1. no cannibalization.    Plenty of others eat writers, why should we eat ourselves (is that quite the proper phrase?)  We are here to promote writing and to make our lives as writers easier. We want to be open minded, to be accepting and flexible to our members and network.

         
          2. our members are writers too. Actually, our members are writers FIRST!  In fact, our members MUST be writers!  This is an organization by writers and for writers. 

          3.no dead weight among our members.  We do not have the time for members who are here just to warm a seat, or bask in the glory of being an OW member.  We are not interested in members who play with their, uh, members.  All OW members should have at least one project related to our goals.  As we grow, so will the number of projects!  This can only be good for underground writers!

          4.  Underground and Independent writers only.  If you have a mainstream publishing contract, would we say no?  Well, that would be on a case by case basis.  Stephen King, we'll listen to you. 

          5.  Underground and independent publishers are also welcome to join, because in the end they share our goals.  Corporate presses, publishers which are part of the vertical integration of a multinational corporation...etc... need not apply. We wish such presses the best of luck provided they publish thought provoking material and not "If I Did Murder My Wife and Her Boy Friend, This Is How I Would Have Done It Not That It's Any Of Your Business But Hell I'm Getting A Lot Of Money."

         6.  Have fun. Cause why else the fuck would you do anything?  Well, assuming you do fuck for fun.  Have you ever wondered why the words we have for making love are also the words we use to describe making a mistake?

         7.Open minds, open communication. We will not cut ourselves off from any section of the lit world as long as doing so does not affect or interfere with our stated 'purpose'.  To change the world, we all have to work together.  We want friends, not enemies.

         8.We are SHOWING the way, not begging for it, nor complaining about the sorry fate of literature. We are not a bunch of whiners, we are doers.  We are not interested in seeking the attention of the mainstream media or corporate presses. Our goal is to create audiences and markets OUTSIDE of these narrow-minded, tightly-controlled funnels. They have their world, we have THE world.  The media and corporate presses are irrelevant.  If they want to use us for a fifteen second sound bite, we'd likely say no.  However, if we can use them to promote underground writing, we might just consider that.

         9.  No self-serving members. This is a co-operative of like-minded artists. There are places for egos and chest-beating but when it comes to our project, this is not the place for them.