Online-only genre magazines
There’s a good article here.
It’s one of the least biased, best-researched, and most level-headed pieces I’ve seen on the subject to date. The lack of consideration of JIM BAEN’S UNIVERSE is unfortunate, but JBU is only entering its third year and I’m not sure how useful info on the magazine would be. I also wish there was some mention of that short-lived online magazine Amy Stout was editing around 1999. I forget the name, but I think “Galaxy” was in the title.
It looks like the author of the piece (Simon Owens, I assume) didn’t speak with any of the current print magazines but just took the info in LOCUS at face value. And it’s understandable why he would do so . . . but it’s equally understandable why I, a print magazine publisher, would note this omission. The assumption that print magazines are doomed is, I think, a false assumption.
As far as I can tell, the smartest thing anyone has said yet about electronic publishing is Eric Flint’s comment that, “People don’t want e-books. They don’t want print books. They want both.”
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The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction blog…
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction now has a blog… …you’ll find news about the magazine, interviews with our contributors, contests and giveaways, and other fun stuff. With Gordon Van Gelder and John Joseph Adams doing the posting….
Galaxy Online.
Some details are here: http://www.locusmag.com/1999/News/News12f.html
I don’t recall seeing it launch ever, but according to the waybackmachine it did go live in 2000, but then went quickly moribund a year later. It wouldn’t have made any impact, I suspect, and google only comes up with three matches, with “Amy Stout” and “Galaxy Online.” Did it run much fiction?
Galaxy Online sounds right—thanks.
I don’t remember if it published any fiction. It definitely went live at the start of 2000 after some fanfare. It was akin to SciFi.com in its mix of nonfiction columns and reviews. Up to that point, it looked like one of the biggest attempts at an online SF magazine and it seemed to have some serious funding. But it came down so fast that I took it as a big lesson in the economics of online publishing at that stage in the development of the medium.
I suspect the bottom line is that we’re all still learning this new medium, and that there may be various ways to make it work. Fingers crossed.
I totally agree with Eric Flint’s comment about people wanting both books and ebooks. Some people are print purists. A few people are devoted to their e-reading gadgets. They enjoy the portability, slightly lower costs, and less weight! And there are some people who dip into both mediums.
I don’t think that it will ever be just one or the other…unless of course we are thrown into a dark age without electricity. Then it will be back to print only. Let’s hope that does not happen.