Hi, all -- by the magic of nomenlocation, Google Groups alerted me to this thread when you mentioned Strange Horizons. (I'm a fiction editor there.)
I hope it's not too presumptuous of me to show up here and immediately post; I know it's polite to lurk for a while and get used to the local culture first, but I have a couple of comments about SteveC's post: > Electronic magazines are giving me nightmares. I'm trying to find a > SFWA member who edits a professional electronic sf magazine to do an > article on the species for the Handbook. How many are left? I'm down > to a number that can be counted on my thumbs and half of those have > already turned me down for reasons of time. I think I may be missing some context for this paragraph. The way I'm reading it, it sounds like you're saying that electronic magazines are failing--that once great herds of them roamed the Internet plains, but that now we're down to a mere handful. Is that what you meant? 'Cause if so, I would disagree. > Here's the list that I know of. They have to pay a minimum of 5 cents > a word for all submissions: > > Apex Digest Online > Jim Baen's Universe > Beneath Ceaseless Skies > Clarkesworld > Heliotrope (if it still exists) > Intergalactic Medicine Show > Strange Horizons That's more online prozines than there were six or seven years ago. I think there were pretty consistently a rotating cast of four or five online prozines (depending on how you count) over most of the period from 2000 through 2005 or so. It seems strange to me to suggest that we're "down to" the above list. Apex launched in 2005; Baen's in 2006; BCS in 2008 (so new that SFWA wouldn't count it as pro, unless the must-have-published-for-a-year rule has changed, which it may have); Clarkesworld in 2006; Heliotrope in 2006; IGMS in 2005. So everything on the above list except for SH is new in the past three or four years. I would say that we're *up* to seven online prozines, not down. Also, note that SFWA's official list (http://www.sfwa.org/org/ qualify.htm#Q5) includes Chiaroscuro/Chizine, which I think has been around longer than SH but I'm having a hard time finding details right now (but maybe you were focusing specifically on science fiction per se? in which case I can see not listing them, but if you're talking about an article for SFWA, they ought to be included), and Subterranean Magazine, which appears to have launched online in 2007 but I'm a little vague about them. (They don't consider unagented submissions.) Also Cosmos, which has an online arm but apparently pays less for publication online. Anyway, if you're looking for info about online magazines from an editor of such a magazine who's a SFWA (associate) member, drop me a note; I can't promise I'll have time, but depending on what exactly you need, I may be able to help. > Half of them aren't accepting submissions right now, so there future > is iffy. This is very misleading. Many magazines (including non-sf ones and print ones) temporarily close to fiction submissions, and many others have regular reading periods (which is the same thing under a different name). For example, SH has closed to fiction subs for the month of December every year since 2001; this year, we've started closing for longer, due to being completely swamped with submissions. (Our submission volume has gone up quite a lot in the past couple years, and we're an all-volunteer staff.) ...In the context of this discussion, it's also worth noting that there are several fine online and print semiprozines, generally venues that pay a little less than the prozines. I realize that's not what this discussion is about, but I think that focusing too heavily on prozines can obscure some of the real vigor and diversity of the field, both in print and online. (And btw, there are more print prozines than the Big Three. For example, there's Realms of Fantasy-- again not a science fiction market per se, but quite relevant to SFWA.) For any writers interested in finding paying online markets, btw, I recommend Duotrope's Digest (www.duotrope.com), an excellent market- list database. (I have no affiliation with them; I just think they're doing a great job.) Also ralan.com, of course. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
