Annie wrote:
Of course, back then, it wasn't as easy to photocopy things *and* we had to run off zines in 200-300 copies
at a
time just to get a decent print price. So, anyone cutting in to your potential sales could be potential cause for alarm.
I considered publishing some "mixed" issues of my own zines, mostly from urgings of people like Jane Carnall who objected to non-explicit stories being relegated to adult zines simply because they featured homosexual relationships. I happen to agree with her that it wasn't fair. But I also
had
to look at how such a move would affect my sales. I was still operating,
at
that time, under the rule of having to print a minimum print run of 200 zines. If I mixed *gasp* slash stories in with the gen, even if they were non-explicit, I ran the risk of missed sales. Not that the slash zines didn't/don't sell well on their own.
This decision of yours is interesting. From the sound of it, you're basically ghettoising _all_ stories about gay relationships into slash zines, and I would like to ask you why you do this. There were gay characters in the programme, so it can't be out of respect for the canon; since you yourself are involved in a same-sex relationship, it can't be out of a belief that all fiction involving gays should be kept on the X-rated shelf. Apparently it's just down to sales, and again I'd like more evidence that it _would_ harm sales-- the people who wouldn't buy the zine might be compensated for by the Jane Carnalls of the world: the people who don't object to fiction about gays, but do object to explicit sex.
Of course, the end result is that people like me wind up convinced that the only gay-related fiction in B7 fandom is essentially pornographic/slash, because even if a zine has non-slash gay stories in there, it's all being marketed under the same label.
This "sales" thing, though, bears closer inspection. You mention the word "sales" and "selling" quite a lot in there. Now I've asked you what your interest in B7 fandom is-- it doesn't seem to be the programme, since you don't get involved in the speculative threads on it; it can't be a fondness for the actors, for reasons mentioned in the thread on who produces and distributes explicit art; it doesn't seem to be the meeting of minds of fans of similar interests, since you don't seem to enjoy rational discussion about other people's activities and backgrounds. Could it be the profit motive dominates?
Shane
Largo: Why do I feel as if I'm on trial here? Avon: Why do I feel as if you should be?
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