Why a Star Trek Fanzine?
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| Title: | Why a Star Trek Fanzine? |
| Creator: | Danielle Dabbs |
| Date(s): | 1975 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TOS |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Why a Star Trek Fanzine? is a 1975 essay by Danielle Dabbs.
It was printed in Introduction to Star Trek Fanzines, a primer for new fans interested in Star Trek: TOS fanfiction where it has small illos by Alicia Austin.
Some Topics Discussed
- mentions that many fans learned about zines from being mentioned in David Gerrold's book, The Making of Star Trek
- fans were hungry for more Trek content
- James Blish's books were okay, but didn't provide what fans really wanted, nor did Star Trek: The Animated Series
- Spockanalia as a trailblazer
- the 25th Worldcon in 1967 was one of the earliest cons to have Star Trek content
- it was young people and students who propelled the first zines, as they had the time and were very literate
- mentions the effect of fans of science fiction on Star Trek fandom, how it was a money maker and increased attendance to have Star Trek programming
- fans were interested in the minutia of the Trek universe: did the the crew have coffee breaks, when did Kirk brush his teeth, whatever happened to Janice Rand?..., and fanfiction could provide that
- there's lots of name-dropping for specific stories and fan-created universes, which today would be like going viral on the socials
- zines: Spockanalia, ST Phile, Plak-Tow, T-Negative, Triskelion, Galileo 7, Overload, Star Trek Concordance, Eridani Triad, Impulse, Communication the Hard Way (this last one was referred to as "STW's Zine Publishing Information Booklet)
- individual stories: The Yeoman's Captain by Ruth Berman in T-Negative #11, Let Me Count The Ways by Judith Brownlee in Eridani Triad #2, Miranda by S.L. Anderson in Impulse #1, The Misfit by Sharon Emily in Showcase #1, Murder Trip by Theodore B. Peak in Grup #2
- universes: Kraith, Alternate Universe Four, Epilogue, Federation and Empire
- description of the work that goes into fanzines, how fans are not paid, how zines don't make money: "Who works on Star Trek fanzines? The editor's FRIENDS."
- description of printing options: mimeo, offset, and ditto
- there are three kinds of zine: fiction zines (with fiction, art, poetry), club zines, and newszines
- the limits and appeal of genre writing
- the popularity of Sarek/Amanda stories, some quotes and examples
- discussion of alien romance
- "a great deal of ST fiction is written by women, about women, for women."
From the Essay
Star Trek was popular among college students and young adults. These fans were usually quite literate and had the time to indulge their fancies and fantasies on paper. Some had the beginning of talent - undeveloped talent which might never have been awakened if some driving force had not come along. Long nights in the dorms with other Star Trek fans began to mean talking about Star Trek and telling their own script and plain story ideas to one another. Many fans acquired the taste for such stories. Some of these fans were science fiction fans also who knew about such things as amateur magazines (which have been a flourishing part of SF fan activity for decades).
The letter-writing campaigns that 'saved Star Trek' for its third season and helped put it back on now, involved not only thousands of isolated fans of the show protesting the network's and studio's action in canceling the series, but the campaign brought together ST fans from all over the country. They exchanged letters and addresses of other people who were fans of the show. The existence of the fanzines and strictly Star Trek clubs filtered down to fans who had been completely unaware of these aspects of involvement in the show. The normal fan clubs for the various actors had little monthly or yearly newsletters for their members. Among the accounts of "I met William Shatner in Chicago" and news of recent appearances ads showed up. Innocent little things like an ad for Galileo 7 or Overload. The hunger was there and the little fanzines spread the infection.
The earliest conventions for Star Trek fans were science fiction conventions (shortened to 'con'). They have been a going concern for years; and since Star Trek and science fiction bear some relation to one another, the Star Trek fans began to flock to science fiction cons in increasing numbers. NYCON III in 1967 was aghast at having a record-breaking 1500 members I The bulk of the new fans came because of Star Trek. The science fiction people put up with the 'Trekkies', thinking it just a passing fad which would soon run its course. Meanwhile it did add to science fiction coffers... Trekkies were paying customers too, so why not? [Trekkies] didn't go away. More and more conventions were finding it worth their while to include a little Star Trek in their programming. Then some East-Coast fans got the bright idea that maybe a STAR TREK CONVENTION could be a success. The first one was held. Small. One afternoon of some talks, a slide show, and everyone went home saying "Next year we'll...." The annual Star Trek cons now-days have memberships in the thousands.
It's a disease or an obsession perhaps. Why do people feel compelled to write Star Trek fiction? There isn't any good answer yet. Writing is supposed to be a form of therapy like finger-painting, a little more demanding, but it serves some of the same purpose. But then why Star Trek? Maybe because Star Trek tends to be an optimistic format oftentimes. Whatever the reason, people write it. People read it.
Star Trek-fan authors can be long winded. They seem prone to this. A magnificent obsession turns into novels. Some are good, some are bad, some have the seeds of greatness. Among these, several large projects have been the result. Most are collections of stories following a variety histories of the Star Trek characters. Also, one tremendous reference work has been published.
Star Trek fanzines are works of love. The editors try to keep up with publication promises but the trouble with the printer, or the typewriter, or getting the money for the paper, or for the printer who just raised his prices the day you came in with your zine - THINGS HAPPEN!Most times you will receive your copy of a fanzine within a month to six weeks. But don't think the editor has skipped the country if it takes up to a year for it to come. That is a little extreme, but very possible, especially with newer zines. Many editors become swamped with orders and publishing, besides having their own private lives to lead. Remember a fanzine is a work of love; if things pile up and endless complaints come in, it can be a nuisance. That causes many good editors to finally stop publishing their fanzines.
Don't throw ST fanzines away. Many times other fans will want to buy old fanzines they missed getting copies of.
Isn't Star Trek fiction awfully LIMITED? I haven't noticed it! One could say the same thing for Gothic novels, detective stories, and Greek tragedy. It's all in what you want. The Sarek-meets-Amanda story is subject to endless variations. The theme is ancient. Male meets and courts female. How many novels use that central plot with variations? The question is really why should Sarek (or Vulcans in general) be such a fascinating protagonist? Love stories bloom for every era. Regency romances abound as do medieval ones; Roman, etc. The only field which has a lack of romance is the field of science fiction. The SF stories usually revolve around a man-against-machine or man-against-society theme.
The alien lover hasn't been handled very well until lately. First off, the aliens tend to be either physically repulsive or plainly not used in the sexual theme. The bug-eyed-monster used to be bent on recreating the Sabine rape, but the rescued damsels fell in love with the human heroes who rescued them. Once in awhile an author, trying to do something different would give the plot a twist and have the girl in love with the alien, but even these didn't have the ring of truth. Identification with the girl was somewhat lacking. The aliens never came across as attractive either. Oh, the author may have said they were 'attractive;' but the feeling wasn't there.