Zuda Zuda Zuda Zuda Zuda Zuda Zuda Zuda Zuda

Heartiest congratulations to Fred Gallagher on two wonderful things that will soon enter his life: the official Japanese-language edition of Megatokyo and his first child. Not to denigrate the miracle of childbirth, but it's easy to guess how much both these blessings mean to Fred.

The timing of the publishing announcement may not be coincidental. It's good public relations for a certain much-discussed Web 2.0 initiative. Fred Gallagher is published by DC, which is owned by Warner, which IS BRINGING US ZUDA IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T HEARD ZUDA ZUDA ZUDA ZUDA ZUDA ZUDA ZUDA ZUDA

Heidi MacDonald rounds up yesterday's Zuda reactions. My fave so far, courtesy lolcomics:



Gary Tyrrell on Zuda. I briefly join into the comments:

There are reasons to be "wait and see" about the compensation. Unlike Platinum or Tokyopop, Zuda doesn't say "the good ones get into print," Zuda is saying "the good ones get a contract." That's a shift in focus that means more attention will be paid to the money involved. And Warner actually has the resources to offer such money. Doesn't mean they will. But if they're really committed to feeding a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire atmosphere around it all-- and distinguishing themselves from any clown with a few bucks and an Ajax programmer-- then they might.

If I worked at Warner today, I'd be watching conversations like this one, taking notes and taking meetings, determining how much money the WB would need to commit to make that "digital slush pile" designation go away forever. I mean, I certainly would have put specific compensation for freelancers into the press release if I thought it was attractive, and if I knew what it was.