Letter of Comment - Fanlore

In earlier zine-based culture letters of comment (or LOCs, pronunciation debated), were common. This is one defination of a letter of comment from an 80s zine: "A letter sent to the editor to let her know what you did/didn't like about the zine. Very helpful in getting zines to be the way you want them. Also a great way to encourage writers you like."

Many zine editors published all of their letters of comments. (LOCs for fiction zines were usually reviews of the last issue.) It was common for LOCs to publish the letter writer's full address with the letter. Many fans first found other fans by writing to a LOC writer near their area.

Letter columns in letterzines (or non-letterzines that nevertheless ran many LOCs), could be contentious, providing the pre-internet version of flame wars. They also provided community -- giving information on deaths, on professionals sales by zine writers, on fannish and canon news. Many early fen, such as Leslie Fish, were as well-known for their participation in lettercolumns as they were for their fiction.

Much fannish time -- from the first Star Trek zine, Spockanalia, until most fanfic moved to the internet -- was spent by editors complaining that they didn't get more letters of comment.

If a zine didn't print its LOCs, then the editor forwarded any comments about specific stories onto the individual authors. Some editors made a point of not forwarding, or even mentioning, negative LOCs to their authors.

The term has been carried over to the Internet, with LOCs transitioning to mean the feedback email that an author, zine publisher, or archivist receives.