Wikipedia describes “mores” as “a collection of strongly held norms or customs. These derive from the established practices of a society rather than its written laws.”

At the risk of writing down something that is usually held more in practice, we at FM thought it would be a good idea to describe the values and mores that we sense our authors support. I’ve circulated these around to a few folks who are going to join our network, and so far the response has been positive.

Our goal is not to ask that folks sign something, but rather to declare a shared set of mores which guide authors who participate in our network. Much of this may seem obvious, perhaps even overstated. But then again, it’s often the most obvious stuff that bears declaration.

Here’s what we’ve come up with. We’d love your input, either in comments below, or in email.

Authors who join the FM network of sites hold these values in common:

- Voice and Point of View. Strong voices and intelligent point of view drive robust conversations.

- Accuracy. Some FM sites may be journalistic in nature, others may not. Regardless, FM sites strive to be accurate with regard to anything posted as fact.

- Community. Weblogs are conversations, not lectures. The community that gathers around each site is the essence of its value, and we treat that community accordingly. We listen and respond to feedback and incorporate it into how we manage the site.

- Responsibility. We take our role as a voice in the community we serve seriously, and feel responsible for our own words. If we make a mistake, we correct it. We don’t seek to harm others or use our sites maliciously.

- Transparency. We err on the side of disclosure to our readers. If we have an interest in something we’re writing about, we disclose it. To the extent we can be, we are transparent about our site’s statistics, practices, and policies.

I’ve been holding this news for a while now – today we can announce that Chas Edwards has joined the team.

Before joining FM, Chas ran sales and market development for an important chunk of Cnet – News.com, ZDnet, and Tech Republic, to be specific. He’s known in the industry for his integrity, his thoughtful analysis of major online marketing issues, and his passion for online media. Before Cnet he was at MySimon and also helped launch TechTV. Now he’s joined Andre and I at FM. As he put it on his site:

For all the talk of “audience engagement” by Big Media, it’s a handful of moonlight publishers who have actually pulled it off. They’ve created intimacy, authority and real live dialog with their readers. While three-fourths of PVR users skip commercials and everyone else has learned to tune them out, certain bloggers have convinced their constituencies to tune in.

Chas is a first class guy and I’m very, very excited he’s coming on board to lead the conversation with our marketing partners. Welcome, Chas!

What do you want in an office manager/person Friday? Well, we’ve got an answer now. Jennifer Charette joined us this week, and although she’s only been here a few days, I don’t know what we’d do without her. Welcome, Jennifer!

I’m not very good at logos, so I asked a pal to gin something up. I think he did a great job, given that we did it all in email over a week or so of time. I like the colors red and black, somehow they say publishing. I also like the idea of setting authors free from traditional models, so we came up with the idea of pages lifting off a book. But I’m not married to this. What do you think?

When Microsoft starts recruiting paid bloggers, something is up.

I’m proud to announce that FM has closed an angel round of financing featuring an extraordinary lineup of investors. Omidyar Network led the round, with The New York Times Company and Mitchell Kapor, Andrew Anker, Mike Homer, and Tim O’Reilly also participating.

I’m honored by the support of these great people, and humbled by the combined experience they represent. Most have been partners and friends over many years, and they all lend insight to the FM model, whether it’s Omidyar’s philosophy of profiting by doing good, the Times unparalleled experience in high-quality publishing, Mitchell’s roles at the EFF, OSAF, and more, and Andrew, Mike, and Tim’s collective wisdom in starting, running, and guiding businesses over the past 20 years.

Now that the financing is done, it’s time to get down to building the business….stay tuned for more news soon.

I like ‘em.

(This posted to the blog of the new, much buzzed startup backed by Marc Andreessen.)

I’m very proud to announce that Andre Torrez has joined FM Publishing. Andre is well known not only in his role as Director of Technology at Ignited Minds, but also as the creator of Dropload, Dropcash, and some other very wonderful Web 2-type sites. He’s the most understated smart guy I’ve ever met, and he joins FM to lead the development of our technology platform.

As he posts on his site:

Dropload is just the use of a simple PHP feature and some database calls, yet over 100,000 people have needed it and used it. I like making those connections for people who can’t do it for themselves. It’s why I love to program so much.

I quit my job on Monday because FMPub lets me make these connections on a larger scale. It makes connections between passionate people with needs for a support structure and people who need that authenticity for their marketing efforts. As someone who has been an honorary marketer for six years, I know how difficult it is to get a message in front of people. FMPub is going to offer a remarkable dialog between the two camps and I couldn’t be happier to know I will be helping that dialog happen.

Things are starting to really heat up here, as this little idea I’ve been nurturing pretty much alone starts to generate very real support. Now that Andre is joining, it’s starting to feel like a company, and that’s a wonderful thing. Stay tuned for more news shortly….

Well yesterday I gave a talk at OMMA and spoke, briefly, about FM, because in the end FM represents the summation of a lot of my thinking around media, marketing, and blogs. Highlights are here and here. I keep plugging along with hiring and financing, and when there’s news, which I think will be soon, I’ll post it here first!

I knew this was a big deal, but it seems it’s bigger than I thought. From LockerGnome on RSS:

This just in from Forrester: 64% of U.S. advertisers would advertise in blogs and 57% would place RSS ads.

Original link here.