In the interest of clarity, here are a few thoughts I've had regarding how I'd like things to run at This Ain't The Summer Of Love:
I've never actually run an endeavor like this before, so I imagine there's going to be something of a learning curve for me. As a creative person, I tend to prefer leaving things as open-ended as possible in my collaborations. That stems from not wanting to step on toes, cramp anyone's style, etc. And while the loosey-goosey approach often works out fairly well, it's been brought to my attention that it's not always the best route to take. (As my lovely fiancée has ever so gently reminded me, I have a tendency to believe that everyone else will approach problems in the same way I would, which has resulted in some miscommunication in the past.)
So, here goes -
The two main rules
1) Your post must deal with music made during the seventies. You can write directly about a band, tell an anecdote about how a certain album affected your life, base a piece of fiction on a song, etc. Go nuts. (Nothing that will expose either of us to slander/libel laws, please.) But the meat of the piece must deal with music from the 1970s.
2) It must also be music that you genuinely like. No irony, no camp, no “it’s so bad it’s good”. None of that. Also I’d like to avoid the strictly negative hit piece. We all know that The Eagles suck dead donkey ass through a Crazy Straw. There’s no need, twenty-some years on, to point that out yet again. (If, however, you wish to write a totally sincere, well-thought-out defense of that band, I’m willing to at least consider it.) No genre is off limits; while I’ve never had much time for disco myself, it was a part of the 70s sound and should probably be represented.
Some other stuff:
Editing
I am nominally the editor here. That said, I'm not going to start rearranging anyone's copy any time soon. I reserve the right to add the (very) occasional editor's note, and to fix small typos. (Editor's notes will always be attached to the beginning of an author's first post, as an introduction.) For any other changes that might be necessary (possible factual errors & the like), I will consult you before proceeding. Honestly, though, I don't foresee much of that coming up.
If you are not someone I personally know or have corresponded with in the past, send me a sample of your work. It can be something you've posted elsewhere, or something specifically for use here. If it seems like a good fit, you'll recieve an invitation to join as what Typapad calls a junior author. All that means is that your posts will have to be approved by me before they appear on the site. Once I get to know you a little better, you'll become a guest author and will be able to post directly to the site.
Frequency of publishing
The way things are now, I'd like to have at least one new piece up per week. That's for the site in general – there are no personal quotas or deadlines. I've seen some sites that require a commitment of one new piece per author per week, which is absolutely ridiculous. All of us have lives, and I'd hate for this to become a grind for anyone.
A philosophical point
One pitfall I'd like to avoid is the "things were better then/everything sucks now" line of argument. If we go down that road we open ourselves up to charges of rockism & other such stuff. It just makes it too easy for people to dismiss what we're doing, and that would not be a good thing.
Also, it's simply not true. Some things were indeed better then, and some are better now. There is still a fair amount of good music being made these days – you just have to hunt a little harder for it sometimes.
Given the nature of our subject matter, it will be difficult to avoid nostalgia at times, if not downright impossible. That's fine, although if we become purely nostalgia merchants then I think we'll have failed. It's one thing to say, "Hey, foo was pretty good, you should check it out", and quite another to say " Foo was the best ever, and all you kids playing bar these days don't know shit". I have certainly indulged myself that way in the past, and I will probably do it again at some point. But I don't want to do it here, if it can be avoided.
There are a few more housekeeping-like details that we'll get into once you're on board. Thanks for your interest in our little project.
Your pal,
bmarkey
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