Nerdfighter Magazine - We're not dead and we have issue #3! (Updated - 03/01/13)

AReasonToWriteHome

The Anglerfish

Welcome to the Anglerfish, the first ever (at least that we're aware of) Nerdfighter magazine!  We're still in the very early stages of making this a thing, but expect the first issue out by the end of December.  Keep checking back once in a while and we'll be sure to keep you up to date with all that we're doing.

How you can help:

We're searching for science writers, think you have what it takes?  Emails us with a little information about yourself and why you think you would be fit for the job :D

If that doesn't sound like it would be down your alley, here are some other ways you can contribute:

Nerdfighter Spotlight - Are you a musician who wants to get a wider audience?  A writer who wants to get their stories into more people's hands?  Or are you doing something awesome to decrease worldsuck?  If so, we'd like to interview you for our Nerdfighter Spotlight!  Just send us an email telling us a little about yourself and we'll add you to the list!  To make things a little easier on us, be sure to put 'Nerdfighter Spotlight' as the title.

Thoughts From Places - We all know and love John and Hank's Thoughts From Places videos, so we thought we would bring those to you in written form!  Do you live in an awe-inspiring place or went on a trip that was thought provoking?  We'd love to hear from you.  Just email us your written Thoughts From Places and we might just put it in one of our up-coming issues!  Bonus points if you can attach some pictures to go along with it.  Also, be sure to have 'Thoughts From Places' in the title of your email.

Art/Lit Submissions - Last but not least, we are going to have Nerdfighter submitted art and writing in every issue!  Feel free to send us your poetry, short stories, or art along with a little about yourself and we'll put it in an upcoming issue.  Please be sure to title your email 'Art' if it's art or 'Writing' if it's written.  Or submit it to our Tumblr at theanglerfishmagazine.tumblr.com!

Advice - Having a hard time and need some help?  Or maybe you just need to get something off your chest?  No worries, we'd like to give you some advice.  Every issue we'll have an advice column, so feel free to send anything you might need advice on!  Just email us with your problem, make sure to use 'Advice' as the title, and we'll help you out.

Don't forget to be awesome and best wishes!

-Brandon

Editor-in-Chief/Managing Editor

Contact us:

Email - theanglerfishmagazine@gmail.com

Facebook - www.facebook.com/theanglerfish

Twitter - www.twitter.com/anglerfishzine

Tumblr - theanglerfishmagazine.tumblr.com

Update - 12/09/12:

The Anglerfish is searching for Graphic Designers!  Send us an email at theanglerfishmagazine@gmail.com along with an example of your work.  Please, if you're interested, we ask that you are able to put enough time and commitment into the project.

TheUncannyAnna

Yo, I'm completely on board with this idea. We should definitely do book/movie/CD reviews, not just of things Nerdfighters typically like, but of obscure and up-and-coming artists/writers as well.

AReasonToWriteHome

TheUncannyAnna said:

Yo, I'm completely on board with this idea. We should definitely do book/movie/CD reviews, not just of things Nerdfighters typically like, but of obscure and up-and-coming artists/writers as well.

Reviews would be awesome.  I was thinking we could also do essays or advice columns as well.

potterwhovian

Awesome idea. In the Facebook comments I mentioned having a portion of it devoted to recent events in nerd culture, which could be a thing. Before we do anything, we should probably determine who'll be reading the paper. From what I understand, it'll be New York-based, but not entirely devoted to the things and people in New York. 

AReasonToWriteHome

potterwhovian said:

Awesome idea. In the Facebook comments I mentioned having a portion of it devoted to recent events in nerd culture, which could be a thing. Before we do anything, we should probably determine who'll be reading the paper. From what I understand, it'll be New York-based, but not entirely devoted to the things and people in New York. 

I honestly think we should shy away from it being New York-based.  We don't want people outside of New York to see that it doesn't apply to them and then just throw it aside.  Instead, I think we should focus more on articles about music/books/games or possibly fiction pieces as well.  The possibilities are endless, really.

LunaticLOVEgood

Wow I think this sounds like an awesome idea! I would firstly love to read a nerdfighter magazine that would be released regularly (pdf or printed). Sounds to me like it could be a world wide thing, where articles and reviews would appeal to nerdfighters everywhere.

I would also love to write some articles for the mag if you would have them or even just beta read articles that would then be published. I don't have much talent in graphic designing though.

I think the easiest way if this would be a regular thing would be to make a "template" where different sections of the magazine would be defined. There could be regular columns on political or humanitarian issues, a historical section, a music section, games section, letters and sent in articles, advertisements for nerdfigther gatherings and even a "famous people" section where the people would be people nerdfighters might be interested in.

I don't know these are all just ideas, good luck with this!

AReasonToWriteHome

LunaticLOVEgood said:

Wow I think this sounds like an awesome idea! I would firstly love to read a nerdfighter magazine that would be released regularly (pdf or printed). Sounds to me like it could be a world wide thing, where articles and reviews would appeal to nerdfighters everywhere.

I would also love to write some articles for the mag if you would have them or even just beta read articles that would then be published. I don't have much talent in graphic designing though.

I think the easiest way if this would be a regular thing would be to make a "template" where different sections of the magazine would be defined. There could be regular columns on political or humanitarian issues, a historical section, a music section, games section, letters and sent in articles, advertisements for nerdfigther gatherings and even a "famous people" section where the people would be people nerdfighters might be interested in.

I don't know these are all just ideas, good luck with this!

Yes, I love all those column ideas! 

I wouldn't want the magazine to look exactly the same every month (or however often we'll release them), but having a template might be useful. 

ElizabethMarch

I'd be into helping as well! I've never written an article before but I do love writing in general; I'd like to try :)

AReasonToWriteHome

ElizabethMarch said:

I'd be into helping as well! I've never written an article before but I do love writing in general; I'd like to try :)

Fantastic!  I'm not expecting anyone to be published writers, so don't be discouraged.  :)

ElizabethMarch

AReasonToWriteHome said:

ElizabethMarch said:

I'd be into helping as well! I've never written an article before but I do love writing in general; I'd like to try :)

Fantastic!  I'm not expecting anyone to be published writers, so don't be discouraged.  :)

:) Maybe we could put each others' writings into a certain portion of this newspaper/magazine, or write our opinions about classic and contemporary works, but perhaps with a twist; like if a review of a book was written from the pov of a supporting character, or if the character from one book talked about a completely different one.

blarghlargh

I would be thrilled to participate!! I'm available for writing and technical stuff (I know html and php and all that good stuff, and I'm not bad with the sort of programs that might be used for formatting)

I think it would be cool to incorporate some local events/establishments? Like a little guest column we could let nerdfighters from all around take turns about writing about their town and places they like to go and things they like to do? We could call it Thoughts From Places?

AReasonToWriteHome

blarghlargh said:

I would be thrilled to participate!! I'm available for writing and technical stuff (I know html and php and all that good stuff, and I'm not bad with the sort of programs that might be used for formatting)

I think it would be cool to incorporate some local events/establishments? Like a little guest column we could let nerdfighters from all around take turns about writing about their town and places they like to go and things they like to do? We could call it Thoughts From Places?

Oooh, that's a cool twist on local events!  We could have written Thoughts From Places.  Good thinking :)

IssLadysmith

I love this. I'm editor-in-chief of my college's lit mag, so this is right up my alley. I'm not super tech savvy, but I'm a great editor (not to pat myself too hard on the back) and I write quite a bit. What would the logistics be, as far as getting a team together goes?

AReasonToWriteHome

IssLadysmith said:

I love this. I'm editor-in-chief of my college's lit mag, so this is right up my alley. I'm not super tech savvy, but I'm a great editor (not to pat myself too hard on the back) and I write quite a bit. What would the logistics be, as far as getting a team together goes?

To be honest, I don't have much experience working with a magazine other than blogging, so you might be more insightful than I would be. 

TwistedRiddles

I would be interested. I've done some work for online magazines before. I don't have a lot of time available (I'm an English graduate student. I'm applying to PhD programs now), but I would love to help with what I can and be involved.

dancelover2396

I would really love to get involved in this! I could run an advice column type thing! (If someone didn't apply for that position yet) I don't have much time but I'd still be able to do it at least weekly.

IssLadysmith

I'm lucky, because our school is pretty small, so the staff is, too. I guess what I mean is, with everyone working from different places (and time zones!) we (if I may be so bold as to say "we" already) will definitely need some sort of central hub that we can check in out of with one another. Since I'm not that technologically literate, you'll probably have better ideas. A group google doc? Maybe a group tumblog would be a good idea to start with because it would be really easy to share links to information, people, events, whatever we might want to consider including? Until things get narrowed down anyway. What do you think?

AReasonToWriteHome

IssLadysmith said:

I'm lucky, because our school is pretty small, so the staff is, too. I guess what I mean is, with everyone working from different places (and time zones!) we (if I may be so bold as to say "we" already) will definitely need some sort of central hub that we can check in out of with one another. Since I'm not that technologically literate, you'll probably have better ideas. A group google doc? Maybe a group tumblog would be a good idea to start with because it would be really easy to share links to information, people, events, whatever we might want to consider including? Until things get narrowed down anyway. What do you think?

I think a Google document would be best.  People can also post links and stuff through it as well.  It's easy to access and can be updated at any time. 

Edit:  Also, I think we should keep the 'staff' to a minimum.  Or at least we would have reoccurring writers as well as submissions, just so it's easier to maintain. 

IssLadysmith

Definitely. Maybe stick with the few if us who've

AReasonToWriteHome said:

IssLadysmith said:

I'm lucky, because our school is pretty small, so the staff is, too. I guess what I mean is, with everyone working from different places (and time zones!) we (if I may be so bold as to say "we" already) will definitely need some sort of central hub that we can check in out of with one another. Since I'm not that technologically literate, you'll probably have better ideas. A group google doc? Maybe a group tumblog would be a good idea to start with because it would be really easy to share links to information, people, events, whatever we might want to consider including? Until things get narrowed down anyway. What do you think?

I think a Google document would be best.  People can also post links and stuff through it as well.  It's easy to access and can be updated at any time. 

Edit:  Also, I think we should keep the 'staff' to a minimum.  Or at least we would have reoccurring writers as well as submissions, just so it's easier to maintain. 

Great. Maybe stick with the handful of us who've responded so far, and then open it up for submissions when we have a handle on exactly what we're looking for?

becrhodes

I'm really great at organizing submission and such. I would love to help keep things organized, make sure we have articles for all categories and such.

AReasonToWriteHome

IssLadysmith said:

Definitely. Maybe stick with the few if us who've

IssLadysmith said:

I'm lucky, because our school is pretty small, so the staff is, too. I guess what I mean is, with everyone working from different places (and time zones!) we (if I may be so bold as to say "we" already) will definitely need some sort of central hub that we can check in out of with one another. Since I'm not that technologically literate, you'll probably have better ideas. A group google doc? Maybe a group tumblog would be a good idea to start with because it would be really easy to share links to information, people, events, whatever we might want to consider including? Until things get narrowed down anyway. What do you think?

I think a Google document would be best.  People can also post links and stuff through it as well.  It's easy to access and can be updated at any time. 

Edit:  Also, I think we should keep the 'staff' to a minimum.  Or at least we would have reoccurring writers as well as submissions, just so it's easier to maintain. 

Great. Maybe stick with the handful of us who've responded so far, and then open it up for submissions when we have a handle on exactly what we're looking for?

Okay, good thinking.  So, first I think we need to come up with possible segment/article ideas, that way we know how many people we need. 

Also, design positions are still open, so if anyone knows of any that might be interested, send them here.

dancelover2396

I think I might have a friend interested in the design aspect. I will touch base with her and let you know.

smashrobot3zo

Great idea Brandon :) As far as the structure of the staff, I agree with you that the staff should be small, at least at first. You should come up with specific types of articles that you'd want to have in the mag, a template, and then ask for submissions. Because the nerd fighter community is so large, perhaps ask for submissions at first. It might seem unfair, but it's also unfair to have consistent writers who are published in every issue. Maybe have a rolling staff of writers who write for several sections of the mag, and give them prompts to write about beforehand. This would be for the mutual benefit of the nerd fighter community and writers would probably receive no compensation, so they should be given ample time to write articles. So basically, I'm suggesting these things A) have a rolling staff of writers to keep the content fresh and expose as many people to being published on the small scale yet-to-be-created magazine. B) keep the editorial staff fairly small C) ask for submissions of articles, possibly just detailed synopses. Call out to the community about what you might want for an article and see what you get. This might not be possible for EVERY article in the mag, but I think it's a good way to find new writers and let people's voices be heard. Awesome idea again :) way to make use of that month before starting college :P -Sasha

IssLadysmith

obviously, I'd love to serve in some official capacity. I'd just like to state that...officially. And I'd really like to push for a "Thoughts From Places" column, a section for original fiction/poetry, and an advice column. Like, "Ask a Real Nerdfighter" or whatever. Other than that, I'm open to whatever you guys want to do.

Oh, and I'm Andrea. Everyone calls me Ladysmith. I'm excited to get going on this with you guys.

Yossarian

For the record, I used to be the managing editor of a pretty widely read news outlet, and have a good amount of freelance writing and copy-editing experience, so if you want to ever want to take this in a more professional direction, I'd be glad to lend a hand.

Here's me just brainstorming of stuff we'd want in every issue, if we want to take this seriously:

-A column from John and/or Hank, (preferably both, of course), either informative (like Crash Course) or just summarizing the goings-on in their lives.

-A spotlight on a different artist signed to DFTBA records. (Preferably features, but interviews are easier.)

-Reviews of every new project by anyone associated with DFTBA.

-Features on members of the Nerdfighter community who are doing interesting things. (I mean, we've got an Olympic athlete, members of the Illinois state legislature, and an intern in the White House, just to scratch the surface.)

-Book/movie/album/game reviews, especially of those which might appeal to Nerdfighters (a la the Perks movie, new Mountain Goats album, just in the past months)

-In that same vein, features/interviews of people doing "Stuff Nerdfighters Like"

-Advice column (But I'd think something more like NYT's Ethicist column than "Question Tuesday."

-A literary component (maybe one shorter and one longer-form piece of fiction per issue?)

Honestly, beyond that? It's just a matter of finding out what people want to read. If we want to go ahead with this and not half-ass it, there's potential here. But I'm going to bed now.

IssLadysmith

Yossarian said:

For the record, I used to be the managing editor of a pretty widely read news outlet, and have a good amount of freelance writing and copy-editing experience, so if you want to ever want to take this in a more professional direction, I'd be glad to lend a hand.

Man alive, this is getting better by the minute. Look out, Ontario Review. Nerdfighteria is coming for you!

cinnamonquill

It's-a me! Keri. From the NFoNY group. I'm a writer. Will write for Nerdfighters. ♥

I love the idea of having columns and sections devoted to specific things. We could have reviews and fan art and letters to the editor. It would be an explosion of awesome.

We could also interview people!

IssLadysmith

cinnamonquill said:

It's-a me! Keri. From the NFoNY group. I'm a writer. Will write for Nerdfighters. ♥

I love the idea of having columns and sections devoted to specific things. We could have reviews and fan art and letters to the editor. It would be an explosion of awesome.

We could also interview people!

All of that sounds great! I'm feeling much better about blowing off NaNoWriMo this year.

cinnamonquill

Ideas: Books/literature, film/television, youtube/videos, fan art, interviews, style (nerdy fashion/make-up), interviews, letters to the editor, comic strips.

AReasonToWriteHome

Yossarian said:

For the record, I used to be the managing editor of a pretty widely read news outlet, and have a good amount of freelance writing and copy-editing experience, so if you want to ever want to take this in a more professional direction, I'd be glad to lend a hand.

We'd love to have you on board!  I don't want to take all the credit or anything, but feel like I have an overall vision for this and would like to be Editor-In-Chief.  I have pretty good grammar, but sometimes things fall under the radar, so if anyone would like to be Copy Editor or whatever, that's open as well.  Are there any other positions that I'm forgetting that we might need?

cinnamonquill

AReasonToWriteHome said:

I don't want to take all the credit or anything, but feel like I have an overall vision for this and would like to be Editor-In-Chief.  I have pretty good grammar, but sometimes things fall under the radar, so if anyone would like to be Copy Editor or whatever, that's open as well.  Are there any other positions that I'm forgetting that we might need?

Umm... Editor-in-Chief, Art Director, Copy Editor, Columnists, Contributors...