A Message from George Jones, Borders Group CEO

George, it's a special pleasure to welcome you to the Gather community. We are excited to have Borders' engaged, informed customers joining the conversation here on Gather. We are particularly thrilled by the support that Borders is providing Gather members as they grow from aspiring authors to bestsellers.

Thank you for helping make Gather a unique place on the Internet. I can't wait to share more of what's in store through our partnership.

I adore Borders' Original Voices program. Some of my very favorite books in recent years were ones I discover on the Original Voices display. I wish they were more prominently featured though. Always have to go hunting when I go into Borders stores. Dump the "Best of Borders" to the back shelves and give my my Original Voices front and center! :-)

Nice to see Borders teaming up with Gather, too. It's about time Borders discovered the Internet. Borders.com is a sorry joke, so I'm looking forward to what will happen Gather.com. Thanks!

I'm happy to see this competition. I am wondering how the editorial board will ever choose 5 works of merit separately from the rankings, let alone make the determination from among all those chapters that are ranked quite closely together (and with such a disparity on the number of votes per entry, too--some have 10 votes, some have 100, yet they both rank at 6.5, for example).

Let's hope for success!

Thank you for that great article George, it's so refreshing when a large publishing house comes down to grass roots level and acknowledges us struggling authors! I'll be honest it does motivate me at least! I've abandoned a stagnating project and started a fresh new one which i find much more suited to my style, hopefully you'll see it soon!
Incidentally, how would one go about taking part in the Original Voices program and what rules apply? I would be interested in taking part once i'm happy with my drafts.

Thanks again for your words George :)

George,
Welcome and good luck with this venture. As someone who embraces both the printed book and the virtual world of the Internet, I endorse anything that promotes both.
In this marketing-heavy world we live in, it's easy to lose sight of the things that are vital to the survival of our society and only pay attention to what's "hot" at the moment.
Books are not an anachronism, they are as important and vital to the success and survival of our society as they have ever been. I think of the combination of the printed book and the digital imagery of the Internet as a "one-two punch" not an "either/or" situation.
Again, good luck ! The world needs to start thinking of books as "cool" again. Books are one of mankind's greatest examples of " If it ain't broke don't fix it".

Thank you for joining with gather in this venture. This was the first time I've received real feedback on my writing. It's been a great experience not only for my work but I'm able to see the competition and it's fantastic. It's a huge thing you've undertaken and wish all the best.
I agree with Chantal F. There are a lot of unanswered questions about the ranking, etc. Looks like we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Thanks again.

That store in Ann Arbor where I bought all my textbooks is where Borders originated? That was a long time ago, and Borders always was a uniquely great store.

Welcome to Gather!

Welcome to Gather, George, and thanks for taking the time to stop by and publish an article. I hope we hear from you more in the future.

Hi George! Welcome!
This is just to remind you that, though this site seems to be mainly US based, there are many UK writers out here too. I'm from Doncaster and another Gather member also comes from here!
As well as appearing in The Poetry Cafe, London, I've performed poetry at your Borders shop in Leeds, S. Yorkshire, England, which is a great place for browsing and buying. It so hard to get a collection of poetry published, so, like many other poets, I've done my own! They make great gifts as well as souvenirs of performance events.
I'm also writing short stories, many more poems and a novel. With your encouraging piece here, I'll try to get my first chapter entered in Gather. The only problem is that although I've written 15 thousand words, I'm not yet sure if what I've written first will be the first in the novel.

Good luck for the future, G! I've seen a lot of great writing in Gather! It'll be a difficult job choosing, my friend!
Peace.

Back in the day, in the Ann Arbor of long ago, I shopped for my used books at Davids, and my new books at Borders. Both were fabulous stores. Now when I walk into my local Borders, I always remember David Kozubei, whom i dated when i was young and hot and he was the endearing and odd person that he always was.I just wanted to say,George Jones CEO, that I am very happy for Borders success, and to discover that Davids still exists as well!!!! Continued good fortune!!!!

Welcome to Gather!

As an ex-teacher I have always had a fondness for bookstores. I love my local Borders store. Thanks for joining Gather! (And we love the gift cards)

I welcome you to Gather George. Thank you for giving writers on Gather the help we need to keep writing stories. I am hoping that you will continue to be on Gather.

Welcome to Gather, Mr. Jones, and thanks for joining us.

I'd also like to thank you and Borders for offering an outlet for fresh voices. Writing, as is the case with most arts, is a difficult field to break into. The shelves are already filled with books -- some good, some not so good -- and there sometimes seems to be no room for new talent. It's good that you are trying to squeeze open some space for the new voices to fit in.

Mr. Jones - I really enjoyed the Snape article and hope that we will be seeing more fun articles and great authors. Please let us know what we can expect going forward.

Thanks,

M. Easton

Borders is a wonderful addition to Gather. I will look into the Original Voices program.

An empowering idea for writers and a win-win, as they say. Thank you!

Thanx!! I alreddy orderred 50 dollhers in border gift certificuts. Borders is grate. Could you cunsidher having a patiop where coffee and smoking was alLowed nere the store? I find that friends in the business and professional world love to meet at places like Starbucks and used bookstores with available meeting rooms where the creme de la crem occasionaly hide away and git to rub shoulders with pinnacles of powere such as avante guarde C.E.O.,s and stuff quite unnoticed by the unwashed masses. I notice that my heroes on radio seminars and stuff are increasingly mentioning your store and that got me out of hideaway places to o0ne of yer stores in brandon nere tha mall. On the way ou, I passed from the foodcout exit near the security guard shack and a C.B.S. crew was interviewing afew delightfully regal young ladies, bhnighschool and college attenees. " asked the fat balding interviewerWhat is your favorite thing about the mall' asked the interviewer? The purtiest one instuntly replied " Gosh damn, you uh ignorant ole fart! Tha Gold and Diamond Store, you idjit!" That Blonde was quickly pulled aside by the redhead whop put a hand over the Blondes mouth. "You have to excuse her said the Brunette" She has recently endured traumatic stress and is normaly a complete angel. We particularly enjoy the books tore as we are pursuing arts and sciences with emphasis on video media and also theater. Here, this is a list of our upcoming amater performances. Thank you so kindly" she sed with a curtzhy and they exited with a perfect runway walk and wiggles. I followed them and overhurd the blonde say "Quick, go back and see when he gits paid" I cannot repete the rest of it, butt it is amazing what yew kan here when wearing walkman speakers on yer ears while pretending to sway to sum imaginary muse. I had no idea the Local Towncenter Mall area could be such a delightfull place. I.O. it all to Borders. I have to go back to my room now beefore I wake up ore git in truble a gin. Bye.

Welcome George. I also second the above comments about the great opportunities being given to all of us undiscovered writers. It's nice to know that Borders, Gather and Simon and Schuster are open to adding new flavor to the literary market....

Dan B! You hev un intrestin why of ryting thungs down. Jes wundrd wat apnd to the too gals aftr? Yu git Luky?
Yoo cud be startn a trind ov rytin. Sum folks hoo talks al posh on tha tv wen thy speak bout books an stuf say jenre bit i not sure wot thets bout bet it souns rat. Yeah, jenre, thets wot yo got. Hope yal got back in time an the folks at the hoam din notis ya gorn. I stil scaped, thy not seen us yit.
Yer, you gut jenre! Ah smart, a nose thungs nall! *

George, welcome to Gather and thanks for enriching the Gather experience for all of us.

The teaming up of Borders and Gathers.com, especially the highly enthusiastic response to First Chapters Writing Competition, is creating waves in international media circles. Some of the contest entries are really superb. This is definitely going to set a new trend in the publishing industry.

I wish Borders all the success in discovering and giving a voice to new literary talent.