Comments on: Roundbottom Research Publication

By: Paul Raven

Paul Raven — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:53:31 +0000

This could be an interesting project format. I doubt I’d contribute (because my writing isn’t good enough) but I’d be very interested to watch it working.

By: Paula Helm Murray

Paula Helm Murray — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:41:59 +0000

Fortean phenomena are near and dear to my heart. I would write articles for this!

By: Dan Beeston

Dan Beeston — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 22:24:49 +0000

I love leaving comments on Round bottom and I can do a quick note or go out of my way to put together a octopus bush but at the moment I don’t think I’d create my own stuff because I’ve got so many other projects. In order to do so I’d have to consciously decide to do it, rather than with responding, where I just have to be inspired.

I would say perhaps there isn’t a market for this until such time that the comments on Roundbottom get so busy that they’re unwieldy. I hope that’s useful feedback.

By: Al Bogdan

Al Bogdan — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:54:55 +0000

Sounds like fun!

Yeah, in many ways it’s a shared universe project where people are world building together. Controlling how the world building is shared between writers might need to be part of the editorial process, like it would be for a shared-world anthology’s editor. You may need to review articles before they are posted to make sure they don’t need approval from another writer before being used, but only if they impact on another person’s original invention.

I suspect a few things will help hook readers. One being the inventiveness, whimsy, and pure fun of the articles. Two being the coolness of the visual design and art. Three being any ongoing story lines that will make people want to read the next issue to see how they proceed. I could see this being a really fun fictional journal!

By: R. Schuyler Devin

R. Schuyler Devin — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 19:08:18 +0000

I think this is an awesome idea, and yes, I would love to submit stories to this type of publication. I also think it would still work with the Fortean Bureau name (it is a good name and has a long established reputation). It’s as simple as changing the guideline’s “what we are looking for.” It is definitely akin to the Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases (which is great, BTW).

In regards to the sharing of characters and concepts: just make this part of the “rights” section of the contract. If people do not like this kind of cross-pollinated publication environment, then it is not a ‘zine they should submit to. It’s true that selling this type of fiction to other markets would be more challenging, but that is why I think there should be a payment incentive. Let me explain: first, I think there should be two sections of the site; one that is the idea you are talking about here and another that is “other tales,” which is the same type of fiction you were publishing before. Pay the $50 rate for the unique fiction that will become the true highlight and signature feature of the magazine. Pay less (say $35) for the other type of fiction. Another incentive is to create “best of” anthologies each year that can be easily done through lulu.com

On another note, I just discovered your clockpunk.com site last night and I was going to Twitter you today and tell you how seriously cool the site is!