AS: Our friend Scott Andrews over at digital magazine Beneath Ceaseless Skies has this really startling quote in this year’s Locus Magazine Summary: “Only 0.7% of the readership supports the zine financially.” I remember him being concerned that BCS wouldn’t be able to raise enough funds to keep the mag a pro-rate paying mag, the last time SFWA raised the bar for what they considered “professional-rate” payment. Each magazine has their own financial model, but I think for most, magazines depend on readers to survive.
CY: When I have a chance to talk to people about this part of the field there is always someone who’s surprised that we’re dependent on subscriptions. This is why we frequently see subscription drives and annual Kickstarters–some of us may sell advertising, but it’s not nearly enough to cover the costs of publishing, even with an all-volunteer staff!
AS: I have a column over at The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and my latest entry is about the lifespan of magazines. I used the idea of landing on a Hugo ballot going back to 2000—so, over two decades—as a metric, and did some research to see how many of those mags are still around. The number of notable, beloved magazines that have closed is higher than you think, and includes such as Daily Science Fiction, Future SF Digest, and Fireside.
CY: When you and I first talked about working together we were still lamenting the loss of Shimmer! We’ve both seen the sausage being made for a long time now—you at Locus, and me at Lightspeed—so we knew what we were up against. New markets open and close every year, and readers have to be selective in where they spend their money. No one can be expected to subscribe to everything. And like most in our field, we make our content free to read online–we just make people wait for it! Our subscribers get it all at once at the beginning of the month.
AS: This is a very volatile industry, and so much about it is harder than people think. But the joys include discovering authors; and seeing folks Tweet about their acceptances is both fulfilling and inspiring. It’s a strange, unique ecology, where authors and editors and publishers coexist to create something wonderful. And then the reader picks it up, and they add their own perspectives and context to the pieces they read, ultimately building worlds and narratives in their imagination that are as amazing as they are individual. This stuff is actually pretty magical.
CY: Very few of us go into this thinking we’re going to make money at it. We do it because we love genre literature, and the short form in particular, and want to see more of it in the world. For some it remains a very expensive hobby—Fred Coppersmith has published Kaleidotrope out of his own pocket for more than a decade, which is a testament to his love and dedication to the readers and writers in this field.
AS: Whether Fantasy or somewhere else, I encourage you to support the life of your favorite venues, which in turn helps authors by making sure they have places that will showcase their work. Vote in awards, such as the Locus Poll & Survey, signal boost or tell friends about pieces that really worked for you, and if you can, subscribe, or purchase issues.
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In this issue’s short fiction, we have “Children of Earth” by K.A. Wiggins, and “Nairuko” by Dennis Mugaa; flash fiction “Trading With Monsters” by Miguel O. Mitchell, and Keech Ballard’s “The UFO’s New Clothes”; in poetry, “The Frumious Jubjub” by C.H. Lindsay and “Sleeping With the Fishes” by Shreejita Majumder. Plus essay “What Language Do You Think In: On Being Lost in Translation” by Linghun author Ai Jiang. Enjoy!