Of late, it has become apparent that there’s a mistaken impression of Amazing Stories floating around out there. I thought I’d take a moment to try and clear that up, as well as present some of the things Experimenter is doing that you all might not know about. Hence the title of this piece.
What you may be wrong about, or misled about…the mistaken impression that may have impinged upon your consciousness…is this:
Amazing Stories is not focused on just one era of the science fiction genre. It engages with all THREE – the past of the genre, the present of the genre and the future of the genre.
In the beginning, we devoted no small effort towards tying this iteration of the magazine to its storied past. We wanted to make it clear that at least in our own minds this was not a new Amazing Stories, it was a continuation of everything Amazing Stories that had gone before, since 1926.
It seems that we did a pretty good job. Too good perhaps, as a lot of folks – especially those with no prior living experience with the magazine – seem to have the impression that the magazine itself is devoted to publishing pulp science fiction, or golden age science fiction, or old science fiction designed to appeal to the tastes of old science fiction readers. (You’re not mistaken if you are catching an emphasis on old.)
This is not the case, even if we can understand how that impression was made.
No. As stated earlier, we engage with all three eras. We envision this project as one that directly reflects the fact that the science fiction genre is a continuum, each succeeding generation building upon the knowledge and experiences of the preceding, re-evaluating, embracing new forms while referencing old ones, paying homage, or “answering” old contentions with new takes.
To reflect this, we offer three different products, each of which is focused on a different era; through our licensing partner Futures Past Editions, we offer facsimile editions of original issues of the magazine, Amazing Stories Classics novels and the annual Best Of anthologies (starting with 1926 and currently running through 1930, plus 1940 and 1943 in support of prior Retro Hugo Awards); through the website we engage with the present – contemporary reviews, news of genre happenings, an events calendar featuring current conventions, a podcast (The Gernsback Machine) that discusses current events and interviews contemporary authors and posts that offer opinion and critique on all aspects of the genre.
Through the magazine, we engage with the future of our genre by publishing new, original fiction by contemporary authors whose work is shaping the genre’s future.
The magazine publishes NEW, ORIGINAL, CONTEMPORARY fiction by the future stars of our genre (well, some stars that are already burning ever so brightly too).
Perhaps a visual reference and a timeline will help:
Don’t get your directions mixed up. If you do, you may find yourself talking backwards. (.gnisufnoc eb nac levart emiT)
To confuse the issue even farther, sometimes the past, present and future mix; for example, an interview in the magazine with a contemporary author may reference works from their past; the website may have a post on future developments, or run a retro-review of a classic work. But the basic organization is this:
Amazing Stories Classics brings the magazine’s past to light through anthologies, facsimile editions and classic novel reprints; the website bridges the genre and hosts articles, reviews and interviews that treat all manner of subjects and times; it also publishes contemporary news, hosts an Event Calendar for current and future events, while the quarterly magazine (electronic and print editions) represents the future development of the genre by publishing contemporary fiction.
Here’s the bottom line: regardless of where your genre interest lie, you will find something of interest within the Amazing Stories family.
This little empire is also probably larger than you’ve imagined. Just to give you a taste, here are links to our various discrete offerings:
Amazing Stories Classics – https://amazingstories.com/product-category/books-2/
Daily Updated Website – https://amazingstories.com
Events Calendar – https://calendar.amazingstories.com/
Podcast – The Gernsback Machine – https://listen.amazingstories.com/
Submissions for the Magazine – https://submission.amazingstoriesmag.com/
Obtaining the Magazine – https://amazingstories.com/
and Listening to the Magazine – https://www.audible.com/pd/Amazing-Stories-Volume-76-Issue-1-Audiobook/B07MCMS61Q
(And please aware that all of our sites, with the exception of the submissions website, share registration information. Logging into the main site provides access to the store, the podcast and events calendar. However, the submission website requires a separate registration as additional information is required.)
What we’re saying here today is: regardless of your particular interest in science fiction, you’ll find something that will launch your rocket here at Amazing Stories!
