I thought it might be interesting to let everyone know how Amazing Stories is faring during the Puppy Wars 2013 – ?
It is no secret that I have taken a personal stance against slates and bloc voting. I hope that it is no secret that those positions are my personal views.
I equally hope that the coverage, views and reviews that have been published here since 2013 are more than enough proof to illustrate the fact that no one contributing to Amazing Stories has ever received any instructions regarding editorial slant other than the following: “write about what interests YOU”. (Because I believe that what one fan finds interesting will be something they will write about enthusiastically and that enthusiasm will be transmitted to the reader.)
I mentioned the other day that we’re getting hit with lots of spammy stuff; emails with malicious code attached are also on the increase and I find it interesting that the volume of spam increases every single time I post on the puppy subject (and even more when Mike Glyer’s File 770 roundup links to one. Not proof of connection by any means, but certainly interesting).
Of note most recently is a SINGLE request to be removed from Amazing Stories’ mailing list. One.
As of this very moment, the number of registered members of the website is 21,904.
Which means that that one individual represents .00004565376186997809% of our membership.
Additionally, over the course of about three years of operation, I have received two requests from contributors to sever their relationship. Explanations given can be summed up as perceived ideological differences (not reflected in the way they were treated here I don’t think).
We count our 166 contributors as members which means that .000136961 percent of our membership have felt strongly enough about their feelings that they’ve chosen to disassociate themselves. (I honestly think that in both cases those individuals believed that Amazing Stories has or is perceived as having taken a particular ideological stance – across the board – that they are not comfortable being associated with.)
So one and a third /10000ths of our members have found Amazing Stories to be a place they don’t want to associate with (over the course of three years).
Don’t get me wrong. I lament the loss of all three. I’m bothered by the fact that I was unable to convince them that they were still welcome despite my personal views (and further, welcome to put forth their own views in both posts and comments). (It goes without saying that they are welcome back at any time.)
On the other hand, I’m pretty impressed by the fact that we’re talking 3 people out of nearly 22,000. I will humbly opine that this certainly suggests that we are doing something right.
And on the third tentacle. I am aware that some folks might see the above as a challenge and may be motivated to answer it by also requesting severance from Amazing Stories, but I’m comfortable enough at this point with our growth and our policies to believe such will be minimal.
Fans should identify themselves as FANS, not seek to self-ostracize. Fans who consider themselves FANS will find Amazing Stories a very welcoming place.
I think that what is happening at Amazing Stories is probably pretty close to whats happening in the rest of the field: One person addressing the subject on a fairly regular basis and 21,903 of them going about their fannish business, occasionally taking note of the goings on.
