The most unpleasant part of running an SF/F magazine

[cgmod]

When I started writing this blog, it was with the intent of showing what goes into the production of a small science fiction & fantasy magazine. Obviously we don’t have a lock on the only way to do things, but I think the blog has been pretty successful in revealing the day-to-day operations, the long-term planning, and the remarkably large amount

Comments

[wyld_dandelyon]

I remember MZB's Fantasy Magazine for a while got it's own corporation, but that was dissolved, because it made no financial sense to be on its own. As part of her personal "income" it was a business loss that offset her royalties from her fiction and anthologies. So this problem is nothing new!

I think I would consider adding a donation button to the CG website, perhaps with a Duotrope-like gauge or one of those temperature graphs -- you know, total out-of-pocket costs as a top line, and the red "temperature" showing income so far -- as to how low on funds the magazine is for simply paying overhead costs and the authors/artists. I don't know if it would make a big difference, but you're at a stage where every penny counts.

Your recent posts noted that you are getting a lot more visitors, and a lot more of them are sticking around to read the material. I bet at least a few would be willing to pay something toward keeping the site up, even if they don't want a PDF or paper copy of anything, so long as it's easy to do.

[metafrantic]

Y'know, I was planning on doing the donate button. There's one in the Support page already. I was going to wait until Issue 13 came out (because we'll no longer be posting ads for our cover artists, and there'll be more room in the sidebar), but I realized there's plenty of room in the header next to the logo, so I put it up there. Thanks for reminding me!

(I don't know about the temperature gauge, as it would probably be on red for the foreseeable future.)

[wyld_dandelyon]

I was thinking that seeing that it is in the red might inspire people to donate.

[jolantru]

I have given this a signal boost!

[metafrantic]

I see that! Thanks!