The K/S Press
| Zine | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title: | The K/S Press | |
| Publisher: | Beyond Dreams Press | |
| Editor(s): | Shelley Butler & Jenna Sinclair until 2007, then Shelley Butler & Kathleen Resch (issue #133-present) | |
| Type: | letterzine, reviewzine | |
| Date(s): | 1996-present | |
| Frequency: | monthly | |
| Medium: | print, email subscription | |
| Size: | varies, but usually about 36 pages | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek | |
| Language: | English | |
| External Links: | archived link to the K/S Press website Contact info: catalenamara at yahoo dot com (put here by the contact person).  | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | ||
| ||
The K/S Press is a long-running Star Trek letterzine and review zine specifically for Kirk/Spock fandom. It is impressive for many things, including its general civility; the dust-ups, letterwars and personal attacks that often punctuated other letterzines were very largely avoided.
The K/S Press is available in both a print and an email version and averages 36 pages per issue. As of November 2010, the 170th issue was being sent out.[1] Rather than purchasing one issue at a time, "members" buy a full-year subscription. In addition to the monthly letterzine, the subscription includes access to The K/S Library, which lends out more than 150 out-of-print zines to members (mostly K/S, some gen Trek) through the mail (from both European and American branches)[1].
"To know that I am connected to all my K/S sisters all over the world, to share this Divine Obsession with all of you, is truly a wondrous thing." (from a reader, issue #49) "I am so thrilled with this letterzine. It is a thing of beauty and so full of useful information to get me in trouble!" (from a reader, issue #6)
Awards
This zine was the winner of a 1996, 1997, and 1998 STIFfie Award.
Preceded and Succeeded: Other K/S Letterzines
- Not Tonight Spock! (June 1984-July 1986)
- On the Double (November 1986-January 1996)
- The LOC Connection (January 1989-December 1993)
- Come Together (January 1994-August 1996)
- The K/S Press (September 1996-present day)
For other letterzines, see List of Letterzines.
The Issues
See these subpages for details about individual issues, including quoted opinions and summaries of fannish views on topics current then, and now. Excerpts are posted on Fanlore with the permission of the publisher.
About the Title
From the first issue: "We are having a contest for the best title for your newsletter. The K/S Press remains our working title until we choose the best title from your ideas! The winner will receive a full year's subscription to The K/S Press!" There was never a mention of a name change again, and the title of the letterzine remained as it was on the first issue.
It had varying subtitles, A Forum for Most Everything K/S, A Forum for All Things K/S, A Forum for Almost All Things K/S, and A Forum Close to All Things K/S.
Features
Each issue had some regular features: "Tricorder Readings" (story and art reviews), "Heartbeats" (fan bios), "Best of the Best," (fiction excerpts), "Roundtable" (LoCs), forthcoming zines, zine submission requests, want ads, and additions and listings of the The K/S Library (both US and UK branches).This letterzine was preceded by the letterzines, Come Together and The LOC Connection. Two similar letterzines are S and H (Starsky and Hutch) and Southern Enclave (Star Wars).
The K/S Press is impressive in the number of very detailed fan reviews of numerous stories, poems and art found in zines. Some reviews and comments were only a few sentences long, but the majority were several paragraphs, and many went on for multiple pages. The reviews were, for the most part, very balanced in scope and opinion.
From the Flyer
According to The K/S Press publisher's flyer:
- We're looking for reviews of stories, artwork, and poetry from both print zines and online fiction. Reviews can be short or long, and be for brand new work or old favorites. Find out when new zines are published, share your favorite online links and websites, trade opinions in free-wheeling discussions, check out the latest K/S want ads. We also have the latest information on K/S conventions. Each issue features one of Liz's Episode Commentaries - a TOS episode seen through slashy eyes, complete with delightful screencaps.[1]
Originator of an Award
In 1997, The K/S Press in conjunction with Beyond Dreams Press, established the Philon Awards to recognize K/S fanzine writers and artists.
Originator of a Zine Library
The K/S Press sponsors The K/S Library, a zine library for members.
The Press Goes All Digital
In November 2011, the KS Press announced that it was going all digital. Issue #182 was the last print issue.
Special Announcement: To our loyal and wonderful K/S Press subscribers: The K/S Press is now officially going only email! This decision has been a long time coming as we have struggled mightily with our finances to keep the print issues coming. We’ve kept the price steady for quite some time, even as postage and printing prices have increased. But, faced with the prospect of yet another postal increase in January, we’ve come to the decision that we can no longer afford to print and mail out the issues. So now, after many years of print, we finally will be all electronic.Many print subscribers have been making the switch to email over the past couple of years. We have sent emails or letters to everyone who is still subscribing to the print edition. We’ve heard back from most of you, and of the people we’ve heard from, almost everyone has been willing to switch to an email subscription.
To the people we haven’t heard from: Please get in touch via email or postal mail. We’ll be happy to switch your subscription from postal mail to email and pro-rate accordingly. Or, if you’d like a refund, let us know.
This issue will be our last print issue.
Shelley remembers:
- ...the days of finding a discreet print shop to have the monthly issue printed without anyone actually reading what was in print, let alone see any artwork or photos!
- Then the real work began of carting the heavy boxes home; stapling the issues myself to save money; printing up the address labels; stuffing the envelopes; stamping and addressing; carting the heavy boxes to the post office and hefting them onto the counters to get them mailed which included custom forms for overseas; and not to mention keeping all subscribers listed, organized and current.
- Then, a new era began with Kathy and the email subscribers and a blessing of Robin Hood, who took over the printing and mailings.
- So, in a bittersweet change, we announce the K/S Press to be all email, all the time.
Kathy remembers:
Yours truly, Kathy, Shelley and Robin
- Print fandom is my culture and I’ve been very pleased to keep The K/S Press available in print for as long as practical. But as much as I love the print format, attention must be paid to reality. The world is going digital, and now The K/S Press will be all digital too.
- Thank you, all of you, for coming along with us on this journey, and we hope to see you here for many more issues to come.
