More B5 resources are available at the excellent
Lurker's Guide site...
We in the B5 fan community have a unique ability to communicate directly with the creative essence behind the series. Let's not abuse this privilege.
Here are JMS's guidelines for contacting him via Email, as posted publicly on CIS. Please respect his wishes.
The preferred public forum for interacting with JMS is the Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
If you do decide to send him email, please address it to <jmsatb5@aol.com>. This address is still valid as of 09/2010.
Permission is given to copy this document without changes. The original is here. Contact me at <jhardin@impsec.org>. My home page is here. Note: I am not JMS, and I will not forward your message to him.
Date: 30 Jun 1996 14:08:52 -0700 From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com> To: [F] ALL (2nd Pass) Subject: From jms re:Email Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.532238@compuserve.com>
Every once in a while I have to put this out as an FYI, so those of you who know the routine, stand down...the rest of you...c'mere, Unca Straczynski wants a word with you.
From time to time, my personal email mailbox begins to fill up with questions that really should be asked in public forums, and which require lengthy, in-depth explanations. (One such today asked me to explain, in detail, the military hierarchy of Earthforce, relative strengths of ships, on and on and on. In itself, not a bad question...but asked in email, that means that I have to answer the same thing for the next guy who asks, on and on and on.)
I can't get into detailed, exhaustive discussions of the plot or story or characters *in private email*. If your question is a good or a valid one, it should be posted in a public forum, so that others can benefit from the answer. Otherwise either I end up writing pages of information over and over again, and nobody else gets the information, or I just decline to answer the question.
The *only* reason for using email is if it's a personal or a confidential question, or something you don't want to say on the nets for whatever reason. Please help me to keep my head above water by not using email unless there's a valid reason for it.
If there *is* something you need to express in email, please use the genie address (jmsatb5@aol.com) instead of the compuserve address, because the CIS emailbox can only hold 100 letters at a time; any more than that which arrive get bumped and sent back or deleted. I lost an important piece of email regarding B5 business today because it got shoved out by a letter asking me to explain the differences in organization and accountability to oders between the religious and military castes of Minbari.
Bear in mind that with CTS, it *hurts* to type. The more I type, the more it hurts. (Please don't send me any more info on CTS, btw...I have all the available information on CTS, more than most doctors right now, and to type a thank you note for each one that comes in just makes the problem worse.) If a question needs answering, better if I can answer it once, so everyone can see it, than 15 times for one person at a time. Every keystroke you see from me comes with discomfort.
Please try and use the email address(es) only if there's a valid reason for it; otherwise, let others benefit from the sharpness and quality of your question by asking it publicly.
jms
Date: 13 Nov 1996 01:32:31 -0700 From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com> To: All Subject: Some jms rules Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.609954@compuserve.com>
Okay, it's time for the usual recitation of email rules.
1) Please do not send me inquiries about the storyline in private email. You may think, "Well, it's just me," but at last Neilsen count there were about 15 million of you out there, and only one of me. I can't get into lengthy discussions about the plot or storylines in email. I end up answering the same questions multiple times, and the answers go to only one person at a time. If you have a story question, ASK IT IN A PUBLIC FORUM, NOT IN EMAIL, so that others can benefit from the answers.
2) Please, please, PLEASE do not send me story ideas in email.
3) Do not send jpgs or anything else that requires downloading; I was hit by a trojan horse and virus lately, and consequently I have a very firm no-download policy on anything else coming into me via email.
4) Private email should be used for things you cannot discuss in a public forum, or for which confidentiality is needed for other reasons. I'm swamped with 500 messages a day...if it doesn't have to be sent email, please don't do so.
5) Requests for agent suggestions, or requests to read your scripts or stories, will be met by stony silence.
6) We cannot give studio tours, or afford to send out scripts, or story bibles, or actor photographs. When the actors do this, bear in mind that it is a kindness *that comes out of their own pockets*, as there is no budget from WB to send photos.
I hate to be as brusque as this, but I'm starting to get overloaded with email, and an occasional pruning seems necessary.
Many thanks.
jms
More B5 resources are available at the excellent
Lurker's Guide site...
...or the official Warner Brothers Babylon 5 site.