New directions for Geelong Cereal

Hi folks!

I'm sure you all saw the anouncement a month ago relaying the sad news that Geelong Cereal would be closing unless someone was interested in taking it on. I'm Mel, and I'm pleased to say I put my hand up to be that someone.

I've been following this project since it began and I'm thrilled to have the chance to revive the existing format and take it some new directions as well. It's a wonderful concept with a lot of heart, not to mention all of the hard work and resources that Toby has already put into building and running the site, and the amazing catalogue of work that this community has built together.

I'd like to take this chance to outline what's on the horizon for Geelong Cereal.

So what will stay the same?

Serial stories are the heart of the publication and they will continue to be eagerly received and published. I have been a sucker for a serial story since I was a kid, when my dad would play War of the Worlds in the car on every road trip. As such, I will be rolling out some new ideas for serial formats in the coming months. Stay tuned.

So too, the commitment to publishing work by writers and artists at all stages of their creative journey is foundational to the project and will remain a top priority. If Geelong Cereal has a mission, it's to encourage new, unpublished writers and artists to craft submissions and have them seen and enjoyed.

Visual art will continue to be enthusiastically included, and as an (alleged) adult who shamelessly loves comic books, I hope to see some comics start to appear here as well. I have plans to encourage collaboration between visual and literary artists, but more about that in the coming months. I welcome contributions from anyone interested in writing about the local visual and performing arts community. Music will also continue to be included, although I hope to recruit a team member skilled at recieving and publishing music submissions.

We will continue to enthusiastically publish poetry, however Geelong Writers has recently launched Naxos, a new poetry publication that looks very exciting. I encourage poets to submit there first, as they will only publish as-yet-unpublished works.
https://www.geelongwriters.org.au/naxos/

Geelong Cereal will continue to be free and contributions and admin work will be continue to be voluntary for the forseeable future. One small change I have made is to allow writers, subject to guidelines, to link their socials and creator pages. If we want people to write for free, we need to at least let them promote themselves. I have detailed strict guidelines surrounding this change in our FAQ.

Of course, Geelong Cereal is a Geelong based publication and much of its focus will always be on showcasing Geelong based creatives, and the Geelong arts community. That won't change.

At the same time, we need to see the number of people reading and contributing to Geelong Cereal begin to match the effort and resources that go into producing it. We can't hope to increase subscriptions, interest and engagement without broadening our horizons, so I am assembling a team of regular contributors from both Geelong and further afield. You've already met Ferris and Andy in the last few days, and I'll continue to introduce the new regular writing team over the next few weeks. They're all outstanding writers who share my enthusiasm for the project, and will be bringing you a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction writing, including a great deal of 'writing about writing' in the hopes of inspiring new writers.
If you are interested in being a part of the regular writing team, or the admin team, please reach out to me at thegeelongcereal@gmail.com

My hope is that in establishing a regular stream of great content, when we start actively seeking new submissions from the wider community next month, there will be plenty here to encourage and inspire creatives at all levels to subscribe, participate and see their work published here. That's what it's all about!

So what else is new?

Yesterday I began issuing a call-out for Geelong-based clubs and organisations who are interested in writing about their club. I think a 'Club Corner' will be a great way to increase community engagement, celebrate the diverse and impressive range of clubs we have in Geelong, and maybe even serve as a kind of in-depth directory for people looking for local activities to be a part of. If you know anyone who might be interested, ask them to get in touch!

I'm also putting together a team of gig reviewers, so if you love jumping up and down on a sticky floor and screaming to music as much as I do, and you'd like to join the gig review team, you know what to do! I feel sure there will be less experienced writers interested in reviewing gigs, but publishing reviews and photography of live entertainment needs to carefully follow legal protocols, so I'm hoping that a few of our more experienced gig reviewers will join me in offering some guidance and support if and when some newer writers want to have a crack at this. I hope this might become a fun mentoring opportunity between our contributors.

Later in the year I also hope to launch the concept of group serials, perhaps by English classes, ESL classes and other community groups, and I welcome input from educators, group coordinators and anyone else who has something to say about this idea.

Finally, I have just finished updating the About and FAQ pages and I've created a submissions guidelines page, so I encourage you to read and familiarise yourself with them. I am still familiarising myself with the platform, so when you see logos change and things move around, don't be alarmed.

Before I sign off, I'd like to thank Toby for all of the hard work he has put into developing and running this fantastic project, and for giving me the opportunity to be a part of its future.

Thanks for continuing to be a part of Geelong Cereal. If you have any suggestions or questions, don't hesitate to reach out to me at thegeelongcereal@gmail.com

I think that's it for now, and if you made it through all of that, please reward yourself with a treat or a little lie down or something.

We now return you to the music of Ramón Raquello and his orchestra. [1]

-Mel

1. Welles, O. (1938). The War of the Worlds [Radio broadcast]. Mercury Theatre on the Air.