Magazine:// Salon Futura

Missed the launch of this one which is surprising given it's exactly the sort of thing I like to read:

Salon Futura is a new online non-fiction magazine devoted to the discussion of science fiction, fantasy and related literature.

I've rushed through the first issue, just started looking through the second, and am now looking forward to the third. They provide an epub download so it can easily be read on an ebook reader, though the website is a nice simple design which makes for easy reading. Some interesting articles and interviews, some audio and video content, altogether a really nice new online publication. I really hope they are successful with the magazine, there is definitely a space for something more structured than your average genre blog and this could fill it quite easily.

News:// Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show Subscription Deal

Looks like it's a good week for short fiction, I just had an email from Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show online fiction magazine detailing about the relaunch of the website, which does look improved, plus details of their new subscription deal.

Subscriptions are $15 for a year which gives you six bi-monthly issues but even better gives you access to all sixteen issues which have currently been published. For people who have not bought any issues previously it's a whole lot of short fiction for your money. I'd previously only bought one issue and had been meaning to buy a few more so I'm very happy to grab a subscription.

I've not read many of the stories but from what I have they mostly seem like easy, fun read, which is just what I need at the moment with a new baby and limited concentration. :)

1)  Our web designer worked long and hard to give IGMS a cleaner, sharper look. Navigation around the site will be simpler. With each new issue, the background will change to showcase some aspect of the issue's cover art. Explore it; I think you'll find it an intuitive and pleasantly easy experience.

2)  We now have something available that our readers have been asking for for a long time: an annual subscription. From now on, instead of having to purchase each issue individually, you can buy a year's worth of IGMS at one time and then not have to worry about it again; each issue will be there for you, ready and waiting as soon as it's published. And there's particularly good news (and a good reason to subscribe); the way our new subscription will work, you will not only have access to each new issue as it is published, you will immediately have access to every issue already published. That means that if you missed any of our previous issues, your $15 dollars will gain you access not just to the next six bimonthly issues, but to all sixteen issues already published. And that unrestricted access will last as long as you keep your subscription current. That means for those of you who've only read an issue or two, you'll be getting every story we've ever published for less than a buck an issue. So if you've seen IGMS mentioned in numerous Year's Best anthologies, on Locus's recommended reading list, or on any number of awards ballots, and wondered what the magazine was all about, there's never been a better time to try us out at: www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com or www.oscigms.com.

News:// New Online Short Fiction Magazine "Lightspeed" Launches

I just checked http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com as there has been a "Coming June 2010" page up for a while now and I was pleasantly surprised to see they have launched on the first day of the month. Just in time for my first real post too.

I love short fiction, I consume large amounts of it. I think it suits the short periods of time I have for reading but more than that I just really get a kick out of the form, it's where the really great ideas seem to crop up. It seems the restricted nature of short stories forces a different kind of storytelling, the author has to hook you quickly with no room for flabby back stories and world building. I imagine it is incredibly difficult to do well but when it is, it's beautiful. I mourned the closure of Borders mostly because it was one of the few places to stock Asmiov's, Analog, F&SF and the wonderful Interzone so I've been reading more and more of the online fiction magazines and it's always great to see a new one, particularly one with such great names attached to it.

John Joseph Adams is editing fiction, he's put out some really great anthologies (maybe a review or two in the future) and also co-hosts the Geeks Guide to the Galaxy podcast which I always enjoy. So I'm looking forward to seeing what stories he runs.

They also have Stefan Rudnicki as Audio editor, one of the best audio book narrators around among the many other things he does so really excited to see what happens with the podcast.
 
They are releasing one story and one piece of nonfiction from the magazine each week, for free or you can buy the whole thing as an ebook for $2.99. I'll definitely support the venture and buy a copy, if I get a chance to read it I might even report back. :)

Lightspeed is an online magazine focusing exclusively on science fiction. Here you can expect to see all types of science fiction, from near-future, sociological soft sf, to far-future, star-spanning hard sf, and anything and everything in between. No subject will be considered off-limits, and we encourage our writers to take chances with their fiction and push the envelope.

Each month at Lightspeed, we bring you a mix of originals and reprints, and featuring a variety of authors—from the bestsellers and award-winners you already know to the best new voices you haven’t heard of yet. When you read Lightspeed, it is our hope that you’ll see where science fiction comes from, where it is now, and where it’s going.

Lightspeed also features a variety of nonfiction features, fiction podcasts, and Q&As with our authors that go behind-the-scenes of their stories.

Our regular publication schedule each month includes two pieces of original fiction and two fiction reprints, along with four nonfiction articles. Fiction posts on Tuesdays, nonfiction on Thursdays.