Happy 10th Birthday,
File 770 Blog

We’ve reached the second bookend of File 770’s 10/40 anniversary celebration.

As I said about the zine in the first post here on the File 770 blog

You never know how long a fanzine will be around. When the first pages rolled out of the mimeograph in January 1978, I decided it was premature to order personalized [File 770] license plates. But by now, the zine has outlasted 5 cars.

And just as surprisingly, the blog itself has reached the age of 10 today.

It might still be one of fandom’s best-kept secrets if not for John King Tarpinian’s January 2015 article “Viewing the Remains of Bradbury’s Home” and his photographs of the Bradbury home teardown that touched the hearts of all the fans who still hadn’t finished mourning Ray. John’s post became File 770’s most viewed up to that time (and is still in second place, behind “Sunday Business Meeting at Sasquan.”) It made more readers familiar with File 770 as a news source, preparing the way for the rapid audience expansion that happened when I started daily roundups of Sad/Rabid Puppy news.

I actually did those for only three months (and the titles people came up with launched another tradition). But the commenter community that grew out of them inspired me to invent the daily Pixel Scrolls, fan news and pop culture roundups, so we continue to have issues to discuss and ideas to play with.

Of the dozens of frequent contributors I owe thanks to, I especially want to remember John Hertz, who spans so many times and cultures in his writing; JJ, for vast review projects; Chris Barkley, a passionate fannish advocate; and Carl Slaughter, whose interviews help steer this blog toward its polestar interest in sff.

I’ll also never forget the late James H. Burns, who specialized in reminding us that fandom is fun. Usually his posts here were inspired by memories of “growing up fannish,” such as the very popular Once, When We Were All Scientists, and CLANKY!. But Jim was especially proud of a trio of posts that paid tribute to the influence of his father — My Father, And The Brontosaurus, Sons of a Mesozoic Age, and World War II, and a Lexicon in Time.

Thanks to all of you who contribute a review, a filk, a cat photo, or in some other way use your creative abilities to energize the conversation at File 770.

Lastly, thanks to Camestros Felapton for creating this birthday video —

19 thoughts on “Happy 10th Birthday,
File 770 Blog

  1. Did the roundups really only last three months? Seemed much longer. I can’t remember exactly where I saw the first link that sent me here, but I’m pretty sure it was mid-April 2015. I lurked for a bit then dipped my toe in with a comment.

  2. Happy 10th anniversary and many more to come!

    I rarely comment but do want to thank you and the commentators. I can’t imagine a friendlier, more welcoming and knowledgeable group. Thanks to all!

  3. Happy 10th and 40th! I am amazed at the work you do. The news and the space for the commentariat are both so appreciated. Thank you.

  4. I knew of the site well before the Puppy poo-fest, but was foolishly attempting to read only every week, or month, or so — not a good way to follow even the shorter pre-Scroll conversations. Congratulations on becoming a tween; here’s hoping many more.

  5. I think I learned about it from George R.R. Martin’s “Not a Blog,” where (if I remember right) he called it THE place to go to keep up on the latest on the Puppy thing.

  6. Happy 10th for the blog and Happy 40th for File 770 in it’s original form. I probably still have some old mimeoed issues around here. I wonder how old they are?

  7. Im a very recent addition to the comments department, but Im very happy to have found my way here (via Black Gate BTW). Ahem. Happy Birthday!

  8. Congratulations & Happy Anniversary!

    (I’ve known about the blog since ~2010 though it was the puppy kerfuffle some years later that drew me here on a much more regular basis. I appreciate the lovely community that has grown here. So thank you Mike & all the contributors & commenters that make this site such a treat.)

  9. Happy Anniversary!

    I was also drawn in by the Puppy mess–I don’t even remember which post it was now, but it was when Mr Beale was still allowed to comment here. (Now that I think about it, it seems I became aware of him, and File 770, via Making Light, and the incredible comments section where he tangled with John Scalzi.) It was that imbroglio, however, that made me aware I could join Worldcon and vote for the Hugos, and I’ve been a happy Filer, commenter and voter ever since.

  10. Congratulations and many thanks!

    I first came to the Hugos when The Wheel of Time was nominated (joined to get the series ebook, read all the nominees, voted for something else in the end), found File 770 with its Puppy reporting, stayed for … everything.
    At least half of my overfull TBR stack comes from this site alone.

  11. Also drawn in by the whole puppy mess (which seemed to have been a bellwether for our society at large, though I daresay the SFF community handled the crisis better than the US did the presidential election)…and found File770 is far more and greater than that.

    Happy Anniversary!

  12. Happy anniversaries. I first saw a paper copy in a ‘zine archive years ago, I didn’t remember that when I wandered over here from GRRM’s blog, trying to make sense of the nonsensical puppy mess. I stayed for the comments, your sometimes oracular approach to moderating, and the book recommendations that have tripled my already daunting TBR mountain.

  13. I was in the habit of checking File 770 on major sf/fandom news well before the Puppy mess, but I’m 99.999% certain I never commented here before that. It was the Puppies that made this not only a place I check daily rather than sometimes, but a community I wanted to be a part of.

  14. It was 40 years ago today
    Mike Glyer started up the File. . . .

    I first ran across File 770 (the blog) a few times when Cheryl Morgan linked to it, but I started reading regularly during the Puppy Posts. I was a little on and off, but for a long time now, I only miss posts if I’m out of town for an extended time or have a supercrazyhorribleworktime going on.

    Thanks, @Mike Glyer, for building a wonderful thing, sticking with it, and growing it during and after the Puppy Period. (Yay, Pixel Scrolls!) And to all the Filers who’ve made the comments threads so interesting and fun – thanks to you, too!.

  15. I found my way to File 770 while looking for more information about the bizarre dreck which had appeared on the Hugo ballot… and found myself in a house full of SFF readers just as ardent as I am (if not more so) — a group of people so intelligent and clever that spending time reading and participating in their discussions enriched me immeasurably (as well as increasing the height of Mount Tsundoku to dangerous levels).

    I’ve never had the desire to have a blog of my own — with all of the obligations that would entail — so it’s been a pleasure to be able to make contributions when I had the time and a worthy subject about which to write, and to enjoy the contributions of so many bright and witty people… to have so many “Lucky 10,000” moments.

    Congratulations on achieving this truly remarkable milestone — and thank you for working so hard to provide an environment where this amazing community of fandom could grow and thrive. 🍾

  16. I think I saw File 770 once or twice before the puppy mess, but it was GRRM who brought me here more permanently. And I have stayed because I like it here and I like the people commenting.

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