We probably don’t need to tell you that publishing a magazine in the science fiction field is not an easy task.
We also probably do not need to inform you that authors in this field rarely get more than the minimum SFWA word rate – if that – when one of the magazines does buy a story.
And we certainly do not need to tell you about the plight of our friends, the artists, who are being hit the hardest by AI at the current time.
We may, perhaps, be informing you of something you may not be aware of with the following: readers are trending towards shorter works, and those same readers want to acquire those stories for as little as possible. What folks are willing to pay for their reads is NOT in general alignment with what the authors ought to be getting for their works.
Throw in inflation, throw in the fact that certain expenses associated with magazine production and distribution are impacted to a greater degree than typical (like shipping), throw in the market place’s increasingly rapacious nature (think Amazon pulling their subscription program) and things are beginning to feel like we’re in the 7th Cavalry at the Little Big Horn: completely surrounded, greatly out-numbered and, guess what, the cavalry is already here and they is US. (Justice, Morals and ethics are not included in that metaphor.)
BUT. There may be an opportunity here.
Other than Flash fiction, there’s nothing shorter in the literary fields than a short story. Which is what the young and growing market says it wants, and what a lot of die-hards are also looking for because it’s the length they grew up on.
It’s also the length that gave birth to and nurtured this genre, a great length for experimentation, a great length for discovering a large number of voices more quickly.
The rub is bringing in enough revenue to pay those authors what they are worth…or at least something decently above the minimum rate.
(It is also an historical fact – look no farther than Campbell’s Astounding Stories – that the publications that pay the best rates quite frequently get the best works.)
We may have a way to solve that conundrum.
We’re going to try a new model. It may look like a Crowd-Funder at first glance, but it isn’t really. Crowd-Funding has its own expenses, often requires expertise that is not directly aligned with publishing, adds complication.
What we’d like to do could essentially be thought of as a “Pre-Order” program.
But it is also designed to eliminate risk on all sides of the equation: no risk for the consumer, no risk for the publisher. (We do still have a book publishing operation to support.)
We’ve calculated that we can put out a good sized issue of Amazing Stories (say, approximately 13 short stories or equivalent wordage length), with good cover art and interior illustrations, for about $10,000.00 per issue. That includes a minimum word rate of 10 cents per word, 25% greater than the minimum SFWA rate and industry standard rates for artwork (and no, we will not use AI for any of it.)
(That number does not include fees for staff – Creative Director, Editor, Publisher, others – but we’re willing to put that labor in for no compensation.)
In order to make that happen, we figure we need just about 4,000 people to commit to purchasing an issue – once it becomes available. (That number includes industry standard losses due to attrition.)
With Podcasts and Youtube video subscriptions reaching hundreds of thousands, we think 4,000 is a very do-able number.
Once that goal is reached, meaning that we receive notification from 4,000 individuals stating that they are willing to purchase the next issue of Amazing Stories magazine, we’ll go to work. Solicit authors and artists, spend that 10K and then make that issue available to those who committed to purchasing it.
If things work out the way we hope they will, enough people will follow up on their commitment, we’ll recover that initial investment and be set to do this all over again with the next issue – which will again solicit 4,000 supporters, and so on, hopefully ad infinitum.
You get to help bring the magazine back, just by purchasing an issue, with no financial risk. If the issue doesn’t come out, you’re not out those dollars. We get to put out an issue, knowing that we’ve got enough revenue to bring out the next issue.
If this works for you, and you want to help make this happen, send an email to Committed@AmazingStories.com. “I’m in” in the subject line will be sufficient (though if you want to say more, feel free!).
If this really works for you (or at least the prospect of Amazing Stories coming back is something you support), please go the extra step and let those you think might be interested know about this program.
Here are some additional details:
I have deliberately not quoted the cost of the issue. To get a ballpark, divide 10k by 4,000. The final price won’t be that low, but it will be significantly lower than retail, which for SF magazines these days ranges from $6.00 to something north of $12.00 (even at subscription rates). Our back issues currently retail for $4.99. (Single print issues of other magazines are running as high as $25 per issue. When we hit our goal, we’ll contact you, let you know the final price and take things from there.
1. This program is for an electronic edition of the magazine.
2. The issue will be offered to the list at a cost well-discounted from the eventual minimum retail price.
3. After a set period of time, the issue will be removed from exclusive availability (no longer purchasable at the discounted rate) and will be offered through the website and other retail outlets at its regular retail price.
4. At the same time that the issue is made generally available, print-on-demand physical copies will also be made available through those same outlets. (We have plans that will eventually allow us to include a print edition in this program, but they have not yet been finalized.)
5. It is entirely possible that the edition of the issue made available to the Committed List will include content that is NOT included in the general distribution edition.
6. The first issue (at least) produced under this program will take 6 weeks to three months to actually produce: authors need to write, artists need to draw, slushers need to read, editors need to edit, creative directors need to direct and layout people need to lay. We expect that time frame to steadily reduce as we move forward. Remember though – it’s not as if you paid your nickel and are now asking “where’s the egress?”. You’ve not paid anything yet.
7. Growing beyond that minimum number of 4,000 means that we will be able to: increase author and artist pay, increase overall content, increase frequency of publication…maybe even pay staff a little something.
8. Our intention is to “theme” the first issue and to solicit the content. We will be involving those on the list in that process = taking suggestions for both.
9. If you are willing to do more that commit to being on the list – get in touch. We’re great believers in making Stone Soup. We will be sending out a Press Release on this program and if you have an outlet you think appropriate, let us know.
10. We’re prepared to let this run until we get to that minimum number. That may take a while, or it may happen more quickly than anyone expects. But don’t worry. We’re not going to constantly send emails to you (all you’ll get until it is time to order is an acknowledgement that you have been added to the list), and we don’t sell our data to anyone. Not for all of the tea in Ann Leckie’s novels.
Finally: We think that when we’ve had a budget, we’ve put out some pretty good issues of the magazine – good fiction, good art and good design. If you’re not familiar with our work and would like to check things out, email Steve@amazingstories.com and I’ll see what I can do to help you make a decision.
Oh. We’ll be verifying emails too.
(There are currently just over 100 people already on the list.)
Friendly reminder – Committed@AmazingStories.com
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