Issue #14 - Suspense & Decision PBM magazine

[GrimFinger]

Submission period articles for Issue #14 is now over.

Submission period for advertisements for Issue #14 is still open.

Any additional articles received for Issue #14 will be reserved for Issue #15. Exceptions will be made solely at the editor's discretion!

[GrimFinger]

The primary point of cutting off further article submissions for any given issue is to try and keep the issue from growing a lot larger, in keeping with the consensus in favor of Suspense & Decision publishing smaller issues.

I always reserve the right to publish any given issue to any particular degree of length or brevity, as I so choose.

It's not geared towards trying to leave anyone or any particular article out of any given issue. Rather, it's more an attempt to maintain some degree of minimal discipline towards delivering smaller issues with greater regularity.

[Rick McDowell]

Well, this is a surprise, Grim.   Wasn't issue #13 just out a week ago, after a year or so between issues?

As a contributor, potential contributor, I think some notice as to a deadline would be appreciated / appropriate.  But it's your thing.

[GrimFinger]

Well, this is a surprise, Grim.   Wasn't issue #13 just out a week ago, after a year or so between issues?

As a contributor, potential contributor, I think some notice as to a deadline would be appreciated / appropriate.  But it's your thing.

Actually, notice was given - right here in this forum. I have highlighted it in red text for your convenience, Rick.

Everyone is free to think what they want to, of course, but the monthly rate of publication played no role in why it ceased publication. Quite to the contrary, in fact. The monthly rate of publication was, whether you or others realize it or not, one of the primary reasons that the magazine published with regularity, when I first created it.
That said, one of the changes going forward that I will be implementing will be the elimination of an actual publication deadline, monthly or otherwise. The focus will be issue-specific. There may well still be submission deadlines, but I will intentionally make the publication time frame more flexible and less rigid.
Also, it isn't accurate to describe the monthly rate of publication, under which most of the past issues of Suspense & Decision were published, as a grueling task. While that is certainly a colorful way to characterize it, personally speaking and from my vantage point in the process, it just isn't even remotely accurate. Grueling is a pretty harsh term. What David Webber and Elaine Webber faced in the old days, where the publication in print format of Paper Mayhem magazine was concerned, or what Carol Mulholland faced in more recent years with her publication of Flagship magazine in print format, was vastly closer to a grueling task than anything that Suspense & Decision magazine has faced since day one.

SOURCE: http://playbymail.net/mybb/showthread.ph...#pid136006

As I recall, you're also one of the ones who advocated in favor of shorter issues.

Per your e-mail to me of August 23rd, 2016, you committed to submitting an article for Issue #14, so that's already accounted for, even if I haven't received the actual article, yet.

Again, the grand object isn't to screw anybody out of a chance to submit anything. Rather, it's to try and keep issues smaller than they otherwise might be, in keeping with the consensus for smaller issues.

Before, issues didn't just get bigger and bigger, simply because I favored larger issues - which I, personally, do tend to favor. Rather, people send stuff, and historically speaking, I would try to go ahead and publish it.

One thing that I experimented with for Issue #12, the missing issue, was to not bother so much with 'beating the bushes' for articles. I can tell you that that approach tends to result in a noticeably reduced amount of submissions, comparatively speaking.

Ultimately, I will include something if I want to include it in a certain issue. My discretion always remains intact, insofar as what to include. Just because I try to set a few parameters within which to operate doesn't mean that my discretion to publish suddenly dissolves, Rick. Of course, if I want to amass material ahead of time for future issues, then I do have to select some point at which to stop packing stuff into the current issue, that I might be able to begin compiling the next issue ahead of time. I do believe that is the direction which consensus preferred that I move the magazine in.

[GrimFinger]

Well, this is a surprise, Grim.   Wasn't issue #13 just out a week ago, after a year or so between issues?

A little more than a week ago, about a week and a half ago, or thereabouts.

Issue #14 will be combination of material previously submitted back when the magazine was last being published, material submitted too late to include in Issue #13, and material submitted for the express purpose of appear in Issue #14. Issues will be smaller than during the previous publication span, so slots for articles fills up faster. Plus, it appears that at least a few people missed Suspense & Decision during its absence from the publication scene, so perhaps its return has ignited a desire within at least some of them to pony up some material to try and help the magazine to regain some steam.

I eliminated all had publication deadlines, previously, as I set about the task of preparing to publish Issue #13. That doesn't mean that I am aiming to publish less frequently than on a monthly basis. It just frees me of the headache of trying to get issues out by a certain, specific date. The core problem is not publishing the magazine with a reliable degree of frequency. Rather, what really hurts the magazine is when artificial lulls get induced, such as when I am waiting on others to get an article to me that they have committed to sending in. That's when I am most likely to drift off and get involved with other things, and that always holds the very real potential for the magazine to 'disappear' for extended periods of time - perhaps even forever.

I do not tend to allow myths, including some rather longstanding ones, to govern my approach to publishing Suspense & Decision. Publishing a magazine in PDF format really isn't an unduly difficult undertaking. It's more time-consuming than it is hard, per se. Having a steady flow of submissions coming in can greatly facilitate and expedite having a steady flow of issues coming out. Not publishing issues for an extended period of time wreaks havoc on one's familiarity, process-wise, though. In other words, not publishing the magazine makes me grow rusty, and I have to figure out, again, in some instances, how to do a given thing that, before, may have become relatively routine for me.

Publishing at a faster rate than monthly introduces its own set of potential problems. Could it be achieved? Sure. Could it be sustained over an extended period of time? Probably. Do I want to try and head that route? At this current moment in time, probably not. Why? Because I'm not sufficiently comfortable in my routines for doing things, this time around, yet, and because the flow of submissions would have to increase beyond what they currently are, and that would require more than just temporary blips in increased submissions on the magazine's radar. It would also entail other 'complications,' such as the need for an increased amount of front cover art pieces to be secured. The lack of an actual budget for this free magazine poses limitations on how far, how fast that I am willing to stick my neck into the noose for.

It's a hobby interest of mine. Now, that doesn't mean that I can't try to instill a certain degree of urgency into the processes that bring it into existence. It does mean, however, that I am unlikely to embrace more of a business-like approach to this undertaking. For now, we are pretty much stuck with the status quo, and that boils down to each issue publishing as I am able and willing to get them done.

Smaller issues will facilitate achieving greater reliability in frequency of publication. Now, whether that actually translates into a better magazine or not is something that is subject to debate.

[Rick McDowell]

OK.  Its your thing, Whatever you do is better than not doing what you do.  I think we all appreciate the effort. 

I am just saying if you have interest in improving the quality of submissions, rather than trying to meet a self imposed deadline, tell your potential contributors something like, " September 15 is the deadline for submissions for Issue 14." 

I don't know.  I never published a magazine. 

Again, the main point is your energy and drive, so do as you wish.  I know I don't want you (or anyone) telling me how to run Alamaze.

Rick

[GrimFinger]

OK.  Its your thing, Whatever you do is better than not doing what you do.  I think we all appreciate the effort. 

I am just saying if you have interest in improving the quality of submissions, rather than trying to meet a self imposed deadline, tell your potential contributors something like, " September 15 is the deadline for submissions for Issue 14." 

I don't know.  I never published a magazine. 

Again, the main point is your energy and drive, so do as you wish.  I know I don't want you (or anyone) telling me how to run Alamaze.

Rick

You're not the only one who prefers a submission deadline, Rick. Davin of Talisman Games prefers one, also. Others may, as well, that I haven't heard back from, yet.

Here's a copy and paste of something that I just posted a short while earlier over on the PlayByMail.Net Facebook page:

====================
Not counting ads or the front cover, we are at page #21 of the compiling process for Issue #14 of Suspense & Decision magazine.


I don't yet know how big this issue will be. Other articles are still in the queue to be compiled, and additional articles already committed to for this next issue have not all arrived, yet.
I can tell you that Issue #14 will not get published before September 20th, at the earliest, even if compiling for it is done before then. Barring any unforeseen circumstances and the good LORD willing, Issue #14 should definitely get published at some point near the end of this month (September of 2016).

Not everyone is used to the new process, yet, the one involving the elimination of hard deadlines for publication. Submission deadlines don't work so well for this new process, simply because they negatively impact my ability to keep issues from growing too big in size, in keeping with the consensus that favored smaller issues.

What people are not fully grasping is that the new system increases flexibility, overall. If you submit an article or other material, it will either appear in the next issue, or the one after that.

It's a new system, but I do believe that it will work. If I didn't, then I wouldn't have implemented it. With an increase in focus on the frequency of publication, that aspect alone works in favor of those who submit articles, by helping to ensure that there won't be a long lead time before your articles submitted appear in a future issue of Suspense & Decision magazine.

Ultimately, I reserve the right to add to any given issue, as I see fit, even with little or no notice in advance. Part of the whole smaller issues consensus was aimed at help to build up a supply of articles for issues out past the immediate next issue.

As always, we live in an imperfect world. If you are swift at getting your submissions in, then they will likely appear in the immediate next issue. If, however, you drag your feet, then they will likely not appear until the issue after next. At most, you're looking at roughly a two month time frame, since I'm still trying to aim for a monthly rate of publication frequency, in spite of eliminating specific hard deadlines for publication.

Reliable publication of issues requires a certain degree of a sense of urgency. This is true on both the editor's end, and on the material submission end.

My intention is to beat our best previous record of reliable publication of issues. On their regular pace of publication, and not counting any delays for any reason, both Paper Mayhem and Flagship magazines aimed for a rate of publication.of one issue every two months. I seek to double that.

If we fail, then it certainly won't be the first time that we failed. If we succeed, however, then everyone who enjoys the magazine stands to benefit from the new process that I have switched to.

I just wanted to provide a little update, before I head back to trying to compile a little more of Issue #14, tonight, before I have to head off to bed.

Thank you for your time, your interest, and your understanding in these matters!

- Charles -
SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/PlayByMail/post...3545689424

[Rick McDowell]

Again, your thing, your rules.  But from a contributor's point of view, and with a less than predictable publication schedule, asking to write articles on the spot as in this deadline, is almost adversarial.  Maybe you have lots of article contributions. I think most will say, OK, the deadline is passed, I will try to get something next time, whenever that is.  I just feel some sense of a timeline is not a bad thing.

[GrimFinger]

Again, your thing, your rules.  But from a contributor's point of view, and with a less than predictable publication schedule, asking to write articles on the spot as in this deadline, is almost adversarial.  Maybe you have lots of article contributions. I think most will say, OK, the deadline is passed, I will try to get something next time, whenever that is.  I just feel some sense of a timeline is not a bad thing.

Except, there is no schedule, and there is no deadline. So, no one is on the spot on a deadline that doesn't exist.

Every coin has at least two sides. There will be those who will say, "OK, the deadline has passed."  There will also be those who will be relieved that, even if they miss what they think is the submission deadline, they can send it after that point in time and it will still appear by the following issue.

Can a magazine function, even thrive, without having either a hard publication schedule or a hard submission deadline? I am of the mind that it can.

I can include what I want to in any given issue. A case in fact - I included what you sent me for Issue #13, didn't I?

I can always revert back to deadlines, if this new approach doesn't work. Granted, not everyone may think that I have my head screwed on straight, with the approach that I take and with the concepts that I embrace, where publication of a magazine is concerned. I launch a PBM magazine, of all things, and I don't charge anything for it, and I don't charge anything for advertisements, and now I do away with both publication schedules and submission deadlines. Whatever was I thinking, eh? It's doomed for failure, right?

Not everyone takes advantage of the free advertising. Some do. Not everyone reads the free magazine. Some do.

Another case in fact, I am currently the furthermost ahead in the compiling process of probably any issue tackled by Suspense & Decision, to date. I am also closer than I have ever been to beginning to get articles amassed for the following issue. Could it all collapse on top of my head? Oh, sure. Absolutely. Positively.

Granted, I am doing things differently than other PBM magazine that have come before. They faced their respective challenges, and I face mine. To date, deadlines and publication schedules proved insufficient to the task at hand. When Suspense & Decision fell by the wayside, previously, did a set publication schedule and set deadlines for issues preclude it from disappearing? Obviously, they did not.

When I named the magazine for Issue #1, I went with a name that even I, myself, didn't originally conceive of. Ultimately, I am tasked with pairing up my drive and my energy with concepts that I, myself, believe in.

If people that read and enjoy Suspense & Decision want - truly want - a magazine that comes out regularly, like proverbial clockwork, then they need to be prepared to submit material for inclusion within its pages in that manner. They need to quit worrying over deadlines. Carol Mulholland worried over deadlines all the time. She was almost always at someone else's mercy - and I always felt a great deal of sympathy for her for being stuck in that position. She did what she could, and from that example, I intend to draw inspiration.

I feel that there's a better way to do things. I fully intend to demonstrate that there is. If time bears out that it isn't a better way, then w can adapt and improvise and transition to something else, to other - better - ways of doing things.

For now, though, we're going to try this. I do understand your concerns. They are so noted.

As Issue #13 said, Rick, to trek unchained and to boldly go!

I have a missing issue to remind me of the possibility of failure.

[ixnay]

I am surprised that #14 is locked up as well. But having a motivated editor and a community of contributors pumping out content is, if anything, a HAPPY problem to have. Like "too many customers" or "extra doughnuts". I myself haven't got anything in shape for publication yet!

So first, I will have to up my game and get at least one article written and sent to you (Grim) for consideration, should you decide you want it for #14. Editor's discretion and all that.

Second, I will speed up development of my mini-zine idea. It might not make this issue, so into 15 it may go.

Third, I will need to get in the habit of keeping up a pipeline of content, rather than a monthly pulse. That's probably what, er, "successful" writers do.

Regardless, I am glad to see things humming again, and will do my best to contribute!