User talk:Jean T. Cullen

Your submission at Articles for creation: Clocktower Books (March 14)
 Your recent article submission to Articles for Creation has been reviewed! Unfortunately, it has not been accepted at this time. The reason left by Robert McClenon was:

The comment they left was:

Please check the submission for any additional comments left by the reviewer. You are encouraged to edit the submission to address the issues raised and resubmit when they have been resolved.


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Robert McClenon (talk) 01:37, 14 March 2016 (UTC)


 * Hello again... six years later... I am still looking for help getting the history of our accomplishments 1996-2007 onto Wikipedia. Looking for someone to help me put a page together, probably with pointers to it. I think the entry for Far Sector at the SF Encyclopedia (ESF) is probably a great starting & referral point. Anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated. In the past few years, I have built a Clocktower Books Museum (with info about our magazines Neon Blue Fiction, The Haunted Village, Deep Outside, and Far Sector). I also just renovated Deep Outside and Far Sector after years of broken links & ruins. Please advise. Thanks/jtc Jean T. Cullen (talk) 06:11, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

Clocktower Books
I have no idea what I am doing. Here is my message again in reply to Tea Room: yes, it was disappointing to have my article rejected (Clocktower Books). I am also working on a related article (Far Sector SFFH) about the well-known magazine we published for a decade (1998-2007). this stuff should have been on Wikipedia from the beginning because we published some of the first true e-books in history. This can be confusing because many people immediately cite Michael Hart, 1972, and shut down. I knew Michael Hart, and he's a different story (Gutenberg).

Brian Callahan and I launched Clocktower Books (originally Clocktower Fiction) in 1996 and published the first true online e-books. Criteria (utterly different from Hart & Gutenberg): (1) not public domain, but proprietary - all rights owned by author; (2) published online for reading online in HTML, never done before in this context with these criteria; (3) entire novel, not sample chapters; (4) no portable media (CD-ROM, floppies, etc) - we were 100% online; (5) standard industrial length, often over 90,000 words...

Our citations include the SF Encyclopedia (Mike Ashley); Karen Wiesner's Electronic Publishing History; Writer's Market 1999; Wayback Machine; and many others.

The reason I have to cite the Clocktower Books museum pages is because some of the records dating to 1996 are ephemeral. For example, I found a piece of a web page from a site no longer doing this type of web publishing, tracing one of our mid-1996 websites that evolved into Clocktower Books.

I had a personal letter from Ray Bradbury, praising my novel (published by us at CTB) The Christmas Clock.

On and on...so yes, we weren't talked about much because we were suppressed by the print people in the 1990s. Library of Congress in 1999 refused to grant copyright registration on one of my novels (which they did by 2003) because "we don't know if those are real books but you can register it as an unpublished manuscript..." this in reference to a book available by then already world wide in POD and ebook (Rocket eBook, Nuvomedia) formats.

Bottom line, I believe we probably published the first true e-books on line, according to the criteria outlined above. Karen Wiesner, a well-known author, discussed us at length in her book (I forgot to add the full statement from page 161 of her book).

So while I am a trained researcher and understand the need for rigor, the flip side of the coin is that we may let history sift away through our fingers based on the notion that if the blind did not see it in 1996 and write oodles of hype, it must not have happened. It's a 50/50 and I hope someone there can help me get the important information to the table.

Again, citing our Museum pages is not circular or trivial--I have posted some incredibly valuable snippets of the past, gleaned from important sources *with references/cites/etc* and a glance through those will tell you it is not just a self-reference but a true museum of fragments from the past. Includes articles at the SF Site (which I helped the originator design, that's how far back I go), plus Locus Online (we published Tim Pratt and had his support in many ways) etc etc. More recently, Mike Ashley of the SF Encyclopedia has published info about us on the SF Encyclopedia. So in the net effect, that cannot be trivial. I think alone the reference in the SF Encyclopedia should justify both Wikipedia pages I am trying to create: Clocktower Books, our publishing house since 1996, and Far Sector SFFH, our acclaimed magazine (ran 10 years, published lots of top SF writers including Ted Kosmatka, Kameron Hurley, Pat York, Tim Pratt, Dr. Andrew Burt, and many others).

thanks for your interest. I believe we must get this info out there. Cheers/Jean-Thomas "John" Cullen Jean T. Cullen (talk) 04:33, 14 March 2016 (UTC)

Managing a conflict of interest
Hello, Jean T. Cullen. We welcome your contributions, but if you have an external relationship with the people, places or things you have written about on Wikipedia, you may have a conflict of interest (COI). Editors with a COI may be unduly influenced by their connection to the topic. See the conflict of interest guideline and FAQ for organizations for more information. In particular, please:


 * avoid editing or creating articles related to you and your circle, your organization, its competitors, projects or products;
 * instead propose changes on the talk pages of affected articles (see the request edit template);
 * when discussing affected articles, disclose your COI (see WP:DISCLOSE);
 * avoid linking to the Wikipedia article or website of your organization in other articles (see WP:SPAM);
 * exercise great caution so that you do not violate Wikipedia's content policies.

In addition, you must disclose your employer, client, and affiliation with respect to any contribution for which you receive, or expect to receive, compensation (see WP:PAID).

Please familiarize yourself with relevant policies and guidelines, especially those pertaining to neutral point of view, sourcing and autobiographies. Thank you. Theroadislong (talk) 08:33, 14 March 2016 (UTC)

March 2016
Hello, and thank you for your contributions to Wikipedia. This is just a note to let you know that I've moved the draft that you were working on to Draft:Far Sector, from its old location at User:Jean T. Cullen/sandbox. This has been done because the Draft namespace is the preferred location for Articles for Creation submissions. Please feel free to continue to work on it there. If you have any questions about this, you are welcome to ask me on my talk page. Thank you. /wiae  /tlk  11:45, 16 March 2016 (UTC)

Your submission at Articles for creation: Far Sector (March 21)
 Your recent article submission to Articles for Creation has been reviewed! Unfortunately, it has not been accepted because it included copyrighted content, which is not permitted on Wikipedia.

You are welcome to write an article on the subject, but please do not use copyrighted work.


 * Draft:Far Sector may be deleted at any time unless the copied text is removed. Copyrighted work cannot be allowed to remain on Wikipedia.
 * If you need any assistance, you can ask for help at the [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:WikiProject_Articles_for_creation/Help_desk&action=edit&section=new&nosummary=1&preload=Template:Afc_decline/HD_preload&preloadparams%5B%5D=User_talk:Jean_T._Cullen Articles for creation help desk] or on the [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:LaMona&action=edit&section=new&nosummary=1&preload=Template:Afc_decline/HD_preload&preloadparams%5B%5D=User_talk:Jean_T._Cullen reviewer's talk page].
 * You can also use Wikipedia's real-time chat help from experienced editors.

LaMona (talk) 02:37, 21 March 2016 (UTC)

Your draft article, Draft:Clocktower Books


Hello, Jean T. Cullen. It has been over six months since you last edited your Articles for Creation draft article submission, "Clocktower Books".

In accordance with our policy that Articles for Creation is not for the indefinite hosting of material deemed unsuitable for the encyclopedia mainspace, the draft has been nominated for deletion. If you plan on working on it further, or editing it to address the issues raised if it was declined, simply and remove the  or  code.

If your submission has already been deleted by the time you get there, and you wish to retrieve it, you can request its undeletion by following the instructions at this link. An administrator will, in most cases, restore the submission so you can continue to work on it.

Thanks for your submission to Wikipedia, and happy editing.  Onel 5969  TT me 17:47, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

I just tried to respond to Teahouse's kind offer to help or advise (2016) but cannot even post a note to them.

I don't see a block on your account directly. Please tell us the exact message that appears when you attempt to edit. 331dot (talk) 08:49, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

Wish to create/edit but message="blocked"
Please help, someone. I have been a big fan of Wikipedia from the start, and have been a monthly contributor of a small $$. Our magazine Deep Outside SFFH (listed at the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and other top authorities) was online 1998-2002 and became Far Sector SFFH. We published some top SFFH authors including Nebuia Award recipients and a few top SFWA officials.

My son installed Vyper or some such thing, which I have uninstalled. Hoping that I can once again have privileges to edit on Wikipedia. I still get a message that my ISP address is blocked at Wikipedia. Can you please help resolve this so I can give the world the long-overdue information on our wonderful publications since 1996?

Thanks JTC Jean T. Cullen (talk) 23:07, 26 September 2022 (UTC)

PS: I would love to have someone at Wikipedia help me create the page(s) I think the world needs to see. At this point, the entry for Far Sector SFFH (world's first professional SFFH online only magazine paying professional rates per SFWA rules) is the main objective. More background info but basically: launched April 1998 as Deep Outside: Speculative & Dark Fiction... became Far Sector SFFH in 2000, closed operations early 2007. That's a start... we can have redirect links (e.g. Clocktower Fiction, Clocktower Books, C&C Publishers, John T. Cullen, Brian Callahan, etc). Example: Our "Transmissions: Editorial" columnist John K. Muir has his own Wikipedia site; we are listed on his personal website as a past team activity of his. There are Wikipedia links all over the place naming us as publisher of short stories by Kameron Hurley (2x Hugo Award), Andrew Burt (for several years Exec VP of SFWA), Ted Kosmatka, and many others. Time to make this happen at last... please!!!

P.P.S. I have been renovating both Deep Outside and Far Sector SFFH in the past year to fix broken links and other barnacles of history. I have been gathering references as best possible and publishing them on special new *about* pages while maintaining the integrity and continuity of our original creations. Some of these will be repetitive, given that they are on three different websites (John T. Cullen COM, Far Sector COM, and Deep Outside COM). Some of the reference sites, however famous and beloved they were, no longer exist; I was lucky enough to grab screenshots during their heyday for the early CTB Museum. Here are the main references on the original websites:

Clocktower Books: https://www.clocktowerbooks.com   Museum pages: https://www.clocktowerbooks.com/museum/fyi/index.html

Deep Outside: https://www.deepoutside.com  About pages: https://www.deepoutside.com/about.html

Far Sector: https://www.farsector.com 'read first' pages and renovation notes: https://www.farsector.com/2022renovation-readfirst.html

As the listing shows, we published many top names in SFFH who were thrilled in those early days to be part of Web publishing, despite all the opposition from the print/pulp cartel who loathed us (and apparently still do, since we were never recognized by SFWA despite being the world's first professional, web-only SFFH magazine that paid its authors SFWA mandated rates and followed all SFWA rules for professional status. Lots more backstory there that I won't even go into.)

In some cases ("firstlings" I call them), we were the first publisher of later very successful authors. Examples include Kameron Hurley (her first published story; she has earned at least two Hugo Awards by now); Ted Kosmatka; Tim Pratt (also Hugo recipient); and at least two top SFWA officials (Exec VP Dr. Andrew Burt and Regional VP Linda Dunn).

Lots more history if someone is interested. All verifiable, documented, and authoritative. In some cases, we can get personal written testimonials from famous authors. Tim Pratt gave me a glowing review for my SF Novel *Lantern Road* in the Empire of Time series; he's now an official at Locus Mag; and I'm sure he would offer support. Kameron Hurley is also and Locus and could be asked to verify details. Hope someone at Wikipedia will help with this project. Years in the making, long overdue!

thanks JTC


 * Hi Jean, my name is Bridget and I am also a volunteer editor here on Wikipedia. I just happened to stumble across your personal talk page by chance. I'm not exactly how to solve the issue you are having with your ISP and editing privileges, but I have notified some other more experienced editors who might be able to help. Best, Bridget (talk) 22:48, 27 September 2022 (UTC)


 * Wonderful, Bridget and so many thanks for your kindness and generosity in offering to help. I think I may have been blocked because my son installed all sorts of safeguards on my computer about 2 yrs ago. Includes Vyper or whatever, which I managed to remove. I'm not that tech savvy. I'm a writer. I even need help (from my wife) using my new Hello-Moto cell phone, which should give you an idea how lame I feel around all this Wikipedia scaffolding. I use Simple HTML from long ago to create simple websites. Well, anyway... I really think that, the more you and others dig into the history of what my group and I accomplished over the years, I think we deserve to be remembered. We were there before the print & pulp cartel media were even aware of digital/Web publishing.
 * Example: I copyright registered my first item (poetry book) with the Library of Congress in 1978 while stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army. The LoC thought nothing of it and approved my copyright registration promptly. Fast forward to about 1998 or 1999 when all the web-hating and digital-hating hullaballoo hit the print media... I had published my mainstream political thriller *CON2: The Generals of October* in ebook and print editions (LightningSource)... sent the forms & fees to LoC ... and soon got a message back from the Copyright Office: "We cannot register copyright on this item. At this point, we do not know yet if it is a real book. You may however register copyright on your item as an unpublished manuscript." Really? That says it all about what a hostile environment we were navigating in. I guess the reason I'm going into all this (and there is sooooo much more!) is to tell you that, even though I have authored 50 books + articles, shorts, poetry, etc... and have had kudos from the likes of Ray Bradbury, Joe Haldeman, and others... the world still does not want us to exist. I see that the foreign-owned print cartel in New York City is still struggling to get its arms around digital and online publishing, when they had such a tight, cruel, mindless lock on the print industry that nobody was allowed to penetrate (and take their profits away, they feared).Thanks again! JTC Jean T. Cullen (talk) 23:08, 27 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Your account isn't blocked, and have never been blocked. If you see, then unfortunately you are the recipient of a block intended for someone else. If you use the template , then someone will come by and look at the situation.
 * If you want help to write an article, you can go through articles for creation; if you want someone else to do it for you, you can actually request an article here. I dream of horses (Contribs) (Talk) 23:18, 27 September 2022 (UTC)
 * thank you for your note. Can you help me put a page together for Far Sector etc? thanks/jtc Jean T. Cullen (talk) 04:59, 28 September 2022 (UTC)
 * @Jean T. Cullen No, but the people at articles for creation help. I dream of horses (Contribs) (Talk) 05:06, 28 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Cool... I just keep getting that message that I'm blocked and can't do much outside of my own talk box. I found an article on wikipedia for Far Sector related to Green Lantern. I wouid point out that I purchased the domain name farsector.com on 05-11-2001, just to be clear that I did not copy their ideas or themes. N. K. Jemisin (an author I think very highly of) apparently created her character in 2019 FWIW. Anyway, I can't do anything at articles for creation help because I keep getting blocked. Jean T. Cullen (talk) 05:14, 28 September 2022 (UTC)



Please unblock (details follow)
ISP address is 69.167.42.241

Several editors have informed me that I am not actually blocked. Note: I am not a colocation web host nor a web host (whatever that means). I'm just a guy in good faith sitting in his home office trying to get some standard, honest things accomplished at Wikipedia.

thanks JTC Jean T. Cullen (talk) 10:06, 29 September 2022 (UTC)

Update
Greetings. I will be taking a brief (I hope) hiatus while working with my ISP and the VPN provider to figure out why my IP address continues (temporarily we hope) to be given as something other than my home location. I contacted my provider (Cox) and subscribed to their Complete Care added service. Worked for over an hour with a great technician who was in contact with an equally outstanding technician at VPN. They were unable to resolve the problem or figure it out, but promised to continue working on it. I had no hand in installing VPN on my computer, and deleted it... but somehow an echo of it seems to persist.

Therefore, I'm going to take a break again and wait for that to be resolved. Beyond that, my request would be for anyone (Wikipedia editor) with a journalistic orientation to look at the background of my team's early pioneering presence on the Internet as web publishers, e-book publishers, etc. starting in 1996. I have been gathering references and posting them at my webplex.

Please note that we published some top names in the SFFH world, including Kameron Hurley (we were her first publisher; she has gone on to win two Hugos and lots of other awards, and is a major columnist at Locus Mag). Our authors included a list of other big names like Tim Pratt, Ted Kosmatka, Melanie Tem, briefly Andrew Vachss, and others. Our published authors included two top executives of SFWA.

My fondest reference online for us is at the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction here: sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/far_sector authored by none other than Mike Ashley, one of the top authorities on the history of SFFH magazines. It's all there, if a Wikipedia editor with a journalistic and scholarly bent wants to dig in and find it all. One thing will lead to another.

I have posted some of my references in at least three locations on my webplex: The Clocktower Books Museum here on the Clocktower Books website: www.clocktowerbooks.com/museum/fyi/index.html

You'll find information and links related to the same at the Deep Outside website which I recently renovated after 20 years of broken links & ruins www.deepoutside.com/about.html

Our magazine (world's first web-only online professional SFFH magazine, paying SFWA rates to authors) was Deep Outside from launch 15 April 1998.

I became sole proprietor in 2002 and changed the name to Far Sector (ending 2007) with many other famous author names. I had a special magazine page at Fictionwise, which is where I published the stories. Fictionwise was purchased and destroyed by Len Riggio of B&N effective Jan 2012, so all that is gone except for a lot of screenshots I took (not yet posted).

Bottom line, I have no desire to be a Wikipedia editor... I'm 73 years old, retired, disabled US Army veteran, dealing with my own set of issues aside from all this. I have three college degrees (BA English, Univ of Connecticut; BBA Computer Information Systems, National University; and Master's in Business Administration, Boston University completed 1979-1980 during my last years serving overseas with the US Army in West Germany. I just don't have the time, the energy, and the resources to learn a lot of new technical stuff when I just want to write another novel is there is time... so somebody please help.

I love Wikipedia, admire Jimmy Wales, and contribute my monthly little bit because I use Wikipedia every day for fun and research. I understand the rules and empathize totally. I do see a lot of pages that have much less authority and value going for them than our accomplishments 1996 through 2007 and beyond. I tried to convince one of the editors in 2016, but he didn't understand the value of the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, or the massive authority of Mike Ashley in the field (among others), so I had to walk away from it in frustration. Please, somebody make this time in 2022 turn out better. The world needs to know about us. Most of our authors are famous and in many cases Deep Outside and/or Far Sector are listed on their Wikipedia pages. There is some information at the International Science Fiction Data Base (ISFDB). There are gaps in some references, but there is plenty of authoritative material out there. We also exchanged medallions (links) with Ellen Datlow at Event Horizon in 1998, formerly Exec Editor at Omni Magazine and now big publishing figure in New York City.

Thanks everyone... hope to get my senseless VPN problem solved by Cox and VPN, and for someone to take an interest in all this history. Thanks again. JTC Jean T. Cullen (talk) 08:01, 30 September 2022 (UTC)

Update 2 Problem Solved
After hours on line over 2 days with over 5 techs in two provider firms, it seems the vpn problem has been solved. A top tier tech found vpn embedded in my router and deleted it. I'm able to send emails via Outlook for the first time in over a year. This means theoretically that your "colocation" issue should be gone. Can someone please check and unblock me? thanks/JTC Jean T. Cullen (talk) 04:12, 1 October 2022 (UTC)