The Magazine: Some Production Notes

As the days go by and we continue to work on the first issue, several things of note have come up.  Here’s some highlights:

  • We’re looking for more artwork and “cartoon” submissions. Hit the submissions page.  (I’m also not averse to running a regular comic, either in the magazine, on the website or both.  If you’ve got a nifty idea for a comic – be it a ‘Dan Dare/Buck Rogers’ epic or “Spaceman Spiff” commentary, we’re interested.)
  • We have received an OVERWHELMING number of stories in our first week of open submissions.  That’s a good thing as, even if Sturgeon’s Law applies, what we’re left with after a 90% purge is enough to fill two more issues….
    Here’s the problem:  we want our turn-around time to be as short as is humanly possible (2 weeks max), and that’s where we were at prior to the onslaught (seems like everyone wants to be in Amazing Stories!  🙂 ).  We’re adding a couple of readers to help lighten the load, but that’s only possible to a limited extent.  So here’s the question:  do you prefer that we close submissions (temporarily) or extend our reporting time?  (Note:  we’re currently open for submissions.)
  • We’re waiting on (I think) one more story and a handful of non-fiction pieces;  artwork is being obtained at a regular pace, we’ve all taken a look at a draft of the layout (pretty cool!) and we’re even signing up some advertisers (good auspices).
  • REMINDER:  If you registered for a free promotional (electronic) subscription at DetCon1 or LonCon3 and your email address has changed since those conventions, please visit the website, log in to your account and update your email address.  There’s quite a number of you and we want to make sure you all get what you signed up for.  If you have problems with the updates (you may not even remember your old email address), drop us a line and we’ll help sort it out.
  • We had some teething errors with our Subscription Program.  If you tried to subscribe and were subsequently unable to do so, those issues have been fixed.  We’d appreciate your trying it again.
  • Speaking of subscriptions:  you’ll be able to sign up at our booth at WorldCon76, where you will also be able to pick up your free copy of the issue.  Don’t be a stranger!
  • And speaking of not being strangers – we want to take photos of one of us handing all of you your copies.  If you’re attending the convention, please don’t be surprised if we ask.
  • If you find that your submission got rejected over failing to adhere to the guidelines (and it has happened already), make your corrections and re-submit.  We won’t hold it against you.

 
Hugo Awards Voting has opened.  If you are a MEMBER of WSFS eligible to vote, don’t forget!

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2 Comments

  1. F&SF does occasionally take a break (I’m a First Reader). It helps immensely. I vote for clearing the decks as needed, so go ahead and close. Serious writers would rather have faster turnaround than the expanding-universe queue.

  2. I say, close early and keep response times short. By the law of diminishing returns, after a certain point, looking at more manuscripts won’t necessarily get you anything much better than what’s already on your shortlist; plus, that’ll keep stories from languishing for months that would be rejected anyway, and could’ve gone to other, perhaps better-fitting (and equally short-window) markets in the meantime.

    That said… Clarkesworld and F&SF are open all the time, get mountains of submissions, accept 1% or less of them, and still have mean response times of less than a week. I don’t know how they do it, but maybe they have some tricks they’d be ready to share with Amazing?

    -Graham J. Darling

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