Tim Matthews is one of my best friends, and also - coincidentally - one of the most controversial figures in contemporary Forteana. He has been involved with the CFZ for nearly a decade now, raising eyebrows wherever he goes.
Once upon a time when punks took themselves seriously, and not quite everybody laughed at their insignificance and delusions of grandeur, small groups of them actually did something. Yes, I know; shocking isn't it?! Taking their lead from 1960s student revolutionaries they started to produce their own newspapers and magazines so that they could maintain total control of their means of production and also guarantee that their views could be heard. Tens of thousands of often short-lived agitprop newspapers were produced by the Underground and the idea was that anyone could do it. And almost everyone had a go.
Moving on around ten years and suddenly punk got political and everyone decided that they'd invented DIY and we weren't talking Sunday afternoon discounts at B+Q and Homebase. We were talking all manner of magazines: some produced with Letraset on the kitchen table; others produced using an old fashioned qwerty typewriter and stuck together with loose fitting staples or bits of sellotape that had a tendency to do their own thing.
The days of Letraset and printed home-brew were, of course, almost ended with the advent of desktop publishing and CFZ Media has sought to use all the very latest means at its disposal to bring you, the reader and consumer, the highest quality publications. It is gratifying to hear the "wows" and "oohs" when our latest book is published and it exceeds the expectations of the customer.
But it is not just about making nice books to make ourselves feel better and/or to see our names on hobbyist's shelves. It is all about helping to raise the scientific credibility of our subject in general and we should all be working to the very highest standards. As some of you may know, we have a working relationship with a leading printing company so there is no limit on the quantity of material we can produce or the quality available to us. It is bookshop standard every time!
I spent five years in journalism, worked as a magazine editor on a number of news-stand publications and produced a number of bespoke B2B publications from cradle to grave so I know how hard it is to get everything right and yet the CFZ is doing this, and better every time.
It is not a job that just one person can do and the effort involved, especially on specialist publications where there are many Latin names to get right (!) is tremendous. Hundreds of man hours were dedicated, for example, to the production of Neil Arnold's fascinating new book on Mystery Animals of Kent. This book was especially long as Neil, a noted expert and activist in terms of tracking down the ever elusive native British big cat, had written one of the most in-depth manuscripts ever handled by the CFZ. Dozens of photographs and news clippings were included as well and it simply doesn't do him justice to call his book a labour of love because it asks difficult questions about some of the amateurs out there seeking to claim big cat research as theirs.
Moving on around ten years and suddenly punk got political and everyone decided that they'd invented DIY and we weren't talking Sunday afternoon discounts at B+Q and Homebase. We were talking all manner of magazines: some produced with Letraset on the kitchen table; others produced using an old fashioned qwerty typewriter and stuck together with loose fitting staples or bits of sellotape that had a tendency to do their own thing.
The days of Letraset and printed home-brew were, of course, almost ended with the advent of desktop publishing and CFZ Media has sought to use all the very latest means at its disposal to bring you, the reader and consumer, the highest quality publications. It is gratifying to hear the "wows" and "oohs" when our latest book is published and it exceeds the expectations of the customer.
But it is not just about making nice books to make ourselves feel better and/or to see our names on hobbyist's shelves. It is all about helping to raise the scientific credibility of our subject in general and we should all be working to the very highest standards. As some of you may know, we have a working relationship with a leading printing company so there is no limit on the quantity of material we can produce or the quality available to us. It is bookshop standard every time!
I spent five years in journalism, worked as a magazine editor on a number of news-stand publications and produced a number of bespoke B2B publications from cradle to grave so I know how hard it is to get everything right and yet the CFZ is doing this, and better every time.
It is not a job that just one person can do and the effort involved, especially on specialist publications where there are many Latin names to get right (!) is tremendous. Hundreds of man hours were dedicated, for example, to the production of Neil Arnold's fascinating new book on Mystery Animals of Kent. This book was especially long as Neil, a noted expert and activist in terms of tracking down the ever elusive native British big cat, had written one of the most in-depth manuscripts ever handled by the CFZ. Dozens of photographs and news clippings were included as well and it simply doesn't do him justice to call his book a labour of love because it asks difficult questions about some of the amateurs out there seeking to claim big cat research as theirs.
If we are to raise the profile that crytozoology has - not only nationally but internationally - it is necessary for the amateurs to take stock and realise that, by producing second-rate material, they are damaging the subject they claim to love and reducing the quality of material available to an eager and interested public.
No comments:
Post a Comment