Books & Boxed Sets, the future-past of the T2k hobby

[James Langham]

I would be willing to help BUT time may be an issue. Articles may be no problem but if we are even fanzine publishing then I could do with the services of an artist to support my text - any takers?

[Grimace]

If you have MS Publisher, you can do a pretty decent job of layout as it allows you to utilize frames as well as do nifty things like word wrap around images and other tidbits.

I've had pretty good luck with it in the past. As mentioned, though, if you're going real simple, MS Word can do in a pinch.

[James Langham]

Originally Posted by Grimace

If you have MS Publisher, you can do a pretty decent job of layout as it allows you to utilize frames as well as do nifty things like word wrap around images and other tidbits.

I've had pretty good luck with it in the past. As mentioned, though, if you're going real simple, MS Word can do in a pinch.

The freeware Open Office can do all of that (it's what I use to create my articles).

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Before I list my replies, I just want to assure everyone that I am not trying to piss on anyone's parade. I'm just saying that a fanzine does not need the kind of organization that a professional publication does because it is a very different beast.

Originally Posted by ArmySGT.

Failure to plan is a plan to fail.

I wasn't suggesting that no plans at all be made but in the case of a fanzine, all the corporate speak and ra-ra girls in the world do not work because you have a collective of people contributing what they are interested in, not a heirachy that dictates what is wanted.

Originally Posted by ArmySGT.

What I am suggesting is not a hard and fast rule. It does make the job of editing and producing something possible in the short period of 30 days, even if it is on the scale of a 4-6 page fanzine. On this scale that is two full page articles and 4 half page articles. Six writers a Quarter.

If you have worked on a project then you know how important deadlines are. Usually you have more than the required number of writers and artists as people for any number of reasons don't turn in their work on time.

Telling the writers what you want up front goes a long way toward good relationships. Stops that "He said, He said" finger pointing.

Certainly and this is certainly true for projects done by organizations of most sorts. However, a fanzine is not organized in the traditional sense, it's more a collective making a collaborative effort.
Writers contribute what they are interested in at any time of the publishing cycle, the editor/s sometimes have more articles than they can fit into a current issue and when they don't they can use those articles submitted for previous issues to bulkout the current issue.
Fan writers don't work to a deadline in the traditional sense, they write because they want to not because they are required to

Originally Posted by ArmySGT.

Let's face it if you have a writer that turns in good work, but only on their schedule and only when they want to, that just does not work out in the long wrong. If all your writers are like that then your fanzine is not going to be around long

Fanzines work differently to mainstream and professional publications, they often do work exactly as described by ArmySGT above and many of them have been very successful with it.

The two fanzines I quoted before were mentioned because they are entirely fan made, others such as the Unspeakable Oath - as much as I enjoy it - aren't suitable models because they are backed by a well established publishing house no matter how many fan contributions are published by them.
Both Demonground and Protodimension have worked on nothing more than a small group of fans working to put the articles in order and publishing them as a pdf issue. They exist soley on article contributions from fans and those fans submit articles based on what interests them.

Demonground ran from 1999 to 2002 with five issues in 1999 then they moved to a quarterly format. That's nearly four years and the issues grew gradually larger so it was not unusual to have anywhere from 40 to 80 pages per issue.
Protodimension has been running since 2009 and the latest issue (Number 12) was about 90 pages from what I recall.

[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

Before I list my replies, I just want to assure everyone that I am not trying to piss on anyone's parade.

Here you are doing exactly that.

The beauty is something like this is voluntary. Terms and Conditions change without notice.

If it is not something you like or a way you don't like operating in....... Then you don't have to. Fair enough?

[Grimace]

Well, I think it's a matter of the person who decides to run it has an idea of both the good and the bad of running a fanzine. It'll be feast or famine in terms of articles.

So I think we need to consider that this might not go anywhere if no one steps up to run it and no one steps up to help on it. Before we rain more on the parade, we just need to realize the true ramifications of moving forward or not.

If it's NOT, then this is all moot. If it's forward, and the person responsible wants to know more about it (assuming they don't already have a good idea), then I'm sure we can hash it out more.

[Rainbow Six]

I'd be happy to contribute articles. Based on my current output, I think I could commit to one, possibly two, canon based articles a quarter, each of 1,000 - 1,500 words, so approx two - three pages per article. I don't have any artistic skills though and I wouldn't wish to use images of actual people in something that is going to be published, so articles would be text only.

[Grimace]

So is this idea DOA?

No one willing to call the shots on it?

[Targan]

I'd contribute but with work and home life pressures it is hard for me to give any guarantees over deadlines.

[Jason Weiser]

I'd do it..but I've got a few other items on my plate:

Writing for these guys: http://ambushalleygames.com/

Writing this little story: http://www.alternatehistory.com/disc...30#post6203530

Working on a little project known as "Blood Upon the Risers"

Yep, I'd do it, but my problem is when I edit Newsletters? People don't get their articles in on time. Yes. I set deadlines, no, people don't respect 'em. So, I like writing better. That said, I've got two in the pipe for publication.

But, I guess I will do it for lack of somebody better willing to do it?

[Grimace]

Well, since it seems like no one else is really jumping at this, I'll throw my hat in and see what comes of it. I'll start a new thread to see who is interested in submitting material.