'Zines

[chuckro]

So, as most people who could possibly care know already, DISTRACTIONS, Princeton's esteemed puzzle magazine and one of my regular activities as an undergrad, has shuffled off this mortal coil.

Which, on some levels saddens me greatly, because neither Campus Club nor the FireHazards are in great shape either, and Koleinu's been in "recovery mode" for years. I'm not exactly leaving a campus legacy here. But that's not the point.

The point is, I enjoyed making puzzles. It was like exercise for uncommonly-used parts of my brain. And I found myself randomly making a logic puzzle during lunch the other day, possibly because I missed it. I suspect making more puzzles would be fun.

I don't know what to do with this, though. Self-publish a puzzle 'zine? Make puzzles and post them to my Livejournal? Find a place to submit them professionally (or somebody else's self-published 'zine)?

I'd love some suggestions on that. Also, if anyone is interested in playtesting/editing my puzzles, I have a tendancy to make careless errors in them that I'd prefer to catch before making them available for public consumption.

Comments

Tangentially,

[tigermelp.livejournal.com]

do you do the Sudoku puzzle? www.sudoku.com

We started getting them in our Post Express (and in the regular Post, too) so I've been doing them on the metro when I get bored with/finish the crossword. I like them a lot. :)

[feiran.livejournal.com]

I love puzzles. I'll playtest/edit them or help with a new zine or chip in on whatever you end up doing. :-)

[edgehopper.livejournal.com]

I'll playtest them...and maybe write some, I guess.

[fairylane.livejournal.com]

I'd certainly playtest or edit, if needed. Logic puzzles are awesome.

[shnayder.livejournal.com]

I'll playtest. Unless you're really interested in making a side career out of this, it may be easiest to just post them to your LJ rather tran trying to find a professional place to submit them. Then again, it might be far easier than I'm imagining.

[fairylane.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, and also- I'm really sorry that I may not be able to save the Hazards. I feel very guilty about the fact that the group might die because of me. I seem to have that effect on everything.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Okay, if the group dies, it's not your fault, it's just my legacy. But it's not dead yet. Who knows what this coming year will bring?

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Fallen behind on the news, or just reading my LJ for fun?

In any case, the group is currently rather short on undergrad members, as it never really recovered from all of the '04s leaving. Are you on the 'Hazards yahoo group? If not, email Lizard and she'll set you up.

[katertoticus.livejournal.com]

Find a place to submit them professionally

Isn't that how your Dad got his foot in the door of the comic book industry?

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Sort of--He already had a job at DC answering fan mail, but I believe making puzzles was the first freelance work he did.

Not that there's much call for puzzles in comic books these days. Or [except for crosswords] anywhere in traditional publishing, really.

[(Anonymous)]

Kate is right- you've got it backwards. Daddy got in with the puzzles he made for me while I was student teaching. THEN he got the job answering the mail. They gave him the mail job partly as a joke b/c he had written so many letters to the comics.

Then came the comic mobile.
Then came a "real" staff job in editorial.