In Alternate History discussions, we ususally preface a discussion of a story or situation with the root of the alternative - what event happened differently in a specific timeline to create the different situation.

In my case, if my mom's best friend had not moved to South Dakota and met my wife's mother, the three of them would have never had the opportunity to matchmake - and I would have never met my wife. That breakpoint I call the point of divergence, or POD for short.

The term seems to have caught on....and I used it for the title of this APA when I started it in 1995.

Gosh, that's too big a term to be covered here well. Go check out my Alternate History page or Uchronia for details.

What is an APA?

I've found Michael Rawdon's APA page to be the best definition of what an apa is and isn't. In POD's case, it is an amateur press association (APA) - a written 'many-to-many' aimed at the alternate history / alternate worlds enthusiast. POINT OF DIVERGENCE is a (cocktail party / BBS / Usenet Newsgroup) on paper - an area to discuss Alternate History topics, as well as a forum for writers in the genre to workshop their stories and gain constructive criticism from the membership.

This means it is a participation magazine - you read the last issue, and write up your comments on other people's fiction, commentary, etc., and add to it your own fiction, commentary, theories, etc.You then repro up thirty (30) copies of your written contribution to the 'official editor', (that's me) who combines your efforts with other people's writings every two months, and then sends the combined APA (for amateur press association) bundle back out to the membership.

How big do the contributions have to be?

Well, the uttermost minimum is two pages in four months (two disties) but zines usually run 15 pages or so per person. POD recognizes (in a silly way) the person who contributes the largest zine with the Clearcut Award each issue - top page count for such awards usually runs around 50. The apa as a whole is running around 300 pages an issue, and growing. Some people ask if there's a specific typeface, or line space requirement, and the answer is no, there isn't. However, if your zine is so sloppily printed that people can't read it, don't be surprised if your material gets ignored.

How can I get In? Is there a place on the list for me? How do I know if I'm In?

You get in by paying a years' dues ($14), and sending me 30 copies of your zine. And you stay in by continuing to write for the apa (at least two pages every other issue - that's not much) and keeping your postal account OK. Figure that US members will have to spend $5 an issue for postage/labels/etc. I will dispatch e-mail or a postal card to you when I receive your first contribution, to let you know I got it (and that you're in). Other than that - no, I really don't hold places. It's over two-thirds full, and we end up adding a member or two an issue.

I do reserve the right to not accept you as a member, and to throw you out if you turn out to be a disruptive jerk for the good of the APA's morale and discourse. Luckily, this hasn't happened yet - the members are polite and well-mannered.

I live outside the US. How can I handle my postage account and dues?

I will take IRCs (international reply coupons) for postage, International Postal Money Orders, US currency, or checks or cashable money orders that are drawn on US currency funds. I used to take any foreign currency, but I found that the conversion fees were too high (around 25-35% of the total) to make it worthwhile. ONE person bounced a check on me so far, and I reserve the right to send Rocco and Luigi out to *um* talk to such people privately.

You will, however, have to look into what type of mailing costs you want to incur. Seamail to Britain and Australia generally has taken at least a month; air mail is usually more expensive, but a whole lot quicker. Your choice. When in doubt, I send material GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL. That averages around $9-$14 an issue - the further you are from the USA, the higher it costs. Usually, people get it in a week.

Generally, I will try to give non-US contributors the benefit of the doubt in re money and getting stuff in. I'd like as diverse a membership as possible.

How do I get a zine to you?

Well, there's always the mail...my address is PO Box 562, Lisle, IL 60532 (USA). I check it regularly. Be sure to use Tyvek envelopes in sending stuff through - the number of mangled envelopes I've seen come through the Post Office are too many to count.

I can be talked into accepting electronic transmission of your zine to here for copying (at 5 cents US a side per copy, which is pretty cheap). Bear in mind that US standard paper (8 1/2 inches by 11 inches) is all you'll find in copying shops here in the Chicago area (where I live), and formatting your stuff in a non-US format like A4 is unacceptable for electronic files you might send me to print. I have had a terrible number of thrashes over the e-mail with people to get them to format their zines in US standard format. At first, I did the reformatting myself, but it got to be too much of a hassle. Most word processors will support that standard US page size, regardless of where you are - I get zines from the UK, Australia and Brazil all the time.

(note: If you are sending me a zine that way, and are using non-standard fonts not on the Win98 CD, you'd better include those with your submission.)

I run my zines in Word for Windows 2000 and can handle WordPro and WordPerfect; truly weird formats like XYWrite or some Amiga thing would be unusable. In any event, if you have questions on this, ask me directly.

Do I have to write stories to be in the apa? What sort of contributions are you looking for?

No. While the apa is intended as a writer's workshop (as its central function), I've been in writer's workshop apas that forbade people who just wanted to discuss things. In POINT OF DIVERGENCE, with its peculiar (and popular) focus, I hope to get learned and interesting folks in to talk about what-ifs with the writers and the rest of us.

POINT OF DIVERGENCE may include such things as member-written fiction, bibliographies within the genre, hints on upcoming works in the genre, reviews and commentary/discussion on present works in the genre (get 'em before they go out of print!), and discussions of older works (and where to find them!).

Also fair game - book reviews, movies and television dealing with AH, artwork, theory of history(such as the Marxist versus the great-man theory), socio-historical variations, any number of stray what-ifs, exhaustive discussions on specific topics of interest (specific broad what-ifs) and so on. The sky's the limit.

I see that you have special 'assignments' for people to write about. Are these mandatory?

Heavens, no. I started those to make sure that we didn't hash and rehash the most common what-if POD's (what if Lee won at Gettysburg or what if Hitler won the Second World War). Here's the list of assignments. I tend to vary them around a lot. It's a suggestion, not a rule, and I think it's worked pretty well.

How often does it come out? And how do I get contributions to you for the apa?

Deadline is usually at the first weekend of even-numbered months (August, October, December, February, April, June). We collate it here at my house the next weekend, and I will mail them out that day. By deadline day, I should have your zine in hand or know the details on it if you are hand-bringing it to collation.

Send all contributions and inquiries to my PO address above, or e-mail me here.

Can I Xerox a newspaper article and put it in the apa?

Sure, but be aware that if you do, it (a) won't count for your activity page count (that has to be original to the apa), (b) if it's too big, or too dull, the other members will likely yell at me and you about wasting their time and postage money. Also be aware in general that you get what you give out of something like this. The more interesting you are to read (and be *able* to be read), the more interest there will be in what you have to say! If you're dull, well...

I'd like to contribute, but I'm real busy and can't get to it for an issue or two. Can I reserve a space for later?

No! If you're interested, you can contribute. If not, not.

Can I subscribe to the APA? I just want to read it, and don't feel like contributing.

Nope, and here's why. I get this request a lot, and I'm very firm on the matter. Several authors (including the biggest of AH writers) have asked about the APA, mostly out of curiosity about what we're saying about them. I often get requests from authors for reviews that were printed in POD, and I refer them to the writers. Generally, the bigtime writers have said that they would love to subscribe to an Alternate History magazine, but they have no time to contribute to an APA. They're busy writing new stuff (for pay) for all of us to read.

Can't you just publish it on the web instead, and then I wouldn't have to pay for it?

Some of the members aren't online (though most are, and we use the POD listserv a fair amount for notices) and wouldn't be able to read it. Of the ones who are, most don't have a web page to post their stuff in any event - and print copies are a heck of a lot more portable (reading it in the easy chair, on the bus, etc.).

In any event, you get what you pay for. I find that if you have to pay for something, you get somewhat more serious about putting some effort into what you're doing!