Focus On Community: Issue #8

Morandilas/MTJ Publishing

In considering what to do next for this section, I always try to come up with things that are of current interest.  One of those items currently of interest is the new newsletter just begun by MTJ Publishing.  

MTJ has been around in one form or another since August of 1999 and has continued to grow and offer opportunities to many authors and artists in the community to share their works.  It's one of those companies that puts community first...and saves folks from having to search through porn shops for the elusive magazine tickle mention.  In recognition of this fact, I thought it would be cool to talk with Jim (AKA Morandilas), founder of MTJ, and hear a bit about how he got things rolling, where they find themselves at today and what might be in the works for down the road.  So, without further ado...

.

TK-411:  I've been wanting to do an interview with you for a while now.  Seeing your newsletter announced recently gave me the nudge I needed to finally drop you a note and see if you were interested.  So, first off, thanks for agreeing to do this interview with us.  

Morandilas: I'm happy for the opportunity. I am a great admirer of the TK-411 site and feel it has become an important resource for the tickling community.

.

TK-411:  We all have our own unique story of how we got into tickling, what we did to fulfill our tickling desires, etc.  Can you tell us a bit about how you discovered your love of tickling and where it led you, including in those early pre-internet days?

Morandilas:  Tickling has always played a role in my life. My memories go back as far as the age of four and I can remember having an interest in tickling even at that early age. In my adolescent years this mostly manifested itself while rough housing with friends but as soon as I reached my early teens I became aware of just how much a turn on it was to see the opposite sex wiggle and squirm with laughter. I realized at that moment that perhaps I enjoyed tickling a bit more than most. I knew I was different.

I often refer to the pre-internet days as "The Dark Ages." I recall my fruitless visits to various adult books stores and news stands in search of tickling material. Not to mention my expeditions to the city's largest libraries in a hopeless endeavor to research the subject.

While I certainly tickled my girlfriends to distraction, I never shared my feelings on the subject with any of them until my late twenties. Up until that point I had always kept my fetish a closely guarded secret and even passed on tickling opportunities if I felt my participation would appear too overt.

However as I approached thirty I made the decision to be forthcoming about my fetish with my partners and close friends. It was that decision that would eventually make MTJ Publishing possible.

.

TK-411:  I remember back in the early days, when I first got online myself, that there wasn't a whole lot out there.  Finding new sites was a real treat rather than the taken for granted event it is often considered to be today.  I remember first finding your Tickler's Journal back around the year 2000.  Can you tell us a bit about your early days online and how you came to create that first site?

Morandilas:  When I first was exposed to the internet and its burgeoning tickling community I was overwhelmed by the fact that I was not as alone in my interests as I first thought.

After discovering the early work of Max Speer, ShadowTklr and a host of anonymous internet authors, my love for tickling fiction was born. These stories went way beyond anything I had read before and set my imagination on fire. It was the influence of these pioneers that encouraged me to take up the pen and try my hand at tickling fiction and even more importantly they inspired me to create my first website, "FeathrsTip Archives."

In the early days of the internet I struggled to find an identity and went under various pseudonyms such as RUTKLSH, TickleTrde, Ticklenet, FeathrsTip and finally Morandilas.

It was not until I adopted the pen name "Morandilas" and founded the "Morandilas's TICKLERS JOURNAL" that I started to lay the foundation for what would become "MTJ Publishing" and it's first publication "Tales from the Asylum" magazine.

"Morandilas's TICKLERS JOURNAL" was a free publication that was delivered via e-mail. At it's height it had over 500 subscribers. The publication featured the early works of popular authors such as…

Daumantas, Duanne Walton, Greenfeather, I64ever, Malachite, Max Speer, No-Eyes, ShadowTklr, Vellicator, and Xodlirv just to name a few.

The publication also featured the early works of popular artists such as…

The late "Cyrano Binder" better know as "CB," FTKL, Johann, and Wayne Peake.

.

TK-411:  I remember visiting your old Ticklers Journal, where you shared some of your own works.  I thought that was pretty cool.  What was it that made you decide to start a publishing business?  Was this current setup what you planned from the start of MTJ?  Or, did it kinda take off and develop a life of its own? 

Morandilas:  My overriding goal from the very beginning was the creation of quality tickling fiction and art. While my early works such as the "Morandilas's TICKLERS JOURNAL" had only a sparse offering of art, I had always wanted art to play an equally important role as the fiction. Artists were a bit harder to come by in the early days.

The idea of a publication that was devoted to tickling fiction and art that you could actually hold in your hands became a very appealing goal at this time. However a print publication would be costly and I knew I would need to develop a business model if I hoped to at minimum to make my costs back. Furthermore if I was going to charge for a publication I would need to pay the authors and artists involved. Thus MTJ Publishing was born.

.

TK-411:  When you first started out, you were doing a print version of things with the Tales From the Asylum magazine.  In fact, many of our readers may have either purchased one of the magazines or won a copy at a NEST gathering.  I know that these old issues are now available in e-format.  Can you tell us a bit about this?  How long did that magazine last?  What made you decide to do away with the print magazine and move into digital mode instead?  

Morandilas:  Since its inception the cost of each issue of "Tales from the Asylum" far exceeded our income from subscribers. It was only the fact that people would pay for 3 to 6 issue subscriptions that allowed us to stay in business.

I was completely against digital distribution when Ozzy first approached me with the idea of a digital format "Yenny." In fact in the end I told him I would not do it. It was not until several months later when he asked for my help to develop it on his own that I broke down and agreed to publish Yenny digitally via MTJ Publishing.

By the time the digital format of "Yenny" was released in October of 2001 it not only exceed our expectations but its profits would help keep TFTA in print until April of 2003.

The tragic events of 9/11/2001 followed by the postal anthrax scare had a significantly negative impact on TFTA subscriber numbers, and who could blame them? This was something the subscriber numbers never did recover from.

By April 2003 even with the help of the profits earned from digital sales I was forced to bring an end to print publications at MTJ Publishing. However thanks to Ozzy I had moved MTJ Publishing into the digital age securing its future and taking it far beyond anything I had ever hoped to imagine.

.

TK-411:  Most longer term serious site owners I've spoken with have had at least a few surprises as they've gone along.  What, if anything, has been the biggest surprise to you over the years?

Morandilas:  For me it was the expense involved. There were so many factors that you never consider when starting up your first small business. Software, various business related licenses, banking fees, hosting fees, transaction fees, shopping cart expenses, development costs, service provider costs, office equipment, supplies, and the list goes on.

Don't get me wrong. The fact that I can make a profit doing something that is so near and dear to me is more than I can ask for. MTJ Publishing has been one of the most satisfying and rewarding experiences of my lifetime. However to date I could not afford to count on this as my only source of income and to this day my advice to all new authors and artists that publish with us is to treat this as a hobby that can make you a few dollars from time to time. If you love what you are doing I feel it can be a very rewarding experience.

.

TK-411:  You currently have material available from a variety of authors and artists.  Working with many different folks can be very rewarding.  What's been your favorite experience so far in doing this business?  Has there been a least favorite experience?  

Morandilas:  The most rewarding experience has been all the people I have come to know as a result of this business. Being a fan of tickling fiction and art and having the opportunity to work with so many talented folks in the genre is reward enough. But the friendships that have evolved as a result put it over the top. I feel very fortunate.

My least favorite experience is that sometimes I feel that our contributions to the community are underappreciated. Despite the hundreds of, previews, promos, cover art, and the generosity of many of our artists and authors over the years, we can sometimes be viewed as the bad guys because we are a business. However it is a stigma I have come to live with.

.

TK-411:  I know that you currently have Mairead (AKA AnnieHall) as an editor for publications.  What made you decide to bring additional staff on board to assist with things?  What effect do you think that having additional help has had on things?

Morandilas:  Editing is not my forte and never was. I always knew it was an area that needed more attention but it was always put on the back burner for one reason or another. AnnieHall's role as a editor for MTJ Publishing has been a godsend. I made the offer to her after she had proven her inability to pass up the opportunity to point out errors in all the publications of ours that she has had the occasion to read. You could say she unintentionally auditioned for the role.

.

TK-411:  There are many authors and artists out there who haven't published material through MTJ.  For those who may wish to submit their own work for review and possible publication, what advice would you have for them...aside from taking a look at your submissions page?   

Morandilas:  Don't wait for me to approach you, always send a sample of your work, and before embarking on a significant project feel free to drop me a line and see if it is something I would be interested in.

.

TK-411:  As mentioned earlier, you now have a newsletter available that folks can sign up for.  But, you also have other places where folks can keep up with what you're doing.  There's your yahoo group and a subforum on the TMF.  Are there any other places I'm not aware of?

Morandilas:  I would stress that the MTJ Newsletter will be their best choice. However another good choice would be our Deviant Art page at… http://mtjpub.deviantart.com/

.

TK-411:  Finally, what plans do you have for the future of MTJ?  Is there anything in particular that you'd like to do that you haven't yet done?

Morandilas:  We plan on doing what we do best and that is to continue offering exciting new tickling e-comics, e-zines, and e-novels. The one thing that we haven't done and I would like to do in 2010 is offer a publication devoted to upper body tickling.

.

TK-411:  If there's anything you'd care to share that I haven't brought up, please feel free to do so.

Morandilas:  That about covers it, for now.  :-)

.

TK-411:  I'd like to thank you once again for doing this interview with us.  I wish you all the best in your future work in the community.

Morandilas:  It's been a pleasure.  Thank-you!

TK-411 Home     Focus On Community