Literature in Development

The Literature Committee has been steadily working on the newest sections of our COSA basic text. This book will be a valuable resource for all, including newcomers. It will offer insights into the COSA Steps, Traditions, and Concepts, and will include a variety of tools and also COSA stories illustrating the miracles of recovery. In order to ensure the book accurately reflects the diversity of COSA perspectives, as well as our common understanding of the COSA program, we present draft chapters to the fellowship for feedback.

The Committee has taken on a rather rigorous schedule with the goal of completing the book by 2024. The book has been in process for nearly a decade and no new literature is to be written until the basic text is completed.

The process for chapter approvals is a long one in order to include your input and feedback. We are asking for your thoughts as we begin writing the next chapters. If you’ve had an opportunity to do Step, Tradition, or Concept work, we would love to hear from you! We also have some chapters on various COSA tools.

  • The deadline for feedback is September 1, 2021.
  • Please provide your first name and last initial.
  • Please include your email address. It allows us to contact you if we have questions about your submission.
  • Please let your group know we’re looking for their input.
  • Survey responses can be as long as you need them to be. There is no word limit. Please be conscientious and make your answers as clear and succinct as possible. If you don’t have input on a particular question feel free to skip it. If you need to add more experience, strength, and hope (ESH) after you have submitted your answers, you can fill out the survey again. Just use the same name.

REQUEST FOR INPUT ON UPCOMING CHAPTERS:

The Literature in Development team looks forward to your responses. The idea is to have access to the fellowship’s ESH so that we understand the diverse experiences of all COSA members and include your voice in the development of the COSA basic text. Starting July 21, 2021 we are taking proposed suggestions of seven chapters with a deadline of September 1, 2021.

COSA’s Basic Text Survey Links:

Step Twelve
Concept Nine
Concept Ten
Concept Eleven
Concept Twelve
Tool: Practicing Gratitude
The Gifts of Recovery

Please contact us if you have any questions at cosacopy@yahoo.com.

For reference on feedback on future drafts see guidelines.

After the Literature Committee complies the surveys, drafts will be created by the Literature Committee which will be posted for review. Notifications will be sent out when the drafts become available. Please read through each draft and send us your comments and suggestions. It may also be supportive and helpful to review it with your meeting or group! We will consider all feedback received and final editing decisions will be made by the Literature Committee. We have included feedback guidelines below. Utilizing these feedback guidelines will allow us to apply the feedback received in an efficient manner.

After the feedback has been applied to these drafts, final revised versions will be posted on the COSA website for all fellowship members and delegates to review. These proposed chapters will then be voted on for approval by the delegates at the 2022 Annual Delegate Meeting.

FEEDBACK GUIDELINES

  • Feedback or questions can be submitted to cosacopy@yahoo.com
  • Please try to get your feedback in as early as possible. You can submit feedback on one or a few chapters when you have it, and then later submit the rest. It helps us when feedback comes in at a steady rate instead of all at the end. If you can send some in one or two months before the deadline, that helps a lot. Even one week before the deadline is helpful.
  • We are so grateful for your collaboration as we work on making sure everyone’s voice is heard in the process of writing COSA’s basic text.
  • Please communicate your thoughts in a respectful manner.
  • Please reference a page and line number for each piece of feedback.
  • Please do not insert comments or suggestions into the document or into a copy of the document; instead, as requested above, please just reference the line number and then state your specific suggestions and comments. (See example)
  • Please do not submit a rewritten document [one that does not show the brief original text and identify what you’d like changed].
  • Please explain any changes you are suggesting. For example, “On page 2, line 34, I would like abc changed to def because xyz.” We want to ensure that when a change is made, it will produce the desired result. For more examples of feedback, see table above and written sentences below.
  • Types of feedback include grammar (spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, verb tense, etc.), content (principles and presentation of the Tradition, Concept or tool, paragraph structure and placement, flow, etc.), and overall opinion (please include your opinion on paragraphs or sections that you like or relate to as well as those you would like to see changed).

Examples of possible feedback in written form:

  • On Page 1, Line 28, please omit the phrase abc and substitute def because [e.g., it would be clearer and gentler.] So it would read ‘__ def ___.’
  • On Page 2, Line 48, please insert the phrase “___” between the words “___” and “___” because I feel it is clearer and more specific [or whatever your reason is]. So it would read “___ ___ ___.”
  • On Page 3, Line 68, please insert the following sentence because I feel this is an important and relevant idea which fits well here and which is not found elsewhere in this document. Sentence to be inserted between the words “___.” and “The….”: _____________. So it would read “___. ___________. The….”
     
Line # Omit Add Because So it would read
28 The phrase ABC def It would be clearer and gentler “__def__”
48 also It would be clearer and more specific. “__also__”
68 This is just an example. This is an important and relevant ideawhich is not found elsewhere. “__This is just an example.__”