SOSpz
12. Apr, 2009 
3 Comments
Ask and ye shall receive.
Neil Clarke of Clarkesworld magazine (one of those excellent publications that might not ever be eligible for a (Hugo) Award ever again throughout the remaining course of the entirety of history as the universe dies a slow, mournful heat-death)
has put up a small ‘Save the Semiprozine’ gif ad (125×125) along with the embedding code including links to the Semiprozine.org website.
Copy it and paste it where it will do the most good – like on the foreheads of people who will be attending the business meeting at Anticipation.? Copy and paste it on the Anticipation website (if you have permission to do so).
~~~
Cheryl Morgan voiced her objection to basing categeory definitions of pro vs semipro on (among other criteria) whether or not the publication paid SFWA rates, raising some (justified) concerns that doing so might cause the publishers/purse-string holders of said publications to change their rates; actually, what I think she was really objecting to was the fact that the semi-prozines struggle mightily to pay and she doesn’t want the category to be defined on a root-of-all-evil basis.? Fair enough.? But looking over the qualifying markets, I notice two things:
that the number of markets still existing among those listed is smaller and smaller and
the first semi-prozine not on the list that steps up to paying SFWA rates probably stands a good chance of a nomination and/or a win in the pro magazine category – if there was one…
Here’s the current SFWA list for short fiction: – from the SFWA.org website I hasten to add: the entire list, including anthologies and novel-length publishing concerns can be found here and is, of course, entirely copyrighted, owned, controlled and protected by brain-melting devices, courtesy of SFWA.
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
? Asimov’s Science Fiction
? Baen’s Universe – http://www.baens-universe.com/
? Brutarian
? Cemetery Dance
? Clarkesworld Magazine – http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/
? Chizine – http://www.chizine.com/
? Cosmos
? Dark Wisdom
? Dragon
? Fantasy Magazine *NEW* added Jan 2009 -http://www.darkfantasy.org/fantasy/
? Flash Fiction Online*NEW* added Feb 2009 -www.flashfictiononline.com
? Grantville Gazette (starting with May 2007 issue)*NEW* added Feb 2009 -www.grantvillegazette.com/
? The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
? Odyssey – Adventures in Science
? Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show – http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com/
? Pedestal Magazine – http://www.pedestalmagazine.com/
? Realms of Fantasy
? Strange Horizons – http://www.strangehorizons.com/
? Subterranean Magazine – http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine
? Writers of the Future Anthology
and here’s the semi-prozine list
- Abyss & Apex
- Ansible
- Albedo One
- Apex Magazine
- Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine
-
Baen?s Universe
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies
-
Clarkesworld Magazine
- The Edge of Propinquity
-
Fantasy Magazine
- Futurismic
- Greatest Uncommon Denominator
- HUB Magazine
-
Interzone only until 2/2006
- Internet Review of Science Fiction
- Lady Churchill?s Rosebud Wristlet
- Locus Magazine
- Neo-Opsis
- New York Review of Science Fiction
- On Spec
-
Orson Scott Card?s Intergalactic Medicine Show
- Paradox Magazine
- Postscripts
- Shimmer
- Space and Time
- Strange Horizons
- Talebones
- Tales of the Unanticipated
-
Weird Tales only till 12/2006
Just an interesting look at the state of SF/F short fiction, fyi…
Yes, I reluctantly agree also – because it is a convenient demarcation – but as you’ve pointed out, it sends the wrong message.
I agree with Cheryl on this one. If you are going to use pay as a criteria, you should be looking at pay for the staff, not the authors. The majority of semiprozine editors are not currently doing this for a living.
No, not really. Money inevitably defines professionalism. See the Campbell, for example. What I’m concerned about is who gets identified as the professional. In semiprozine the person up for the award is the editor, but you are making an eligibility rule that is dependent on the professional status of the contributors.
You are quite right that a semiprozine that pays professional rates will have a better chance of winning because it has better quality contributors. That should act to encourage editors to pay their contributors more (and indeed themselves less, because the money goes to the contributors first). I think that’s a good thing. What you want to do is punish editors for paying their contributors well. That’s really not a good idea.