Reflection on last month, upcoming Brane events

Some observations and notes:

After having had a few days to assess the reaction, I'd say that the M-Brane zine crossed some kind of threshold with issue #4. In terms of quality, it was probably not a lot different than the preceding issues, but in terms of perception, the whole enterprise seems to have gained a bit more credibility. While new subscriptions to the PDF still seriously lag behind where I need them to be, and while new incoming advertising is not what I'd like it to be at all, I sense that these problems will be overcome. Traffic to this page and awareness level of M-Brane has spiked sharply in recent weeks.

The next issue, #5, is going to be a rather big deal for a couple of reasons: 1) it's the fifth issue of a zine--a lot of these things don't manage that many issues in five years much less in five months; 2) the quality and range of vision in its content is pretty fantastic. I know I say that every issue (and will probably continue to do so), but I really mean it with this next one. 

Deadline for the "Q" anthology is still a couple months away, but I have already been receiving a bunch of submissions. From what I have read so far, I think this will be a really cool book, and I will do everything I can to do right by it.

I have been trying to find some people to do some "guest blogger" appearances on this page, much as Mel Cartagena did a couple days ago with his piece about J.G. Ballard. Just by talking about it today on Twitter, I have attracted some interest in the plan, so expect to see some other voices here pretty soon.  I think it would be terrific in terms of both quality and quantity of content on the Brane blog. So many interesting and smart people have found me by way of this page and the zine itself, and I'd really like to give them some space here.

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