A press release from Steve Davidson:
Welcome to the first monthly progress report for the Amazing Stories Project.
You may not realize it yet, but this progress report represents the first “publication” for Amazing Stories since 2005, and the first under the rubric of the Experimenter Publishing Corporation since 1930. I certainly hope (though highly doubt) that it will become as collectible as other tomes from the same publisher. Regardless of its future status, you can now lord it over everyone else by telling them that you received a copy of the first-ever Amazing Stories Project Progress Report. Yay you!
I suspect that this newsletter will eventually come to have some kind of standard format, but for now I’m going to treat it more like a letter or an email, one sent to folks who I hope will become friends and to people who have provided me with an enormous boost and a tremendous amount of confidence, simply by registering with the website and voicing their good wishes.
Thank You All!
I must also take an inaugural moment to thank specifically the following people: Frank Wu, Barry Malzberg, Joe Wrzos, Patrick L. Price, Ted White, Robert Silverberg, Keith Graham, Gary Farber, Jamie Todd Rubin, Mike Glyer, John Ottinger, Daniel Kimmel, Matt Staggs, Fred Kiesche, John Denardo, Mike Brotherton, Dave Langford, Chris Garcia, Bo ‘the wonder dog’ and Karen, my wife, all for early support, sustenance, encouragement, advice and information. If Amazing Stories does come back, these folks are the ones whe’ve helped make it happen from the beginning.
I’ll also take a moment out to thank Hugo Gernsback for having gotten the whole thing rolling. If he hadn’t been on the ball, I’d be trying to resurrect Scientifiction Magazine, a truly impossible task.
Now for a brief run-down on where we have come from, a “bringing you all up to date”, which will be followed by a brief run-up of where we are going.
Background (Skippable):
I began watching the Amazing trademark back in 2004 or so. By 2008, Hasbro had let it lapse. (Hasbro became owner by purchasing Wizards of the Coast, which became owner by purchasing TSR, who begat.…) Upon that discovery I applied for the marks. A firm in Canada had a recently prior application for the same name (for travel books) and the PTO gave me a bit of a hassle over categories of goods & services. Since I wasn’t in a position to buy or fight, I allowed the mark to sit in limbo. (Either the Canadian company would push things, in which case I was only out the filing fee—maybe, or something positive would happen, in which case the PTO would resurrect my application.) The Canadian publisher ended up doing nothing and eventually my application rose to the top of the heap. In September of last year I was informed that my application would issue. (The issue is for both print and electronic publications—including audio, video, graphics &c—for science fiction, fantasy, horror and related works such as interviews, reviews &c.)
A while before that (when I believed that the mark would issue within the normal time frame for such) I’d contacted Frank Wu and asked if he would be interested in preparing a “re-imagining” of the original 1926 Frank R. Paul cover. Frank W is a huge fan of Frank P, so I was pretty sure that he’d be interested. He was. At the time, my intention was to use the new cover as a promotional item. But then the above took place and I had to put the whole thing into an indefinite delaying pattern.
Once the marks were granted, I got back in touch with Frank, we worked out terms and he is now preparing the cover. It will still be used as a promotional vehicle.
Shortly after the initial press releases announcing the issue of the trademark (which received wide distribution thanks to some of the others mentioned above), Barry (with whom I’ve had brief conversations with over the years) got in touch to wish me luck. We talked for a bit and I then broached the Editorial Advisory Board concept to him. I was very pleased that he accepted and we quickly added Joe, Patrick and Ted.
Robert Silverberg emailed to wish me luck as well and, not having fallen off the turnip truck yesterday (I think it was about two weeks ago, actually) I took advantage of the contact to ask him to join as well. Much to my great pleasure, he agreed.
I have since added several other folks as advisors of specific areas of expertise due to their willingness (thank you!) to be roped in.
The intervening months have been spent talking to folks, gathering background information, writing up various sections of the business plan (which is a monster, btw) and engaging in this and that to keep the project visible. (No big pushes yet, just minor things, like displaying a faux cover at convention tables, using the website address in communications, etc).
Where We are at Right Now:
* Work continues on the business plan. I will be sharing various completed (draft) sections with the advisory board within a couple of weeks of this email.
* Filing for an “Intent to Use” with the PTO. This is a necessary and critical step, as failing to file or requesting an extension will result in the loss of the trademark. I have the necessary funds, but will also mention here that I could use a few more donations to help thngs along. You can donate on the website.
* Filing a Provisional Patent Application for the delivery technology. Yes, it will still be over the web and yes, it will be an “e-zine” of sorts, but I truly believe that the methodology I intend to use is patentable. (I’ve done some good research in this regard). More detail on this further on down. The application will be submitted this coming week. I have the funds to support that as well, but again, see above.
What’s Happening Next?:
Oooo—this is cool stuff!
I’ve sent out a small series of interview questions to the advisory board regarding their history with Amazing Stories. I’ll be running the answers as a regular feature on the website.
I’ve also hooked up with the Book View Cafe (go there, you’ll like it) and have 14 authors who are going to do a round-table/pass-along the questions and answers series on the site as well. (Kind of like playing telephone with 14 creative types—it will probably never end!)
I’ll be wiriting a review of Jar Jar Binks Must Die by Daniel Kimmel (the same Daniel mentioned above—he’s providing insight on how to handle movie critiques and reviews) and, following the review, I’ll be giving the book away to one lucky winner—the person who best describes in email the manner in which Jar Jar should die. Daniel’s book is eligible for a Best Related Work Hugo Award nomination this year in Chicago.
I will undoubtedly be publishing other’s “for the love of” material should anyone wish to submit some. I am also offering the ocassional book I get in for review (if/when I don’t have the time or inclination to read it).
What Can Others Do to Help?:
The number one thing anyone can do is encourage others to register with the website. Imagine how easy it would be to obtain the funding for the project if I could drop 10,000 registered members on investors. (Well, that might kill the investors. Probably better to just show them the list.) We’ve got a few zeros to go before getting to 10K, and we might not get quite that high, but I think it is possible and it will certainly help.
Folks who register will not get annoyed by marketing—I’m not distributing the list in any way. The only thing you’ll see will be this monthly progress report, which you can opt out of at any time. Other than that—all I’m requesting is a user name and an email address. If things progress the way I hope they do, you will all be sent an opportunity to opt in to other things, and folks on this list will receive advance-notice of such.
Registering interested readers represents the number one marketing thrust right now and any assistance you all can provide in that regard is greatly appreciated.
What do you get for your trouble? Entre to the beta test of the site once it is up and running, a way low subscription number if you choose to take a subscription (when they’re offered) and I will hopefully be able to squeeze out a few other bennies for early adopters. My intention is to thank you all in visible ways.
Frank’s cover, when done, will be available in a variety of formats and I will extend a “progress report” discount for those as well.
How Do You Get Involved?:
Your best tool for involvement right now is patience. You have already done as much as can be done by registering with the site (and by saying nice things to me).
If you have previously written reviews and are interested in possibly reviewing something for the site, you might send me an email to that effect.
If you have some compelling content that you are willing to part with for no compensation (rights remain yours)—and you really, really, really think it is appropriate for the site, tell me about it (don’t send it), as in “query”. I’m not going into full-blown blog publication, but I do want to keep speckling the site with new things from time to time.
In the not-too-distant-future I will also have a need to consult with people who have specific skill sets. I’ll mention this on the site and in the Progress Report. If you have the skills I’m looking for and are willing to donate a little time, please get in touch. If you have the skills but aren’t willing to “donate”, get in touch and we’ll see what we can work out. No guarantees, but if and when I ever get to a staff-hiring phase, I will of course be looking to the people who contributed to the effort first.
Patent Application:
Patent App. I’ve submitted a host of successfully prosecuted patents over the years—some for myself, most for others. If there is one thing I’ve learned, it is that you never know what is going to issue as a patent. When I was doing a lot of patents, I used to joke that I could probably get a patent for the paperclip under a different name (adjustable earring mount?). I’ve been looking at the possibility of putting in an application and finally concluded that it was worth the effort. I’m filing a “provisional”, which has minimal cost and gives me a year to put in a formal application, while still retaining the essential protections of an invention in application for a patent. The final tipping point for me is that when investors are looking at a potential property, one of the things they generally like to see is some degree of “exclusivity”. It represents the potential difference between investing in “one of several” vs investing in something all of your competitors have to pay you to use. A patent for the concept I’m working with would also allow for the development of similar products for other literary niches. That kind of reach is also attractive to investors.
Publication Schedule:
I had originally intended this first progress report to issue within the first week of January, 2012. We’re now a couple of weeks past that. Since I don’t want to lose the beginning of the month schedule, you can expect to see another progress report in about two weeks at the beginning of February. After that (barring something special), I’ll issue the progress report sometime during the first week or so of every month.
Event Schedule:
I will be attending Boskone 49 at the Boston Westin Waterfront Hotel from February 17th thru 19th. You can find details for the convention here. John Scalzi is GoH and I have already extended an invitation to him to drop by the Orlando in 2015 bid table for a chat and a Coke One. He has accepted on-line (but we all know how things go at cons—especially for the headliner). I invite you all to come and visit as well, but the Coke Ones are first-come, first-served.
If you will be attending Boskone 49, please take a moment to let me know in advance of the event.
Thanks. Please let me know what you thought of this first progress report.
—Steve Davidson
Related articles previously published on SFScope:
Robert Silverberg joins Amazing Stories Editorial Advisory Board (25 November 2011)
Amazing Stories trademark registration granted (28 September 2011)