Transition Free Press

Here are a few tips from and for TFP distributors for getting Transition Free Press out of your bundles and into people’s hands. These are by no means the last words on distribution, and everyone and each group will have their own style of circulating the papers. I’ll be alternating the tips every few weeks and adding to them, so don’t worry if you don’t see your tip here today, or if it disappears in the future – it’s sure to return!

Thanks to everyone who has sent their experiences and suggestions in!

TFP Fivers Club of Lewes Transition Town Lewes activists have been buying five copies for £5 and selling them or giving them away with over 70 sold in the first part of February alone.

Sustainable Bungay The profits from TFP sales have paid for the group’s printed quarterly newsletter insert. Copies sold at meetings, Happy Mondays monthly community kitchen and Edible Garden library events. People happy to support both newspaper and newsletter.

From Paul Gasson of Transition Walthamstow here is a great tip for anyone selling the papers in a local shop/cafe/outlet where sales may not always be overseen by the people working there:

If you have a friendly retail outlet which is prepared to stock TFP (in Walthamstow we are fortunate to have the Hornbeam Cafe), a newspaper holder is quick to make from scrap wood. It minimises counter space requirements, and keeps the papers tidy – see photo above

Always have a couple of copies with you when visiting public places, such as local cafes & pubs (but put them in a folder so they don’t get too wrecked, even if you do!). TFP can act as a great conversation starter, even if you don’t make a sale.

That newspaper holder is just great! And the sales sign underneath prevents any confusion about the ‘free’ in the ‘Free Press’, which refers to TFP’s editorial stance (no advertorial in the paper, though there are adverts and you can buy advertising space), and the fact we are not funded or owned by any large organisation or corporation.

If you are reading this and you are a distributor, do keep in mind this paper provides an invaluable communications tool for anyone involved in transition at any level, a publication which backs up all the work being done by so many people, often invisibly. Its being in physical print also means the paper can then reach people and places other media won’t necessarily reach. And who may not even have heard of transition.

As Viv Manning from Kings Lynn, wrote:

A great read – maybe I’m a bit of an old fashioned girl, but I get on much better with printed matter than online reading.

Finally if you or your Transition initiative would like to become a distributor for the Transition Free Press, please take a look at the distribution page and contact Mark Watson: mark@transitionfreepress.org.uk

Images: TFP and scrap wood newspaper holder by Paul Gasson; Pound sign by Jay Tompt; TFP at the Waveney Greenpeace Fair by Charlotte Du Cann

A really great paper – a good balance between wide-reaching articles about climate change, general topics about renewables etc., and case studies of local projects and achievements.

Most of us got involved in green groups because we thought governments would make real changes and we would need to be prepared for them. In fact, there’s a lot of persuading to do to get people to recognise that we’re in trouble… (Debbie Reed – Transition Tynedale)

Our first issue of TFP has been out on the streets for a month now and great feedback has been coming through the network in the UK and elsewhere. People are offering stories, sending congratulations, giving us suggestions. We’ve also had 4696 reads of our on-line version. Best of all our distributors have been busy selling 11,000 copies of the paper (here in the depot before dispatch) and hopefully making a bit of a profit for their TIs too).

People have been really responsive and happy to part with a £1 for their copy. MJ who works in our local grocers (and TFP outlet right) said that 6 members of the family she lives with read it and thought it was great – one of them is a local pig farmer and he took it to work with him! Josiah from our local TI group, Sustainable Bungay, took out an ad for his Great British Peas and Beans business, Hodemedod’s, and has already received quite a few requests and inquiries. (Mark Watson – distribution manager)

We’ve had reports of brisk sales of TFP Issue 1 in fairs, festivals, farmer’s markets and film showings in towns and bio-regions everywhere. We’ve been outside tube stations in London, on remote Scottish islands, snapped up by the Suffolk Climate Change Partnership and at Vandana Shiva’s talk in Totnes, and demanding attention in local news agents in Sussex:

It’s been great to see and hear the reaction to TFP – almost all of it incredibly positive. The one heated discussion I had with someone in a shop in Lewes led to him buying a copy and the shop where we had the discussion selling 10 more TFPs straight afterwards. TFP – makes you think, makes you act!  (Alexis Rowell – news ed)

Here is Paul, a local farmer, famous for growing long straw for thatching (hat not model’s own!) at a  stall which ed, Charlotte Du Cann, shared with Greenpeace at their Waveney Valley Winter Fair in February. The benefit of having a comms tool in your hands really allows for good conversations – and sales (50 copies flew out of the door).

If any wonderful Transition distributors have pictures or reports of sales pitches, please send them in and we will be happy to publish. (charlotte@transitionfreepress.org.uk).

Great funding news

Supporting TFP’s crowdfunding campaign made me feel connected to a whole bunch of people who really care what’s happening out there, just like me. (Louise Stirling, Muir of Ord, Scotland)

Our other great news is our crowdfunding appeal with BuzzBnk reached its first target of £10,000 and we also won a £4000 award from the Network of Social Change. So a Big Thank You to everyone who took part in making this a success. We are now officially a social enterprise and Issue 2 is now happening. News and features are commissioned and we are looking forward to editing, designing and producing our summer edition (out May 1).

Meanwhile we welcome all continued support. We are a fledgling paper and though these start-up funds are a vital bridge and very happily received, to be truly sustainable we’ll need further bundle sales, regular ads and LOTS of subscriptions. Unlike mainstream media we have no big corporate advertisers or oligarchs behind us! Sales and subscriptions are key to our funding and also to our distributing TIs. If you are not part of a distributing hub, or you or your household would like to contribute anyway, we now have a subscriptions page on our website, with PayPal, or you can send a cheque directly to Jay, our business manager (jay@transitionfreepress.org.uk). £15 per year, or more of course if you wish.

The TFP crew are working hard to create a new media that speaks to people about and in tough times, and we know we can’t do any of this without you, dear readers. Thank you for travelling alongside us. Because we never know who we are reaching . . .

Someone told me that working in the corporate world TFP gave them hope and encouragement that there were like-minded people out there doing great things (Mike Grenville – co-founder, Forest Row)

Other latest stories about Transition Free Press

Introducing Local Broadsheets
http://transitionfreepress.org/2013/02/22/introducing-local-broadsheets/

TFP gets into the groove on the Transition (radio) Show
http://transitionfreepress.org/2013/02/18/with-a-little-help-from-my-friends-tfp-ed-on-transition-show/

We’re SO out there!
http://transitionfreepress.org/2013/02/07/were-so-out-there/

Alongside our regular national paper the TFP crew has been quietly road-testing local TI newsletters, trying out new designs  and ways of reporting from their own initiatives and neighbourhoods.

From the outset we promised the distributor hubs any design or editorial back-up they might need to produce their own broadsheets. As everyone’s skills and computer software and tech is different, we decided that rather than come up with a uniform template, we would offer design features from the main paper, that could be incorporated into existing formats, whilst keeping their own style and content.

Three TIs took part:Transition Lewes (who are presently working on theirs), Bristol (designed and co-ordinated by TFP’s Trucie Mitchell) and Sustainable Bungay (co-produced by Charlotte Du Cann, Mark Watson and Josiah Meldrum).

Trucie merged some of the newspaper elements into an A4 news flyer: “Rounding up stories of some of the most innovative and practical projects happening in Bristol really inspired me, as well as helping me make new connections with people all over the city. The biggest challenge wasn’t finding great stories to include, but editing them down to fit the space we had available!”

Sustainable Bungay have been distributing a quarterly newsletter for three years, so they took their regular A4 newsletter and expanded it into an A3 format, using some of the TFP news features, such as the teasers:

“Sometimes newsletters can appear stodgy and parochial,” says ed, Charlotte Du Cann: “Giving a newsy slant to the stories resulted in a more immediate look and feel. Although some shops were not so keen on the folded A3 format, it certainly disappeared much more quickly than normal. It also gave an incentive for people to buy the main paper. As well as paying for our TFP bundle (£75), profits from sales have now almost paid for the printing of the newsletters (£42 for 300) too. Great news!”

So if any TIs out there would like to have a go at creating or customizing their current newsletters to distribute alongside TFP, do get in touch. We’d love to hear from you!

Transition Show on Stroud FM is a terrific one-hour slot that has been running weekly for two years with local news, Transition announcements and one guest interview.

Last Friday, Transition Free Press editor Charlotte Du Cann spoke to the show’s presenters and producers, James Beecher and Helen Royall (also both active in Transition Stroud), about the launch of TFP’s first edition.

James and Helen asked ace questions about the paper from the content to its principles and how it was funded. I also felt there was time and space to talk and genuine interest in what was being said, which is not the norm on mainstream radio stations! Loved choosing those tracks too . . .

You can download the podcast here (83MB) .The interview itself begins at 6 mins 42 seconds though the whole show is well worth a listen. Throughout the hour you’ll hear some really good quotes (along with some great music tracks).

It’s a big shame that this is one of their last shows. Transition Show will air for the last time on Friday 1st March. James and Helen have said they may revive it in a different form at some point but for now they are calling it a day. For more information on this, see: eepurl.com/uWhyP

So thanks James and Helen for all the shows and wishing you the very best for the future. Big thanks, too, for featuring Transition Free Press on Friday. Here’s hoping we’ll tune in to Transition Show, StroudFM 107.9 again sometime to hear those stories that ‘everybody knows’ but which don’t always go out on air.

To download the interview click here. MW

Stroud FM community radio logo; James Beecher speaks about Transition

STOP PRESS:  We are now FUNDED! We reached our first milestone and then some, and finally came in at £10,350. Big thanks to everyone for making this a great success and we are happy to announce we have now officially started work on Issue Two.

So this is it, the final day of our crowdfunding appeal for Transition Free Press. Tense nail-biting behind the scenes, as the outcome will determine whether the crew will be paid a small fee for the last six months’ hard work and we will be able to cross the financial bridge to our next May issue.

At the time of writing we have reached our first target of £10K of our final £15K on Valentine’s Day. We have 86 terrific backers and need about 40 more to make this big deadline. All contributions, from the new £5 Kind Supporter level through to the Highly Esteemed Change Maker (£750) are welcome. You can also become a TFP Friend and sign up for an annual subscription (£15).

So, dear reader, if you are reading this post and thinking of contributing we would love to hear from you at our on-line appeal asap! Many thanks. Heres the link:

https://www.buzzbnk.org/Transition FreePress

Meanwhile there are reports of brisk sales of TFP Issue 1 in fairs, festivals, farmer’s markets and film showings around the UK. We’ve also had 2942 reads of our on-line version. These pix are from the stall we (that’s Mark Watson, distribution manager and ed, Charlotte Du Cann) shared with Greenpeace at their Waveney Valley Winter Fair on Saturday. Over 50 copies sold and with lots of good conversations too.

Let’s keep this new media and Transition comms tool going! We’ve already started on Issue 2 . . .

Last week 10,000 copies of our Spring edition flew out of the TFP depot to initiatives all around the UK (and a bundle to Hamburg in Germany too). We’re out and about and selling in all kinds of places – from market stalls in Lewes (see left for our news ed and hound in action) to newsstands in Totnes.

Here in East Anglia we’re heading up with a stack to the local Greenpeace Fair on Saturday and Sustainable Bungay talk by Bob Flowerdew, opening speaker for our new Edible Garden series. Later in the month we’re taking part in The Common Room, where local distributors will be picking up their 200 copies (thanks Lesley, Simeon and Chris and The Greenhouse). We’re compiling a list of outlets and events on our local Transition Norwich website and happy to put links alongside our regional distributors here on the TFP site.

This is all part of the buzz that creates a new and zingy communications network. So, to all of you out there in the marketplace – selling, buying or exchanging – do send in your stories and pix and we’ll put up your tales and tips!

This great photo of one of the 40 bundles is by Neil Lovelock from  Dumbarton Road Corridor Environmental Trust in Glasgow. He reports on his blog:

Woo-hoo!! DRCET is taking part in an exciting new national media experiment – the creation of a new quarterly newspaper about environmental and economic issues.

DRCET has taken delivery of a bundle of 250 papers and we are then breaking them down into smaller bundles of 20 to make the paper more accessible to organisations that want to get involved. In addition to DRCET and Towards Transition Glasgow other organisations that will be distributing smaller bundles of the first issue include Urban Roots, Glasgow University Environment & Sustainability Team, Transition Linlithgow and the Scottish Community Alliance.

The next issue will be due out in May and if you want to get involved in the distribution in and around Glasgow then please get in touch.

We also have had some ace feedback about content and layout and some lovely endorsements. Here’s Jason Heppenstall on his blog 22 Billion Energy Slaves:

There’s a lot of talk about ’the media’ these days and its seeming inability or unwillingness to join up all the dots when it comes to things like peak oil and climate change… . .

That’s why I am excited to hear about a new newspaper being launched which aims to scoop up a lot of the stories that go ‘under the radar’ and act as a focal point for the Transition movement. It’ll be a paper and ink publication for residents of the UK, and available online for everywhere else. In it  . . .there are many articles featuring people and initiatives that are out there making a difference. In that way it will act as a focal point and inspiring knowledge base for those of us who know we are already on the long descent.

But newspapers don’t write, print and distribute themselves – these things cost money. And because of that, the Transition Free Press needs our help.  £15,000 ($24,000) will run the newspaper for a whole year and pay for all the distribution, printing, web hosting, writing, research and editing. Believe me, that is a pretty thin shoestring!

Anyway, if you feel you can, place a tip in their hat to ensure this project stays up and running.

Thanks Jason and Neil! We are now £2,600 short of our first £10,000 target with 8 days to. So if you would like to invest in our future and back us, do contribute to and/or publicise our crowdfunding appeal through your networks. Many thanks!

Deadline is next week on 14th February. Will you be our Valentine?

Alexis and TFP newshound at Lewes Market; bundle in Glasgow (Neil Lovelock); Mark prepping bundle to go to Transition Tyndale