Every Underdog Has Its Day
01/05/2003 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 

I’m vicious, cruel and mean ... but the last word is only an average!

Hello everyone

Would you believe you’re reading/looking at a website that is regarded as ‘anti-establishment’ in the pro-magazine SF community? No? Me neither.

My erstwhile publisher told me about it in a conversation last month. Seems a couple of them think we’re poaching on their territory although as we’re the only SF search engine with probably the most enviable free subscriber list on the Net it can’t be for that, can it?

Maybe because we’re worldwide rather than just a few countries? Holding a policy for free material on the Net because that’s the way a lot of information is obtained must appear as competition when you have to pay for their mags. Certainly the paper book publishers like our honest approach to our reviews even if we aren’t always favourable.

Our news channel is no better or worse than anywhere else. The quantity of articles and stories published is definitely either on par or lower than them. We, on the other hand, could - and I stress only could - be a little envious of the media mags having an advertising revenue to help subsidize their costs.

We have a little ... advertising I mean. If you access and more importantly buy using the Amazon link above, we get a little money. Not much, and something I didn’t know until recently, but if you want to show your appreciation for the website, buy through the link adverts. Who knows?

We might be able to recruit more paying advertisers by this method. The same applies elsewhere to other websites as well, we just haven’t advertised it as much...until now. We’d rather have a level playing field at the end of the day.

If we’re going to live up to being the enemy or ‘antiestablishment’ in the SF community then we might as well do it properly after all even if I don’t feel particularly vicious or cruel. I’m just an urban pussycat who stretches his claws against injustice occasionally.

Thing is, we don’t really want to do it, especially as we don’t see ourselves as the enemy. The strength of the SF community comes from sticking together and welcome all new people who come along. SF publishing has few enough publications these days without blasting out the competition even if it is by ignoring their existence.

It isn’t as though we’re new either. The website’s been going and growing over 8 years now. Hardly newcomers. Just kinda good at our job which you, the reader here - I assume you come to the website to read my soapbox occasionally - must like.

One odd thing about being the antiestablishment is that there is often a turning point where it one day becomes the establishment. When that happens, one has to consider whether we would act in a similar fashion to new mags, even Internet SF mags, sprouting up.

Objectively, we think we’re far too nice to let that happen. Probably throwsback to the SF search engine where we actively promote everything that wants to come our way. It might be seen that being at the top of the tree allows a certain amount of magnanimity but we don’t really fear competition. We promote our competition!!! It just makes us work harder at what we normally we do or you wouldn’t be using the search engine. If our ‘normal’ is seen as better than it’s purely subjective.

What does this make of the current ‘establishment’? Good question. I’m not even sure if I’m that qualified to say, although it’ll be interesting to see the sparks fly in reaction. Hell, we might even tell you the reaction if you express enough interest.

If something becomes too comfortable, then anything that comes along and shakes the starship changes the order of things and always risks bursting the bubble. Cold shouldering the competition purely cos its there is just as bad as giving bad press. Bad pressing a good product tends to elevate its status as it can often point people to look and make up their own minds on a subject.

If anything, the more we’re ignored, the greater our developing popularity. You can understand our smiles on that notion. We’re not the ones hammering the nails in our own figurative coffin.

Do I need to be vicious or cruel? There’s never been a need to. I’m beginning to like being the underdog. We might be stuck with our own company but it’s at least a friendly honest one. If we ever played such tricks ourselves then we’d deserved to be slapped but then again, we’re pretty close to being top of the underdogs.

If we fought as competition, then we’d do it the honest way. That’s by the number of hits and subscribers on the Internet and on that, we’re high on the list.

Be happy. Be safe. Negotiate your differences when you can get people to talk to you about them. Enjoy the rest of the website.

Thank you and good night

Geoff Willmetts

editor: SFCrowsnest.com

PS For those keeping up with my health. Anyone want a head cold? Only several million previous owners. I’m just hoping that SARS virus is being kept under control.

(Less Serious) Thought For The Month: I have to confess to not being particularly fascinated by the previous incarnation of ‘Battlestar: Galactica’. Spacious isn’t exactly the way I saw the original programme. More like a Buck Rogers equivalent with its 70s styles costumes, cloaks and attitudes.

I was commenting to one of my reviewers, ‘But there were only five fans anyway, is it likely to change with a new incarnation?’ Her reply (hello Stella), ‘I thought they only had two fans.’ To each our own and you can tell me how wrong I am on the e-letters page. [Me controversial?]

PPS: For those keeping track, I’m still about 18 months (late July 2001 now if you’re still thinking I’m just repeating the same message every month) behind with going through the ebook samples. Thank you for your patience but let me know if you’ve sold elsewhere so I can reduce my pile or if you’ve changed address, especially e-mail address.

I’ve looked through a few recently who’ve vanished. This isn’t much of a repeat, just to show you’re not forgotten. Those sending in samples, be prepared for a wait and read the Guidelines elsewhere on this website. They are there to help you do some of the right things and reduce the number of times I’m repeating myself over silly grammatical errors.

I’m also spending time going over the short story pile next month.