The WeirdSpace Initiative
Let's get some information out there!
It's all about making stories and characters visible and accessible
The initiative is actually two separate missions. Making fictional characters and worlds understandable and accessible, and making stories available for download. LEGALLY! There are several ways of doing this:
Biographies/articles. Hands down the best way of promoting a story, and the original idea for the site. If your are the creator of a character/series, you can get your character(s) featured by sending the info to me. You get one web page per character you want to show, and on the page you get a link to your own site (if you've got one). The objective is to describe what the character and series is about, in order to provide information and an incentive to try reading the series.
Databases. Getting your publication indexed will mean that more people are likely to discover that your work is available. The more sites with the information, the better the odds of people finding it. This is one of the sites.
Random display of logo. If you are a publisher, send me a logo, 150px wide, and a link to the site, and I'll put it on the list of randomly shown publishers.
Links. If you have a site that somehow revolves around storytelling, e.g. authors, publishers and fan sites, send me a link, a couple of lines describing the site, and a country of origin, and I'll put it on the link pages.
Digital library. There are several sites making free eBooks available. This is another one. The stories that are public domain are the ones I focus on, especially the Danish ones as they are in a sad state of neglect.
Almost anything goes
Ranging from "The Raunchy Adventure of Ivana Humpalot" to "Celibate-Man, Hero of the Vatican". All publishers and creators are welcome. There are a few things that I won't do articles on due to ethical consideration (e.g. a series used to support racism, hate or war) and I'll put warning labels on pages where nudity or violence cannot be avoided and there is a point to showing it (off-hand I can't think of any series where it can't be avoided, but you never know). There may also be some other reasons that I haven't thought of yet.
Why?
Well, take you pick:
To give the creators and small and mid-sized publishers a chance to be noticed. There is a lot of great stuff out there that goes unnoticed for any number of reasons; language barrier, size of budget for promotion, size of the publisher, a general reluctance to try something new, etc. Consider this a helping hand with getting noticed.
To give people around the World a chance to see stories from other cultures. Who knows, maybe someone will get a good laugh out of similarities, or an understanding of differences, perhaps even be inspired by new ideas and create something great.
Preservation of cultural heritages. It isn't a given that old is the same as obsolete. The World moves on, and one shouldn't get stuck in the past. There are however things from the past that we can use, like music and art, or crafts like carpentry, cooking, playing an instrument, etc. It is up to the individual person to find the things he or she can use to move forward.
Making book burning and book banning pointless. Even today and even in supposedly enlightened countries, there are people burning books. Even today books are banned. There will always be people who will try to force their beliefs on others, and try to eradicate things they find offensive. Creating digital libraries will at least make sure that the writing stays intact. It may not be in the original physical form, but the words and ideas, for better or worse, will be available.
So what's in it for me?
I get to make a difference. For me it's important to make a difference, and this is one of the ways of doing it, combining what I enjoy with what I'm good at. One man can't save the World, but (s)he can make a difference. I don't need to be famous, which is one of the reasons why the site and initiative isn't named after me. I'll take the credit and critique for what I do any day, but what I do isn't about me as a person. I like to make a difference, and take pride in trying to be being good at what I do, and this is one of the things I do.
Michael Pilgaard
Copenhagen, September 2010