A Mooters' Anthology?

[Entlover]

Elvendrummer87 had a brilliant idea, which seems better to me the longer I mull it over:
why not publish an anthology of mooters' short stories, poetry, maybe essays? Some Tolkien-related, some not. Maybe the administrators have already considered this?

There are roughly 2,200 members. Obviously not everybody will want to submit things, and of those who do, not everybody would be able to be represented. Depending on the length of the book and the submissions, only about 200- 400 people would be able to be in it. But it would be a fun memento of the Moot.

We could do a Print on Demand, which only costs between $40 and $200 depending on who does it. It need not cost anybody anything; expenses could be taken out of the proceeds (since everyone in it would buy at least 1 copy); excess proceeds, if any, could be donated to some international charity, like the Red Cross.
What do people think?

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Great idea! I bet they could sell it on the Tolkien Trail shop. That might be a good way for some of us to get "introduced" to writing. :) I'd buy at least one copy. :D

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Of course, we'd need some form of selection guide. Somebody would probably need to make a list of all of the works, and a selection committee (most likely headed by IronParrot, as he certainly seems to be the best critic) would choose which ones to be published.

Maybe we could call it 'Leaves of Fangorn' or 'Onodrim Leaves'. Probably something having to do with Ents. ;)

'The Ents Speak', perhaps?

[Aralyn]

The Ent's Speak sounds good. I would contribute anything we need to get together. I'm very organized so I could help.

[Celebréiel]

Hrmm. :) That is a good idea, and yeah, Id help out where help is needed. At my old high school they did something like that every year for the students. You should also consider adding maybe some art or photography even if just a little. Just a wider collection of creativity from the moot...*shrugs*

[Aralyn]

Yeah art!
Cool!!

But could we publish fanfic? Isn't it illegal? Like copyright or sumpin?

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Bleh, don't expect any art from me. :p Can't draw worth...two cents. ;)

[Lalaith_Elf]

great idea....... this means i can get on my english head.
*swaps heads*
hmmmmmm....... another short story...... oh and get lai to write poetry for it............

[Elf Girl]

Let's see... Everything we post belongs to Entmoot, and Entmoot belongs to bmilder, so if we actually want to publish it, he has to do it.

One section for Tolkien-related stuff? Please? *coughlongsadstorycough*

[IronParrot]

I think this is a neat idea, but don't expect it anytime soon. Right now, Ben already has his hands full with months' worth of Tolkien Trail (http://www.tolkientrail.com) fan art and fanfic submissions to put up on the website.

Since this isn't really something we'd sell in bookstores, and I'd imagine that the only people getting a copy would be us 'Mooters, I think such an anthology (should we eventually do one) would indeed be self-published and sold online. It's not a commercial publication or anything, so I don't know where we stand regarding the legality of publishing fanfic content, but I'll conduct a bit of research on the matter.

For the time being, if you want to see your stuff published, the best bet is the Tolkien Trail website itself. Though maybe wait until it's up-to-date first. :p

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Everything we post belongs to Entmoot, and Entmoot belongs to bmilder

It does? Oh dear...:eek:

Well, not EVERYTHING...some of my stuff is copyrighted...:p

[Elf Girl]

Well, we could just annoy bmilder so much that he lets us use anything on the site...

[Elf Girl]

Or we could just email what we want in it to one Mooter and give them the rights to it. Then they could organize it.

[Ninquelote]

If indeed this does happen, how could we decide what is published in it and what isn't?

I would like some of my Lord of The Rings and Silmarillion poems to be in it...

[Elf Girl]

I think almost everything submitted would be in it, since there aren't that many writers here.

A nice PoD site is www.iuniverse.com .

I might consider covering the cost of the most basic package ($200) and handling the publishing if I get the royalties.

I wonder if we could really do this...

It would probably have to be paberback, is that okay with people?

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Don't matter t'me, 'slong as it's published. :D

[Elf Girl]

If we're putting Tolkien stuff in it, how do we handle the legal aspects?

Non-Tolkien stuff to put in can be emailed to me now so I can format it.

[Elf Girl]

Okay. It says we need to have:


Our edited manuscript in MS Word or Word Perfect format.

An idea or artwork for our cover design.

Our author biography in 50 words or less.

A back cover description of our book in 200 words
or less.

A book marketing statement, which is a one or two
sentence sales pitch for our book.


I figured we could use the Entmoot logo (hairy naked armpit guy) on the cover, if bmilder lets us. If I'm doing the publishing, technically I'm the author, but I could go by the pen name 'The Members of Entmoot Board.'

But there's still Tolkien Estates...

[Anglorfin]

How many people would actually contribute? I expect if this gets off the ground it will become general knowledge to all the 'Mooters, not just specifically the ones that frequent this board. And, Tolkien-related material aside, do we know the parameters of the writings that would be included? Would we divide it into a section of poems, then a section of short stories, then some other sections whatever they might be . . . or will it be sectioned off by contributor? Who will decide what makes it and what doesn't? I'm probably getting a little ahead of myself though because it seems we have a while.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

I know one thing for sure, I wouldn't contribute from my story. :eek: I plan on WRITING that, thank you very much! But my poem is less so, and it's copyrighted. :D

Would we really need all that stuff? Personally, I think it'd be better without a back cover description. Books like that tend to catch my eye, as they are out of the ordinary. But that might just be me. :)

[Elf Girl]

It says it's required. But since ours would be interesting, (was created by an internet board of people who don't even know each other), it might catch people's eye.

If anyone cares to figure it ought, copyright law is here (http://www.copyright.gov/title17/).

I think we can have a maximum of 50 or something graphics in it.

[Entlover]

I suggest that we have a committee, as I suspect that Elf Girl might be letting herself in for more work than she realizes. And then she wont get all the flack if someone complains that their submission is in or out . . .
Suggest also that a time frame be set, and rules - -- like 4
months to submit, or maybe six. Then it might come out just after RotK - a good time. Also limits on length of submissions.

I move that a committee be formed to consider rules and time frames.

(My book has been published by iUniverse! See my post "My book has been published!") It took about 2 months from submission to being available.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Methinks a committee is a good idea, too. :)

[Eruviel Greenleaf]

ooh, brilliant idea! i'd definitely contribute, art, stories, poems, whatever. :) yay. chance to be "published." excellent.

:)

[Elfmaster XK]

Originally posted by Gwaimir Windgem
Methinks a committee is a good idea, too. :)

Me too.

Probably 4 people including Elf Girl should do it. Any takers? Or should we nominate people?

I reckon a good way to do this would be to divide the submissions into groups somehow, like Tolkien stuff, poetry, short stories, etc. Or by theme. And then each person can look after their section and typeset it, because if one person has it all to do then more errors are likely.

It might also be nice to have a photomontage of everyone who contributes, you know, how they always have a photo and 'about the author.' Well we could have a photomontage. :D If anyone likes that idea, I could do it if you sent me photographs, I have photoshop. :)

Great Idea guys.

[Entlover]

I nominate Gwaimir Windgem for the short story part of the committee. He has experience in writing and good taste.

(Of course, people can refuse. It'll be lots of work. Suppose there are 1500 submissions.)

We should have someone who's really good with computers, since you have to get all the submissions into the same format.

[Agalayth]

Though I haven't submitted anything, I'm working on some poetry. I guess I could help with organization, because I'm pretty good with computers. The only problem is that I have so much on my plate right now: School, (soon to be camp), track, piano, running a website, and lots of other stuff.

How about we have one whole site/forum dedicated to this anthology? I could whip one up really quickly with InvisionFree.

[Elf Girl]

I was only thinking of formatting the submissions so iUniverse will take them, and paying for it. And claiming all the royalties. :D

[Elf Girl]

So... who wants to be on the committee?

If I'm paying for it, I don't want to have to figure out copyright law, is that okay with everyone?

[Finrod Felagund]

I have a very long, epic poem I could contribute!

[Entlover]

Ironparrot said he would look into the intricacies of legal stuff - publishing fan fiction. I wonder if he's had time yet.
I don't think you should claim all the royalties:) , just perhaps recoup what you put into it. I believe this should be a volunteer effort. Perhaps we should pay a percentage to Entmoot for permission to use their name, etc. And figure out what to do with the rest -- ASSUMING there is any left over.
I think I'd like to be on it. But I'll be offline for 3-4 days while my computer gets overhauled.

We need an administrator to discuss all this with.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Yeah...pay some to Entmoot, of course. Make our contribution. :D

My poem is copyrighted to my name; in the anthology, will that be a problem? Will it stay copyrighted to me? I'll give permission to print it. ;)

[Finrod Felagund]

I have some other poetry etc. I haven't copyrighted it, I guess I should. How does that work?

[Lalaith]

I really like that idea.

Yup, copyright should be a good thing to do.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Mine just got copyrighted when I submitted it to a poetry competition, and it got published.

[Lalaith]

Originally posted by Gwaimir Windgem
Mine just got copyrighted when I submitted it to a poetry competition, and it got published.
How do you get a poem or something else copyrighted?

[Elf Girl]

Originally posted by Entlover

I don't think you should claim all the royalties:) , just perhaps recoup what you put into it.
I think it's highly unlikely that, at a 30% or something royalty, I will make $200 from them. If I do, I will begin doling out the surplus.

I will now restate my question: Who wants to be on the committee?

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Originally posted by Lalaith
How do you get a poem or something else copyrighted?

Mine got copyrighted when I sent it to a poetry competition, and it got published.

I would gladly join the committee, but I fear that I wouldn't do very well at eliminating works.

[Menelvagor]

I haven't been posting on the 'moot recently, but I've been reading along and this sounds like a good idea. I've got some stuff that could possibly go into it, if you'll have me.

Trivial pondering: Would the submissions be under our actual names or Entmoot pen-names? Both perhaps? (if it was our real names, we might not know who's stuff it is! :p )

[Elf Girl]

I don't think many works will have to be eliminated.

[Entlover]

Do we want to reserve the right to edit, for example, really bad grammar errors, spelling errors, etc? (if any)

[Elf Girl]

I think we do. But we will need to request extensive self-editing before submission.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Originally posted by Menelvagor
I haven't been posting on the 'moot recently, but I've been reading along and this sounds like a good idea. I've got some stuff that could possibly go into it, if you'll have me.

Trivial pondering: Would the submissions be under our actual names or Entmoot pen-names? Both perhaps? (if it was our real names, we might not know who's stuff it is! :p )

My vote goes for both. Of course our screennames would be needed, and I think it'd be good to have kind of "proof" of who wrote it, hence the real names.

Da, tui koshka. ;)

[ArwenEvenstar]

I really like this idea. I can supply some poetry and maybe some short stories. I have tons of good ideas.

[Entlover]

I've emailed Ben about this and he thinks it's a good idea.
Yay! He's also checking on the legalities of publishing fan fiction, though any info that anyone can come up with would be useful.

I think we should use both our real and Entmoot names.
Though it has the disadvantage of causing split personalities . . .

[Elf Girl]

Whee! (General happiness about the possibility of an anthology happening.)

[Entlover]

312 people have looked at this. Do you realize that if all 312 people submitted 2 pages each, this book would be 600 pages long (perhaps a tad too long)?
We may end up doing more than one. The moot is rife with talented folk. (That's a good thing -- not complaining!)

[Earniel]

Though in those 316 (by now) may be the same persons visiting this thread more than once. I think at least 20 views are mine.

I don't think you'll get 316 people to write something (though it would be nice). I think you can count yourself lucky if you get 50 handing in a story.

[Entlover]

We have all those haiku, in a pinch. Some of those were really good.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Hmm...I don't really know what I could use, other than Forevermore and a few other little poems. My other stuff is part of books, which I'd like to keep for myself. ;)

Short of anything else, I'll write a short story, or maybe some more poems. :p I was planning on writing a SS from Dracula; I suppose that would count as fan fiction. I can just get cracking. ;)

[Entlover]

From the little info I have seen, (check here about fanfiction (http://www.geocities.com/langleylady/chronicles/fflegal.html) ) it looks like you can't publish fiction based on someone else's characters unless it's totally nonprofit. And since we plan to sell the book (since that's how POD companies work, and everyone who's in it might want a copy) - we may have to eliminate the idea of fan fiction and stick to our own original works. Which is not such a bad idea, really.

But does anyone else have any other information? This site is talking about TV shows, not books.

[Entlover]

Of course another way to include fan fiction and evade the legal problems is only include stuff without proper names -- you could talk about black riders and little people and elves to your heart's content, I expect, as long as you don't use names.

[Elf Girl]

Comittee so far looks like:

Entlover
Elf Girl

We need at least two more people! So VOLUNTEER!

[Entlover]

I've PMd several people who might be interested. Check your private messages. If I left you off and you want to volunteer, don't be shy.
As soon as we have our committee , we need a list of rules (not nasty rules, just something to help us be organized.)
I think we can take fan fiction as long as it uses no proper names (Frodo, Aragorn). But we can use generic words like black riders, etc.

[Elf Girl]

I can edit the romance part of my Long Sad Story to be generic. (Yay!)

[Agalayth]

I just got your PM, sorry it took so long to reply. I'm definitely interested in helping. I could create a messageboard for the anthology. Actually, I just have! Aren't I efficient? :p Here's the link:

Entmoot Anthology Forum (http://invisionfree.com/forums/mootanthology/index.php)

Enjoy! :D :) If you have any questions about how to use the forum, ask me or Gwaimir Wingdem (he belongs to some other forums of that type).

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Sorry, but I don't think I would be able to with that. I've got very limited time on the Net right now, and it's not going to be getting much better for quite some time.

[Elf Girl]

Huh? Whenever I log in it says I don't have permission to view this board...

[Agalayth]

That's because when you join, your default user group is Member. But after you join, I'll change you to Committee, so you'll be able to view that forum. I just changed you Elf Girl, so try again.

[Elf Girl]

Ah, thank you. Who else is on the committee? And why haven't they joined yet?

[Entlover]

Here is my list of who's agreed to be on the committee:
Agalayth
Aralyn
Celebreiel (sp?)
Elfgirl
Elfmaster XK
Entlover
IronParrot
Nurvingiel

You'll be asked to help with whatever comes up, which I suspect will mostly be choosing among submissions.
What do you think of a 3 month window to submit? Say, August thru October? That will give people time to write something. I intend to post a Call for Submissions shortly on all the forums. I think we should restrict it to people who've joined the moot on that date or earlier, to avoid people joining just to get into the anthology. Suggestions/ideas/thoughts?

Also, I realize everybody is really busy -- so this will not be a big rush. If we get submissions in by Oct 31, sort it all out by end of December, it will get published about the end of February. How does that timetable sound?

[Entlover]

Committee members:
please register on theEntmoot Anthology Forum (http://invisionfree.com/forums/mootanthology/index.php) so we can all talk there.

[Agalayth]

I fixed the problem where it said that you can't view the board. Sorry Elf Girl.

Committee members, join the forum, and I'll change your user group to Committee so you can view a few other boards. Regular members (people who aren't on the committee) are able to view 3 forums, and the Committee can view 4.

[Entlover]

I need some input before we can get the submissions started -- committee members please check the forum here (http://invisionfree.com/forums/mootanthology/index.php?act=idx) , and comment on Call to Submissions.

Before I publish it we need to be sure there are some fellow editors to help Elf Girl and me make decisions.

[Lizra]

I'll help! Tell me what you need. (Someone slap me if I get too ....anything! ;) )


So I joined! Fantasy! Heh! ;)

[Lizra]

"Hey everybody!" Don't let the deadline slip by you...November 31, 2003. Get your writings ready and submit! :) Go to the site in my signature and check it out. :)

[Sheeana]

Hey, I checked it out. I hope I can be onto it enough to submit something! I'll have to see how uni goes though, since that's my priority... Also need a good idea as well, heh.

[Lizra]

Yeah, It helps! :D I think I actually have one now!

[Sheeana]

I do have one idea, but it might be a bit complicated legally... I was thinking that maybe I'd write a mock ethnographic* account about entmoot (but kind of in a story format, not essay format.) Would I need to get permission from the mooters I'd use? Or would it just be easier to just use character profiles and change their names?

*being an anthropological study of mooters in the wild. :p

[Lizra]

That sounds intriquing! ;) There's certainly plenty of interesting material available here! :D

[Elf Girl]

I think you should get permission form the names you use, but I doubt anyone will deny it!

[Sheeana]

Okay, so how would you suggest that I got about it? Should I open a thread, or just PM people? This is still at bare bones stage, so I really don't know what I'd do with it. I guess for names like "Gimli9630" I wouldn't be able to use them for copyright reasons, but maybe I could incorporate that somehow, who knows?

[Lizra]

Too much hassle! :eek: Just make of names that might give a funny suggestion of who you "may" be talking of.;) Lizra could morph in Mizra, Jersey Devil might be East Coast Terror, Insideous Rex could be Treacherous Dino etc. Well, that's what I'd do! fun fun fun! :D

[Earniel]

Oooh, I like that suggestion. :D Then everybody will try and figure which fake name is who.

[Lizra]

That's right Chocolate Mod! ;)

[Entlover]

That sounds hilarious!
Use fake names, more fun.

Nitlover

[Sheeana]

Ooh, that's good! I like that. :D More name suggestions would be good... :) I'm guessing I'll also have to change the name of "Entmoot" since it infringes on both Tolkien and Ben's copyright thingies...?

[Jonathan]

Originally posted by Sheeana
I'm guessing I'll also have to change the name of "Entmoot" since it infringes on both Tolkien and Ben's copyright thingies...? "Bentboot"?
"Tent-toot"? :rolleyes:

[Lizra]

Treetalk? Branchblab? :D

[Earniel]

A brief reminder everyone: don't forget the deadline for the anthology submissions is 30th November, which is already in a few days. :)

[Nurvingiel]

I hope the project is going well, and that you found a good publisher. I read your original one turned out to be too expensive or something. The only thing I have that's worth submitting is way too long, but I would really like to buy a book. I hope the project has enough support - literary, financial, and moral!

[Entlover]

I regret to announce that due to lack of submissions, the quirks and rising prices of the marketplace, and my own (mea culpa) lack of foresight, the Anthology has been cancelled.
To all those who offered enthusiastic help and support, thank you very much.
To those who did submit, I believe I've emailed all of you. However if you have something you're working on, I recommend that you submit it to one of the sites below, who accept short stories/poetry from young writers.
Tintota, at http://www.tintota.com/ which accepts short stories and poems,
Mindglitter, at http://www.mindglitter.com/ which accepts short stories, photos and art,
or Soul to Soul, at http://home.earthlink.net/~mjoneve/
which accepts poetry.
Good luck with your endeavors!
Entlover

[Earniel]

It's a pity, but you just can't have everything I suppose.

Well, my best thanks to the Anthology Commission who did do their very best in my opinion even when the rest of the world wasn't co-operating. :) *applause*

[Lizra]

We tried! :) Thanks Entlover and people who submitted. :)

[Nurvingiel]

Maybe we can do one when the Writer's Workshop thread really takes off. What better place to recruit authors?

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Probably some large group for writers.