RPG Blog Anthology - Weekly Update

As I mentioned here, my 'gaming' content is going to have to be put in the passenger seat for while as I focus my efforts on the 2008 RPG Blog Anthology. As a means to connect with my readers, elicit additional support, and keep you "in the loop", I'm going to feature a weekly Monday update focused on the progress I've made towards making this Anthology a reality.

If you are just tuning in - last week I proposed that the RPG blogging community should have an annual anthology that showcases the best writing and creative talent of our community. It would be titled something like "Open Game Table: The 2008 Roleplaying Game Blog Anthology". In order for this to happen though, it will require the sustained efforts of dozens of people willing to volunteer to review, judge, edit, comment, and/or contribute to the Anthology. Some clarifications of my intentions were made; and I have set up a working group for anyone and everyone who would like to volunteer to help as well.

Now for the update on progress - Thanks to a comment left on my blog, I was able to track down a decent contract that I can use to protect both the blog authors and myself (the so-called "Anthologist") in terms of copyright, publishing rights, etc. I'm having two lawyers look it over to make sure it is air tight and gives proper credit where credit is due, etc. Once I've received a nod of approval from them, I'll post it here so that everyone will see what it would look like. Fortunately, both of the attorneys are friends of my family - so they aren't charging me anything; but it may take a week or so for them to get around to giving the contracts a review.

In other progress - I've pitched the idea of this Anthology to a graphic designer / illustrator that I know and a professor of photography at a college in Boston (who also was previously the Editor of Inc. Magazine) and they both love the idea. I also pitched the idea to a poet I know (yes -- a poet) who has been published many times before, and whose work has been included in several anthologies before. She also happens to be a librarian at George Washington Univ. here in DC - so this sort of thing is par for the course for her. I guess I should count my blessings, becuase all three of them have been very supportive of this idea and have offered to help (time allowing).
I'll keep everyone posted as things progress.

Furthermore, the Anthology has been featured on the RPG Bloggers Network (thank you!) and a number of bloggers who have nominated material to the Anthology have also made their own announcements, including Turbulent Thoughts, RPG Blog II, The Art of the Near TPK, and Unnatural 20 (thanks all!!). Someone even submitted a 'news' announcement to The Gaming Report (that made me chuckle... thank you!).

In the meantime - I have recieved 32 nominated blog entries in the last week! If this is a reflection of the community's support for this project; then I'm psyched! Thank you! I do, however, need more submissions. The goal of the Anthology is bridge the gap between the RPG bloggers and the rest of the gaming community by showing off our best and most creative work. In order for that to happen, I'll need at least 100 entries - if not more. The nomination deadline I've set is December 1st, 2008. So take a few minutes - go back through your feed reader's archives and look for old posts by your favorite blogger and nominate their blog post for inclusion into the Anthology.

Lastly, I want to encourage everyone to who has a gaming blog to occasionally 'promote' this Anthology on their own blogs. If this publication comes to be, then we could expect a whole new crowd of readers along with it. Let's move away from 'preaching to the choir', which so often happens for bloggers cut from any thread, and move towards finding new minds for our creative works to inspire and challenge. Let's work together in getting the word out by asking our readers to nominate their favorite blog posts for inclusion into the Anthology.

I hope I have your support -- jonathan.