Monthly Archives: December 2013

E-books from AAWS

Standard

The following letter has good and not so good news.
The good news is that no matter what your platform, you can eventually buy all AAWS books in a readable format.
The not-so-good is that for iPhone/iPad users, they are going to eventually discontinue support for the AA App.

December 16, 2013

 To:                  General Service Conference Members

From:            General Manager

Re:                  Update on A.A.W.S. e-Book Publishing and Distribution

Greetings!  There are two items related to our e-Book project that I would like to share with you.  First, because of an additional review requirement of our Apple digital agreement, our e-Book on iTunes was not made available within the same timeframe as the other retail publishers earlier this month.   Our digital Fourth Edition Big Book was delivered to Apple on Friday, December 13, and it is expected to be available on iTunes by the end of the month; our other publications will follow accordingly.

The first title in our digital publishing program, Alcoholics Anonymous, Fourth Edition (English) is now available via Barnes and Noble and Amazon; Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions will be available from all three vendors very shortly.  Over the next few months, our entire catalog of A.W.W.S. titles will be offered as e-Books through the major third-party vendors for the various platforms and e-reading devices and in the three languages of our General Service Conference.

The second item concerns our iOS6 A.A. reader app.  In a previous communication with you, I stated that our app for e-Books (the Big Book and the Twelve and Twelve for certain Apple reading devices) will continue to be available to the Fellowship until further notice.  The A.A.W.S. Board met last week and made a decision to discontinue all further sales of our proprietary app, effective immediately. We will continue to support the app for current customers for a period of time – the end date yet to be determined.

As we move forward into 2014 with our digital publishing program, look for future announcements on G.S.O.’s Web site, www.aa.org. As always, we are grateful for your interest in and support for our e-Book publications.

Advertisement

A Thank You from the Pacific Region Trustee

Standard

From an email to CNIA 07 Delegates

Dear Delegates of the Pacific Region,

I am most grateful to all of you for the gracious hospitality I received from you and your areas. Each visit was very special; it is hard to find words to express my gratitude. There are so many blessings from visiting all the areas in the Pacific Region. My last visits involved attending election assemblies which is one of the most amazing events to participate in as a Regional Trustee. Every area has a different way of running their elections and each election taught me about the value of the group conscience. Although there were differences, one of the constants was the love, respect and devotion that all of the participants showed for each other, their Area and Alcoholics Anonymous. All of our 3 legacies are evident in this process. The first legacy of recovery is evident simply because service positions require a length of sobriety. The second legacy of unity is evident because everyone agrees on the process, such as and especially the hat. I have heard some class A trustees express astonishment when told about the hat, “how can you leave such an important decision to chance?” they ask. Of course the answer is trust and unity. AND the third legacy of service is evident because we are voting on filling general service positions to carry the message to the still suffering alcoholic.

Area elections are very exciting for everyone involved as we go from ballot to ballot, exciting for the candidates, the voters and the counters. The excitement is the opportunity to participate by carrying the message to the still suffering alcoholic in a newly elected service position. There are many important lessons for all of us in the 3rd legacy procedure. The lessons are invaluable to the growth of the group, district, area and not least but perhaps most important, the individual AA member. Going through my years of AA service, the lessons of grace, acceptance, serenity, courtesy, and tolerance came as result of seeing how my fellow AAs handled the results of an election. Whenever I lost anything, my usual reaction was to hit something, slash car tires or throw rocks, not very mature. I had no idea of how to be gracious in losing anything. I saw many times, over and over, AAs congratulate with compassion and grace those who were elected instead of them or do the same when another person’s name came out of the hat. They were able to make the transition I wasn’t able to, they showed me how to do it and by their example, I saw my capacity. I have heard some AAs say that some of our decisions are too important to let the hat decide for us.  I hope and pray our 3rd legacy procedure never leaves Alcoholics Anonymous.

As my 4 year rocket ride into a 4th dimension of existence I had not even dreamed of slowly ends, I am so indebted to Alcoholics Anonymous, to your Areas, to each of you and to a Higher Power beyond my comprehension. Like all of you I am sure, I looked back at what it was like, what happened and what it is like now and became truly awestruck, truly grateful and truly blessed.

Twelve Tips on Keeping Your Holiday Season Sober and Joyous

Standard

Holiday parties without liquid spirits may still seem a dreary prospect to new A.A.s. But many of us have enjoyed the happiest holidays of our lives sober—an idea we would never have dreamed of, wanted, or believed possible when drink­ing. Here are some tips for having an all-round ball without a drop of alcohol.*

 1 Line up extra A.A. activities for the holiday season. Arrange to take new­comers to meetings, answer the phones at a clubhouse or central office, speak, help with dishes, or visit the alcoholic ward at a hospital.

2 Be host to A.A. friends, especially newcomers. If you don’t have a place where you can throw a formal party, take one person to a diner and spring for the coffee.

 3 Keep your A.A. telephone list with you all the time. If a drinking urge or panic comes—postpone everything else until you’ve called an A.A.

 4 Find out about the special holiday parties, meetings, or other celebrations given by groups in your area, and go. If you’re timid, take someone newer than you are.

 5 Skip any drinking occasion you are nervous about. Remember how clever you were at excuses when drinking? Now put the talent to good use. No office party is as important as saving your life.

 6 If you have to go to a drinking party and can’t take an A.A. with you, keep some candy handy.

 7 Worship in your own way.

 8 Don’t think you have to stay late. Plan in advance an “important date” you have to keep.

 9 Don’t sit around brooding. Catch up on those books, museums, walks, and letters.

10 Don’t start now getting worked up about all those holiday temptations. Remember— “one day at a time.”

11 Enjoy the true beauty of holiday love and joy. Maybe you cannot give material gifts—but this year, you can give love.

12 “Having had a . . .” No need to spell out the Twelfth Step here, since you already know it.

*From annual Holiday issue of Box 4-5-9.

For PDF version of the page, click here.

For the Holiday Issue in its entirety, click here.