Spark! Improbable Press' Newsletter
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | |
| Publisher: | Improbable Press |
| Editor(s): | Atlin Merrick |
| Type: | newsletter |
| Date(s): | 21 December 2018 - present |
| Frequency: | Bi-monthly |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Sherlock |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | Past Issues |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Spark! Improbable Press' Newsletter pulls together comments submitted to the editor and distributes them via a mailing list to subscribers. "Spark wants to help dreamers do and Sherlockian writers write with short interviews, articles, and shouty encouraging things."
The topics revolve around fanfic writing and have included issues on receiving comments, coping with writing setbacks, writer rituals, and finding one's voice.
The newsletter began as a Tumblr account which has since been deleted. From the 21 December 2018 initial email newsletter: "this newsletter became a combination of two topics, held together by the concept of fandom. How in fandom we so often get back what we give (you draw something amazing, I'm inspired to write a story to go with it), and how, when we least expect it, fandom pops up in unexpected ways."
Users can submit responses via Twitter as well as through email to the editor. As of 7 March 2019 the newsletter was also being developed into a book about fandom and writing.
Sample Content
From 04/04/2019 - Lurking—The Silent Readers:
Email Response:
"See that one over there with the shifty eyes, hanging head and hunched shoulders, hiding behind yonder tree and trying to look invisible? The one clumsily concealing a Kindle stuffed to the gunwales with well-read, yet shamefully uncommented fan fics and a smart phone bulging with much-loved yet shockingly unacknowledged podfics? That’s me, Your Honour. Very guilty indeed, And very, very sorry. Oh, and also asking for 1256 similar offences to be taken into consideration."
Twitter Views:
"I used to be super-talkative in fandoms. Then I started having trouble expressing myself in writing (meds). Then the platforms people used started (it seems) trending towards less wordiness, which was bad (ironically), because I still communicate best in words. I mostly lurk now."
Issues to Date
- 10/10/2019 - Comments Light & Dark, Part I
- 09/05/2019 - Mantras—The words that get us through
- 08/22/2019 - Can You Make It Christmas Again?
- 07/24/2019 - Improving as Writers: How We Do It
- 07/03/2019 - First Lines, Last Lines, and Cliffhagers
- 06/13/2019 - Writing Beside the Black Dog
- 05/30/2019 - Weird Habits, Superstitions, and Rituals: How we create
- 05/16/2019 - Origin Stories: Everyone's Journey is Different
- 05/02/2019 - The Fandom That Changed Everything
- 04/18/2019 - Finding Your Writing Voice
- 04/04/2019 - Correction: We didn't mean 3 April 2019!
- 04/04/2019 - Lurking—The Silent Readers
- 03/21/2019 - Coping With Writing Setbacks
- 03/07/2019 - Spark—the book
- 02/21/2019 - You are Not $#@&%* Cheating
- 02/07/2019 - Writing Under Pressure
- 01/24/2019 - Farewell Fandom: Why we go, why we stay, when we mix
- 01/10/2019 - Canon Doesn't Matter
- 01/03/2019 - A Dare and a Deal
- 12/21/2018 - Giving to Get + Fandom in Strange Places