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Do you enjoy reading stories that make you giggle, grin, guffaw, titter, cringe, chortle, chuckle, scream, shriek, snort, choke on your drink and/or very nearly need a new pair of underwear?

If the answer is a resounding 'yes' to any of the above, then these are the awards for you!

The Giggle/Snort Awards

As the first (and as far as we know, only) awards to exclusively honour work within the 'humour' category, The Giggle/Snort Awards make it their mission to ensure your funny bones are well and truly tickled.
The awards are open to all fandoms and original fiction, so if you've read anything funny please nominate it and/or the author.

Everything from Harry Potter to Big Bang Theory, and whatever's in between, is accepted.

Check out the awards and nominate your fave funnies @ http://awards.gigglesnort.net

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--Admin on 15/06/12 - 01:28 am 3 Comments

Interested in being featured in an article about LOTR fandom? A journalist in the UK is interested in writing a piece about die hard LOTR fans. Here's some further details and contact information:

I am a journalist and feature writer looking to find MASSIVE LOTR/Hobbit fans.

I want to find people who have Tolkein-related tattoos, turned their rooms/houses into shrines to his work, changed their names to characters from Middle Earth etc.

I am open to ideas as well if anyone thinks they have a good story for me!

I would look at doing a piece for national/international papers and maybe magazines as well. There may even be some TV potential in it.

If you are interested and fancy a chat drop me an email at jake.rusby@mynewsagency.co.uk or call +44 2392820311.

Jake Rusby

I'd to take some time to answer a few of the posed questions regarding my experience with LotR....

Here's my Tolkien history. I watched the first movie at the cinema and this was my first experience of Tolkien. I loved it. I then read the books, and loved them too. I then, like you guys, had to wait patiently for the other movies to be made, and watched them both on release day (or at least weekend). I have since read the Hobbit - and, of course, am eagerly anticipating the film. I think Martin Freeman is the perfect cast for the young Bilbo. I would have loved del Toro to have directed; I was pretty amazed by the world he created in Pan's Labyrinth, so would have been interesting to see what he would have made of Middle Earth.

Finally, I have seen bits of the animated version of LotR as it keeps showing on one of the channels here in the UK. I haven't watched it all, mind you; I really struggle to take it seriously with some of the voices (Sam and Gollum have me in stitches, which I'm sure is not the intention!).

Zhie asked which I prefer - the books or the films? As with almost all books I've read that have been turned into movies, I'd have to say I prefer the books. You just get more detail, and the story is complete - no need for editing or exposition.

Another question was which is my favourite of the books - I can't say - I read them all in one go, so it felt to me like one volume, really. Of the films, which I watched one at a time - I'd probably go with Two Towers - after reading the books I remember this being something I was really looking forward to seeing visualised (mainly Treebeard and the Ents.....).

As to a favourite character? I'd probably plump with Sam. Why? Barazinbar asked which character are you most like and I'd say it would have to be one of the Hobbits. I grew up in rural England, and have since moved to various towns and cities - and I always identified with the way the Hobbits talked about 'The Shire' and 'home' - talking amongst themselves about the various pubs and bridges and fields and the characters they know from The Shire - much like I have done with my friends about the village I grew up in. In many ways Sam is the true hero of the stories.

As to my thoughts on fan fiction and fandom. After watching the films and reading the books, I did think about what would happen next - but to be honest, I never thought once about trying to conceive a story of my own - I have never written any fiction (I'm not sure where to start, and I guess there is a real fear of failure/embarrassment) or seeking out any fan-fiction, at lest not until recently. I think there was always a concern for me that it would disappoint. I really want to give NaNoWriMo a try this November to challenge myself and to get writing.

So, I guess in summary I'd say I'm a fan, but just not a super-fan like some of you might be. It's just something I've not really gotten into.

Indeed I should! There are some things I've wanted to discuss with LotR fans (which I'm sure you guys have, at length) - the biggest one being that I thought the biggest flaw with films, in my opinion, was how easy it seemed for the Army of the Dead to sweep through the armies of Mordor. Being so wise and all, Gandalf and Elrond should have thought of it earlier! I'm sure you guys know the answer to that and will shoot me to pieces....but hey, we're here to learn and enjoy discussing topics with one another.

So that's my frank and honest account of my relationship with Tolkien and the world of LotR. Perhaps you're disappointed that I'm not a complete LotR geek and that the site is now in the wrong hands. I could certainly see how it would be beneficial to have more knowledge.

Thankfully though, Adora and I will be working together as a team, and also absolutely wish to use all of your knowledge and experience too. As Adora mentioned in a previous discussion, the site was started by her only after having watched the movies - so evidence shows that complete cannon knowledge isn't a prerequisite for creating and building a great community.

I'm not a world expert on Winnie the Pooh, but have managed to build one of the most beautiful, content rich and relevant Winnie the Pooh content sites on the Internet - one that has been enjoyed thoroughly by its users, and has received accolade from Disney and others - all with the support and guidance of its fans (and yes, I'm fully aware the differences between that and LotRFF are great). I now know quite a lot about Winnie the Pooh and I'm sure my knowledge of LotR is only set to rapidly grow too.

--Keith Mander on 03/07/11 - 03:39 pm 5 Comments

Many thanks to everybody who took the time to read about the recent changes and who provided their feedback. I'd like to address some of the most common questions and concerns:

What changes?

LotRFF is now under new administration. Technical responsibilities and planning have passed hands, but the core focus and values of the site remain unchanged.

Who is the new owner?

That'll be me, Keith Mander. I formerly worked at both Google and Facebook and now dedicate a majority of my time to building web communities. My expertise is in reinvigorating websites and managing the process. I deeply care about the communities too and actively engage and partake in them. An example of this action can be seen on Just-Pooh.com and BusSongs.com. I recently took on the baton for managing the popular Twilight Archives site and aim to make significant improvements to it also.

Is Adora still involved in the site?

Absolutely. Adora has voiced that she would still like to be actively involved in the management of the website as a moderator and founder. You can still contact Adora using the LotRFF email address. Her new address is adora@lotrfanfiction.com. The old address (webmaster@lotrfanfiction.com) is still active and all messages are automatically forwarded.

What does Adora make of all this?

Adora and I spoke at length about the site and the plans for its future before the agreement was made. During this time we were merely discussing possible terms and conditions and making sure we were on the same page at every level. It wasn't a definite thing until really just a few days ago. We wanted to make sure everything was fine on the technical end, ensure a smooth transfer and as little downtime as possible before we made any announcements. Adora has been very supportive of the plans and has confidence that the site will continue to prosper. Of course, you'd better ask for her opinion! She did leave some comments on the original announcement, which I'd encourage you to read.

What is the future of LotRFF?

The future is bright! In the immediate period, I will be looking to understand the features that you'd like to see in the new site and begin to plan the rollout of a completely new design, backend and set of features. It'll take around a month or two before the new site goes live and I'll be sure to communicate updates with you. Work is currently underway on the new Twilight Archives site, and you can take a sneak peak at it's new design to give you a flavour of what is to come.

What kind of new features?

I have a long laundry list of ideas which include notifications, a messaging system, profile badges, easier story submission, character selection, ebook exporting, and challenges. The focus will be on improving the user experience and to foster engagement. Of course, it is you, the users who will help decide what it is that you want to see improved.

What are the long-term plans for the site?

The intention is to continue to develop the underlying fan fiction platform that runs the LotRFF site and leverage that technology to launch other fan fiction sites. Twilight Archives is another early part of this vision; in the near future you will be able to have a familiar experience across sites, use your same login and build a more complete profile. Our intention is not to take on FanFiction.net, but have a small knit group of popular, beautiful and deeply engaging fan fiction sites.

Will the site continue to be free?

You bet! You'll forever be able to add, edit, comment, review and read stories on the site. Everything you see today will remain free.

Will user data, or the stories be sold?

Definitely not; we respect your privacy and will do whatever we can to keep your data secure. Your data will never be passed onto a third party.

Is the site going to be plastered with ads?

First and foremost, we care about the community and the user experience. We'd never jeopardise that with the overuse of advertisements.

But your intention is to make a profit?

This, I'm sure, is the issue that causes the most concern amongst users. The site costs money to run through hosting costs and domain renewal. Moreover, I'm pledging several thousand dollars into the new revision of the site, hiring professional designers and developers. Further investment will be made into marketing efforts to encourage more engagement on the site. I'm also dedicating a substantial amount of my time as a self-employed person. Without any income stream, simply none of this would be possible. Some of the most high profile and engaged fan fiction sites (including fanfiction.net, twilighted.net, and harrypotterfanfiction.com) all generate revenue and have used that to grow and improve their sites. The site will never become a cash cow, the intention is only to cover costs and facilitate future investment into the site. It is absolutely the content that drives traffic and in turn, potential revenue. However, consider revenue being generated from the platform and facilitation of a place where users can share their fan fiction, rather than any single collection of stories. The alternative path is that there's no innovation, the site perishes and the owner bares the cost of running the site; this doesn't seem fair or progressive.

I want to out - can I delete my account and my stories?

Sure, they're your stories and you're welcome to do whatever you wish with them. Of course, I hope that you continue to visit the site and that you might reconsider your membership in the future.

I hope that you'll appreciate that I've tried to be very open and honest with you. We could have done more to better communicate the changes and for that I'm sorry.

I'm really excited about what we can do together with the site and I hope that you'll join me.

Please use the comments functionality to join me in this dialogue. You're also very welcome to email me directly.

--Keith Mander on 29/06/11 - 03:35 pm 55 Comments

Hello,

My name is Keith and I'm delighted to make this very special announcement.

I've been talking with Adora for several weeks about the future of the site. We've come to an agreement where I will be taking on ownership and technical responsibilities for the site.

I can appreciate that this might surprise many of you. Rest assured that all of your stories are safe and the site will continue to exist for a long time to come.

Adora will continue to be very much involved with the site as the founder and moderator. You'll still be able to reach her using her site related e-mail address.

Adora has done an incredible job growing the community over the past 7-years and I'm super excited about helping take the site to the next stage as a team. Expect an all new design, new features and lots more over the coming month or two.

Please shoot an email to keith@lotrfanfiction.com if you spot anything that's not working on the site or if you'd like to chat!

I'll post more information about the plans real soon.

Speak to you again soon,

Keith

--Keith Mander on 27/06/11 - 03:42 am 27 Comments