Personal Statement

Synonyms:
See also:	Open Letter
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Some info zines, such as Datazine and Scuttlebutt, had a regular section called where fans could post personal statements, information for other fans. A personal statement is not the same as address changes, want ads, or other miscellaneous fannish business.

Personal statements were the last resort for fans to recoup money or goods from other fans, where fans warned other fans about unscrupulous fannish happenings, for fans to announce they were leaving fandom, for fans to officially disassociate from other fans in regards to prior relationships regarding zine editing, for zine eds to apologize to fans for zines that were slow in production, for zine eds to ask for lost tribber's addresses as they were owed a zine, and for zine eds to announce zines would not be completed.

Relationship to Open Letters

While there are several similarities between personal statements and open letters, a personal statement is is much more concerned with the minutia of fannish concerns.

Examples of Use

• "We owe [name redacted] of Norfolk, VA a contrib copy of Sublight Reading. We've sent a querying postcard to her last known address with no response. Anyone knowing her whereabouts is invited to get involved and help us give this lady her due and lawful property."

• "Because of unforeseen problems (the new editor bit off more than she could chew), "Maiden Voyages" is no longer a separate fanzine, but will be a section in Ship to Shore"

• "For some reason, there are people who seem to think that it was Paula Smith and her parody of 'Proof Positive' that influenced me to retreat. NOT SO!! As a matter of fact, Paula and Sharon Ferraro have both expended much time, effort, phone bills, and postage seek to get get me to change my mind about retreating. Let it go on record here that Paula sent a copy of her parody to me BEFORE she sent it for consideration by any editor, promising me that she wouldn't release it if I felt it would harm me in any way. Actually, to have one's work parodied is one of the finest compliments a writer can receive... Paula and Sharon are individuals that I'm honored to call Star Trek fandom friends, and I hope this statement will end the rumors."

• "As some of you may be aware, we had a problem with the binding of Nome #4; some people who bought their copy at the New York con in February may have found that their zine fell apart with very little provocation. We would like to apologize to those people for the sloppy job our printer did, and will promise that you that we will do our best to make sure that never happens again."

• "For the past year... I have been trying to market the Ragnarok stories that originally appeared in a SW universe of fanfiction of my own invention. With two novels finished and three in draft, my agent feels I have a very good chance of selling the entire Cycle. This means I am forced to immediately pull all fanfiction that treats or refers to the Ragnorak and any character associated with the Ragnarak in order to protect my interests. The only exceptions I've made are with the zines that had already gone to press when I made this decision. Under no circumstances will any reprints of Ragnarok material be permitted. I ask everyone to please remember that Ragnarok, unlike ST and SW, is not yet 'in the public domain.' and even the most innocent of infringements on the Ragnarok material and my copyrights may adversely affect my health and welfare."

• "I hereby give notice that I am no longer associated with Caliburn Press or with any of its originators, [two names redacted]. No zine henceforward published by either of these persons separately or together, should be presumed to include me on its staff, and no debts and/or enmities incurred by them should be directed against me."

• "Does anyone know the whereabouts and status of the zine, Grup Collected, which I ordered three years ago and have not received?"