Call for Papers The eBay Reader Editors: Ken Hillis, Michael Petit, Nathan Epley This anthology, under contract with Routledge and scheduled for Spring 2006 publication, is the first book-length academic inquiry within the humanities into the cultural implications of eBay. The essays collected analyze specific socio-economic, cultural and political practices engendered by eBay; the site's structural organization, material/technical interface, and cultural appeal; the "experience economy" eBay has been central in developing and promoting; and the kinds of cultural changes this has wrought to aspects of everyday life. The collection is accessible for a range of readers (including literate lay readers) and includes shorter critical and historical essays that set the context and develop a single point as well as longer, more complex theoretical analyses and arguments. To compliment the essays already selected, we seek four to five additional pieces that specifically focus on the following aspects of eBay: 1. eBay folklore. There are countless stories of oddities being bought, sold and banned on eBay, from an individual's soul to parts of crashed aircraft to kidneys available for sale. We seek work from any theoretical point of view that examines eBay folklore and myth. 2. Political-economy approaches. For example, eBay as "perfect market," eBay as a post-crash surviving remnant of the "new economy." We especially seek work with an international scope, including the global reach of eBay, international transactions, and eBay-owned auction sites based in different countries and contexts than the United States. 3. eBay camp and kitsch any aspect. 4. Short (3,000 word) case studies of individuals using eBay for academic or professional purposes such as data collection or gathering artifacts for research. 5. Short (3,000 word) analytic essays on specific eBay fandom/collecting cultures, eBay's relation to other sites of internet culture, or eBay's individuating address and user feedback system. We welcome email enquires. We need proposals of approximately 500 words (in MS Word, Word Perfect, or RTF format) sent to Michael Petit at mepetit@duke.edu by 20 December 2004. Drafts of accepted essays due 1 Feb, 2005.