FAQs

Version 2.7 - July 2015

• Discworld? What the hell's that all about, then?

  Discworld refers to a series of 41 books (plus spin offs) by UK author Terry Pratchett. Usually described as comic fantasy, the books are all set on a disc-shaped world that rests on four elephants that are in turn carried through space on the back of a colossal turtle. Obviously.

• Terry who?

  PRATCHETT. Terry Pratchett wrote 41 books in the Discworld Series. And many other non-Discworld titles. Sir Terry passed away peacefully on 12th March 2015 surrounded by his family, Rob Wilkins his business manager (and best friend) and his pet cat.

• Is he any good?

  Yep. Terry's books are consistently in the bestseller lists, so a lot of people think they're good enough to spend their hard-earned cash on. I know that doesn't necessarily mean he's good, it means he's popular, and many people would read popularity as being more or less inversely proportional to quality, but I'll leave that up to you to argue over.

• Alright, got it, popular series of comic fantasy novels. What's all this about a Discworld Monthly?

  Right. Discworld Monthly (DWM) is a FREE monthly email newsletter providing news about, and discussion of, Terry's work. Despite the name, we're not limited to the Discworld series alone, but we are monthly so it's only half an untruth. [Update August 2015 - that's not strictly true any more either - Jason] As well as the email distribution you can find each edition of the newsletter on the Web at discworldmonthly.co.uk. There's also a subscription form on that page.

• News? What sort of news?

  Things like when a new book is coming out, what it's going to be about, performances of the theatre adaptations taking place, whether they were any good, reviews of Discworld merchandise (figurines, music, cookbooks, that sort of thing).

• How about the discussion you mentioned?

  We carry an extensive letters section in each issue for fans to ask questions, air opinions, get assistance with the blasted computer games, that sort of thing. Each issue usually has a couple of articles about interesting or important developments in Discworld fandom, too.

  You can also find Discworld Monthly on the following Social Media platforms:

  • Twitter
  • Google +
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

• Woah! Great! Computer games! Where can I get them from? Where's there a walkthrough? Hey, I'm already stuck at that bit where the troll -

  If you have the original discs for Discworld 1 or 2 you can use the ScummVM game emulator to run the games on modern computer hardware and on operating systems they were not previously designed to run on like the Apple Mac.

  As far as walkthroughs go visit www.lspace.org/games/discworld/index.html

• What about getting hold of other merchandise?

  Try the following makers of Discworld goodies.

  • Discworld Emporium
  • Discworld.com (Formally PJSM Prints)
  • Ales by Mail
  • Paul Kidby (PaulKidby.com)
  • Mark Ayling
  • Micro Art Studio
  • Back Spindle Games
  • Lyndisfarne
  • Discworld Monthly

  You can also get all of Terry's books by visiting our merchandise page.

  Please note that DWM receives a small commission if you decide to purchase any books or DVDs via one of the links on our pages.

• Huh. I find this FAQ and your whole Discworld Monthly uninformative and annoying. Where else can I get information about this great series?

  One of the best online resources for anything Discworld related is L-Space at www.lspace.org/ (though it doesn't appear to be updated much any more).

  If you can still find it the newsgroup alt.fan.pratchett carries a staggering amount of Pratchett-related discussion.

  Transworld (Terry's UK publisher) run The Terry Pratchett Message Boards.

  Much of the online resources for talking about Terry have moved over to Facebook.... Try searching Facebook for: Discworld and / or Terry Pratchett

  Also look at our Useful Information section for some more possibilities.

• Say, do you make any money out of this so-called 'newsletter'?

  For most of its existance Discworld Monthly has been personally funded by Jason Anthony-Rowlands. It has always been run as a non-profit organization.

  We've never looked at it in detail but we think the meagre income generated by affiliate links on the website covers about half the cost of uploading the material, paying for the domain name and web space, sending out prizes and what have you. We're certainly not in it for the money, if that's what's bothering you. We do receive advance copies of the new novels and free items to review from companies like Discworld.com and Discworld Emporium which is a nice bonus.

  We've recently (October 2015) introduced a number of limited run Discworld Monthly branded items for sale. The limited profits from these are used to help keep Discworld Monthly running. If you feel that you would like to help us with some of our costs you can always make a small voluntary contribution to our paypal account.

  In July 2016 we issued the following Financial Statement (PDF Format) to clear up some confusion about Discworld Monthly's financial status.

• What do I do if I want to contact Discworld Monthly?

  Email us at , or private message Rachel Anthony-Rowlands or Jason Anthony-Rowlands on the Discworld Monthly Facebook group.

• I've read some of this Discworld stuff and I like it! So much so that I think I'll try my hand at a little story of my own. Then you can serialize it in Discworld Monthly and bask in the reflected glory, yeah?

  I'm afraid that won't be possible. We don't get involved with anything unofficial.

• Well just who the HELL do you think you are?

  DWM is brought to you by an elite team of three men who dedicate themselves to this noble task. Three lonely men. Three lonely men who have eschewed the colourful diversions and bawdy entertainments of the world outside in the pursuit of a higher calling. A bit like the one in Thunderbirds who mans the space station.

  Find our more about this elite band of volunteers on our team page.

• Do you have permission to use Discworld® in your name?

  Jason Anthony-Rowlands was given permission to use Discworld® in the name Discworld Monthly by Terry Pratchett in 1997.

  Please note that nobody can use the Discworld Monthly name for any purpose without express written permission from both Jason Anthony-Rowlands and Narrativia.

  See our copyright page for more details.

We hope this FAQ has given you some insight into what we're all about here at Discworld Monthly.

If you have suggestions for improvements / amendments or whatever, please email us at thunderbird5@internationalrescue.org and we'll - oh all right, email us at oook@discworldmonthly.co.uk