http://datahaven.dumpshock.com/

The current page is just a little teaser, there will be more coming very soon. But for the time being, welcome to the Dumpshock Data Haven!

The Magazine will be released every two months, and we're hoping for an October 1 release for Issue #1. I have some top notch folks involved and helping me out for the first issue, so I'm excited and expecting it to kick all kinds of ass.

We'll have more specifics in the coming days and weeks, and keep watching the forums here and the DDH site for more tidbits, sneak previews, and the like.

Also, we are opening things up for submissions. If you have any ideas, please drop an email to dsdatahaven@gmail.com Contact us, let us know what you're interested in writing (Or what you have sitting on your hard drive just looking for a place to publish it at! ).

Bull

EDIT: Bah, I screwed up the email address. It's fixed now.

Any plans to set up a board where all efforts can be coordinated ?

Not really. I'm treating this more as a publication rather than a collaborative web effort, even though it splits the difference.

I'm working up some guidelines to cover specific types of articles to handle styles, length, and such (though not being print, we have some freedom there). And I'll be working through a couple different email groups via the GMail account.

Basically, I'm going to have a few editors working with me, so anything that gets sent in comes to me or Caine Hazen first. We'll look it over and either approve it, or ask for modifications (Either for canon setting corrections, or balance issues in the case of crunchy rules stuff). Then it'll go to an editor, who'll work with you to make it flow better. THen, it goes to print. There will probably be a bit more to it than that, but... Basically each article will be handled on an individual basis.

Bull

Ah ok. Hope that works out fine, even though a message board would have the benefit of people sharing their ideas over a topic and give feebdack to ideas and stuff. On the other hand do I trust you and Caine very much that you'll handle everything fine.

THe one problem I've found with working "by committee", whether it's through a message board, mailing list, or even real life, is that things tend to get bogged down too easily. People get hung up arguing minor details, and even when the project director steps in and says "Enough, we're going this way", it's hard to get people to focus.

Also, projects done as a group take 50% longer than those done solo. It's a fact. That I just made up. But regardless, it seems true. And even with a Bi-weekly publishing schedule, we're still going to need a decent amount of articles turned in each issue, so that's the other reason I really don't want folks getting bogged down over stuff too much.

Most stuff will be going through several hands, including mine, Caine's, and our editorial folks. So there will be a little feedback on things. And there will be threads up here when an issue gets released to discuss what everyone's done (And so you guys can brag )

And hey, this is a learning process for us. At some point, we may decide to set up a discussion board or something. I wouldn't totally rule it out. It's just not the direction we're going off the bat

Everything sounds great Bull.
I would rather have sharp focused ideas to disagree with

"Cut his heart out with a spoon!"
"Uhh, shouldn't we use a knife sir? It would be sharper."


BlueMax

To answer BlueMax's quote;
"Because it will hurt more." - Alan Rickman, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.

And, to answer the ending line on the Data Haven's teaser page;
"Yeah, but he's OUR masochist."

I like you.

BlueMax

Now we wait for the backend setup so we can put the framework in place... Two days worth of tweaking a WordPress theme and we get a five-minute thrown-together splash screen. Though even that is being redone as I type this.

As for a board or forum to discuss things... Is that not what we have these forums for?

Thank you. It was a good movie, especially Alan Rickman's performance.

I'm still curious who all these mysterious "other people" are.

It's just me and my split personalities

THat, or they're the same Others from Lost

Seriously, right now our "Staff" such as it is, is:

Me = Editor In Chief. My job is to keep things organized, make sure everyone hits deadlines, make sure everyone's working off the same page, and in a pinch, write enough material to fill all the gaps so we don't miss a deadline.

Andrew "Caine Hazen" Coen = Layout and Art Direction. His job is to coordinate whatever artists we can wrangle, make sure the pictures work for what we need them for (He worked on this for Missions for a while), andhe'll also be handling a certain amount of the design and layout of the actual magazine, and making sure it's in a shiny, neat, presentable PDF format.

Editorial = We're still getting our editorial in place, but right now I have Knasser on fiction editing, and Kendall "Kender" Jung and Penguin on general editing duties. I have a few otehrs who've volunteered, and I'm gonna look those over and pick up a couple more.

Art = Squinky has offered to help out on art chores. I'd love one or two more, just to make sure we don't drive squinky nuts. We're not looking to make this a real art heavy magazine, but I'd love to have covers for each issue, plus illustrations for our "Ready to Run" NPCs section, and for any gear or critters. Plus possibly a couple others throughout the mag.

Beyond that I currently have about 20 others who I have on a general e-mail list to bat ideas around, and to help me flesh out the base concepts. Some are folks from here, some are folks I know outside of dumpshock but who are shadowrun fans, and a couple of the regular freelancers & playtesters who were interested in helping a little.

Good mix of talent you got there. Glad to hear it.

Editing appeals to me! Add me to this list of people who've volunteered, please. Kanoavathar@yahoo.com.

Cool. Please do me a favor and drop me a line at dsdatahaven@gmail.com? It's a lot easier for me to keep track of these things if I have a pile of emails to sort out and work off of

And for everyone else, note the Edit in the top post. I'm an idiot, and left the "ds" off the address for some reason. So whoever has that other address may have gotten spammed a fair bit :/ I know a couple folks who've mentioned they sent something before I caught that it was wrong.

Bull

Dat sux. Guess I will have to try and remember what I sent you the first time...

EDIT: Resent...guess my webmail saved the sent mail. Not all do, so I got lucky.

*Golf Clap!*

Question for ya Bull.
You gonna do this as a web thing or you gonna PDF it so we can wander around with it? I figured a PDF but just thought I'd ask.

PDF release.

Sweet.

I would be willing to work in an editorial capacity.

Drop a note over at dsdatahaven@gmail.com if you haven't yet. It's hard for me to keep track of random volunteers in the various threads, but if you drop us a line, I can add you to our group lists. We have a decent Editorial group already, but we can always use more, if nothing else but as backup/relief editors

Ok, I THINK I'm caught up on current emails, but for everyone interested... I'll post when stuff goes live, but we will have the Writing and Art Guidelines posted online, as well as our Features guidelines and the initial (albeit still limited) list of Shadowtalk cast for the Data Haven VPN.

Also, if you're on Facebook: The Dumpshock Data Haven Fan Page. I set this up so that people can follow updates and the like through Facebook as well as here.

So yeah, rock on. If you've been waiting to email about submissions, check the guidelines and contact us!

Bull

Can't wait to see what you put together.

Does that mean emails received so far on submission ideas will not get a response? Should I be waiting for these guidelines and resubmit ideas?

I just to make sure I clearly understood your post, as you asked for submission ideas to be emailed and now you are saying to check the guidelines. But the guidelines aren't available yet, right?

Thanks for clearing that up!

Hey Deek. I replied to your email about submission stuff on Friday. Let me know if you didn't get it and I'll resend.

Anyways, if you sent in ideas and I told you that one or more would make a good submission, then roll with those. Just try to format it to fit one of the features, is all.

@Bull

Completely my bad. My spam filter caught your reply. I read it and thanks for the feedback. I've read through the guidelines.

Its time to start writing and polishing some stuff up!

That's cool. ANd probably something evferyone should watch out for, making sure spam filters aren't catching these. Folks, be sure to watch out for mail from dsdatahaven@gmail.com and let it through, if you're interested in working on the mag!