Firefox News

Firefox News was a site run by Leva Cygnet.
The site's tag in 2008: "Fandom, Political Snark, and Dolls. No browsers since 1996."
The site contained reviews, essays, fiction, and much more. Many of the essays were by Merlin Missy (Leva Cygnet's assistant) and were titled Dr. Merlin's Soapbox.
This site was unapologetic-ally for-profit. See Cynet's reasons "Firefox News" was different, and better, than Laura Hale's business, Fan History Wiki explained in the 2008 essay, Advanced Fandom Economics: It's Okay To Be A Capitalist.
==Not Related to the Browser, "Firefox"==
The domain name was procured before "Firefox" was a browser. 
From the website in 2006: 
From the website in 2007: 
==While Not Related to the Browser, It Rode Its Coattails==
Some 2008 comments: 
==Some Screenshots==
 
Image:firefoxnewssreenshotmervis.jpg|from the 1990s
Image:firefoxnewsscreenshot-2.jpg|from 2005
Image:firefoxnews-1.jpg|from 2007
Image:firefoxnews-2.jpg|from 2011
 
==Beginnings==
It began in 1997 as a non-profit website that highlighted original fiction and information about horses.
At some point, the site appears to have been dormant, and then in 2005, became active again, something that coincided with the release of the Firefox browser, which in turn brought traffic, visibility, and revenue. 
A sample page is here.
The revamped site (as a for-profit) began in January 2007 and shut down April 30, 2013.
This last incarnation, the for-profit one, contained much fannish content, including meta essays, reviews, and commentary. From a 2008 self-description: 
==The Incarnations==
===1997-1998===
See Seeing A Dream Become Reality for more.
The site began in May 1997 as an amateur, "hobby site run purely for fun." Seeing A Dream Become Reality (May 11, 2007) 
See an old page for 1997 Announcements.
From a 1998 page: 
=== late 2005-2006===
In 2005, the dormant site was revived.
Some submissions guidelines and pay rates.
From Cygnet in December 2005: 
A view of 2005, when the site was called "Firefox News," A Fanzine of Fandom.": 
From September 2006: 
Some 2006 newsletters:
* Firefox News Weekly Newsletter #1 (Sep 17, 2006)
* Firefox News (semi)Weekly Newsletter #2 (includes a link to a Mary Sue contest) (October 12, 2006)
===2007 - "Welcome to Firefox News' new site!"===
==Walking a Fine Line Between High Visibility and Private==
The site straddled the line between being a very visible depository of fanworks, of links to fannish discussion and spaces, as well as to things of promotional mainstream interest, as well as to the newly-hatched wave of acafans and other academics.
On one hand, it wanted eyeballs on the screen, on clicks, on attention and the buzz, as that's how the site made money (fans were paid money for their content, at one point $30 per review, $50 per essay), and "Firefox News" needed all the publicity and exposure it could get to remain a fannish hotspot and to stay relevant. 
But on the other hand, too much attention of the wrong kind was a minefield. It wanted to control the message in a highly uncontrollable place. "Firefox News" wanted to remain a "private" fannish space, one that protected fans from visibility and mainstream cruelties, but was fully aware that it had power to elevate fannish discourse and fanworks.
From a 2009 essay, Stinky Links: 
=="Become an Author" - Paying Fans for Content==
==Links to Further Reading==
* Welcome to Firefox News' new site! (January 16, 2007)
* Welcome to Firefox News's Social Networking Focus Group (May 28, 2008)
* Site Needs (May 29, 2008)
* Planned Features (contains info about "Adsense") (May 30, 2008)
* "Adult" warning? (much about "adult" content) (May 31, 2008) 
* News queue? ("Leva, would you tell us more about how it will work to submit blog entries to the news queue?") (June 2, 2008)
* Suggestions -- Comments (June 3, 2008)
* FFBlogs Project on Hold ("Unfortunately, one of the main sources of revenue for Firefox News is going away in a few months.") (June 30, 2008)
* Wanted: A Few Good Writers (October 14th, 2007)
==References==
Category:Multifandom Websites
Category:Science Fiction Fandom
Category:Fantasy Fandom
Category:1997 Websites
Category:1990s Websites
Category:2000s Websites
Category:2005 Websites
Category:2010s Websites