#dwcrosspost

Another example of fans not being valued by the world...or by themselves.

“The literature suggests several reasons why fan fiction is largely ignored by libraries, of which the most significant are that fan works are "not proper books" and that they cannot be easily fitted into library structures and processes. These ideas are visible in comments about fan fiction on GoodReads (https://www.goodreads.com/), a book review site:

“I thought this site was for real books. Is there any way to restrict my searches to avoid this stuff?

I thought this site was for reviews about books that I could get from the library ...

These commenters might, in fact, enjoy fan fiction, but they believe that it is less appealing than commercially published works, particularly if they are not familiar with it. This lack of awareness and understanding is probably shared by many librarians, present and past, including those who created the bulk of existing library collections and collection development practices. This sets up a vicious circle: libraries don't collect fan fiction because their patrons don't expect it to be there because they know libraries don't collect it.”

Later the paper quotes another fan why fanfiction does not deserve to be preserved: 

“There is far too much of it and it is a waste of resources…And most fanfiction is only of interest to people who belong to that particular fandom and not the wider populace. .... “ and “ I don't think it should be necessarily and actively collected at the level of public library due to its nature; quite impromptu,ephemeral, amateurish and numerous" 

Thankfully in the UK, one fanzine publisher (ScotsPress) provided a single copy of each fanzine she published in the 1970s and 1980s to the British Library.  This was done as part of the UK’s legal deposit requirement (works published in the UK are to be submitted to the British library.)

The publisher later donated not only her private zine collection to University of Iowa Fanzine Archive, but she also sent scans of over 500 fanzines to Texas A&M University to form the core of their digital fanzine collection (The Sandy Hereld Fanzine Collection)

Copying and pasting

“Greetings, fellow fannish Elder,

I’d like to invite you to participate in an anthology of collected essays and interviews exploring the co-creative aspects of women in fandom, in their own voices, during the latter half of the twentieth century.

This anthology, Geek Elders Speak: In Our Own Voices (with the subtitle, Women Co-creators and Their Undeniable Place in Fannish History), will be published by Forest Path Books, LLC., an independent press.

My name is Jenni Hennig. I’m a published author (most recently The Books of the Wode, a historical fantasy series), and I administer Forest Path Books. Some of you might remember me from Star Trek, Star Wars, Man From UNCLE, and Robin of Sherwood fandoms, where I wrote fanfic, was an artist, filker, award-winning costumer, and publisher of zines such as Far Realms and Against the Wind.

I have a vital and personal interest in this anthology. I remember our history: Fanzines cranked on mimeo, or typed with carbons and passed out by hand at cons. Art and “illos” hand-drawn and hand-screened. Costumes hand-sewn, constructed with fabric, wire, and bondo, with odds and ends like shaving cream can tops or shiny Leggs® packaging. Filks taped at cons on handheld recorders. Music videos made in the oh-so-lengthy process allowed with Beta and VHS. All of us laid claim to our creative power, over the years and in our own terms.

I was there, too.

We have so many stories to tell. And that’s why I’m reaching to you.

You’re probably wondering how the anthology’s title came about. I’m all over giving credit where it’s due, so kindly let me give you a wee bit of background for this project. The idea was sparked at a Seattle convention called Geek Girl Con, where in 2014 a panel called “Geek Elders Speak” proved one of the most popular events at the con.

(See this article: https://geekgirlcon.com/?s=geek+elders&post_type=post )

Four women who had been active with media fanzines in the 1970s and 1980s were speakers; I was an incognito ‘Elder’ in the audience, listening to comments made by both women and men. The younger fans were visibly astounded by the stories they heard—especially the geek girls who’d never heard about the crucial role of women in creating and defining media fandom. Hungry for a history they’d never imagined to exist, they embraced the panel with pure joy. And the older women in the audience? Well, one was in tears, believing her local Starbase fan group would be—and was—forgotten.

The Elder panellists could have answered questions for the rest of the day!

Fast forward a couple of years, and my own repeated attendance of conventions where a great majority of younger fans haven’t the slightest clue about the history of their own fandoms, much less the women’s shoulders upon which they stand.

It’s time, ladies, that we told our story. Not as some at-arms-length and rarefied curiosity of academia, not as seen through the often-clouded lens of those who weren’t there, but IN OUR OWN VOICES. We need to be heard: all our work, all our experiences. We need to be more than yet another lost or wiped-clean anecdote of women’s history.

And, with the recent announcement that a fanfiction archive has been nominated for a Hugo Award, it’s timely.

Many of us have already been silenced by time and illness. Many of us are grappling with the hard realities of twilight. Our voices are dwindling. We aren’t getting any younger, my friends, and that makes it all the more imperative: we need to record these things now.

To this end, Geek Elders Speak: In Our Own Voices is on the Forest Path Books publishing schedule, with a prospective release in the last quarter of 2020. Contributors will receive standard pro anthology pay rates and contracts. We are planning worldwide distribution in paper, e-book, and audio, with suitable advertising and promotion. As the first contributors come on board, we will be registering and promoting a Kickstarter to help with publication costs.

But we can’t do any of this without YOU. Your singular voice, your personal story, your experiences both good and bad… in short, your creative participation in a phenomenon that meant and continues to mean so much to all of us. These are truly the most vital aspects to make this anthology the success I know it can be.

Please consider contributing, either with an essay or via interview. Check out te attached suggestions. Feel free to share this letter with your fellow female Elders. Pitch us your own, unique story. We would love to hear your voice!

All the best,

Cool panel this year at Wiscon 2019.

These tips apply to your bog. Or that of anyone else’s. You do not have to be the blog owner to archive through the Wayback Machine (WBM).

1. The Wayback Machine allows you to submit a URL to archive.  Read more.

2.  If you have your Tumblr set to endless scroll you have to save each post one by one

3. If you set your Timblr so that there are pages (Previous/Next) you can "bulk" save each page of 5-10 posts and not just each post: 

Ex: https://meeedeee.tumblr.com/page/2

http://web.archive.org/web/*/https://meeedeee.tumblr.com/page/2

4. If you run a post or a page through the WBM, it is not guaranteed that the  embedded art will also be saved. If there is something you really want  to save, right click on the art and submit the image URL through the WBM machine

5. “Read More” and flagged material may not be archived correctly through the WBM. Check your links.

6. Audio and Video will not be archived

7. Why bother with the WBM? Why not download? Well, you should download your blog, no matter what. But you will be the only person who will see the download. To save the Tumblr post or entire Tumblr blog for future fans to see, use the WBM.

8. Want to save the blog of someone who has died or gone offline? You have  2 choices: submit the pages to the WBM or use the Python script below. 

Download only Tools to archive your blog:

Tumblr’s export tool

Github/Python Tool (you can also use this tool to archive someone else’s blog)

When VCRs were first sold, companies like Disney and Universal Studies sued Sony (who manufactured the Betamax VCR) claiming that recording TV shows and movies that had been broadcast over the air was copyright infringement. And because they made the VCRs, Sony was liable for contributing to the infringement. The media corporations also sued individual owners of the VCRs. (this is the over simplified version, read more here)

Shortly before the lawsuit, Jim Lowe, a staff director for the Florida state  legislature started publishing a newsletter for fans of the new tech where they could talk about VCRs (or Betamax VTRs as they were called - Video Tape Recorder) and offer to buy and sell tapes.  He too was pulled into the lawsuit and deposed and they demanded  the names and addresses of his subscribers.

Ultimately the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the new technology finding it fair use.  But for a few years well into the 1980s,  some fan conventions were hesitant to offer formal “Video Rooms” to show hard to access TV shows and movies. 

Corporations are like bullies, focusing on stuffing themselves full of profits, while trampling  over anyone who stands in their way.

Star Trek in 1966 was just another BEM (bug eyed monster) TV show.