Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 17:14:37 -0500
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
From: Elspeth Kovar <ekovar at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Fanzines [WAS: Re: [WSFA] The Fannish Inquisition
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

I've changed the subject on this since, to me as a conrunner, "The Fannish
Inquisition" is a panel or other event where people bidding for or hosting
conventions, specifically the Worldcon, are grilled.  So the subject line
keeps throwing me, making me think that people are addressing *my* area of
fanac rather than Ted's.

At 10:43 PM 3/8/04, Ted White wrote:

>I spent almost three years "saying what [I] think fanzines are and why they
>exist."   There was utterly no frothing.   There was also utterly no
>response.   I tend to suspect that many WSFAns either don't read the WSFA
>JOURNAL or didn't read my column.   But I don't know that.  What I do know
>is that I polled the editors of the fanzines I reviewed to find out what
>the response was.  And they told me: zero.    After a while that wore me
>down.

Ted, I'm sorry that you're frustrated in your attempts to convert WSFAns to
your favorite form of fannish activity.  I've at times been stymied in
trying to get folks to focus more on mine, which is conrunning, so I do
understand.  But frustration is no reason to go around attacking people,
and is actually counterproductive.  A question was raised on the WSFA list
about the nature of fanzines.  You could easily have said something along
the lines that no, a clubzine is something different and said more about
what fanzines are rather than frothing -- by which I think I mean a lesser
form of flaming.  It could have been both interesting and educational, and
probably more useful to me than fanzine reviews especially as it would have
taken place in a forum where discussion is easily possible.

Meanwhile, times change.  We may have once been a major force in fanzine
fandom but we aren't any more.  WSFAns just don't seem to be interested in
fanzines.  And I've gotten the impression that the whole nature of fanzine
fandom is changing with the advent of the internet and that fewer and fewer
people are interested in the traditional form -- and email forums seem to
have replaced LOC columns.  It may be that your lack of success is because
of this, or it may be that it's worth reconsidering your methods.  I'm
willing to discuss this or if you want to offer questions that I have about
fanzines that might prompt a useful line of discussion or articles.  But
I'll be honest: while I always want to learn more I'm unlikely to become a
fanzine fan, in the same way that I love movie reviews and trailers but to
my regret rarely get around to seeing movies.

Anyway, as a proselytizer I may have more luck than you since WSFAns have
moved on and do seem to be interested in putting on conventions, although
there's a lot of education to be done there as well.  I hope that I can
manage myself in such a way that I don't berate those who are less
knowledgeable simply because they are.

(Yeah, I know: people who've been to meetings can testify to the fact that
I can get pretty intense, even downright fierce, on occasion.  It's a work
in progress.  And, unlike fanzines, we *are* putting on conventions and it
would be nice to do so well.)

Elspeth