Just thought I'd let everyone know where things stand with the contents of the 2008 SustainaBundy Directory and Guide. I am still wading through the heaps of article submissions we've received - thank you so much to everyone who has stepped up to the plate to provide us with some fantastic content. I really think the people in the Bundaberg region are lucky to have us, we have a goldmine of practical, valuable information in this book - it'll be a steal at $2 a pop!

So far, I have edited, formatted and laid out (subject to lots more fiddling I'm sure):
1. Intro
2. Printing and acknowledgments
3. What is relocalisation?
4. The grand plans
5. How it all began: peak oil and climate change
6. 101+ things you can do to save the planet
7. Quotes to live by
8. The low impact woman
9. The eco-friendly man
10. The environmentally responsible office
11. Water: harvest it, store it, conserve it!
12. Win the weed war with Landcare
13. Real food for hyperactivity
14. Fresh is always the right price
15. Gardening for our lives: the transition to sustainability
Total: 47 pages (out of 96!!!)

Received - yet to be edited, formatted and laid out:
16. The recycled food garden
17. The uses of vinegar (and bicarb)
18. Natural resource management projects (BMRG)

Yet to be received/completed:
19. Chef profiles (on camera interviews x2)
20. Camreay profile (on camera interview, scheduled for Wednesday)
21. How to recycle
22. Walking Bundaberg (shine_on, I can't find your first draft - are you still working on it, and if not, can you email it to me again?)
23. BMRG & the community
24. Single line directory
25. Web resources
26. Table of contents

I'm seriously thinking some of this stuff is gonna have to get chopped down to fit everything in.

Advertising to date:
11 ads have been booked/promised
-4 full pages
-3 half pages
-1 quarter page
-3 uncertain (don't know what size but definitely want to advertise)

The full colour inside covers front and back are still available - I haven't had time to do the hard sell for some of the bigger advertisers we're hoping to secure. Our ultimate goal is to make $4000 from this project by selling about 20 pages of advertising (at least $2000) and to sell out the guide (1000 copies at $2/each = $2000). This would cover our printing costs and give us enough money to incorporate, if other funding options for printing the guide don't come through. Obviously we need to make ad sales a priority for this to be a fully successful project.

Issue: Today Alice at BMRG provided us, free of charge, with high resolution maps of the Burnett region for our roadside stands map and directory. However, there are two difficulties with this project. 1, the lack of manpower to physically get out and find enough roadside stands to make it worth the space it would take up in the publication. 2, a recent conversation with someone in the industry indicated that it's entirely possible that the owners of said roadside stands might not exactly want them publicised, for fear of scrutiny by the authorities. A valid concern if the stands aren't formally licenced. This may make the roadside stand project more trouble than its worth, and leaves our centre spread vacant. I'm up for suggestions, thoughts and comments - should we keep trying on the roadside stands, or come up with something else worth mapping? Being a 160km radius directory, it'd be hard to fit our advertisers and/or single line listings all onto a map in the centre spread.

All in all I'm pleased with the progress, though of course I wish I were ahead of schedule instead of behind!! Recently we've been wondering if it might be wise to push off the publication date until after the council amalgamations are completed in March.

Sorry, giant post. Your comments welcome!