BOLO

From Fanlore
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Zine
Title: BOLO
Publisher: Carriage Hill Press, agented by Agent With Style
Editor(s):
Date(s): 2008-2011
Series?:
Medium: print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom: NCIS
Language: English
External Links: http://carriagehillpress.com/
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

BOLO is a gen, het and slash NCIS anthology.

Issue 1

cover of issue #1, Taz Titus

BOLO 1 was published in 2008 and contains 40 pages. It has the subtitle, "The Team."

The cover is by Taz Titus.

It contains gen and het.

From the publisher: "Suitable for teen and up, this zine focuses on short stories involving various team members. The stories range from humorous pieces about the team as a whole to dramatic ones involving various partnerships."

Issue 2

cover of issue #2, Antoinette George

BOLO 2 was published in 2008 and contains 90 pages. It has the subtitle, "Gibbs/Ducky."

It is gen and slash.

The cover is by Antoinette.

From the publisher:

This issue contains slash tales about Jethro Gibbs and Donald Mallard. The stories range from first time ones to ones set during the Mexican hiatus as well as a full novella by Ashleigh Anipolova. Ashleigh's intriguing alternate universe novella is an alternate universe story set in London. What if Gibbs was a financial whiz kid and Ducky was only a barman? The attraction between the two men is instantaneous and intense, however, things are not straightforward, and before there can be a future Ducky has to overcome his instinctual distrust of people.

  • The Heart's Desire by Tiger Lily (1)
  • Too Much by Ashley Pitt (5)
  • I Remember by Loretta Greco (7)
  • Adjusting by Willow (15)
  • Acceptance by Tiger Lily (17)
  • Too Much Information by Periwinkle (20)
  • The Elevator by Ashley Pitt (29)
  • Learning to Trust by Ashleigh Anpilova ("Ducky is a barman and he meets Jethro, who is from an extremely wealthy American family. Jethro is also a whiz kid with finances and has been sent by his father to see what life in a British finance house is like. The attraction between the two men is instantaneous and intense, however, things are not straightforward, and before there can be a future Ducky has to overcome his instinctual distrust of people. A first time story.") (31)

Issue 3

cover of issue #3, Antoinette George

BOLO 3 was published in 2009 and contains 70 pages. It is slash and gen. It has the subtitle, "The Boss and the Lab."

The art is by Antoinette George (front cover) and Lisa Madden.

It includes a 9-page bonus preview of issue 4.

From the publisher: "This issue concentrates on the lab and autopsy staff (Ducky, Abby and Jimmy.) Many of the stories are Gibbs/Ducky."

Issue 4

BOLO 4 was published in April 2011 and contains 50 pages. This issue features Gibbs/DiNozzo slash with stories by YumYumPM, Georgiesmith and Cheekymice.

cover of issue #4

It was originally planned to have been a femslash issue. [1]

  • Some Rules Are Made to Be Broken by yumyumpm ("If Tony isn't dead, why isn't he in his body? And why is Gibbs so upset?")
  • Everlong by georgiesmith ("Tony is hurting and Gibbs isn't going to leave him alone.")
  • The Consequences of Jack by Cheekymice ("When Tony gets drunk with the team, Gibbs gets moving.")
  • Just Another Day At the Office by Cheekymice ("Tony-centric. Tony has to investigate the death of a little girl.")

Some Conflict with the Agent

In 2008, the publisher became upset when an agent, Agent With Style, sold this zine, and one other title, with unauthorized covers, something that generated some discussion. Some excerpts are below.

[periwinkle27]: If you don't know, I have run a little publishing business (cookbooks, wedding bulletins, dance recital programs, Master's thesis) for years from my house. This year I decided to produce a few zines for fun.

They were supposed to be distributed though North Coast Press but Lisa didn't make it to Media West, so I used an agent.

Now, there were two different types of zines. One was "Ducky's Pain" which has a white cover with one striking graphic. The others were some of the BOLO series. Part of the point of the BOLO series is that the covers always match in color (think like "Relative Secrecy".)

ETA 11 pm: I failed to mention that she had permission to print a certain number of copies but with the specified covers, which she acknowledged. It's not the printing that's the issue - it's the changing of the cover.

Then I started seeing on ebay zines of these titles but with colored covers. I had been writing to ebay and saying those were xerox copies until I learned that the agent had replaced my covers. Now there are all these yucky copies floating out there, and if someone wants to resell it I won't acknowledge it.

So - have you ever had this happen and what do you think I should do next? Vent, fire her, post a statement on my site, tell the world? And if you happened to buy one, let me know and I'll send the proper cover.

[suchthefangirl]: I asked my husband and a friend, both of whom are professional authors, and both were incensed. They agree that it is not an agents place at all to do something like that. They said an agent is like a babysitter, their job is to care for the baby not tattoo it.
[snipped]
I didn't see the agreement you signed with her, but if you did sign one, and she was only given the rights to print and not to change anything, then I would think that firing her would be a good place to start. Letting her know that this is not acceptable is very important.
Good luck. As far as I can see, you are in the right.
[nakeisha]: At the end of the day it's going to come down to precisely what your contract with the person said.
If it specifically in words of one syllabul said 'you may print xx number of zines but they must be exactly as they are in all respects' then yes you have a good case to fire her and rant about her.
However, if you just said 'you may print xxx copies' then it's a tad open to interpretation to be honest. She might argue that she felt as an agent with years' experience that the covers weren't 'catchy' or 'professional' enough. What did she change them to?
She shouldn't have changed the cover whatever the contract said to be honest, IMO - but before you do rant, vent, fire her, etc. etc. I'd double check exactly what was agreed between you.
Also what was her explanation for changing the covers?
As for what you should do. Well ranting and posting a statement could only back-fire against you, if she chooses to rant in return - you really don't want to get into a high stressed argument that could end up with you being under fire.
So personally I'd just not not use her again and I'd tell her why.
But, as I say, a lot of what you do/say/can do is going to depend precisely on what was agreed between you.
[periwinkle27]: It specified the color of the covers.
She did use the argument that she had experience, and I pointed out that I have 17 years to her 20 and she was only to distribute, not change. I also sent back the correspondence that showed where she had agreed to the covers as was.
One thing that really bothered the author and me was that the agent might know catchy colors, but she had no eye for art. And she told me that white covers don't sell. I had sent copies to the Orphan Zine table also and all of them sold.
As you know, BOLO is also supposed to be consistent from issue to issue so that the buyer immediately knows it's the NCIS zine.
She changed one from white to cream
one from cream to salmon
one from cream to bright blue. (I'm not listing titles so that she can't come back at me and say I posted stuff about her.)
I think they look extremely cheap.
This post incidentally, was my revenge. I had already fired her.
[kelliem]: If this is who I suspect it was, she has a reputation for underhanded dealings. The woman I am thinking of once started reprinting a limited-edition Due South zine I was involved with completely without our permission whatsoever. [2]

References