"Let's all go."

In 1995 (Wow.), I helped found a literary magazine at Hofstra called Font (now trendily known as f0nt). I wasn't the editor-in-chief, the managing editor, or the layout editor. I was the "Structure Representative", the guy who attended weekly meetings to make sure Font was marked present by the student government (as opposed to being absent, forgotten, and de-funded).

I didn't rise much in the ranks. I was a second-semester junior when Font was conceived. I had been a loner until then, but wanted to be part of building something new, something that might last. I was the guy in the office most often, which for most of my time was a cubicle in the basement of the student union. My point, though, is that I did represent structure. I was one of the people who made the office a cool place to stop by. I reached out to the surrounding clubs, and Font had a good reputation by the time I graduated.

In 2001, I was recruited by Kevin Burton Smith and Victoria Esposito-Shea to edit the original fiction section of Thrilling Detective. Victoria was preparing to leave to devote her time to HandHeldCrime, one of the first zines delivered to portable devices. For the next nine years, Kevin and I worked well together, in part because I always remembered Thrilling was his site. Whatever my opinion might be, he had the final say, but our dispositions complemented each other, making the stories we published better overall.

And now here I am at The Lineup, a magazine I couldn't and wouldn't want to have started on my own. Aware of how many voices can work together, I asked some friends to throw in with me as equal co-editors. Five people have edited with me over the years, and our collective effort has shaped The Lineup's unique identity.

The past few months I've blogged about our continuing efforts to see how far our concept can go. The alternative would be not to say anything about our plans, making developments seem sudden. That has some some individualist appeal, but I can't forget everything I've gained from sharing my plans with others.

How can you take part in The Lineup? Read our issues. See for yourself what we're about. Then tell two friends, and they'll tell two friends, and so on, and so on...