[neologik]

The Free Alliance

There is motion in the sf industry - we are moving forward, faster than we have ever moved before. We are gaining momentum, streaking toward the mainstream audience; sf elements have been incorporated in everything from car commercials to clothing. And we are rapidly approaching that cusp, that point of tipping the scales of genre toward something spectacular.

An explosion.

Perhaps even an explosion of quality.

More and more, we find that literate fantastic fiction is rising above the morass of commercially-oriented fiction, peeking out from the bookshelves and catching the attention of readers that have grown tired of the endless rehashings that are generally deemed safe and commercially-viable by the publishing conglomerates that control the market. Witness, for example, the surge in popularity of China Miéville's Perdido Street Station, which is far from commercial in its appeal. Here is pure talent, raw vision, shining through and capturing a wide readership. This is what we need.

So here we are. Now what do we do?

It's time to claim the streets.

At the moment, quality is still buried; we are peeking outward, and getting noticed, but there is still an incredible amount of **** in the way, blocking the view from both sides. We are splintered into non-coherent cells, battling our own small battles against the marketing machines and commercialized drones that have chosen to assemble their products in the name of profit. We have numbers, but we have no strength. That must change.

There must be some unity. Alliance. We who believe in the ART of fiction must stand together against the PRODUCT of fiction, even if only in spirit. We must show that we are a unified mass of writers and readers, editors and critics. That we are artists of the highest form; cultural warriors armed with speculation and vision.

And so comes Fantastic Metropolis, my own line in the sand.

What I hope to accomplish with Fantastic Metropolis is relatively simplistic in concept, but complex in execution. It is not a personal project, not something I can whip up in isolated fervor. I need help. I need allies.

Right now, the internet is the single most powerful communication tool that we possess. Stronger than the newspaper, more powerful than the salesmen at Borders, faster than the television.... We have at our disposal the potential of a new medium, and we have now the opportunity to utilize it to its full capacity. We have the ability to unite with little effort, with little sacrifice.

With the death of a multitude of speculative fiction websites, a void has been presented, which we now must fill. We have the opportunity to 'Do Things Right' this time around, as we move to replace those commercial sites that have fallen. And as I have conceived Fantastic Metropolis, we will be able to begin that filling of the void, concentrating upon the literate works that deserve the attention that commercial genre has been so hesitant to provide.

So I propose the Free Alliance.

As things now stand, there is a huge amount of information scattered about the web that focuses upon quality speculative fiction. But it is cast willy-nilly across cyberspace, drifting here and there, a chore to discover. Fantastic Metropolis is my attempt to reduce that chore for the interested reader, to bring all that information into one vast Portal, to bring it to their fingertips. The Free Alliance is one piece of that mission.

What I propose is simply this; to interlink all of the websites that share a similar focus on literary speculative fiction. Fantastic Metropolis itself will act as the central hub of all those websites; a resource for people intent upon discovering what fantastic fiction truly has to offer. But I will not do this in a haphazard way; I will do this as an official show of solidarity among creators, with the Free Alliance.

And so I seek your aid.

The Free Alliance is not a webring. It is a professional, membership-oriented network created by all of us. It is not profit-driven, it is not commercially-financed, it is not a society or a club.

Roughly based upon the concept of open-source code in software engineering, the Free Alliance is simply a sign of our dedication to one another, and a sign of our dedication to quality in fiction. It is a concrete symbol of our struggle against commercialized garbage and intellectual junkfood. It is a symbol of our collective line in the sand.

How does it work? As easily as possible.

What I ask of you is simply this; that you agree to put some mention on your website that you support the Free Alliance, and that you provide a link to the Fantastic Metropolis website. Easy. Free. No ugly banners to add, no 'approved' script to add, no fees, no hassle. By this act, you will be linking your site to a Portal that will lead to other sites that contain complimentary works, and to other people that have similarly allied themselves.

Ah, but that isn't ALL that I ask, sadly. There is more; this is the part where I actually need your help.

I need you to provide me with links that can be added to the Fantastic Metropolis Portal. Links to specific articles or short stories or biographies that are contained within your site that somehow focus upon the gray, blurry realm of fantastic fiction. The reason for this is easy; the internet is huge, and to comb through it to find every single article/piece that is of interest to readers would be a lifelong chore. I simply do not have the time to hunt down every link. And so I ask for your aid.

I have no hard and fast rules for what can be featured. I trust your judgment. If you believe that something that you possess on your website is worthy of note, of being discovered by readers, feel free to send it along. Ultimately, I will be the final judge for inclusion of course. In the end, there must always be a decision-maker, after all. But I am dedicated to this mission, as I think you should all realize.

In addition to the Portal, another important feature of the Fantastic Metropolis website is the Fantastic Metropolis message forum. Already in place through Delphi.com, the forum is meant to be a centralized gathering place for writers and readers, editors and critics. My aim is to draw everyone into the forum; to provide a place for those of us that support literate speculative fiction a place to interact with one another.

Sure, many writers have their own forums scattered about the internet, at their own sites. But in the end, this is selfish and biased. This is not interaction, not really. There is no exchange of thoughts and ideas. Think on this; if a sufficient number of creators come together as a group, what can be accomplished? What possibilities can be explored through an open exchange of ideas? I have seen some of what may come through my own email lists with multiple authors contributing -- and the potential is frightening.

Think about it.

Please, help me. With the Free Alliance and the forum, we have the opportunity to claim the streets, to bring literary speculative fiction into the spotlight for once. And we have the opportunity to show our support for one another on a massive scale that has never before been attempted. Let's make some noise.

The links for the Fantastic Metropolis website, the Fantastic Metropolis Forum, and the email address for the website where correspondences, links, questions and comments can be sent are included below.

Thank you for your dedication.

--Gabe Chouinard
September 2001

LINKS: http://www.sfsite.com/fm http://www.delphi.com/metrofanatic
metropolis@sfsite.com

[Alucard]

That was quite a speech there. But I have a question......

I like your Ideas, they sound very well thought out and well rounded....but how do you plan to spread your site? Here, sffworld, is a good start, but what next? Because if there's one thing that gets people interested in helping out a cause, it's seeing that the cause is actually beginning to move and take notice. So if I'm not being overly forward, what else do you plan to do? I like your ideas and I think I will try to help out, but I would like to know a bit more about your campaign.

For instance, you might would want to add www.rosedog.com (http://www.rosedog.com) to your links. It's a free online showcase for writers, built so that agents and publishers can look at a writers work without any fees or obligations. I'm not sure if these are the type of things that you ar looking for, but if so, I may be of some service.

[neologik]

What *else* am I doing?

Oh, jeez...

Let's see. There's the bi-weekly column that I write at SF Site entitled 'Dislocated Fictions' that actually led to the creation of Fantastic Metropolis.

There's the anthology that I'm editing.

There's the fact that I just sent the above message out to roughly two hundred writers and editors and critics.

There's the messageboards at TTAPress.com that this has been posted on, as well as a bunch of other messageboards where this has been posted....

Well, let's just say that I think I've covered most of my bases.

On another note:

"For instance, you might would want to add www.rosedog.com (http://www.rosedog.com) to your links. It's a free online showcase for writers, built so that agents and publishers can look at a writers work without any fees or obligations."

Well, that's a nice pipe-dream, isn't it? Too bad there will NEVER BE A SINGLE AGENT OR PUBLISHER THAT LOOKS AT THIS SITE AND 'DISCOVERS' A WRITER.

Sorry to be harsh. But you have to come out and face reality at some point... and reality says that agents and editors (the reader side of 'publishers') are already way too busy with their own slush piles to be out surfing the net, searching for a 'discovery'.

But good luck to you!

--gabe chouinard

[neologik]

By the way, Alucard, I realize that you are most likely not associated professionally with www.rosedog.com, (http://www.rosedog.com,) but I just don't like seeing writers suckered into these sorts of pathetic scams. So I react harshly.

I didn't mean to take it out directly upon your head....

--gabe

[Alucard]

First of all, I didn't ask "what else are you doing?", I asked about how you plan to spread your ideas, or get yourself heard in other words. I see you have sent out your proposition, and that's what I was wondering. Because it takes a lot to get yourself recognized, ESPECIAlly because of how flooded the internet and other sources of media are. As of now, you are just a needle in the haystack. So how do you plan to make your new idea catch attention? It's much easier said than done. Simply posting information isn't going to turn many heads.

And as for online showcases, I have no idea if they work, i have never tried. And in all honesty, your proposition sounds very similar, only much more idealistic. Your offering a way for writers, agents, publishers, and editors to get together; the exact same thing that these showcases offer. Yours has a forum; so do theirs. Me being a writer(or trying to be), I think you have some really good points, but none that are all that much different from other sites. Yours has a more monumental intention behind it, but whose to say that this is going to be anything more than just a pipedream, as you put it. Sorry if I sound harsh, but that's the impression that I'm getting.....

[neologik]

Alucard,

Actually, you *did* say "what else do you plan to do?". I changed it to "what else am I doing" because it was already in progress.

<<As of now, you are just a needle in the haystack. So how do you plan to make your new idea catch attention? It's much easier said than done. Simply posting information isn't going to turn many heads.>>

Well, not really. The majority of the people that I've sent this out to (beyond the 'public' forums that it's posted on) are people that I have already spoken to many times. I'm assuming that you're unfamiliar with the things that I've done over the past six months, which is OK. But when I already have the support of people like Brian Aldiss, Mike Moorcock, M John Harrison, China Miéville, Matt Stover, John Marco, Charles Brown (from Locus), Nick Gevers, Rodger Turner at SF Site... It isn't just a voice blowing in the wind. People have ALREADY been paying attention. This is just an evolution of what has already been happening.

<<And in all honesty, your proposition sounds very similar, only much more idealistic. Your offering a way for writers, agents, publishers, and editors to get together; the exact same thing that these showcases offer.>>

Save for the fact that the focus here is one of activism and power-balancing...

And hey, if it don't work? Fine. But sometimes you just have to make the attempt. I've been doing that a lot, and a lot has come of it. So I must be doing something right so far....

--gabe

[Hobbit]

Just thought I'd add my agreement(for what it's worth) to Neologik's comments here - though I know we've voiced similar comments before, Gabe!

What I think we are talking about here is a way of breaking away from the tendency to 'play safe'.

How many Sf or Fantasy authors (or Horror authors whilst we're about it) do you see, read or hear that are predictable, boring, safe? Whilst there are times when we all like to be comforted by the 'conventions' of the respective genres at times (you name them - spaceships, magic, elves, dragons, ghosts, vampires etc), what is happening (if we are not careful) is that the 'safe stuff' sells and pushes the more radical, the slightly less comfortable material off the shelves at our local bookstore. Result - people read more 'safe stuff' and do not experience what a varied and wonderful range of experiences there are out there, simply because the avant-garde material becomes 'unsaleable'.

I'll admit that not all of the stuff that pushes the envelope is to my taste, but that does not stop it deserving a place for people to read.

I had a similar conversation with John Marco recently by email - I'm pleased to see he's in your list, as he's a really nice person and is one of the people who seems to be trying hard to break the mould. He has just written an intro for a new copy of The Circus of Dr Lao by Charles Finney - a book which has been very hard to get lately, another classic that has disappeared off the shelves but is now being republished by a small print company.

Whilst I'm not in the same league as some of your illustrious names Gabe, I think that them and you're right - the inability to get classics is a BIG worry, but there is a new feeling 'out there' and now is the time to make people realise. Speculative fiction has a place in the real world! The view expressed in this forum say that loud and clear, I'm pleased to write.

It is in this vein that I agree with your point.

Right - I'll get off my soapbox now! http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

Hobbit

[neologik]

Hey Hob, don't be too quick to jump off the soapbox! That's one of the major problems that we've been confronting lately. People grumble a lot, but they never actually DO anything about it.

Hence, sf activism like I've been doing.

The goal is never to GET RID OF standard-trope sf. It's to diversify the field, and to level the playing field, so to speak. Right now, literate fantastic fiction writers have EVEN LESS power than other authors, like Jordan or Eddings or Feist. That's just WRONG.

So it takes activism on EVERYONE'S part. Not just me, not just the writers themselves... everyone.

Here's hoping it works.

(Aside: Marco is one of the greatest guys I've had the pleasure of talking with. Mainly because I could tell him that it took me years to finally get into his books, and that I was happy to see that he's been progressing in ability. He thinks that's groovy.

Who else would accept a comment that is pretty much "I thought your early work sucked, but you're getting better" and STILL want to hang out?!?!)

--gabe

[Shehzad]

So gabe, what can we, as readers, who can't pen to paper half as well as Eddings, do to help?

[Alucard]

That sounds good then neoligik. Your talking to authors and such, and to me, that sounds promising. That's exactly what i wanted to know. Sorry if I came off a little cross, but I'm trying to understand where your coming from and why your proposition would stand out. And like I said, it's sounding like your really getting the ball rolling. Kudos for that.
And I'm not blaming you for trying, I never would. In fact I'm glad that you are, because if no tries, nothing ever changes. I just wanted to see exactly where you were coming from, because I have been involved with such propostitions before that went absolutely nowhere because the main people behind it simply didn't put in the effort. I was making sure it wasn't another one of those. But it looks to me like your really getting up and getting things done, which is exactly what people need to see if they are ever going to join a cause.