WHAT KIND OF EVENTS DOES PATCHY DELIVER?
Patchy is open to actual events: book launches, readings, signings, book fairs, literary lectures, and workshops. At the moment, Patchy has no room for announcements of contests, submission calls, and other things that don't involve an event taking place on a particular day.

WHAT MAKES PATCHY SO GOOD?
Unlike print listings, Patchy lands in your email in-box every week. Patchy listings run from Tuesday to Monday, so you have plenty of time to plan the following weekend's lit activities. Also, Patchy is up-to-date — no long lead time for announcements. Perhaps most importantly, Patchy isn't just a tiny squib with date/place/writers. Patchy has room for a substantial description of the event, author bios, book descriptions — whatever the host or organizer wants to let you know.

HOW CAN I GET PATCHY TO VISIT ME?
Just send an email to patchysquirrel[at]gmail.com, with "Subscribe" or "Here, Patchy-Patchy" in the subject header. You will receive your first delivery the following Monday.

HOW CAN I GET PATCHY TO MAKE A DELIVERY FOR ME?
Send your announcement to patchysquirrel[at]gmail.com. Deadline is Saturday at 9:23:52 p.m. for events taking place from the following Tuesday to the Monday thereafter. But you can also submit listings a few weeks in advance.

Now, this part is really important: the subject header should include only the date of the event (or, for a multi-day event, the first date). The actual body of the announcement should be structured as follows:

1. Date, time.
2. Name of event.
3. Venue name, address.
4. Price of admission.
5. Description of event. Here's where you can give potential audiences a taste of your personality. And if you're putting on a reading, let them know who the writers are and what they've written.
6. Contact info and/or website URL.

Patchy cannot append graphics to her mail-out.

WILL PATCHY FIX UP MY ANNOUNCEMENT IF I KANT SPEL?
Patchy will list your announcement pretty much as you supplied it. Though she reserves the right to refuse to list any announcement or to edit for length or for any other darn reason that occurs to her.

YEAH, BUT HOW MUCH IS PATCHY GONNA CHARGE ME?
The Patchy Squirrel Lit-serv is a free service. However, Patchy welcomes donations from both subscribers and event organizers to cover administrative costs. To learn more, click on the Feed the Squirrel button.

CAN I TALK TO PATCHY?
Unfortunately, because Patchy is volunteer-run by people with too much on their plates already, she can't enter into dialogue with you. For example, if you write wanting to know if a particular reading series is any good, you won't hear back. Just go and check it out yourself! Patchy also won't brook complaints, because this thing is free, after all.

WHOSE SQUIRREL IS THIS, ANYWAY?
The Patchy Squirrel Lit-serv is brought to you by two Toronto writers, Dani Couture and Stuart Ross.

Patchy is designed by Dana Samuel.