New "The Bootroom"-like FM Webzine - Any Interest?

Hello all,

I've been speaking to other forum users over the last few days about the possibility of setting up a new fanzine-like website for the FM community. Something similar to The Bootroom, which I'm sure many of you have read at some stage. The main reason I'm posting this up here is just to see how many of you would be interested in a FM webzine being made. I saw a topic asking about the disappearance of The Bootroom a week or so ago - that's when I was given the impression that this may be a good idea.

It was suggested that maybe instead of going down the route of making it a downloadable fanzine like The Bootroom was, we could have it hosted on a website. I'd just like to know what's everyone's opinion on this? I personally would prefer it in this format but if the general consensus is that it should be in pdf forum, it's worth considering changing our minds. Before you ask, Jez at Lespacio (some of you may know him as TheOriginalJez on these boards) is willing to host this site for us if it goes ahead.

Again, if enough interest is generated to make this webzine worthwhile, we're going to need some help from you guys in writing up the content for the site. At the moment, we have a list of about five people or so that'd be willing to write a bit for us from time to time. Unfortunately most of these people don't have a lot of time on their hands, so we really need the help of you to make this project work out. So, if anyone is interested in helping us get this site up and running, it'd be great if you could let me know in this thread.

Any ideas or suggestions regarding this website would be very much welcome.

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http://jezchat.com/fm/

There is set to be a version for the CSE forum Alan from the end of next month.

There is set to be a version for the CSE forum Alan from the end of next month.

Oh right, is that just for CSE or FM in general? There wouldn't be much point of making this webzine if it's the latter.

Not sure. There is a thread in the CSE forum about it.

I've had a read through it. From the look of it, it's for CSE specifically.

I think that there will be enough interest that the fanzine can be successful.

I'm in dude. Have a couple of idea's up my sleeve (and one tucked somewhere else that I don't talk about)

Yeah Ill glead throw my weight behind the idea and can offer some help to this

As the designer of 'The Bootroom' I can honestly say I really enjoyed it and it was very popular. However, there was no getting away from the fact it was bloody hard work and involved several people - as you can't really charge money for the work it becomes very demanding. A few of the key members just ran out of time to write and as a result I was not able to carry the 'fanzine' on my own.

I think, as far as amateur efforts go, ours was by far the best example of a FM fanzine, and if the support and writing team was together, writing quality articles then I'd be very happy to get back on board.

As time went on, finding QUALITY articles to create and not stealing articles from the forum was difficult. I'd be up for helping if I can - I will PM you.

I would love this:thup:

What would this mag contain?

What would this mag contain?

Nothing's been decided yet, and that includes whether we're actually going ahead with it or not. Some categories that come to mind:

- Game reviews

- Tactics

- Extras/Skins/Downloads etc

- Challenge Reviews

- Hints & Tips

- Fansite reviews

- Rumours/News

Nothing's been decided yet, and that includes whether we're actually going ahead with it or not. Some categories that come to mind:

- Game reviews

- Tactics

- Extras/Skins/Downloads etc

- Challenge Reviews

- Hints & Tips

- Fansite reviews

- Rumours/News

Sounds sweet as a nut:D

Consider me in:thup:

just to reiterate, there can never be enough people - like ginger suggested it's gonna a lot of work to keep this going so the more people the better. It doesn't have to be just writing articles - we'll need people to proofread and help with the ideas for each edition among other things. so even if you're not sure please send a pm to alan or me so we can get everyone together

Also never enough interest - if you want to keep up with progress so we can let you know if/when this'll be starting: clicky here

This sounds highly interesting and I wouldn't mind being involved. I have the time.

I'll definitely get involved.

This was my idea but nice to see that people are following it up.

I myself would prefer a pdf but wouldn't mid if everyone else wanted a webpage.

I would probably offer help.

This was my idea but nice to see that people are following it up.

I myself would prefer a pdf but wouldn't mid if everyone else wanted a webpage.

I would probably offer help.

Erm - what was? If you mean this [potential] fanzine then I don't think it was?

great idea mate would love this. (y)

Nothing's been decided yet, and that includes whether we're actually going ahead with it or not. Some categories that come to mind:

- Game reviews

- Tactics

- Extras/Skins/Downloads etc

- Challenge Reviews

- Hints & Tips

- Fansite reviews

- Rumours/News

There is already stuff like this though isn't there?

eg wiki fm

There is already stuff like this though isn't there?

eg wiki fm

That's a good point Cityull. However, I think some people may like to have something that reads like a magazine as opposed to the website layout. I could be completely wrong here mind, that's just my assumption.

I myself would prefer a pdf but wouldn't mid if everyone else wanted a webpage.

At first, I thought that pdf would be the way to go as well, but I was convinced by others that hosting the magazine on a website would be better. Now - that doesn't mean that it'll look like any old FM website. It'll hopefully still have the look and feel of a fanzine like the bootroom. Sorry for the poor explanaton, it's hard to explain. Jez will probably be able to give a better explanation as he's the one designing the site.

Erm - what was? If you mean this [potential] fanzine then I don't think it was?

I get you ahmufcwafc.

I hope we can get enough people so this can get off the ground

He posted a thread a few weeks back asking about fanzines.

Oh right, OK then

Apologies, soulz

This was my idea but nice to see that people are following it up.

I myself would prefer a pdf but wouldn't mid if everyone else wanted a webpage.

I would probably offer help.

Taking it away from pdf was my idea so I should probably account for myself

First of all let me add as it's sticking to cyclic releases in the current plan there's no reason why PDF updates can't accompany the website updates assuming someone has the time to collate.

My reasoning for suggesting it the way I have is that I think in order to keep decent readership and people coming back we need an interactive side to it - especially as we're not the bootroom and we are operating primarily off SIForums. The blog-style presentation of the individual articles (note, the homepage and links would have a more 'magazine' feel) allows for direct comments on the articles, if the same people keep to specific areas it allows for a natural progression that would allow people to read through articles as they please rather than having to search through different pdfs etc, it also means that people can read it from work without having to download anything (but like I said, no reason why they can't have a choice there!)

I'm planning to have some forums setup this weekend for discussion on the first edition and all of this so if everyone who wants to take part drops a pm to ahmufcwafc or myself then we'll let you know how to get onto it when it's ready

Like I've already told you, I'd be interested in doing this, and would be happy to either write up articles, do proof reading or sort out apperance of it.

The Bootroom was real decent. It came about just when I started playing FM. Always cool to take a break and read an article or two.

What's more: Giving FM's enormous size I think it'd be not the worst of ideas for SI to step in and to fully support The Super Furry Glorious FM Mag, whilst still allowing the editors to keep the content fully independent from SI - can't think of any reason why anyone'd be interested in what would be a glorified ad booklet else. There's obviously an obscene amount of time that goes into building a semi-decent magazine, and some actual support could very well keep things from breaking apart after a handful of issues.

In turn this could also encourage decent more writers to jump aboard the project, probably non-English ones too - whilst The Bootroom never limited coverage to Prem League football and clubs, it was still pretty obvious from the content that most of the writers were English.

and it dies away again

I just don't think people have the time for this

Think Ginger should be heading this as the bootroom was pure class and really enjoyed it. Don't think it should be a case of....It was my idea!!!! Would love to see articles from Rashidi, Cleon, WWFan, Sfraser etc.

Think Ginger should be heading this as the bootroom was pure class and really enjoyed it. Don't think it should be a case of....It was my idea!!!! Would love to see articles from Rashidi, Cleon, WWFan, Sfraser etc.

Hmmm, if the Bootroom really was "pure class", shouldn't Ginger be heading that, rather than stealing in on a new suggestion? Not that he is, but it seems unfair to say "yeah get Ginger in and make him the lead man", when, by all accounts, his "pure class" mag is dead.

As for articles from WWFan etc, a majority are already on here so this fanzine would just be a paper copy of the SI forums more interesting threads. This needs to be new, interesting and appealing.

This needs to be new, interesting and appealing.

I don't really think we are going to achieve that to be honest. What is there to write about? There are guide on pretty much everything about somewhere, be it on here, sortitoutsi or loswonderkids.

I for one would be very happy to have Ginger on board, however I think it should be 'headed' by the essential community that builds it. It's not a full time job for anyone so it'd be silly to put everything on one person - Alan's doing a good job trying to get everything together at the moment. I assure you it's not dying away - just that people are working on the very basics right now, and others are very busy with erm "real life"

Looking forward to taking part in this.

Something worthwhile to do before I head off to college in September.

I think we shouldn't let it be dominated by any individual community. If we had the head honcos of tactics writing all the articles, presumably about tactics, then they'd be very bland (the articles, that is). We need a varitity of article, on players, general hints and guides, and discussion.

I think we shouldn't let it be dominated by any individual community. If we had the head honcos of tactics writing all the articles, presumably about tactics, then they'd be very bland (the articles, that is). We need a varitity of article, on players, general hints and guides, and discussion.

Are you offering to help?

I offered long ago when discussing this in private with Alan and forgot to post in here until now.

Don't take what I said personally, Fraser. My point was that tactics on every page wouldn't lead to an intersting read, neither would any one topic dominating the zine. Tactics should be included- preferably newer theories than the long established slider methodology of TT&F, not that there's anything wrong with it, but because I don't think that stuff is as "readable" as a discussion on timewasting or how to set up a libero (I know TT&F encompasses these things and we could definately use what it says if we got wwfanand millie's permission, but a great big c&p would be bad).

I'm in, guys.

Will be happy to help with everything.

Once again, if everyone offering could drop a pm to alan or myself, we have some forums setup for the purposes of letting more discussion go on so we can let you on

I was part of the editorial team for The Bootroom and I was also a writer for the original SI Bootroom (hence SI allowing us to use the name) - so I would like to offer a little insight into our experience (at least I hope it's insightful).

Decide what you want to achieve

Our editorial approach was to entertain first and inform second. The traditional magazine format (or pdf version of it!) supported this approach as it encouraged people to read cover to cover, including articles they would never have sought out on a website. This is not to say that a website format cannot be as good or even better, it just suited us and I want people to understand the rationale behind the fanzine.

SI bashing has become a popular hobby and whilst much of the criticism aimed at FM was/still is perfectly valid, our aim was to further enjoyment of the game, not bludgeon it to death - we would only have been repeating what a multitude of forums had already covered (quite well in some instances) and that would not have been entertaining.

I know that some people felt we should have gone further in demanding answers or action from SI, but we took a 'hide the medicine in the juicy steak' approach to criticism. This approach is what I think made us different. We aimed to be thought provoking rather than controversial. As I said at the start, entertain first. Hopefully the quality of writing helped too!

Getting articles

I'm very much a fan of creating regular features and assigning writers to specific areas. To me, lack of focus or direction was one of the main reasons the SI Bootroom that preceded us petered out. Writers were free to write about any FM or football related subject. Without specific areas of responsibility, eventually no-one wrote about anything.

The first issue of the pdf Bootroom was written by five people and the editor (betterspud) brought in more writers as we went on. I wrote around a third of all the articles for all the issues, which meant guaranteed regular features. The remainder of the articles featured a revolving door of writers, with only two or three regular contributors. The moral of the story is if you need 15 articles, aim for 30, as some won't be finished in time, some won't make it past first draft, some won't fit the approach and some will never even get started.

Once betterspud left, that left Ginger and I trying to pick up the slack in chasing up writers, once I could no longer contribute that put a huge hole in the number of articles. Do not under estimate how difficult it is to get enough articles. I guess this also highlights a downside to assigning regular features as it really hurts when someone leaves, so plan for that happening!

Editorial team

Following that last point on, one person alone cannot be responsible. We had three, an editor, a sub-editor and a designer. All three require massive man hours in organising/chasing up (betterspud), writing/proofing/editing (me) and design/layout/sourcing images (Ginger).

...and a reply

Hmmm, if the Bootroom really was "pure class", shouldn't Ginger be heading that, rather than stealing in on a new suggestion? Not that he is, but it seems unfair to say "yeah get Ginger in and make him the lead man", when, by all accounts, his "pure class" mag is dead.

You are not fully aware of the situation, so the comment is a little unfair. As stated above, we had three people on the editorial team.

I took over the editor's role from betterspud and was working on writers and articles for issue five. However, my wife fell pregnant and was very ill in the first trimester and has continued to have a difficult pregnancy. Our first child was in serious danger during the birth and my wife lost enough blood then to affect this pregnancy too, so I took the decision to put my time and energy into ensuring the health and wellbeing of my family rather than spend 60-100 hours per issue. This happened before I was able to get things in a decent position to hand over.

The fact that the "mag is dead" is not down to Ginger, but the loss of two thirds of the editorial team and most of the regular features. Don't base judgement of his ability on me leaving him without a viable prospect. Ginger is well worth having on the editorial team, and that is from first hand experience and not speculation.

If this is to succeed, and I sincerely hope it does, it won't be on the basis of dismissing those that have already been there and learnt valuable lessons.

Great news !

I loved working on the fanzine and I felt it was really getting close to being a very professional and reputable piece of work. It was great to see it grow and I was very proud to be a part of all that. Playmaker and Betterspud were fantastic to work with and I was delighted to have been involved with them.

If there was enough interest and enough writers willing to put the time and effort needed into getting good quality articles together I would try and jump back in and help in any way I could. Trouble is finding great articles that have not been copied word for word on here. We tried to create fresh articles, but its nigh-on impossible when you consider all of the articles and posts on this forum. If someone were to just want the OFT best bits in a fanzine then it would be easily done, but I really don't think that's what the majority wanted.

Have pm'd Alan with a batch of ideas and offerer of a small level of assistance, but have just thought of another idea, so I'll post it here:

How about a 'back in the real world' (for want of a better title) feature, whereby community-members write about the club that they support, the trials and tribulations of following their real-world club?

That could have lots of interesting articles from all around the world, at all different levels of football, which could be fascinating. You could include photos, a bit of video, whatever...

To go with that, how about a 'Tipped for Stardom' column too, similarly with a real-world focus with accounts of a player's heroics, from clubs all over the planet? Mouthwatering!

The nice thing about those columns, is you wouldn't be relying on 1 or 2 writers to take on the responsibility of providing articles on a regular basis... these would be a true community-feature, and a way of engaging the FM community in your project that doesn't just seek to deliver everything to them, but encourages participation in the fanzine, too, and gives you a wide resource-base for columns like this.

I think them ideas are class anton (Y)

I know but isn't there FM WIKI for all that, or am I mistaken?

As I see it, FM Wiki is a source of information about the game itself as released, the fanzine would involve more opinions, in depth looks at areas and general entertainment... if it ever gets off the ground it would primarily be made as a 'good read' rather than a bank of information.

I don't really think we are going to achieve that to be honest. What is there to write about? There are guide on pretty much everything about somewhere, be it on here, sortitoutsi or loswonderkids.

With all due respect, and I don't mean this in a nasty way, if that's the case, what's the point? I love the idea of a fanzine, but you have to remember that your target market are the people on this forum, people who have access to;

- Game reviews

- Tactics

- Extras/Skins/Downloads etc

- Challenge Reviews

- Hints & Tips

All in more depth than any fanzine could ever acheive. If it was to be made available to people that don't already have access, then fair enough, but essentially it sounds like a pdf of the useful links thread atm.

With all due respect, and I don't mean this in a nasty way, if that's the case, what's the point? I love the idea of a fanzine, but you have to remember that your target market are the people on this forum, people who have access to;

All in more depth than any fanzine could ever acheive. If it was to be made available to people that don't already have access, then fair enough, but essentially it sounds like a pdf of the useful links thread atm.

We cvould maybe get a link to it on the FM website?

That way, you could get it out to the gamers who dont use the forums.

That way, you could get it out to the gamers who dont use the forums.

If anyone is savvy enough to check a website, they are likely to check a forum as well tbh.