Zendom (mailing list)

Mailing List
Name:	Zendom
Date(s):	2001-2004 (almost no posts after that)
Moderated:	yes
Moderators/List Maintainers:	Seema
Founder(s):
Type:	meta
Fandom:	Multiple Fandoms
URL:	Zendom, Archived version
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post history

Zendom was a multi-fandom mailing list that ran from 2001 to approximately 2004.

The focus of the mailing list ranged through a wide variety of media topics of interest to fandom such as beta editing, fan etiquette, fanfic recommendations and RPF fanfiction. Some of the discussions were put into essay format and published at the Zendom (webzine) blog.

The mailing list billed itself as "Zen fandom: the sound of one fan griping."

Others described the list (tongue in cheek): "Oh, zendom is open to all comers, all fandoms, provided they read the BOFQ essay and get over it."

The mailing list sprang from a Star Trek: TNG mailing list that eventually shut down. As one of the moderators explained:

"Then that list died, and from the ashes, Zendom was born..... Zendom's early discussion centred around Real Person Fic, which led to a challenge from Lori to Seema. Seema obediently wrote two RPFs, "How an Ensign Became a Pool Boy" and "The Poolboy Diaries"."

The mailing list also hosted a Pan-Fandom survey titled: "If posting is publishing, is your choice of where to post marketing? Fanfic fans and writers talk a lot about getting and giving feedback. We wondered if where you post your fiction affects the feedback you get."

Reactions/Reviews

" Back before I got on LJ, back before I joined any Buffy yahoo groups, back before everything else, was my first fandom, Classic Star Trek.

I met some truly amazing writers back in my Trek days. I hung out on alt.startrek.creative which is where I found some truly excellent fic and got hooked up with Zendom. Zendom was a nifty discussion group/blog where all manner of meta and such was discussed, and I often felt out of my depth as I read through the Very Intelligent discussions there.

One thing they did there that I would like to see become common place in fandom was Beta Reader Appreciation Day (link).....

Threes: The Beta Version © 2000 Editrix

Deep inside the manuscript, miles from real life's call,

The beta goes a-traveling, to starship, keep, and hall:

Armed with pencil bluer than the bluest lake or sky,

"Tracking changes" software, and her keen all-seeing eye.

Three things betas save us from:

The dreaded "told not shown,"

The tenses mixed without intent,

The scene that's not our own.

Little does the beta care for sleep or drink or food:

She shepherds us through case and clause and the subjunctive mood.

Oh, fandoms may grow cold and dark, and Muses turn their backs:

The beta reader buckles down and covers all our tracks.

Three things are most perilous:

A blond-haired golden Kirk

A weepy, girly Mr. Spock

A villain who's a jerk.

On newsgroups and on lists we post our newly minted fics

With pounding hearts we steel ourselves for readers' stones and sticks:

And when the praise is heaped upon our efforts brave and bright,

We sing our betas' glories throughout the star struck night.

Of three things be wary:

The dangler unattached

The adverbs that proliferate

The howlers we can't catch.

Oh, all you beta rea--ders standing close at hand

Who lay aside your own fine work to help us understand

The truth about the story, and the poem, and the song--

Blessings, peace, and joy to you. Prosper and live long!

Three things trust above all else:

The Muse who's never lied

The character who speaks to you

The beta at your side.

Authors note: In honor of Beta Reader Appreciation Day, October 13, 2000. With thanks and apologies to Mercedes Lackey, Leslie Fish, and the 3,734 people who've already filked "Threes" in every fandom, genre, and profession. Sing along, folks--y'all know the tune and the scansion.