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| SFReader Forums > Book, Magazine, and eZine Publishers > Flashing Swords > reoccurring FS character | Forum Quick Jump
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nathan
Sage
      
Date Joined Mar 2006
Total Posts : 2111
| Posted 4/14/2008 4:17 PM (GMT -4) |   | DB, love this part of spitballing, the give and take as people begin working through problems. The downside on the i-net is that it can comes across as arguing. I think you raised valid points so I'm going to try and answer them to see how they sound to you--not refutiate them. Not arguing here--round tabling.
If FS is already getting plenty of subs and the editors are happy with the subs and the product, why tie down one story slot each issue? --they have plenty of subs and the editors like the work then the pool of talent has increased to draw from. You tie down the slot to work toward building something bigger--something closer to marketing concepts.
Would a quarterly publication be able to create a draw for a serial character? Sure. Ecspecially if it were high concept enough that it came with a visual art refernece point used a lot. Would 8 issues a year or 12 work better? Yes. But the concept becomes tied into the artwork--synergy exists even with only 4 issues.
Would kicking things off with an antho be best? Then follow up with a story in each issue? And maybe another antho every so often?
What/who is bigger, more name recognized? Judge Dredd or the magazine 2000 AD. Conan or Weird Tales? Gold Eagle Publishing or Mack Bolan the Executioner, heck Superman belong to DC or Marvel? (we know, but your man on the street might be a little less sure as icons like Superman and Batman get folded into Spiderman and Captain America).
By tying the magazine to an icon you get synergy. Anthos are cool. I buy anthos. I've never seen Mattel make an action figure out of an anthology (meant in the symbolic).
I'm painting big pictures and generalized statements (I don't expect Cyberwizard P. to come out with an action figure line just right yet of course) to say that if you give something tried and true in the ICONIC FIGURE a chance to work with something tried and true like The Popular Periodical you might create a type of synergy (last time I use that word, promise) you couldn't get from simply stories and anthologies.
Might not make a lick of difference as well, admittedly. But tying down that slot each issues is good for solicited writer and its good for the pub 'cause with a known entity you don't have to rely on the vagarcies of the slush. It's the same thinking that sends Media Tie-In work to known published authors over fan fiction forums. Not because there aren't some hell-ah talented unkowns--but because on any given slush go around you don't know what you're going to get.
Just thoughts off the top of my head. Not adamant arguments complete with pounding keyboards. Hope that came across okay.
VIEW IMAGE"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews
Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages." | | Back to Top | | |
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darkbow
Rabbit lord
Date Joined Oct 2005
Total Posts : 1575
| Posted 4/14/2008 4:21 PM (GMT -4) | | | | |
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nathan
Sage
Date Joined Mar 2006
Total Posts : 2111
| Posted 4/14/2008 4:37 PM (GMT -4) | | Good to know, I just like to double check how I'm coming across.
I think it could be summed up in a pro con way. Pro (as in if it works on any level) = alright to fabulous results.
Con - the idea does nothing, moves nothing = no real damage.
You have a slot given over to a heroic fantasy story that would have went to another heroic fantasy story -- probably the 'weakest' one since you still have open original story slots.
So an unkown doesn't get a shot and a guy/gal known by FS editors gets a guarenteed sale because of a solicitation. That sucks ( a little, it's only 1 story) for the would be sale the hypothetical slush author would have gotten.
But, from the publications viewpoint it's neither here nor there. Even for nonplussed readers its really neither here nor there, it's still just 1 story.
Just thoughts--I'll bow out a bit so I don't seem like a chimp on a table screaming "my way" (in chimpaneze of course) and let the thought marinate a bit.
VIEW IMAGE"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews
Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages." | | Back to Top | | |
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MichaelEhart
Sage
Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 2314
| Posted 4/14/2008 5:10 PM (GMT -4) | | Noticed that today--- certainly a first step to bigger recogniction. Although, the first time Locus mentioned my name they spelled it wrong. I have said ever since that if I ever get a Locus cover I'll insist on them using the same incorrect spelling :)
Click here to buy my book!
The Servant of the Manthycore from DEP
Illustrated by Rachel Marks, with an introduction by Michael Moorcock
Read me in 2008!
"Without Napier" Every Day Fiction, April 9
"Night of Shadows, Night of Knives" Magic and Mechanica, Ricasso Press, Spring 2008
"To Destroy All Flesh" Return of the Sword, Flashing Swords Press, Spring 2008
"Only His Name" Every Day Fiction, March 30
"An Exorcism Straight, Hold the Elvis" They Are Not What They Seem, Janrae Frank, ed., TBA
"The First Trial of Jermaish the King" Flashing Swords #10, May 2008
Still in print!
"The Stars by Law Forbidden" Unparalleled Journeys II, Journey Books, 2007
"Six Zombies Doing That Mick Jagger Strut" Damned in Dixie, Tenoka Press, 2007
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erazmus
Master
Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 4474
| Posted 4/14/2008 5:49 PM (GMT -4) | | | | |
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erazmus
Master
Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 4474
| Posted 4/14/2008 5:52 PM (GMT -4) | | | | |
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crystalwizard
Forum Moderator
Date Joined Nov 2006
Total Posts : 4588
| Posted 4/14/2008 5:57 PM (GMT -4) | |
Request for information on being listed sent. Thanks Mike :) | | Back to Top | | |
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Hazimel
Jack of Shadows
Date Joined Oct 2006
Total Posts : 219
| Posted 4/15/2008 3:15 AM (GMT -4) | | crystalwizard said...erazmus said...
start a pod cast, I'd love to do podcasts in conjunction with the magazine. I'm not sure I'd want to try to do the entire magazine, but if some of the authors would like to record themselves reading their stories and let us host them on the FS website, that would be very cool. A full-blown podcast would also be cool, but I don't have the equipment for it. Anyone want to volunteer?
I am very seriously considering this. As I work on ideas for an audio ad for Return of the Sword, there may be a completely non-official sampler episode created. There are some quality podcasts that are published once a month, like Parsec award winner Variant Frequencies. So, I am thinking about a monthly series, with one story per episode, maybe a poem, and a bit of promotional jibber-jabber at the end. I am a huge fan of Escape Pod, so I at least have some idea what to shoot for as a listener, plus I have some gear and an endless supply of original music.
The only issue is that it would mean giving up one day per month to make the podcast, probably more. My real creative priority right now is working on my novels (WiP just broke 57k!), so I need to give it some more thought. I will make the ad and a test episode at any rate, just for the heck of it.
It would of course, be much easier if everyone had access to a good recording setup, but the worst thing we could do is to put out a cast with mediocre sound quality.
So there it is, that's what I've been chewing on.
Check out my story "Cold Snap" in Lords of Justice from Carnifex Press. It's an anthology of kick-ass super hero novellas.
I Dream of Dragons, a writing blog | | Back to Top | | |
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Dungeoneer
Bearer of No Clever Titles
Date Joined Aug 2007
Total Posts : 138
| Posted 4/15/2008 7:03 AM (GMT -4) | |
crystalwizard said...
Yes, well, the problem is Tim, those characters are nameless, have no character sketches and nothing else. Just images at the moment. So they're 'signature' but pretty 2 dimensional. Hard to write a story about any of them without a lot of design yet.
Um, not to be a smart aleck or anything, but I thought that's what this thread was supposed to be about? Figuring out the details we all wanted the icon character(s) to represent?
So, you want a character sketch? K, it's gotta start somewhere, so how's this?
The guy with the crossed swords...he's Kromag the Mountain Man. He's not really a barbarian, he's an intellectual from a civilized kingdom, he went off to study some 'barbarian' society and decided he liked it. Now he's denounced his home kingdom and is tryingto prove himself worthy of the barbarian tribe, who probably don't really want him.
Uh, he cries at love ballads. He's got a growing dependency on the addictive jinkarra root. And is allergic to bee stings. What else is there about him? I don't know, but there must be more. There ya go, add details, change details, with all the authors on these forums we should be able to come up with something good inside a week.
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crystalwizard
Forum Moderator
Date Joined Nov 2006
Total Posts : 4588
| Posted 4/15/2008 1:55 PM (GMT -4) | | | | |
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von Darkmoor
Small Press Publisher (and Dancer still)
Date Joined Dec 2005
Total Posts : 2940
| Posted 4/15/2008 6:59 PM (GMT -4) | | ouch! that had to hurt, Kelly has a mean towel snap.
~~~
'Kay, here's how it is:
Flashing Swords Magazine (FSM from now on) has the Miko's logo of 2 combatants and Kelly as Managing Editor
Flashing Swords Press (FSP) handles all books, has the Jackson crossed swords logo, and Jason as Managing Editor
clear as a foaming mug of ale? well che | |
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