This week, I watched The Social Network, and besides loving it as a film (Aaron Sorkin is my god) it fired up the entrepreneur in me. I started thinking about all the things I’d love to do if I could, especially when it came to transmedia projects. (And I started thinking about the people I’d need to work with to make some of them happen; I’m just not a graphic designer or computer programmer.)
Then, last night, I was also thinking about Realms of Fantasy. The well-known speculative fiction magazine recently announced that they would be closing their doors, being unable to keep the magazine a viable business. (And that they’d sell the magazine for $1 to anyone who thought they could save it.)
And I recalled a related tweet from Guy leCharles Gonzalez:
And I thought, well why not? Why not take a property like Realms of Fantasy, and make it something a little… more?
My thought was this. First of all, ditch the print publishing and distribution, which would be one of the major expenses. The next bit would require some investment capital — personal investment or a loan, perhaps — but have someone design and program an app. Turn the magazine into an electronic property. Ideally, there should be a mobile phone/iPad app, which would have the most functionality. This same functionality should be available through a browser as well, for computer viewing. Then, you’d have to also design some epub functionality; make sure the magazine was available on as many platforms as possible.
Next, restructure the method of getting content. A reader could buy the app for a reasonable price, and then a further yearly subscription (cheaper because of initial cost and lack of physical product) would automatically download each new issue to the app/computer/device. Alternately, one could have the app without a subscription, and download issues manually. Alternately, one could have the app, and decide to only download select stories. Pay a dollar for a story kind of thing, like iTunes. That way, if they hear about a particular story, they can just get that one story. It encourages more people to pay for content, and more people to pay for the initial app.
The app, then, would be designed to facilitate navigation through different stories, and handling stories without necessarily handling an entire issue. We’re certainly not just talking a pdf of the magazine. (And perhaps things like editorial content, interviews, etc., would be free content, with only the stories themselves requiring payment. Encourage the audience.)
And finally, there’s the big dream: stop accepting typical fiction. Encourage contributors to think beyond the text. Ask them to make each story they submit, each story that gets published on this platform, something that uses the potential of the platform. Enhancements, video clips, hyperlinks, notes, unusual formats, even entire transmedial stories, of which what appears in the magazine is only part.
What would a transmedia short story look like?
How would style and form be different between a larger transmedia project, and something short and compact, something that could be experienced in half an hour and be over?
I don’t have the investment capital or the business, programming, and publishing expertise or contacts to make this happen, but I kind of wish I did. (I also don’t know how viable it would be, ultimately. But I’d certainly like to find out.)
Anyone up for the task? I’d love to hear your ideas.
5 comments
Guy LeCharles Gonzalez says:
October 22, 2010 at 9:16 am (UTC -7)
Are you hacking into my email account?!?! ;-P
Since that tweet of mine you referenced, I’ve actually been thinking a lot about RoF and how it might fit as a part of the “publisher of the 21st century” vision I posted a couple of weeks ago and you’ve hit on some of what I’d do with it if I had the opportunity to salvage the brand and reboot the platform. I’ve even queried about the possibility of acquisition, and am very intrigued by the potential.
Biggest obstacle for me at this point would be resources, not primarily capital, but more importantly, this whole 24 hours in a day nonsense!
Reimagining Realms of Fantasy « Words and Things says:
October 22, 2010 at 12:51 pm (UTC -7)
[...] posted on Silverstring Media; reposted here because it applies to writing in general and I don’t know how much crossover [...]
The interactive short story » Silverstring Media says:
October 28, 2010 at 2:56 pm (UTC -7)
[...] my post about Realms of Fantasy, I’ve been thinking about how one might create a transmedia “short story.” [...]
Seven People in My #Transmedia Neighborhood | Guy LeCharles Gonzalez says:
December 11, 2010 at 5:01 pm (UTC -7)
[...] Silverstring Media – Like Laura, Lucas J.W. Johnson is another one exploring his passion without pretense, adding immense value to the transmedia community by sharing his own insights and experiences. His series on What D&D Can Tell Us About Transmedia is a great read, and he and I were completely on the same page in Reimagining Realms of Fantasy. [...]
Seven People in My #Transmedia Neighborhood | Free Verse Media says:
June 11, 2011 at 2:35 pm (UTC -7)
[...] Silverstring Media – Like Laura, Lucas J.W. Johnson is another one exploring his passion without pretense, adding immense value to the transmedia community by sharing his own insights and experiences. His series on What D&D Can Tell Us About Transmedia is a great read, and he and I were completely on the same page in Reimagining Realms of Fantasy. [...]