Warping History Update 7/2/15

I thought I would take this opportunity to provide a quick update on my Sideways in Time paper: "Warping History: An Overview of Fans and Creators of Alternate History in the Internet Age". So far I have...done nothing. Seriously I haven't put a single second of work into it since I learned about the essay collection. That was back in April and deadline for the abstract wasn't until September 1st, so I thought: I got time.

Now its July and suddenly September is that much closer. Granted they are only asking for abstracts at that point with the full papers not being required until 2016, but I would like to have a final draft ready soon, especially since I want to hire a professional copyeditor to take a look at it (if you have any recommendations, please let me know).

I am writing this post not only as a wake up a call to myself, but to share with you dear reader my plans for "Warping History". For you see, not only is it possible that the paper won't be finished by the deadline, it may not even be accepted. Personally I put a lot of work into this thing and I would like as many people as possible to read it. Some of you have already gotten a taste by watching my Sideways in Time presentation on my YouTube channel, but the actual paper has a lot more detail. You couldn't imagine the stuff I had to cut and the stuff I will still have to cut to have a finished product ready for the collection. The current paper is over 10,000 words, but the the essay collection is looking for something around 6,000. That means I am going to have to cut about 40% of what I have written. What should I do with that 40% of history regarding the online alternate history community?

Well here are two ideas I have:

• BEST CASE SCENARIO: If I finish the paper in time and it is accepted, I will see what the reaction is to the collection and then do one of the following: A) write a longer and even more detailed version and publish it or B) parcel out the remainder of the paper as separate posts on this blog.
• WORST CASE SCENARIO: If I can't finish the paper or it is not accepted, I will write a longer and more detailed version as mentioned above and publish it myself.

So as you can see, "Warping History" will be published one way or another. Now the only thing left to do is to get to work editing and formatting it. I will probably start working on it during my summer break. Expect to get more updates in the months to come.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. Check out his short fiction. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.