Propuesta

T H E PA R T N E R S H I P

The Ra onale

Storytelling is e most powerful way to put ideas into e world today. —Robe McKee

In marke ng, storytelling is used to create an emo onal investment. Storytelling is effec ve because it has existed roughout history; roughout me, people have enjoyed stories.

Forbes

Storytelling is compelling because stories are what people remember. Even when ey forget names and faces, ey rarely forget e story and how it made em feel.

Numerous studies over e years have proven at our brains are far more engaged by storytelling an e cold, hard facts. It’s far easier for us to remember stories an e cold hard facts because our brains make li le dis nc on between an experience we are reading about and one at is actually happening.

â€œâ€Śit can be concluded at e human brain does not dis nguish between reading or hearing a story and experiencing it in real life. In bo cases, e same neurological regions are ac vated. Stories s mulate e mind; it is now in our job descrip ons to send consumers on journeys at lead em to solu ons at solve eir problems and, hopefully, b st our bo om lines.â€?

What happens if we move beyond business-as-usual, and sta building content at is engaging and powerful, by harnessing e energy of e well-told story? Stories are all around us. They are what move us, make us feel alive, and inspire us. Our appe te for stories is a reflec on of e basic human need to understand pa erns of life — not merely as an intellectual exercise but as a personal, emo onal experience. Stories are e way to reach out to people and emo onally connect.

Stories are au en c human experiences. Stories leap frog e technology and bring us to e core of experience. Stories have always been a primal form of co unica on. Stories are about collabora on and connec on. Stories are how we ink. They are how we make meaning of life.

THE WRITERS Bogota Writers is a group of au ors at sta ed wri ng toge er in 2011. Its members are a variety of ages, professions and na onali es, but eir love of wri ng brings em toge er once again to put forward is collec on of sho stories inspired by Bogota.

Tony Cleaver Tony has been a journalist, hippy, teacher, road sweeper, mountain guide, university lecturer and writer. He has lived and worked in e UK, Singapore, Chile, The Ne erlands and Colombia.

After almost two decades at e University of Durham, UK, he said he would re re to Colombia if he could get a job and play cri et. Tony has published ree novels and a collec on of sho stories.

Juan Manuel RodrĂ­guez Co only known as "Juanma", he is a 100% easy going human being and 100% Bogotano; two characteris cs at do not necessarily go hand in hand. He is mainly recognizable for his love for b ks and wri ng, and is forever le ing his hea and soul swim in literature.

He’s an industrial engineer at has recently focused his career towards innova on and crea ve processes, which has ce ainly livened up his wri ng.

MĂłnica RamĂ­rez Monica is a Bolivian born Colombian who grew up in London and ended up marrying not one, but two Italians ( ough not at e same me). As a child she was reading and wri ng fic on while her friends were playing in e park, but she stopped a few years later, a bit out of frustra on wi being labelled "t crea ve" by a sho -sighted teacher, a lot out of being occupied wi more an a fair share of teenage tribula ons. She now lives in Bogota and divides her me between a career in foreign direct investment, two young and highly energe c boys and a not less energe c husband.

Monica is fascinated by human rela ons and believes at everybody's life story would make a great novel if told wi e right words. Stealing from e Eagles in Hotel California, she believes at "some write to remember, some write to forget". She would say she writes for bo .

THE STORIES

Mint Juleps and Determinis c Theories

Aura

From e darkness of history blossoms a delightful future. A couple meet at an exhibi on in La Candelaria showing famous photos from El Bogotazo, and ey discover how much e past has shaped eir present.

This is e story of a young a ist born in e United States to a Colombian woman and an unknown man. A mysterious ta at seems to hold sway over her sets Aura on a journey to her mo er’s land. Can is dark urban fantasy solve e mystery of The Illustrated City?

The Pa Not Taken In a story of unrequited love and regret, we follow e lives of best friends Carlos and Paula over twenty years growing up in BogotĂĄ. Each of em is guarding a secret from e o er; one at could completely change e course of eir lives, if ey let it.

Space Young Alex was born “on e wrong side of e tra s� in a city where e side where you come from can determine your whole future. One small a decision will lead him down a pa of many “first mes�, new experiences, and a broken hea .

The Illustrated City A tragic event has made e news in BogotĂĄ, and Luis, a guard in e no hern pa of town, is convinced at a street mural and e foreign woman who painted it hold e clues to what has happened.

Four Hours

Doùa Carlota, Bogotå’s renowned fo une teller, has given is man a relentless verdict: What would you do if you only had four hours left to live? This man decides to put his oughts in wri ng.

THE CONCEPT

Voices of e City

A collec on of sho stories inspired by Bogota Bogotรก has many voices: well over eight million. The city has grown to become a riving interna onal metropolis at has a racted migrants from different regions of Colombia and all over e world.

There is a Bogotรก of e past at speaks of a rich and restless history of struggles against invaders, of conquests and survival, of great hopes and achievements, of i ense treasures won and lost.

There is a Bogotรก of e present where chaos and crea vity coexist on a daily basis. This is a city at speaks of contrasts and contradic ons, of beauty and of growing pains. A city at is as proud as it can be indifferent.

And ere is a Bogotรก of e future. A city all Bogotanos would like to imagine.

A city where every story can be told and every voice can be heard.

The voices of e city speak some mes wi great passion of love and anger, of joy and sadness, of family and friendship. Some mes ey speak fast; excitedly; ey cannot wait to pour out eir emo on. O er mes eir story is slow, deliberate and introspec ve.

There are sixteen stories contained wi in ese covers โ told by e Bogota Writers. They tell of different mes and people and places but what unites em all is e city itself.

These are voices wai ngto be heard; hoping to be read. They are all voices of Bogota.

www.bogotawriters.com

THE STORIES

Imagining Sounds

Florencia

Ba in e 80’s, a shy kid from e 20 de Julio neighbourh d daydreams about helping a girl he’s in love wi who is constantly sad because she’s bullied at sch l for working after classes. Being 12 and overly imagina ve, he believes at turning into a pop song is e best way to connect wi his secret love and give her some happiness.

Florencia is presently shaking e president´s hand. She has been awarded a prize not only for being a leader in her co unity, but also for being an example to o er women survivors of an internal war. As she is receiving her prize, she remembers e price she had to pay to be ere at at moment.

Despite e hardships, she is not resentful but grateful.

Night Surcharge

During a taxi ride, a very colourful driver tells his uninterested passenger a story about how he helped a call-girl he pi ed up from e Santa FĂŠ red light district who was in pre y bad shape.

Rescuing Benjamin

Benjamin has been taken by e au ori es. It is a consequence of e Mayor´s decision to change e face of Bogotå. Benjamin, as well as many o ers, has been affected by is new decree. Manuel and his sons have decided at it is best to rescue Benjamin, before it is t late.

The Time Tra er’s Appren ce

HÊctor is a young man who’s l king for a job after he can’t con nue studying. He meets an intriguing old man at offers him one of e most unusual jobs available in Bogotå, and at e same me, confronts his no ons about how we conceive me.

Bi er Sweet Thoughts

After a divorce, Patricio gets obsessed wi a married woman, who he inks, will put an end to his lonely life. He finally gets to meet her and a strange rela onship is born.

This is a story about how we understand or see e weirdness in o ers and ques on who gets to decide what is g d or bad, right or wrong.

THE STORIES

Wai ng R m

Designer Shoes

An abandoned railway sta on serves as a ba drop for a story at explores e inte wined lives of characters from e underbelly of Bogotå. Children on e cusp of adolescence; adolescents on e edge of adul d; babies about to be born‌. ey are all wai ng for some ing.

And when at some ing arrives, en what? This is a city seen rough e eyes of a gang, a girl, a mo er and her lovers and, finally a baby. And at e centre of it all a pigeon, a dove, a symbol of hope and peace; some ing at e end of a long wait.

Only ree days to go to e big annual pa y at General Mining Interna onal (Gemini) and Natalia doesn't have her outfit ready and Mark doesn't have his wife. Will bo of em get it toge er in me? Will e designer shoes get delivered? Will Mark find any en usiasm for ano er girl? Natalia isn't exactly Cinderella and Mark isn't Prince Charming but ey are bo l king for a happy ending.

Shall I Be Mo er?

A whole genera on of young Colombians fled to e States in e 80’s and 90’s to escape e violence, e recession and e reat of kidnapping. AndrÊs Varela had fled, t , but his mo ves were very different. After 10 years away he is suddenly brought ba to Bogotå to deal wi urgent family business. What he didn’t expect was to have to deal wi some buried family secrets.

Flying

An interna onal execu ve, Ma in flies around Europe and La n America – much to e cost of his family and his happiness.

Then he meets a li le girl who flies in an en rely different dimension. This is a story of grow , of wandering, wondering and finding direc on in life for bo young and old.

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THE WRITERS Francisco Becerra Francisco Becerra considers himself a professional geek, b k lover and music cul st, al ough he is a financial planner by career choice. His preferred genres are horror, fantasy and sci-fi, and he loves e works of James Joyce, Umbe o Eco and H.P. Lovecraft. He lives amidst b ks, movies, CD's and toys wi his loving wife.

Peter Dale Peter has been telling stories all his life, crea ng alterna ve universes based on his own. Born and brought up on a farm in No h-East England, a series of encounters perhaps more fanciful an his fic on brought him to Bogota, via London and Mexico. He now lives in a pleasingly cross-cultural family, where e be er pa s of bo worlds, old Europe and new La n America, fuel his existence and wri ng.

Caroline Dohe y de Novoa Caroline was born in County Tyrone, No hern Ireland. Over e years she has called BogotĂĄ, Manchester, Madrid, Oxford and London home. She has worked as bo a lawyer and a teacher.

Her home is wherever she and her husband Juan are toge er.

Her first novel, Dancing wi Statues was published in early 2013. She is currently working on her second.

Clara InĂŠs Reyes Clara l ks more diverse on paper an she probably is in reality. Wi a PhD in La n American and Spanish Literatures and Cultures, as well as degrees in Psychology and Hotel Management, she seems to have her fingers in many pies; whereas in actual fact her passion for b ks, f d and people has led her into e teaching profession. She loves her students and her job, but most of all she loves to spend her me surrounded by g d conversa on, a glass of red wine, her b ks, her plants, her music and her family. She loves to travel, to go swi ing and to contemplate a beau ful sunset in e mountains, preferably from a ha o and obviously, wi a b k in her hand!

Ana Carolina Pereira Carolina goes by her middle name, which is somehow challenging because people tend to call her Ana. She is an MBA who loves literature and b ks of e paper and ink variety (go figure!). To her, coffee shops are e best places to read and home is e comfiest se ing to write. When she’s not advising and implemen ng projects for clients, or organizing events and ac vi es in order to promote entrepreneurship, technology and local co uni es, she enjoys a g d swim, a scenic hike wi camera in tow, a vigorous game of squash, and any interes ng ac vity at city life has to offer. To Ana –sorry, to Carolina– any day at she gets to write fic on is a happy day.

T H E PA R T N E R S H I P

The Proposal A new, crea ve and innova ve t l for promo ng Bogota at is perfectly in line wi e message e city wants to convey of a dynamic, crea ve, inclusive capital.

Enhance your brand value by using is new promo onal approach to marke ng.

Logo of your company Your company’s message, told as a story, wri en by e Bogota Writers Special inse page wi foreword wri en by your company Prin ng of a limited edi on for your company

Costs 500 units

$5,000,000 pesos

1000 units

$8,000,000 pesos

2000 units

$13,000,000 pesos

5000 units (Exlusivity pa age)

$25,000,000 pesos

Contact:

MĂłnica RamĂ­rez mramirezh@hotmail.com +57 310 257 7612