Wait, what

[petronia]

It turns out SSBB was in the last Preditors & Editors Reader Poll, which... buh? If I'd known I'd've sent the readership to vote. XD; The main LJ comm's also got a PageRank of 4. DUDE, IT'S LIKE IT'S A REAL ZINE AND EVERYTHING.

(THE MORE YOU KNOW: I'd always assumed PageRank just meant - yanno - the ranking of your web page. But no, it's named after Larry Page.)

OKAY SO this is what I think for 2010:

* February will be FOOD (yr story must come with a recipe, and then we will have a photo post to collect the ensuing foodpr0n, like the ontd_startrek baking posts)
* April will be HISTORICAL ROMANCE
* June will not have a single theme but provide a 31_days-style prompt list compiled by moi
* There may or may not be a f/f special... just cos of too much going on, but if so it'll be in the second half of the year?
* September will be the 5th anniversary issue, f'reals. The theme should probably reflect that, like it should be BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES or some sort of back-to-basics operation, like. SCHOOLBOYS!!!1
* I have considered doing a VAMPIRES issue. This may be a bit much, though. XD; Ditto SOULBONDED DRAGONS.

I really want to do a special treeware issue - it'll cost something, but I'm willing to subsidize it and/or commission certain things out of my own pocket, it's not to turn a profit. I also want it to be nicer than just a stack of bound photocopies which is where I hit a wall. XD; Do any of you ppl have experience with putting out comic anthologies and zines and such? The content'll be different from regular SSBB as well but haven't decided exactly how.

Thoughts are:
--original yomikiri, as in Proper Comics
--commissioned artwork
--fanart and/or comics based on existing SSBB stories/'verses, and/or sequels to existing SSBB stories
--all-new stories, but they'd have to be shortish, like 3000 words
--poetry? games? paper dolls? I will go out on a limb and say that ppl would be v. amused with paper dolls of say the characters from "This Year's Prom King"
--was talking with dipping_sauce about designing a SSBB knitting pattern, like a scarf or character dollies
--comes with mix CD! although I may back out if ppl order 1,000 of them but I don't think that's likely XD;;

It'll have a proper Aesthetic(tm) too, like it won't just be thing person A sent me, thing person B sent me etc. printed in order. Japanese paper cutouts and foldouts and whatnot.

Anywayz this will really take a whole year to get off the ground since I have no money and no experience, not even a Paypal merchant account.

Comments

[woodburner.livejournal.com]

Whoa, Preditors and Editors? Srsly?

(And I am going to be my usual giant unhip self and say: so in favor of a vampire issue, you have no idea. XD; If this happens I demand sparkles.)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Hahahaa if I do a vampire issue I promise to make a special asterisk warning for sparkles!!

[woodburner.livejournal.com]

YES.

[star-flare.livejournal.com]

Not in SSBB, but I've layouted for a student publication/magazine, even though I'm still at that amateur level. Heh.

I'm interested in the mix CD and would totally order it but I don't have the means for paying, guh.

[dipping_sauce]

I was also thinking like maybe fingerless gloves or a coffee cup cozy with the character for seme or uke on them.

September will be the 5th anniversary issue, f'reals.

Seriously, we have to make a cake.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

"Seme" on the knuckles of one hand, "uke" on the other? XD

Cake!

[dipping_sauce]

No, like the kanji on the back of the hand -- the seme gloves would be in black and red and the uke gloves in idk white and gold?

Not a lie!

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Sounds good to me. :3

[bladderwrack.livejournal.com]

* I have considered doing a VAMPIRES issue. This may be a bit much, though. XD; Ditto SOULBONDED DRAGONS. --> Supernatural being in general? Then we could have werewolf stories.¬_¬ Or did we already have that?

special treeware issue : I APPROVE OF THIS SUGGESTION although it seems like I /always/ say that and then do not get around to contributing, orz. Also I would pay money for it.

+ character/story type classification sheets? (as in, never sure about all these subdivisions of uke types etc) If terminology does not exist, then invent.
+ lists? in the format of the 'things not to do as an evil overlord' list or similar.
+ what's-it-called that comes at the end of a volume, in which the author draws herself in chibi form and tells anecdotes about the writing of the manga and her unnatural sleep schedule? I've always liked those...
+ 4-koma
+ or full-page gag comics

Pity there isn't a single set of characters, makes things like character sheets / drawing memes / agony aunt / letters of protest from the character etc less easy.

Whee, this is fun!

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Well, there's been Magic & Mystery, and Horror, and the Animals issue, and of course IB's had an Imaginary Beasts issue. XD; Basically there's a Halloween-ish issue nearly every year. IDK if we should keep doing it that way or give some other genre a chance. The important point of consideration is really whether ppl would write for it, reading is easy. ^^;;

...But I would somehow get sparkly vampires in just for the asterisk joke. XD

[canis-m.livejournal.com]

Good themes XD

(As soon as I told you I had no ideas for pirates 'n' ninjas, I got an idea, but it involves a wholesale ripoff of Earthsea and I can't decide whether I'm that horrible a Le Guin fan.)

[briar_pipe]

*silently encourages you*

[troisroyaumes]

Ooh, awesome ideas! (By the way, I vote for a soulbonded dragon issue.)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

The question is more, if there were a soulbonded dragon issue would you write for it? XD

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

I approve of the soulbonded dragons asdfjkl; If its vampires, there should be sparkles!

[coloredbees.livejournal.com]

I, too, would be interested in a soulbonded dragons issue. Although should it maybe be just ~soulbonded supernatural creatures~ in general, though? THINK OF THE UNICORNS

[shadowpup88.livejournal.com]

(quick intro: been following your journal/site for about a year now for the fic and interesting posts, finally decided to stop lurking | love SSBB, love your fics)

:) Would this be a company purchase or a handmade project? Because I work with handbinding and I could give you a couple links to work with there.
I' also work in design-- admittedly, it's fashion design, but I can also do traditional design, as well, so if you wanted anyone to help with that, I could offer services.

I don't know about character dolls but I do know that whenever I go back to China, I see a lot of stitch-by-square projects-- the kind that comes pre-packaged with the right amount of thread and materials to create a pre-determined picture. Don't recall the name but you could do something like that on a smaller scale, maybe? :d

Beware of art, since it'll up the price on the magazine by around three times, no joke. When my friend and I did a project with it, that's how the printing went... We finally cut out the color pages.

Paper dolls would be very cool! :) So would Mix CDs! And vampires and soulbonded dragons! (Perhaps a little less specific? General soulbondedness, instead of soulbonded & dragons, for instance?

Also, maybe you could have previous SSBB authors do parodies of each other's storie(s)? :d Humor is always good.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Hi and welcome, then! Sorry for this response being so late, I think the notification slipped through the cracks. XD; My guess is that it'll be a handbound project, since it'll be easier for me to throw a help-me-make-my-zine party than to pass extraneous printing/binding costs onto an audience that's used to getting the normal version for free. XD; There will be artwork (that being the whole point) but b&w, no or little colour. I've actually come up with a format but I'll have to put together a sample and make sure it's practical, and that'll tell me the submission requirements.

Thanks for the other suggestions - I'm taking them all into account, both for the special edition and for the upcoming themes. :D You'll see posts on the comm regarding all this soon.