What is the Qfer?

For many years, Nan Dibble wrote and published the Qfer, which sought to provide information on all B&B fanzines in print! This was no small undertaking, and we stand in awe of Nan's dedication to this project over so many years!

Nan has since reclaimed her life and the Qfer is no longer published. However, her work has not gone unappreciated! As we move into a new era of online fan fiction, it seems appropriate to bring the Qfer along with us. We have taken old editions of the Qfer and used them as our starting point in an effort to provide information on all B&B creative fanzines ever published.

As zines moved out of print, they were deleted from newer editions of the Qfer. Given the market for secondhand zines, we hope to restore this information in the online edition. We also have the lofty goal of updating the ordering information for all zines still in print, and we will rely on you, the fans, to keep us informed! We encourage publishers to notify us when a new zine becomes available, or when a zine goes out of print. If we all work together, the Qfer online will accurately reflect what is available in new, secondhand, and online forms.

We hope you join us in our heartfelt gratitude for Nan's hard work over so many years that made the online Qfer possible!

What happened to the reviews? I don't know where to start reading, and want some guidance.

We have made some changes to Nan's original format, and she is in no way to be held responsible for these changes! (Complaints and criticisms should be directed instead to the new keepers of the Qfer.) Most notable at this time is the approach of "just the facts" for each zine. While Nan's reviews have been VERY helpful to many, the thought of typing them all into the computer again sent shudders down our spines. After much thought and debate as to how best to translate the Qfer into an online publication, we decided that a strictly factual approach would be best.

In time, we hope to set up a voting area where readers can single out zines of exceptional quality; the winners will become our "blue ribbon zines" and have that quality assessment added to their profiles. We also want to have a separate listing of New/Current zines to provide easy access to the latest fandom has available. Setting these features up will take some time and we ask for your patience as we work towards those goals.

As far as guidance, we suggest you begin with the fanfic that is already published online. (Follow the tunnel ring to find the sites that host fan fiction.) As you become familiar with different authors and styles, you'll get a better sense of your individual tastes. Then ask other fans for their recommendations. If you agree on what is "good" then you'll probably enjoy what they suggest.

How often is the Qfer updated?

Good question! It depends. Is real life laughing at our feeble attempts to get some time for fandom activities? Is the moon full? Has the server crashed? We'll do our best to update the database as often as we can. But we make no promises as to exactly how often that will be! :-)

Why is the ordering information "unknown" in the majority of the entries?

Most of the fanzines listed in the Qfer are now out of print. B&B fandom is a dynamic population with people leaving and joining all the time. Rather than deluge people with out-of-date information, and possibly flood former fans with requests for zines they no longer have in print, we decided to provide no information. The upside to this is that when ordering information is supplied, you will probably be able to obtain a copy of that zine. In your hunt for out-of-print fanfic, don't neglect ebay or individuals selling their collections! Another excellent source is the 'used zines' bin seen at B&B conventions.

Why don't you list zines by author as well was by title?

We're mere mortals. :-) Seriously, we did think about it. But we quickly realized how complicated that would be. Many fanzines are compilations of stories by many authors, and to try to list all of those by individual authors would be very complicated. We decided on a goal of providing accurate, up-to-date information, and that meant some of those "extras" will be absent. If you are interested in looking for a particular author's work, we suggest using the "find" feature of your browser. It's a clunky solution, we admit, but it will do the job.

What information do you need to post a new listing?

Follow the described format for other entries, repeated below for your convenience. Remember, with new zines, the more complete your information is, the more interest you are likely to generate!

Title

Author(s)

Editor(s)

Year of publication

Story focus: Vincent/Catherine/Diana/Other?

Rating: please follow the guidelines for the site.

Size: number of pages, size of zine, typeset information

Art information: names of contributing artists, sometimes notes on actual content in R/X rated drawings

Ordering information: Fanzine cost, postage charges if not included in price, address (email or snail mail or both).

Additional information: Usually a short story blurb appears here, along with miscellaneous information that may not fit anywhere else.

 

Can I change my listing?

Certainly! If you are the author/editor of a zine and see information that needs to be corrected or want to change what is stated in the "Additional Information" section, you are welcome to do so. To keep life simple for the web masters, please copy and paste the current text into an email, make your changes, and send it to [The QFER is now in archive mode]. Put QFER in the subject line. The information will be uploaded as you wrote it and completely replace the current entry. (Be careful not to add new mistakes as you fix old ones!)