Editing as a Hobby

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Recently I came across the blogzine Ya'Sou! and it got me thinking. Writing has long been a hobby enjoyed by people who don't plan to do it professionally, although some of them become brilliant writers. Editing is more obscure. For a while, fanzines were the realm of hobby-editors. Most of those have disappeared now. There are webzines, but most of them are trying to be like regular magazines.

But what if they weren't? What if we encouraged people to do with editing what they do with writing -- lay it out for fun, to share really cool stuff with your friends? Suppose you've been following this crowdfunding thing, and you've developed a list of people whose art, writing, and other creative output you <3 <3 <3 and want to promote? So ... start a webzine. Ask them for reprints, or originals if they're willing, and post the stuff. Maybe do excerpts of longer works to attract attention to those. Pick a theme if you like. Offer to critique people's writing, if you like; some folks have a hard time finding first-readers. If you don't have cash, try attracting contributors by paying them in ad space on your site; most creative people have something to sell or promote.

And then ... PRESTO! What was once merely crowdfunded "self-published" stuff is now, by the magic of editorial accolade, Actually Published according to the rules of a bunch more awards and catalog sites. Isn't that interesting. Plus you've just rolled your favorite creative folks past a whole lot of new eyeballs.

While I don't have time for this right now, I do have the skills, so I'm keeping it in mind for future possibility. Meanwhile, if someone else wants to try it, go right ahead. Feel free to chat me up if you get stuck on something; I had some editor-friends teach me how to do stuff, so I don't mind paying it forward. (You can also click the "editing" link on my LJ, where I've written up a few posts on various aspects.)