So, part one of this introduction was a rallying call. Now to ground that in what exactly we're doing here.

Outside The Lines is kind of the publication I've always wished existed for me to publish in. By that I mean:

  1. It's not a personal or organisational blog, where I have to build an audience and develop a "brand" myself, posting regularly and doing all my own promo.
  2. It's different from a journal, which expects a particular kind of writing, has a long timeline for publishing, and for me (as a practitioner whose job has never required me to publish in journals) doesn't really offer enough of a reward to be worth the time.
  3. It's a place where I don't have to constantly justify my values and beliefs (like that open access is good, actually, and that important, serious work doesn't have to look a certain way).

I don't mean to get all navel gaze-y here – I share this because I know I'm not unique in wanting these things. So many people I've spoken with feel the same. They have things they want to share, but they're overwhelmed, don't know where to start, and never quite get around to it. Now, no publication can solve all that, but the idea is that OTL can be a collective space that's practical, flexible and maybe even fun, making it that little bit easier to do some stuff out loud.

And to help with that, we're going to experiment with things designed to treat blank page syndrome: writing/creation prompts, templated features (e.g. project profiles, 10 Questions With), adapting things you've written elsewhere (e.g. social media threads), republishing things that you want to give a new life etc. And we'll consider anything you bring to us, whether its a piece that hasn't found a home yet, but you want it to have a DOI and metrics to include in your T&P package, or two thousand words on the weird intersection between your work and your favourite hobby. Go ahead, scratch that itch.

Many of the wise and wonderful people who have been helping me to get this all set up have asked me what publications I would compare OTL to. There are many, (some I won't name in public 👀) but one I come back to is The Conversation. In a previous life, my job was to analyse media coverage of the university sector in New Zealand, which meant hours reading quotes and opinion pieces from academics, and it happened to be the early days of The Conversation (started in Australia in 2011). I read a lot of it, right at the very beginning. It's pretty incredible to see how it has grown. While nothing is perfect, and certainly the scale it has reached is not the plan (can you imagine 😅), it went a long way to facilitate and legitimise a different kind of knowledge exchange.

That's the radical potential of publishing that I was ranting about advocating for passionately in my last post. We can do that, too.

The 'we' is really important there. We're starting small and scrappy, which is how many of the best things start, but success depends on you, dear reader. Making a proper go of things needs:

  1. People contributing,
  2. People spreading the word, and
  3. People helping us cover costs (including labour!)

That means word of mouth. Tell your friends, folks!

Pitch us.

Follow & boost us on Mastodon/Bluesky/LinkedIn.

Become a member (via Ghost - it's like Patreon but spooky).

Donate.

Tell us what works and what doesn't.

If you represent an organisation, reach out about a partnership.

I really hope you see the potential in this that I do, and that you'll come along for the ride.