The Muse Expects every Reader to do His or Her Duty
by Michael Gallant

Ask not what the revolution can do for you. Ask, rather, what you can do for the revolution.

I stand before you today not to command, nor to exhort, nor to implore, but to inform. The future of literature depends upon each and every one of you. We may edit and choose stories, wade through submissions and rage against the mediocracy of the conventional publishing houses, but at the end of the day it will be your finger on the mouse and your money in your wallet that will determine the outcome.

This month the Provisional Revolutionary Council at Quantum Muse have launched a bold new two pronged assault on the ivory towers of conventional publishing. How you receive it will determine whether we are a heroic peoples army or a handful of outlaws hunted through field and forest.

On one front, we will now pay authors in real money. Not much real money, because we still have to keep some for beer, food, whiskey, rent, gin, utilities, Bailey's and bail. This is an attempt to allow the many talented writers out there make a pale semblance of a living without compromising their work to fit the guidelines of the big boys.

Incidently, our submission volume quadrupled for the meager ten spot we offered. I knew that, as a writer, I belonged to a crowd that was cheap, easily manipulated, and starved for validation, but this took me by surprise. I'll also have you know that the growth of the slush pile has required so much reading that it is starting to seriously cut in to my drinking time, so don't say we never sacrificed for you. On the plus side, we have a lot more quality work to choose from and no longer have to shake down our old college writing class buddies for stories the twenty-eighth of every month. They were getting to expect it and began avoiding us, not answering the phone, and so on. They are still a predictable bunch, and a quick trip to the unemployment office and liquor store usually bagged a few writers.

The second part of our plan is the Cosmic Karmic Cyber Tip Cup. In an increasingly rare moment of clarity (and they weren't ever real common), we have discovered a way to allow readers to compensate writers for the joy that the written word has given them while preserving the sacred free status of our e-zine. Not that we could ever lose that, seeing as how if we ever started charging for subscriptions our readers would leave us faster than George W Bush with a blood alcohol level of point-one-oh and a gram of cocaine on board trying to outrun the Maine State Police.

The tip cup is strictly voluntary. If you like a story and feel that some reward is due the author, just use our secure server to send some cash. Half of the money goes directly to the author, and half goes to the New Livers For Editors fund. You can probably get a tax break for donations to the Arts. I'd ask my accountant, but visiting hours aren't until 1:00 tomorrow afternoon, and the guards won't put my calls through.

Regardless, this is the chance for you to show your favorite writers the respect they deserve. If this is successful, it may be possible to thrive as a writer without enduring the hideous process of agents, queries, and editorial interference. Help us prove to the world that anyone can become a paying publisher and distributor simply by having a dream, marrying a beautiful web designer and finding two gullible friends to pawn the work off onto.

Now the pipeline can run directly from artist to audience, without the filters and interference of marketing departments, censors, typesetters, interest groups and even editors (maybe then I can get some sleep). No longer will fresh, original fiction bleed from the thousand cuts of middlemen. No longer will writers have to sell their souls to sell their words. No longer will writers have to wait tables or read water meters to pay the rent. No longer will anyone decide what you can or cannot read.

This brave new world is within our grasp. All we need to do is take it. We at Quantum Muse will do our part.

Do you believe enough to do yours?

| Home | Alternative | Fantasy | Science Fiction | Artwork | Editorial | Submissions |
| Discussion Board | News | Recommended | Merchandise | About Us | Links | Webrings | Archives |