Comments on: What are some alternatives to Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology column?

Question: What are some alternatives to Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology column?

stokast — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 10:29:36 -0800

What are some alternatives to Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology column?

I'm the editor of a free alternative paper on the East Coast of Canada. We're expanding, and we want an astrology section. We love the literate, funny style of Free Will Astrology, but it's already being published by one of our competitors. What can we do?

By: cda

cda — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 11:45:12 -0800

I would be more likely to pick up your paper if it had Rob Brezsny's column even if the same column ran in your competitor's paper. He is incomparable.

By: maxreax

maxreax — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 15:10:03 -0800

Hire a smart, funny, literate college student to write it weekly as an unpaid intern in exchange for credit.

By: maxreax

maxreax — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 15:11:03 -0800

And by "it" I mean another smart, funny, literate astrology column. Speaking as a literate college student who's worked as an intern, we'll write for nothing if it gets us published and makes us connections.

By: Marky

Marky — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 15:32:15 -0800

Just make the crap up. It's how the pros do it.

By: brina

brina — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 16:18:22 -0800

Or hire a smart, funny, literate freelancer to do it on the cheap. Come up with a theme. Go a little absurdist on it.

You can have the freelancer submit six weeks or so at a time so that you're never lacking copy.

I have a few ideas, if you're interested in something unique/not syndicated. E-mail address in the profile.

By: apostrophe

apostrophe — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 20:19:00 -0800

For a reference point, I can't stand Rob Breszny AND I am very much into astrology. And being someone who is into astrology, I take all sun-sign newspaper astrology columns with a hunk of salt. But that Bresny--self-important smug hippie who thinks he is dashingly disarmingly witty. Yet he is lame. I agree with the idea of hiring someone less experienced. You could even have try-outs on the internets!

By: tkolar

tkolar — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 20:27:29 -0800

apostrophe wrote...
You could even have try-outs on the internets!

Oooh, that could be really cool. Get a website going where people can submit next week's horoscope (for one sign or for all of them) and just pick the best ones each week.

Call it "Community Horoscope" and make some noises about Carl Jung and Gestalt if anyone asks questions.

By: brujita

brujita — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 20:38:47 -0800

Rockie Horoscope runs in the LA Weekly.

By: emelenjr

emelenjr — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 20:49:46 -0800

We have Rob Brezsny's column in the free alt. weekly I work for. The only drawback I can see to having a contest to see who'll write the next week's column, or having the column duties rotate from writer to writer, is the in-joke factor. Too much wink-wink, nudge-nudge in the writing, and you might as well be putting out a college paper.

/dated a girl in college whose roommate wrote the astrology column.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 10:45:27 -0800

[a few comments removed, please keep it on topic or take it to metatalk or email]