The Magazine Announcement
threshold: (n) the starting point for a new state or experience.
If you've talked to me at all in the past year, you may know that I've been threatening to start a fiction magazine on the web devoted to science fiction and fantasy. As of today, this is no longer an idle threat.
Until today, I suppose it was something of an idle threat. I mean, I had no particular inspiration in starting a fiction magazine other than my love for the genre and some self-serving ideas about becoming an editor. My hypothetical magazine had no particular sub-genre to push, no focus to distinguish it from the dozens of other magazines that were already proliferating (and often dying) on the internet.
In the end, it was an article in John Scalzi's Whatever blog that finally gave the magazine its mission. I had read the article before Christmas, but I only put it together with the magazine concept this morning. John was writing about the dearth of what he called gateway or entry-level science fiction:
"What we need are people who are unapologetically writing science fiction -- and are unapologetically writing science fiction for people who have never read science fiction before. You want new people to read science fiction? You want SF books to matter to the masses? Then do some goddamned outreach, people. Write an intelligent, fascinating, moving piece of science fiction for the reader who has always thought science fiction was something that happened to other people.
"Don't dumb it down -- people can figure out when you're typing slow because you think they're moving their lips when they read. Just don't assume they've read any science fiction other than that one time they were made to read "Harrison Bergeron" in their junior year of high school. Make it fun, make it exciting, make it about people as much as ideas and give them a fulfilling reading experience that makes them realize that hey, this science fiction stuff really isn't so bad after all. And then beg beg beg your publisher to give it a cover that a normal 30-something human wouldn't die of embarrassment to be seen with in public. If we can do all that, then maybe, just maybe, science fiction as a literary genre would be back on its way to cultural relevance."
(You can read the rest of the article here.)
I want this magazine to be part of the solution. I want it to be an entry point for any intelligent reader who is curious about science fiction and fantasy, be she 12, 22, or 62. I want to publish gateway short stories, novellas, and serials that you could easily and excitedly recommend to anyone. I want to run excerpts from published novels. I want reviews of current and classic gateway books that will engage newcomers. I want overviews of themes, sub-genres and authors to help readers explore this new territory without getting lost. Ideally, I'd like to offer regular print collections of the best work, preferably through an established publisher (though I wouldn't rule out something like Lulu.com).
Thanks to Pasley, the magazine even has a cool title: Threshold.
I'm looking for volunteers, useful contacts, and any helpful advice and encouragement that you can pass along. This project will need writers, artists, reviewers, columnists, editors, readers, web designers, publicity, and yes... fund-raising. (I would dearly like to pay contributors, especially the story writers.) If there are enough people interested, we can organize a brainstorming session to map out the next steps.
If you've talked to me at all in the past year, you may know that I've been threatening to start a fiction magazine on the web devoted to science fiction and fantasy. As of today, this is no longer an idle threat.
Until today, I suppose it was something of an idle threat. I mean, I had no particular inspiration in starting a fiction magazine other than my love for the genre and some self-serving ideas about becoming an editor. My hypothetical magazine had no particular sub-genre to push, no focus to distinguish it from the dozens of other magazines that were already proliferating (and often dying) on the internet.
In the end, it was an article in John Scalzi's Whatever blog that finally gave the magazine its mission. I had read the article before Christmas, but I only put it together with the magazine concept this morning. John was writing about the dearth of what he called gateway or entry-level science fiction:
"What we need are people who are unapologetically writing science fiction -- and are unapologetically writing science fiction for people who have never read science fiction before. You want new people to read science fiction? You want SF books to matter to the masses? Then do some goddamned outreach, people. Write an intelligent, fascinating, moving piece of science fiction for the reader who has always thought science fiction was something that happened to other people.
"Don't dumb it down -- people can figure out when you're typing slow because you think they're moving their lips when they read. Just don't assume they've read any science fiction other than that one time they were made to read "Harrison Bergeron" in their junior year of high school. Make it fun, make it exciting, make it about people as much as ideas and give them a fulfilling reading experience that makes them realize that hey, this science fiction stuff really isn't so bad after all. And then beg beg beg your publisher to give it a cover that a normal 30-something human wouldn't die of embarrassment to be seen with in public. If we can do all that, then maybe, just maybe, science fiction as a literary genre would be back on its way to cultural relevance."
(You can read the rest of the article here.)
I want this magazine to be part of the solution. I want it to be an entry point for any intelligent reader who is curious about science fiction and fantasy, be she 12, 22, or 62. I want to publish gateway short stories, novellas, and serials that you could easily and excitedly recommend to anyone. I want to run excerpts from published novels. I want reviews of current and classic gateway books that will engage newcomers. I want overviews of themes, sub-genres and authors to help readers explore this new territory without getting lost. Ideally, I'd like to offer regular print collections of the best work, preferably through an established publisher (though I wouldn't rule out something like Lulu.com).
Thanks to Pasley, the magazine even has a cool title: Threshold.
I'm looking for volunteers, useful contacts, and any helpful advice and encouragement that you can pass along. This project will need writers, artists, reviewers, columnists, editors, readers, web designers, publicity, and yes... fund-raising. (I would dearly like to pay contributors, especially the story writers.) If there are enough people interested, we can organize a brainstorming session to map out the next steps.