New Media Communications

My primary research interest is the building and management of trans-media franchises as a venue for creative expression. I pursue that interest through two primary franchises: Offbeat Oregon History, and Pulp-Lit Productions.

Offbeat Oregon History ("A public-history resource for the state we love") is a trans-media franchise centered around a monthly syndicated newspaper column published regularly or occasionally in 21 newspapers and magazines around the state. It includes a central searchable hub page with 610 columns sorted by date of first publication; a Facebook page with 5,300 likes; a Twitter feed with 1,200 followers; a Pinterest board; and several other social-media hotspots. It also includes a daily podcast with an average of 800 downloads per episode. All franchise elements can be accessed through the hub page, at http://offbeatoregon.com. This franchise was established in 2008.

Pulp-Lit Productions is an Oregon publishing firm that specializes in annotated editions of classic novels from the pulp era — roughly 1910 to 1941. Pulp-Lit Productions takes an "audio-first" approach to its projects, engineering them for maximum utility for audiobook listeners, but also produces hardcover, paperback, Kindle and ePub editions of its titles. This enterprise was established in 2014.