Welcome writers!  I've been waiting for you!  

My name is Jay Rehak and I am an enthusiastic proponent of crowd sourced novels.  

"What's a crowd sourced novel?" you ask.  

A crowd sourced novel is  ONE story that is told by many people.   Crowd Sourced novels are NOT collections of short stories.  Crowd Sourced novels are a collection of CHAPTERS that makes ONE story.    I invite you to be one of the writers who helps me write my next book.

If you are a school teacher, I invite you to have all of your students each submit a chapter.

The novel I am currently writing with YOU is called Novel Changes.  Yes, WE are writing a novel together.  Here's the good news.  I've already written what many consider to be the "hardest parts" of a novel.  You see, I have written the beginning and the end of  Novel Changes, OUR novel.

Novel Changes is a novel idea I had many years ago.  The idea was simple enough.  It involved two time traveling students whose fate is controlled by the opening and closing of a mysterious Blue Book.  The idea was and is that the protagonists travel through time in search of a peaceful place and moment to live.  They are subject to the whim of someone opening or closing a mysterious Blue Book that travels in time with them.  As long as the Blue Book is undisturbed, the two stay in the circumstances they find themselves in. Sometimes those circumstances are pleasant.  More often, the circumstances are dangerous.

My intention is to make the book available to be created as a crowd sourced, eternal document.  I invite all readers to submit a chapter.  When I have between 15 and 20 chapters written, I will publish the book.  As time goes on, even more chapters will be written and sequels to Novel Changes will be published.

Just as in 30 Days to Empathy, the first crowd sourced high school novel ever published, Novel Changes is intended to give writers the opportunity to collectively tell an interesting story.  I have written both the first and last chapter of Novel Changes and now await 15 to 20 writers from around the world to provide the chapters necessary  to complete the book.  When I have  received  those 15 – 20 chapters, I will be publishing the book on Amazon.com.  

Writers of the middle chapters will retain the copyright on their respective chapter and they will be given a writing credit.   No other compensation will be given.

If you would like to submit a chapter for consideration in Novel Changes please read the “rules” of the book listed below.  Your chapter can be any length, but the best chapters are often between 3 and 8 pages.

Longer or shorter chapters will be considered, however, as length is no determiner of quality.
When you have written your chapter and edited it to the best of your ability, please send in a Word file to jaycrehak@gmail.com.

I will acknowledge receipt of your chapter and let you know as soon as possible as to whether or not your chapter has been accepted for inclusion in Novel Changes.

I look forward to hearing from you, my co-novelists.

Before you get started writing your chapter, please understand the rules of Novel Changes.




Here are the “Rules of Novel Changes.”

1.     The two characters Hugh and Gianni can travel backwards or forwards in time.  They both must appear in each chapter.
2.     Hugh and Gianni can be any age, but they are always in “positive” search of one another.  That is, they are not always recognizable to one another, but each is always looking for the other in the story. (For example, Hugh could be a slave and Gianni could be the daughter of a slave owner.  Each might not immediately recognize each other.  But they are always searching. Once they find each other, they will search for a “way out” if they are in unpleasant circumstances.  The “way out” is the opening of the Blue Book.
3.     Once the Blue Book is opened, the chapter is IMMEDIATELY over.  (See Chapter 1)
4.     The Blue Book is not always immediately observable; often, but not always, Hugh and Gianni are in a desperate search for it to escape their circumstances.
5.     The chapter does not end until the Blue Book is opened.
6.     Hugh and Gianni cannot die.
7.     Hugh and Gianni are noble, imperfect characters.  They do not “murder” or commit violence on other people.
8.     The chapter you write should include some element of danger or unpleasantness for the characters
9.     The discovery and subsequent “opening of the Blue Book” should happen at a critical point in the story.  (For example, the two are about to be shot by a firing squad, but escape when someone opens the Blue Book to read them the charges against them.
10.  Those who discover Hugh and Gianni’s secret (that they are time travelers) are condemned to remember it.  (See Chapter 1)