Nova (Star Trek: TOS zine)

Zine
Title:	Nova
Publisher:	first S.T.A.R., then a group of fans for charity, then.... nobody
Editor(s):
Type:
Date(s):	early to mid-1970s
Medium:	print
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS
Language:	English
External Links:
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Nova was a zine that never published.

It was planned to help pay off the bills owned to many fans by the demise of S.T.A.R..

A Rumor

From an exchange in July 1977 in Spectrum #33:

Dear Fandom Annie: I heard, long ago, from the grapevine that S.T.A.R. was going to published a fanzine/book called NOVA which was supposed to be a super-colossal fanzine with articles and artwork by pros and fans alike, with the intent of paying off the former debts and subscriptions owed by S.T.A.R. I even heard rumors to the effect that some people have seen the artwork from NOVA, and there might even be copies of it that really exist. Is NOVA just an unfounded myth like Noah's ark, or is there such a thing? -- Myth-fied Fan

Dear Myth-ified: While I am sure that nowhere in the Bible does it say "and the ground clave asunder and swallowed up NOVA," the result is just the same. As I understand it, NOVA was intended to be an appeasement from S.T.A.R. to all of the people who were left hanging, still owed $$'s worth of something or other, Babels, club memberships, whatever. This was, I believed, well over a year ago, probably closer to two. Every now and then I hear vague rumblings or a new rumor that someone has seen a cover, a chapter, something, anything, to signify that NOVA really is going to exist. I personally think we'll witness the Second Coming first, and believe me,Id be happy to be wrong since I lost my hard-earned ¢a$h there too. For those of you who have been similarly 'deprived" — that is, those to whom Bastas/S.T.A.R./Et. A1 still owe something to, please get in touch with Ron Frantz P.O. Box 95171, Oklahoma City, OK 731091. WSA is a consumer protection group for fans, formed by fans. They are currently investigating just what, if anything, these people plan to do about NOVA and would appreciate hearing from anyone who is owed. Please include details such as copies of checks that have been cancelled and all pertinent dates.

An Explanation

In August 1977, Sharon Ferraro Short gave a lengthy explanation of why S.T.A.R. failed, as well as the status of the zine "Nova" in The 1977 S.T.A.R. Letter by Sharon.

An excerpt:

Encouraged by Bjo Trimble and other fen, we tried to find a solution — a way to fulfill all the subscriptions without bankrupting either ourselves or boojums Press...and maybe raising enough money to pay for the project in the long run. (FYI—The STAR Central committee members in their work for the group activities, have each spent upwards of $1,000 of their own money and all the money sent to STAR was used for STAR.) We had hoped to save the newsletter, but that turned out to be impossible. In September of 1975, we (The Bastas, Paula Smith, myself, Bjo Trimble and others) decided that a possible solution was the production of a super zine, something that would be a special item that all the subscribers (or most anyway) to Star Borne would be willing to accept as fulfillment of their subscription. We would send the copies of the zine to subscribers automatically for no additional cost and print enough that the extra copies would pay for the free copies. All we needed was a complete list of current "owed something" subscribers. We finally got it nearly a year later. Meanwhile, Bjo and others began assembling art and writing — from Austin, Ellison, Gerrold, and any others. Phil Foglio illustrated Paula's new Primer (The KalaMenagerie) and by the end of 1976, it was ready — typed and laid out ready to print — it had been scratched as a project of STAR — we couldn't do it for a lot of reasons. It was decided that it would be produced anyway and profits donated to a charity — preferably fannish. Bjo Trimble had volunteered to have it printed in Los Angeles and finally, this summer 1977, it has been shipped to LA. Hopefully by the end of the year NOVA will be available to fans at conventions and possibly through the mail. That is where it stands now. I hope it explains a little.

In January 1978, M.J. Fisher wrote:

Dear Sharon - Seeing, in this case — seeing NOVA in the mailbox — is believing. But I tend to think that the age of miracles has passed.