Beta Ori Publications

Archive
Name:	Beta Ori Publications
Date(s):	late 2000, early 2001
Archivist:	Gwyn, Wolfen, Devika, Angela, Margaret, Nan, Meta, Sheri and the rest of the Archive Team of Beta Ori Publications
Founder:
Type:
Fandom:	Star Trek: TNG
URL:
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Beta Ori Publications was a plan by a group of fans to archive Star Trek: TNG fanfiction and art after 2000 when Orion Press discontinued their support of TNG publications.

This archive and venture did not make it off the ground.

Some Background

Disappointment and anger over the the direction of all Star Trek franchise shows (except Star Trek: The Original Series), specifically the finale of Voyager called "Endgame," Randall Landers of Orion Press discontinued publishing and supporting all Next Generation, Voyager, Deep Space Nine fanworks.

In late 2000, Randall Landers explained on Orion Press' webpage:

Why did Orion Press drop all of its non-Classic Trek material from the website? Answer: This was not an easy decision for me to make, and it hurt a lot of people's feelings, including some very dear friends. Long time readers know that we have published 152 non-Classic Trek fanzines over the years from 1987 until 2001 (that's slightly more than the Classic Trek zines we published, especially if you discount the reprint anthologies). We sold more copies of those 152 non-Classic Trek fanzines on average than our Classic Trek fanzines, got more acclaim and won more awards for them, and were even recognized as THE fanzine source for Next Generation and Voyager zines. But in May 2001, Voyager's producers (Berman and Braga) unleashed the series finale, "Endgame," on fandom, and I sat there, stunned in complete disbelief, at how fans had been crapped upon by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga (something they would do again in the Enterprise series finale and in their last Star Trek film, Nemesis). I made the decision then and there to shut down our non-Classic Trek operations. I gave everyone notice to save their TNG, DS9 and VOY stories to files (many did, many more did not), sent all the TNG, DS9 and VOY zine masters back to their editors (none of them really kept their zines going), and basically I divorced myself from Modern Trek. Oh, it pissed off some friends of mine who felt that I had somehow betrayed them, and while I can't understand that, I do feel for them. None of them really seemed interested in trying to keep their zines going; they had come to rely on Orion Press to publish all their stuff. I, however, decided to not only maintain our Classic Trek website, but to expand it further.

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  announcement, page two

2000 Announcement

To: All Orion Press TNG Contributors (Authors and Artists ) Subject: Request for Permission to Archive Orion Press TNG Materials Reply to: Beta Ori Publications [email protected] Gwyn Allman [address redacted]

Beta Ori Publications is an entity that came into existencein thewake of Randy's decision to remove Orion Press' on-line TNG archive and cease publishing TNG zines. We are a group of TNG fans who were very saddened by this and would like to do something to salvage the situation. As writers and readers we don't want the wealth and variety of TNG fanfic that was published by Orion Press to be lost to the reading public. We think the stories and artwork deserve to be read and seen by as wide a community as possible. Above all we want on-line fans to be aware of the richness and diversity of print fandom's offerings. What we are proposing is a resurrection and expansion ofthe TNG on-line archive. To that end we are seeking permission from as many authors as possible to archive their stories on-line, in a new archive wewill be setting up and administering. We also hope to hear from as many artists as possible - their contributions to the individual stories and the zine as a whole is one we would like to preserve wherever possible. As a way of introducing Orion Press' TNG stories andartwork to the on-line public, wewould like to include profiles on all contributors. However, both the provision and content of such profiles is at the complete discretion of contributors. No adverse inference will be drawn from any contributor's decision to not include a profile. On-line fandom is accustomed to getting to know an author's work through their posting in public venues, like newsgroups, and through other forms of community, like personal websites and mailing lists. We hope the provision ofauthor profiles will help our readers to better know our authors. And conversely, we hope it will encourage communication between authors and readers through the giving of feedback. We'd like to ask all contributors, who feel comfortable doing so, to let us know what manner of feedback (i.e. general orcritical) and through what means (i.e. direct personal e-mail or reader feedback conveyed by archivist to author) they prefer. We'd like to reiterate that none of the above is set in stone. We respect any contributor's wish to be represented by their work alone and not to divulge any other information to the reading public. Finally, although Beta Ori Publications has aspirations to publish fanfic in the future, at this stage we are only firmly committed to archiving and preserving material that has already been published by Orion Press. Consequently, by giving uspermission to display your work we agree to do just that, and only that. Property and copyright in the work remains with you, the creator. We will in no way alter your work or display it in any other form or forum aside from Beta Oh Publications' official Orion Press TNG archive. To those of you who would like to give your permission, please complete and return the permission form below. Once our site is fully operational we would urge all contributors and friends of Orion Press to stop by and see what we've done. Your suggestions and feedback are always welcome. If you require any further information on any aspect of this project please feel free to contact us at the addresses above. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Gwyn, Wolfen, Devika, Angela, Margaret, Nan, Meta, Sheri and the rest of the Archive Team of Beta Ori Publications