes the Almanac concept sustainable – ongoing
The Almanac is a simple idea really.
Basically, we have created a place where ordinary everyday people (like us) can publish their stories. Through our books and our website www.footyalmanac.com.au, we provide a way for writers to get their words (and art and podcasts and anything else) to the world. This is an opportunity they may not get elsewhere.
You don’t have to be a pro. You just need to have the passion.
The Almanac is welcoming, encouraging, diverse, respectful, critical, honest. It is magnificently egalitarian while valuing excellence. It has grown organically because of the approach of the hundreds of writers it has attracted.
It started with yarns about Australian football, it expanded to include sports writing generally, and now presents writing on topics like music, film and food. All the stuff which keeps us going.
Over the years we have attracted people who love life and love telling stories. The character of the site has become so distinctive and so fresh that, once people discover our website and our books, with their diverse range of voices, they keep coming back.
And so, we have developed into a wonderful community of writers and readers et al. We seem to be a home for free spirits, mavericks, eccentrics and ratbags; the independent of mind who know that in the quest for understanding they will always be fumbling around in the dark. The thing this kind and warm-hearted crew are confident of is that people matter and life matters.
With this philosophy underpinning the Almanac, the community is always growing and we are getting more stories from writers and more readers to enjoy them.
That means the demands of keeping the Almanac ticking along are always increasing.

Think of it this way
For contributors: if you feel you derive great joy from writing, you might consider what sort of writer you are, and what value you place on it.
You love the fun of it – $1 per week. A pre-purchase of the Almanac eMag might be just the thing for you?
You are developing your craft - $2 per week. Maybe the Almanac eMag but also a KD Walters membership so you can really get into it?
You write to escape – the equivalent of a Fraser Island holiday. Time to get yourself immortalised in oil or join John Harms for a round of golf and Lunch for Australia?
You are addicted to writing and reading the Almanac – a packet a day. Oil painting? Harms? Maybe even a couple of $500 bills thrown our way just for the hell of it?
For readers:
20 cents per week – $10. A mention on the Honour Board?
50 cents per week – $26. More reading with the eMag and some Footy Almanac merchandise thrown in for good measure?
$1 per week – $52. Get yourself the eMag and a 2014 Footy Almanac book (200,000 words of reading pleasure)?

Why do Almanackers love it?
"Because it’s about Footy and Footy People. It’s about the glue that holds us together, yet celebrates our differences. It’s chock-a-block full of wisdom and wit. And in a troubled world it talks to the truth, and while it doesn’t pull any punches, it talks without rancour."
~ The Wrap
"In 2005 just as the Sydney Swans were running onto the ground I received a phone-call from a theatre-company in Melbourne saying they were putting on a play I had just written. The first play in fact after just having ideas running around in my head but no opportunity to have a play performed. The elation I felt that day is similar to the way I feel every time I submit something to the Almanac and receive positive feedback in the comment’s section."
~ Neil Anderson
"Pound for pound, is there a site out there that enriches as many lives??"
~ T-Bone
"The footy almanac is a place where everyday Australians who are passionate about sport and their footy team can write what is on their mind and how they feel about a game, an issue in sport or something to do with life in general. What is written on the footy almanac comes from peoples heart and is not written or edited just to sell papers or get ratings. That’s why I love reading it in the morning before I go to work or throughout the day when I have a spare minute. Because of the stories that people have written I have laughed, cried and expanded my mind and I look forward to seeing a footy almanac email pop up throughout the day wondering what this next article is going to be all about."
~ Andrew Weiss
"I like the footy almanac because of the many unfiltered voices. Because of the welcoming nature. Because of the writing. Because of the ideas. It’s a crucible of creativity... I write here for lots of reasons. It’s a thrill to think that others may be interested in what I’ve thought about. And while we could (each of us) post ideas on our own blog accounts instead, there’s a feeling of achievement in knowing a piece has been through an editing process and that it’s thought worthy of a larger collective. A form of quality control, I guess. And one that provides a feeling of collective. The comments, too, add a great deal to the whole experience."
~ E.regnans
"I think the thing I like the most about the Almanac is that it’s so welcoming and non-judgemental. There are plenty of sites for footy discussion out there, and mostly all of them are populated by idiots trolling. Likewise there are plenty of football reporting publications out there, most of which are filled with boring, banal, and populist material only good for wrapping chips in. The Almanac is an island of thoughtful, constructive, interesting, humorous and thought provoking football chatter amongst all of that."
~ Ben Footner
"I came for the articles and stayed for the comments... There are no barriers to entry and we (see I am even saying we) still have such a great community feel on the site here. It seems everyone approaches the site in the same positive way."
~ djlitsa
"[It's] all done with humour... irreverence, no malice, but plenty of pathos at times."
~ Dr Goatboat
The Almanac will not change
It will continue to:
1. Be a thriving community website which celebrates all contributions
2. Publish The Footy Almanac
3. Publish other collections (Like Footy Town 2 and Cricket Town)
4. Publish a quarterly eMagazine
5. Produce podcasts
6. Have lunches and launches and other social gatherings
7. Work hard to encourage the involvement of kids
We are determined to keep the site free.
But we also need to find sufficient revenue each year to cover costs, so that we can share the workload (which, as those close to it know, is considerable).
Thank you
~John Harms
Co-Founder – The Footy Almanac
How The Funds Will Be Used
We started as a book – The Footy Almanac 2007 – which was a game by game account of that magnificent season (Go Cats!). There were 34 contributors. We published The Footy Almanac again the next year.
By 2009, we realised that we had so many keen writers that we needed to offer them a further place to be published. We needed a website. www.footyalmanac.com.au started as a single (blank!) Wordpress page in late March 2009.
Since then, as the number of contributors and readers has grown, we have renovated the site. It’s a little like an unplanned family home, which has a particularly fertile Dad and Mum. Every time we’re pregnant we add an extra room. So we look a bit like an old Queenslander, with the veranda closed in and a room added out the back and a bungalow and a shed. It’s homely, but it’s getting hard to manage, and there’s a danger we’ll forget one of the kids.
And that’s because:
* We now have 1250 registered writers (contributors)
* They have produced 11,000 articles (and other items)
* We’ve had over 3,000,000 views
* And over 130,000 comments have been made
So it’s time to sort out the website.
A better website will:
* Be more user friendly for mobile devices
* Appeal to sponsors and advertisers – and help the site become sustainable
Our contributors have been magnificent. And they have so much more to offer. So we want to give them further opportunities.
The eMagazine we have planned will:
* Allow for longer articles
* Allow for pieces about other sports
* Allow for a few non-sport pieces (perhaps we’ll have to do another magazine)
* Potentially bring in part of the revenue to sustain the whole Almanac concept
'Rising Star' Almanacker
$10 gets you a mention on our new website's hallowed Honour Board for those who have helped take the Almanac to its next level. Note: All of the following rewards will also include a mention on our Honour Board, along with their specific reward offering.
Pre-purchase of eMag
Get the first three editions of our soon-to-be-released the Almanac eMag for a discounted price + Honour Board.
eMag pre-purchase + merch
Get the first three editions of our soon-to-be-released Almanac eMag for a discounted price, plus a Footy Almanac sticker and choice of mug or stubby holder + Honour Board.
eMag pre-purchase + book
Get the first three editions of our soon-to-be-released Almanac eMag for a discounted price, and a copy of the most recent 2014 Footy Almanac book + Honour Board.
eMag + three books
Get the first three editions of our soon-to-be-released Almanac eMag for a discounted price, and a copy of John Harms' omnibus 'Play On' (all 750 pages of it), which includes his three sporting classics 'Confessions of a Thirteenth Man', 'Memoirs of a Mug Punter' and 'Loose Men Everywhere' + Honour Board.
eMag + Jack Dyer
Get the first three editions of our soon-to-be-released Almanac eMag for a discounted price and an annual Jack Dyer Membership* + Honour Board. *See website for details: http://www.footyalmanac.com.au/memberships/
eMag + KD Walters
Get the first three editions of our soon-to-be-released Almanac eMag for a discounted price and an annual KD Walters Membership* + Honour Board. *See website for details: http://www.footyalmanac.com.au/memberships/
eMag + print
Get the first three editions of our soon-to-be-released Almanac eMag for a discounted price and a print of a original artwork on which one of our Footy Almanac book covers was based* + Honour Board. * Prints can be selected here: http://www.footyalmanac.com.au/almanac-art/footy-almanac-cover-art/
Footy Almanac books
Get all 8 issues of 'The Footy Almanac' book, 2007-2014, to complete your collection at a discounted price + Honour Board.
Lunch for Aust with Harms
This will be Australia’s finest lunch in the Barossa Valley. Memories are made of this. John Harms will be your date but you can bring others ($500 is a per person cost). Time of date to be arranged or email [email protected]
eMag + John Wren
Get the first three editions of our soon-to-be-released Almanac eMag for a discounted price and an annual John Wren Business Membership* + Honour Board. *See website for details: http://www.footyalmanac.com.au/memberships/
Golf with a footballer
Golf and lunch with a famous footballer*, hosted by John Harms. We take requests! * Further announcements will be made. Watch this space.
Kate Birrell portrait
Get a portrait painted of yourself or your family/loved ones by Almanacker Kate Birrell* + Honour Board. Size up to 76cmW x 50 or 60cmH (30 x 24/20 inches) *For an example of Kate's portraiture (featuring our very own Dips), visit http://www.katebirrell.com/footy/commissiondipskatebirrell
Caulfield Cup painting
'A Day at the Heath' painting by Kate Birrell* – 120cmW x 90cmH (48 x 36inches) 2014, unframed but stretched canvas ready to hang + Honour Board. *First image you view here: http://www.katebirrell.com/horseracing/
Golf + Lunch for Aust
A round of golf for yourself and two of your guests with John Harms followed by an exclusive lunch at one of Australia's revered Barossa Valley wineries + Honour Board. Which winery could it be? For more details, contact John Harms at [email protected]