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Posted: 08-06-2010 11:10 Post subject: New IHTM magbook in development!

Those of you who've been following all things Fortean Times for a while now might be aware that we've recently put out a couple of magbooks collecting together readers' IHTM stories. We've just started work on another one, but we're running out of stories that we can recycle from the pages of FT. So, this section of the message boards being a fantastic fount of weirdness, we'd really like your help. If you've read a post on here that's struck you as particularly strange and deserving of a wider audience - or, indeed, if you've had a paranormal, mysterious or just plain odd experience yourself - then we'd be hugely grateful if you could let us know, either by PM'ing me, or emailing me at my FT address - jen_ogilvie@dennis.co.uk. Let's get this weirdness out there!

Thanks loads
Jen

Posted: 10-06-2010 06:00 Post subject:

I hope the magbooks are successful (not my cup of tea I'm afraid).

Why not take the plunge and tap into the vast store of longer, in-depth serious articles and submissions that have been published in edited form over the years and publish them in their entirity in a compendium? Many of the topics released in Fortean Studies years ago warrant updating and re-publishing.

Like many loyal readers, I'm not interested in the "fortean-lite" magbooks you've released so far, but would snap-up more "scholarly" products in an instant.

Posted: 10-06-2010 07:03 Post subject:

Considering that the Fortean Times subscriptions per year would be near $100 here, I'd rather publish my own book and get royalties from it. I'm all for getting the information out there, but it scares me when a corporation can get that much money from me, without actually DOING ANYTHING.

Posted: 18-06-2010 09:32 Post subject:

Don't quite understand the last point; surely you pay a subscription in return for receiving magazines... and that's what the 'corporation' (by which I assume you mean either FT or Dennis Publishing), er, does. I might well quibble about the price of a US sub (seems to be $79.99) but I don't see that I could argue that I had received 'nothing' in return for it.

Posted: 18-06-2010 20:09 Post subject:

I think that MercuryCrest objects to the idea of profiting from a compilation of short articles for which no royalties are paid to the contributors.

Posted: 22-06-2010 07:33 Post subject:

I must admit, that is exactly what I mean, Arthur.

It's kinda like those books of poetry. You know the ones I mean; where practically every child who sends something in is included...then they charge you $80 for a copy because they know your parents or grandparent will buy simply because you're in it.

Again, I do enjoy FT; as a matter-of-fact, I just found out where I can get it monthly without a subscription. Still, IHTM stories and the like belong (as far as I am concerned) solely to the contributors, hence they should be paid royalties.

I'm a little bitter because I explained some things to someone who seemed genuinely interested, then they embellished the hell out of what I told them and subsequently included those same embellished stories in a book.

Never was I told that these would be published; never was I told that my words would be twisted and sensationalized.

I'm not accusing FT of that...it's merely why I became so damned sensitive about the information I present.

...and that, then, would be the point of this post... Smile

Posted: 24-06-2010 05:25 Post subject:

I consider the IHTM books the raw reports/data so beloved of Forteans, as opposed to books of folklore, ULs, and the like, which people read for fun, or books by writers who are trying to make reports fit some sort of agenda. I certainly look forward to more stories given in the percipients' own (hopefully non-embellished) words.

And why can't there be Fortean Studies as well, for deeper analyses? Seems like an IHTM book could be put together fairly easily -- then a large chunk of time could be devoted to Studies.

Posted: 29-06-2010 20:55 Post subject:

I bought IHTM 2 last year, because I love the IHTM section of the board and I love the section of the magazine (except the recent but thankfully short-lived enthusiasm for the initialism QCC, possibly the most pointless acronym ever created). Here are a couple of (constructive) criticisms.

i) £7.99? Are you taking the piss?

ii) 'All material (c) Dennis Publishing Ltd, licensed by Felden 2009, and may not be reproduced in any form without the consent of the publishers.' Charming.

iii) The A5 size is not a good visiblility strategy, especially considering the tendency of WHSmith to cram it down behind 'Build Your Own Debutante Cats in Bomber Jackets Monthly'.

iv) The visual and visceral impact of the thing would be immeasurably improved by commisioning a few artists to provide the illustrations*. rather than the one designer using the same digitally manipulated technique used throughout. Not that it's a bad technique, it just gets really boring.

/edit *but not the ones who work for paranormal magazine. please.

Posted: 20-09-2010 15:20 Post subject:

How do we find out if something we have posted on the IHTM board ended up in the first Mag, or is going in the 2nd one??

Posted: 15-11-2010 13:53 Post subject:

A couple of comments:

How is 'are you taking the piss' a constructive comment?

Why are people surprised that they cannot make money from postings on an online public forum which are freely attributed to their authors in a later publication. If this was the case, academics would not publish books which reference others' works or even quotes.

Posted: 15-11-2010 23:15 Post subject:

I'm slightly surprised over the animosity displayed regarding an effort to put together a collection of IHTM pieces in order to bring in some money to help finance a website that facilitates our interests.

I for one would object if I felt the "Corporation" were taking us for a ride or simply not recognising ownership of a piece of writing. But they are not.

I think Dennis publishing do a decent job of producing the FT mag, and as a result I buy it. The money they make from it helps run this site, and for that I'm thankful.

In a World of corporate bxllshxt and sales spin I think it easy to point the finger and cry "rip off!" rather than recognise a company for achieving a good mix of profitability, sustainability and a good writing.

Have I ever bought a IHTM mag? No. Will I? No. But if they produce something that people want to buy and it brings fascination to an audience outside of us...then bring it on. I "found" FT because of it's IHTM section, and I don't doubt these IHTM mags will bring more readers to the FT mag in general. It gets my blessing even if I don't buy it.

Posted: 16-11-2010 07:26 Post subject:

One of my stories is in one of the IHTM books. The authors asked me if they could use it and whether I wanted my full name attached. All very proper.

I didn't mind, it's a laugh. Laughing

Posted: 16-11-2010 07:30 Post subject:

I've got all three of the IHTM books and a jolly good read they are, too! Very Happy

Posted: 16-11-2010 15:13 Post subject:

Posted: 31-01-2013 22:18 Post subject:

got all 5 ... freaking love these books ... ihtm is the heartland of the fortean times