Manacles Press

Zine Publisher
Name:	Manacles Press
Contact:
Type:	fanfic
Fandoms:	Professionals, Wiseguy, Highlander, Space: Above and Beyond, Mad Max, multi-media
Status:	defunct
Other:	Fanzine Publisher, Click here for a complete list of this publisher's fanzines and awards
URL:	Manacles Press LJ
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Manacles Press was a zine press run by Megan Kent and Charlotte C. Hill from the late 1980s until 1998. It was also the American agent for Homosapien Press and the zines by Julien Bozza.

Regarding the press' name: "Manacles Press isn't quite as kinky as you would imagine from the name. Suffice to say that it's an "in" joke and don't ask us to explain it!"

About

For the most part, they sold reasonably priced, solid quality, no-frills (art, etc.,) anthology zines. For years, they were $15 in person at a con, $18 mailed.

They rarely had trouble filling a zine, since they came out frequently, were well produced and edited, and were well-promoted. They were also willing to work with first time writers. Charlotte was a solid and prolific writer herself, and wrote between 10% and 40% of each zine.

They did different "brands" for different fandoms:

• Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink for The Professionals (Issue 1 pub'd in 1992)
• McPikus Interruptus for Wiseguy
• Walking Distance for Highlander (with the subtitle -- "Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.")
• Concupiscence for Multimedia stories (Issue 1 pub'd in 1991)

They also published one-off novels. The first -- Shoshanna's Never Let Me Down (The Professionals) -- was simply produced, and looked much like their other zines. The next few, Chains of Being, a Space: Above and Beyond novel also by Shoshanna, Whisper of a Kill (The Professionals) by Lois Welling, Outrider by Leslie Fish, Professional Dreamer and others by Pam Rose, were all a bit more lavish with full-color art covers, etc.

In 2005, the publishers began posting stories from the zines to a livejournal community, manaclespress. The original intent was to publish one story per week, but only three stories ever got posted.

Word Count

Very early on, the editors were adamant about including word counts for their zines, rather than advertising page count.

From Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink #1:

A Word on Page Count.... With the incredible latitude of programs and computers, fonts, styles and formats that Very Small Presses use in fandom, we have come to the realization that 'page count' doesn't really mean anything. So...while we will still be polite and number our pages (maybe even correctly and in order), Manacles Press now and forevermore includes WORD COUNT on three, count them three, pages of its zines. We would love to solicit other editors to do the same, and we'd appreciate your response (we expect "I don't really care" to top the list. Sigh). Word count is a more accurate measure of what the reader is buying, and for MP, a way for us to start printing more ecologically, i.e. smaller, tighter formats on fewer pages that still provide as much or more story content as a larger format might. We are committed to offering you between 75,000 and 95,000 wordsof quality fiction in every zine.

The End

I appreciate all the support and feedback fans have given Manacles Press and our authors over the years. It has been a wonderful, long ride, but unfortunately it's a ride that is over now. Manacles Press zines (Concupiscence, Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink McPikus Interruptus and our various one-shot zines) are hereby declared out of print with the following exceptions: Nexer Let Me Down and Chains of Being will be distributed by their author... Zine sales will continue until all in-stock merchandise is sold. This DOES NOT APPLY to HOMOSAPION PRESS zines (Homosapien, Pure Maple Syrup and Espresso) which remain in print and will be distributed in the US; we just don't know by whom yet All rights now revert to authors for any story printed in any Manacles Press zine. The zine masters have been turned over to the Fanzine Archives and should continue to be available through that non-profit organization on a request basis. Feel free to contact the The Fanzine Archives.

Complete List of Publications

• Arabian Nights (1992)
• Chains of Being (1996)
• Concupiscence (1991-1997)
• A Consortium of Light (1992)
• McPikus Interruptus (192-1995)
• Nudge Nudge Wink Wink (1992-1995)
• Outrider (1993)
• Professional Dreamer (1992)
• Never Let Me Down (1992)
• A River That Runs Both Ways (1991)
• Walking Distance (1997)
• What If... (1992)
• Whisper of a Kill (1992)