[HYPE] NPO/Spinnerrack.com: Dot Bomb Phoenix?
The Operative
The former makers of NextPlanetOver.com (not the soulless execs, but
the actual comics fans who did the work every day) including Eric
Stephenson and Allen Hui are back in the game at Spinnerrack.com, which
is looking at a June 5th launch date. There's a splash page up now.
The difference? The old Diamond connection is gone, nothing is for
sale, and it's all just solid reviews, message boards, columns,
interviews, commentary and features on comics, toys, and all things
that make RAC* types smile. Doing it for money was one thing, but now
they're just doing it for the love of comics. I repeat, no one is
getting paid, everything is done on a volunteer basis for the sheer
love of spreading the word.
I'll have more information soon, because I've stupidly been tricked
into being the partial mouthpiece for this new assemblage of insanity,
but I saw a Usenet post the other day on this newsgroup asking about
the ashes of NPO, and I was asked to respond to it.
Carry on.
-Hannibal Tabu
eLance assassin
www.operative.net
Brian Jacks
>I truly hope that some comics site comes out with a viable business
>plan to make some cash and provide up-to-date content and in-depth
>coverage.
They won't. The web is great in conjunction with an existing enterprise, but
it's just not capable of sustaining a large stand-alone operation.
-Brian
The Operative
<vi...@comicinvestor.com-nospam> wrote:
> On Wed, 16 May 2001 05:02:33 GMT, The Operative
> <theope...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> Then how are the server costs going to be covered?
I believe, IIRC, somebody has a spare server lying around their house
near a high speed connection. I know the site's lead producer has his
brother setting it all up. It's a strictly mom-and-pop operation.
> I love to spread the word too, but even after being involved in other
> sites, I'm getting a first-hand look at exactly how much it costs to
> support the infrastructure of even a small site.
Heh, I learned that first hand. I ran an online web magazine about
urban music and culture called Damage Control for almost three years.
I got tired of being the only one doing all the work, so I stopped. I
left it all online at http://www.operative.net/damagecontrol, but I
remixed the front page for people who were looking to have me design
things for 'em.
The cost, when I was working, wasn't prohibitive. I swiped and adapted
code for the search and forms functionality, I pay something like $20 a
month for domain hosting and a decent amount of traffic (I was up to
3000 visitors a month and within my limits, until I stupidly started
posting MP3s) and do all the front end work myself.
> I truly hope that some comics site comes out with a viable business
> plan to make some cash and provide up-to-date content and in-depth
> coverage. Unless you actually operate the site, the bizarre novelty of
> freelance writing for free wears off quite qucikly.
I like the fact that I can go to comicon.com for my "news," but the
real "journalism" is being done on sites like Savant, Comics Worth
Reading, what they have planned for Spinnerrack, and a few more that
slip my mind currently. Even when you "actually operate the site, the
bizarre novelty of freelance writing for free wears off" very quickly.
That's why they have to keep paying me in comic books. >8^)
Spinner Rack, if I understand correctly, is not intended as a
"business" like NPO was. It's intended as a chorus of voices from
within and without who will serve as an online magazine and hangout.
Hang on, lemme get my notes here ... "online magazine and message
boards, putting a new spin on comics, doing it to encourage people to
read comics." Eric Stephenson likens it to a publication called
Amazing Heroes, which I had never heard of.
Everybody doing it has regular hustles, just like the daily madness of
As The Apple Turns (http://www.appleturns.com), but do it for the raw
enjoyment of the work. Most of us have been paid for the same kind of
work in the past, and enjoy it so much they don't want to stop because
their job dried up.
*Hannibal shrugs*