there certainly is no harm in asking! however, i'd suggest anybody considering to ask for a renaissance of the travelling literature conferences of the basic text times would first read the pertinent section in the CAR (on pages 28-32).
to start with a summary
Quote:
In short, there was never really a time when NA literature development was fully communal and cooperative with longer periods of time to develop and input pieces.
unlike i've heard frequently, there hasn't been The One And Only Good Old NA Approach to literature development in the past, but rather it's been a constantly changing process.
here's an excerpt from the CAR:
Quote:
A particular difficulty we face in implementing a responsive system of literature
development comes in the form of some of the folklore surrounding the way our
existing literature was developed. In our earliest days, before the first World Service
Conference, NA literature was written by a handful of members, and helped to provide
the basis for core NA principles that we continue to hold dear today.
By 1980, the conference was meeting for the fifth time, and a world literature
committee existed for the purposes of creating and revising NA literature. At that
conference, a motion was made and approved that material for fellowship review be
sent out 60 days prior to the conference. It is helpful to keep in mind that what is
referred to here as “fellowship review” is not the same as what we now know as review
and input; it was more akin to our current approval-form literature. Input and revision
took place among those relatively small groups of members who attended world
literature workshops, and the drafts that were available to the fellowship were more or
less in their final approval form. Any changes to be made to those drafts had to come
in the form of motions on the floor of the conference.
In 1982 and 1983, the fellowship approved not just the Basic Text, but also the most
comprehensive NA service handbook that had been developed up to that point,
followed by a dozen new IPs. In terms of the Basic Text alone, Chapters One through
Ten were released to the fellowship in November 1981, followed by the personal
stories in February 1982, and the book in its entirety was approved three months later
at our seventh World Service Conference in May 1982. In the decade that followed,
our fellowship saw the publication of five editions of the Basic Text, along with ongoing
stops and starts with work on a steps and traditions book. Ultimately It Works: How
and Why was approved nearly unanimously at the 1993 World Service Conference,
after a decade of work on the book.
Contrary to NA’s apocryphal history, each of NA’s books has had a radically different
review process and timeline, none of which has been ideal. It Works: How and Why was
sent out in overlapping stages for six-month review periods. Just for Today did not have a
general review open to everyone. The text was sent out for a 60-day review to four
different “review panels.” Each review panel received a quarter of the pieces. The NA
Step Working Guides were sent out in three stages, each of which was around 60 days.
[next is a hard to copy table of literature projects and R&I, i'll try to copy]
Quote:
Literature Development Timelines for NA Books
[Title] / Review and Input Process / Input Received / Approval Period / Approved
Basic Text / None / None / 90 days / 1982
Just for Today / 60-day review; four review panels reviewed 90 entries each. / 168 pieces from review panel; no open fellowship review. / 90 days / 1992
It Works: How and Why (current version; prior draft failed at WSC 1987) / Four R&I batches, 6 months each: Steps 1-6 & 7-12; Trads 1-6 & 7-12. (Step and Tradition periods ran concurrently.) / 582 pieces total received for four separate R&I batches. / First half mailed Sept 1992 (6 months), 2nd half Dec 1992 (<150 days). / 1993
Step Working Guides / Three 60-day review periods, each covering material on four steps. / Records not available. / 90 days / 1998
Sponsorship / Outline and first chapter sent out for 90-day review. / 98 pieces / Policy mandated 150 days; actual approval period: approx. 9 months. / 2004
Sixth Edition Basic Text / 6 months / 350 pieces / Policy mandated 150 days; actual approval period: approx. 6 months. / 2008
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