The Teatles - a guest post by Huw Spink

I'd been faffing around on Twitter, tweeting out Teatles (pictures of the Beatles drinking, or near, tea) for about a year when I quit. 

Twitter can be a pretty ghastly place. I guess because it reveals how ghastly people can be. It can also reveal how lovely people can be too, though I was perhaps taking that for granted a little too much. 

It was falling out with a Jane Asher fan account that broke me. 

My finger hovered over the "deactivate account" button. Eleanor Gray (also on Twitter) was especially unhappy that I'd quit. I thought about her and left it, but walked away from Twitter all the same. I finished with a shot of George taking one last gulp of tea at Twickenham. Part of me just wanted to use that photo. 

Three years later, I'm working on Issue 13 of The Teatles Book, my little zine about the Beatles made by, and read by, Beatles fans from all over the world. A zine that would not have been possible without Twitter. It is the only thing that Teatles and the Trump Presidency have in common. 

I usually say that The Teatles Books are more about Beatles fans than the Beatles themselves. About the way we experience the Beatles. The Beatles story has been told over and over, each new take clashing with the last and the next. It can get rather tiring. But the stories of us lot, us Beatles fans, are just as worthy of telling. And we all have a story. At least one in fact. The Teatles Books are an opportunity to share those stories. 

The plan was to just write about the Beatles and Tea. Maybe just do the one issue and get it out of my system. Trouble was, I didn't really know what I was doing. 

I put a shout out on Twitter asking for contributors. The responses brought to life people who seemed just shy of anonymous on Twitter. In amongst my articles on Tea came stories about people. Nice people. People that it was lovely to find out about. 

All I asked was that the articles be about the Beatles, around 1000 words and not be mean spirited. The responses blew my tiny mind. 

Some contributions stand out. The artwork for the back cover of Issue 1 by Mark Hughes was beyond my wildest expectations. Mark R sent me a beautifully personal piece about the day John died that seemed to act as a template for the kind of pieces that I wasn't expecting but has come to define what I think about when I think about Teatles. It wasn't what I had in mind at all. It was much better.

Revealing personal pieces by Tracy Neis and Emma Robinson. Family tales from Rob Power and Ruby (of this blog). Theirs weren't really about the Beatles at all - but about people. 

A few times I've asked people to write something. Whether it be confident writers like Jamie Osborne, or nervous writers like Kate Gietowski and Elma Christoffers, these have been highlights. 

It's why I can never take too much credit for Teatles. I think of myself as its curator rather than its creator. It has become what it has become not because of me but because of all the people that contribute and all the people that buy it. Whatever it has become has happened, to a larger extent than perhaps people might realise, quite naturally. I've just tried to make it all look nice.
I have been sent stuff that wasn't quite right. It's never awful, though I always feel awful telling people. But 90% of the stuff I'm sent is lovely and right for Teatles. On the odd occasion I've included something that isn't quite right in the hope that it'll encourage the writer to keep going and write more things. But that's all part of it - offering an opportunity and being able to ride on the coattails of other people's talents. 

Funnily enough I do keep thinking about quitting. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the Beatles thing of quitting while you're ahead. Or maybe I've just been riding on a wave of luck and good feeling for too long. Whatever. I'm really happy with how Teatles has gone. 

My only wish is to let the people who have got involved know how much I appreciate their help.
Maybe I'll end with that.
Thank you.

Huw can be found under @Teatlemania on Twitter