Status of Ripper Notes?

[Scott Nelson]

Well, maybe I won't do it after all.

[KatBradshaw]

Yes, I suppose there are the previous subscribers to consider. The thought of all those subs floating to the surface makes me wonder if the mag's title should be changed to "Resurgam."

Jane Eyre fan??

[KatBradshaw]

Well, maybe I won't do it after all.

Oh dear!! Our enthusiasm clearly reved you up there!

[Scott Nelson]

Ya know, on second thought -- why not? Granted, there are too may Ripper-related magazines out there already. I'll have to start with a fresh publication -- hard copy, 4 to 6 times a year. I have the capital. Problem is, I don't have the editing savvy (everyone can see that I'm not a professional writer), nor do I know much about publishing. I need to team with someone that does -- someone who's been around the block more than a few times....Someone with prior publishing/editing experience who is an excellent writer, say someone who has gone through the rigors of putting out a semi-monthly crime magazine (Bloodhound?). Preferably, a Californian like myself so we can work together more effectively...

Simon?

[The Good Michael]

Scott, I think something with a Ripper bent to it, but one that covers a broader spectrum of crime and mystery might be best. There are many unsolved crimes and many new ones every day. To have perhaps one article and issue that is Ripper related will increase its chances of being somewhat fresh and also provocative if there's some newness to it. There are all sorts of experts here on other crimes that, I'm sure would love to contribute in those areas. An array of things with still a slight adherence to JTR will also attract all of us here and a wider audience. Think of unsolved crimes (or solved) in places where English isn't predominant, but where English is a second language. People would love to read about stuff that happens on there soil. I would be glad to be a contributor of Korean items. A lot of serial killers here.

Cheers,

Mike

[adrian]

The only thing I will say is that it is not only the cost of publishing a hard copy periodical, it is also the cost of mailing etc.

We have to print the Whitechapel Society Journal outside London to keep costs down.

Also, you need a team of people to organise the database of subscribers and to mail out the magazines. They need to know when people need to resubscribe and follow up those who haven't. I would not rely on a mailing house, they get details wrong and the costs would be too much.

The magazine HAS to go out on time. You would not be advised to hold copy back. We get queries from people if their magazine does not hit the door mat the day they expect it to. Also, we often get magazines lost in the post and have to replace them. This cuts into our budget.

When we relaunched the Whitechapel Society five years ago the Royal Mail quoted us a price for postage. Since then there have been almost yearly revisions of prices etc. This really put our costs under pressure.

All I can say is, with all things considered, still do it. We need another magazine on the go.

Good luck and best wishes.

ADRIAN
(Editor: Whitechapel Society Journal)

[coral]

I totally agree with Adrian - however I have experienced all those problems so -if anyone is considering another mag I am willimg to take on the task of setting up a mailing data base.
Do not go to a mailing house they charge for the postage used and then charge a huge fee - Ripperologist went down that route when they where hard copy

Coral

[Tom_Wescott]

Dan and I e-mailed briefly a couple of months ago. At the time, he was blissfully unaware at all the threads on here cursing his name and such. I didn't tell him, but I doubt there's any chance of him relinquishing the Ripper Notes name any time soon because he still plans to publish it, just God knows when.

If Scott Nelson published a Ripper magazine that would be too sweet.

As for why publishing in print, it's because all of us were raised on purely print publications. We weren't born in 1999 into the digital age. It's something we grew up with and like - hold a publication in your own hands. I guess I don't see what's wrong with that. Once the issue isn't new, you can ask to have your essay published on Casebook.n As a writer, it can be nice having an editor market and publicize your work via threads, subscription to people who don't use the internet, amazon.com, etc, and STILL retaining ownership and publishing online.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Ally]

Dan and I e-mailed briefly a couple of months ago. At the time, he was blissfully unaware at all the threads on here cursing his name and such.

It's cute that you actually believe that.

[Chris]

As for why publishing in print, it's because all of us were raised on purely print publications. We weren't born in 1999 into the digital age. It's something we grew up with and like - hold a publication in your own hands. I guess I don't see what's wrong with that. Once the issue isn't new, you can ask to have your essay published on Casebook.n As a writer, it can be nice having an editor market and publicize your work via threads, subscription to people who don't use the internet, amazon.com, etc, and STILL retaining ownership and publishing online.

In a sense that does sound like the best of both worlds. But I do have to wonder why most people opt to have their work published in one of the periodicals - either print or electronic - and not online. That seems to be the rule rather than the exception, and I wonder why.

[coral]

There seems to be a lot of Ripper Notes being sold on Ebay at the moment by a dealer called 'wotnot' and another one called 'ploctilld' who both seem to have at least 10 copies of various issues - and strangely enough both are from Leicestershire

Coral

[Tom_Wescott]

In a sense that does sound like the best of both worlds. But I do have to wonder why most people opt to have their work published in one of the periodicals - either print or electronic - and not online. That seems to be the rule rather than the exception, and I wonder why.

Not all of my essays are published on the Casebook. But then some of them aren't very good. My Berner Street essays generated a lot of good feedback, but I've never gotten around to putting them on here. And I don't think essays should be published online unless they go through the same editorial scrutiny they would in Ripperologist and did in RN. You have no idea how many errors make it into my essays but are caught by my editor or the people I ask to proofread it. I just take all the credit, which is fine by me. Too many schlups would write what they call an 'essay' and it would be crap, but it would be right next to a scholarly piece by Scott Nelson, and the new visitor to the site wouldn't know the different, so he'd accept both as equal. I'm not comfortable with that.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Chris]

Not all of my essays are published on the Casebook. But then some of them aren't very good. My Berner Street essays generated a lot of good feedback, but I've never gotten around to putting them on here. And I don't think essays should be published online unless they go through the same editorial scrutiny they would in Ripperologist and did in RN. You have no idea how many errors make it into my essays but are caught by my editor or the people I ask to proofread it. I just take all the credit, which is fine by me. Too many schlups would write what they call an 'essay' and it would be crap, but it would be right next to a scholarly piece by Scott Nelson, and the new visitor to the site wouldn't know the different, so he'd accept both as equal. I'm not comfortable with that.

But - in line with your suggestion about publishing in a magazine and later putting the article on Casebook - I was thinking of material that would already have gone through the editorial process. Very few people seem to take that route.

[Tom_Wescott]

They just don't think about it. I agree there should be MANY more essays in the dissertation section. It doesn't matter though. Check out the Nichols thread active right now. I posted a link to my Nichols essay which is an indepth study of her wounds. A few posts later, Corey writes that he's confused about the wounds to Nichols body and would like to know more. These kids just don't take anything seriously if it's not a book.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[DVV]

These kids just don't take anything seriously if it's not a book.

Tom Wescott

They must be waiting for your full leather-bound complete works, Tom.
After your death, naturally.

Amitiés,
David