Posted by Darker Matter
Mon, 13 Aug 2007 12:23:00 GMT
If you're interested in magical realism fiction, you might like to know that a new online magazine, Serendipity, is being launched in September which focuses on magical realism and light fantasy.
Serendipity is being set up by me and Neil Ayres, and the first issue has a great set of stories. The site's not live yet, but you can visit it to sign up for the mailing list to be kept informed about the site:
www.magicalrealism.co.uk
The first issue will feature stories from Hugo Award winner Jeffrey Ford, Guardian Short Short Story shortlisted Aliya Whiteley, Welsh fabulist Rhys Hughes and US classicist and critically acclaimed author Catherynne M Valente. There's also going to be a great competition from the sponsor, Snowbooks.
Posted in publicity, announcements | 2202 comments | 191 trackbacks
Posted by Darker Matter
Sat, 11 Aug 2007 07:03:00 GMT
SciFi UK has a
review by Gareth D. Jones of the fifth issue of Darker Matter. It's a very positive one, I'm pleased to say.
It looks like the readers agree - I've noticed that four of the five stories from the last issue are in the readers' top ten.
Posted in Reviews | 2500 comments | 618 trackbacks
Posted by Darker Matter
Thu, 02 Aug 2007 08:12:00 GMT
I'm afraid I've taken a tough decision: Issue 5 is to be the last issue of Darker Matter.
Since I set the site up, it's been loss making, and that loss comes entirely out of my own pocket. In theory I can afford to run it for a bit longer, but I'm starting to realise that that would just be indulging in a very expensive hobby. If I didn't have a family to support, that might be ok, but as it is, I'd find it hard to justify when I have more important things to spend my money on.
There are a couple of ways in which I could, in theory, continue running the site - one is to stop paying authors (or to pay minimal fees) and the other is to charge readers. Either of those feels, to me, like an unacceptable compromise, and here's why:
First, paying authors. I decided early on that I would pay professional rates for stories, and I think that was the right decision. It means I was able to attract a high quality of author, as well as attracting a large number of stories from which to choose. It also meant that I was able to reward authors, rather than just taking the results of their hard work and benefiting from it.
I should point out that a number of authors have either donated stories to me, or have given me stories in exchange for advertising or a share of advertising revenue. That was very generous of those authors, and I don't feel that I could make that the basis for the entire site.
Second, charging readers. I don't want to do that primarily because it was important to me that the site be free - there's so much content on the Internet that is either free and low quality or expensive that I felt there had to be a business model that would provide high quality material to readers for free.
I still think that's true, but it wasn't possible for me. It would have been possible either if I'd been personally wealthy (or at least wealthy enough that the cost of running the site would make no difference to my finances) or if I had some wealthy sponsor. The fact that I wasn't able to find a sponsor doesn't mean that no such sponsor exists, but rather than I didn't have the time available (or the connections, perhaps) to find them.
Time was another issue: I found that running the site used up a lot of my time - almost all my spare time at some points in the month. Another facet of that is that I wasn't able to put as much time into the site as it deserved - seeking sponsorship and other marketing opportunities, keeping the blog busy and interesting, soliciting stories and interviews from top authors and so on were all tasks I just didn't have time for.
So. The site will remain live, at least for a year or two; the forum will remain (but it's not a very active forum - another indicator to me that the site wasn't likely to succeed) and I may update the blog now and then, if I think of something relevant to say. But I won't publish any new issues of the magazine.
If there's someone out there who'd like to take on the task of funding and publishing the site, then they're welcome to do so, and it's possible that at some point in the future I'll change my mind and start it up again.
I should say, in conclusion, that running Darker Matter has been an enormous pleasure. I've had the chance to read some really fantastic science fiction stories (as well as some truly awful ones!) have met lots of really great people (writers, artists, people from book publishers, editors of other magazines and all kinds of other people that I'd never have had the chance to meet otherwise. It's also, perhaps, shown me a business model that doesn't work, which might help me pick a better business model next time, if I do decide to resurrect the magazine some day.
Thanks to everyone for the support you've given me over the months. I hope you've enjoyed reading DM as much as I've enjoyed creating it.
Ben
Posted in announcements, Editorial process, Darker Matter | 649 comments | 622 trackbacks
Posted by Darker Matter
Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:43:00 GMT
Hi,
after a hiatus of a month, the August issue of Darker Matter is now live.
This month's stories are:
- Peroxide Head by Sue Lange
- Sponsored by... by Hank Quense
- Starlings by Jerry Oltion
- True History by Jason Stoddard
- Young Love, on the Drowned Side of the City by William D. McIntosh
There's also a fascinating article on generation spaceships, by I. E. Lester and some book reviews. It's all free, as always:
www.darkermatter.com
Let me know what you think!
Ben
Posted in publicity, announcements, Darker Matter | 67 comments | 14515 trackbacks
Posted by Darker Matter
Sun, 22 Jul 2007 19:40:59 GMT
I've now chosen the stories for issue 5, which is going live on 1st August 2007. It's a great set of stories - I think it might well be the best issue yet. The stories are as follows:
- Peroxide Head by Sue Lange
- Sponsored by... by Hank Quense
- Starlings by Jerry Oltion
- True History by Jason Stoddard
- Young Love, on the Drowned Side of the City by William D. McIntosh
I think you'll like these stories - I certainly did!
Please do come and check out the new issue when it goes live.
Posted in announcements, authors | 7 comments | 331 trackbacks
Posted by Darker Matter
Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:54:00 GMT
The fourth issue of Darker Matter has received another very positive review in
SFCrowsnest (a great SF newsletter, by the way, and well worth subscribing to if you have an interest in the genre).
The conclusion of the review, by Rod MacDonald is as follows:
I reviewed this e-magazine a couple of issues ago, saying that I like the style and found it an interesting read. My opinions have not changed and I look forward to future issues.
Posted in publicity, Reviews | 237 comments | 466 trackbacks
Posted by Darker Matter
Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:29:00 GMT
Issue four of Darker Matter has been reviewed in
Tangent Online.
It's not as positive a review as the previous ones: the reviewer likes Daniel Braum's The Black Orophant but seems less impressed with the other stories. He completely omits Edward M. Lerner's Copywrong, presumably considering it to be non-fiction.
Have a look, and see if you agree with the reviewer or not!
Posted in publicity, Reviews | 153 comments | 597 trackbacks
Posted by Darker Matter
Tue, 05 Jun 2007 15:40:00 GMT
I've decided to have a brief interlude before Issue Five of Darker Matter is launched. Hence, rather than being published on 1st July, it will go live on 1st August. This is for a number of reasons, mainly to do with money and time (neither of which do I have very much of to spare!)
If you're planning to submit a story, I'd recommend holding off for now - probably until around the end of June - but I am still accepting submissions between now and then (I just might take a bit longer than usual to make a decision).
Meanwhile, it's been great to see so much activity on the Darker Matter forums recently, particularly in response to Copywrong, by Edward M. Lerner. I'll also try to post to this blog a bit more often, to make sure there's always something new and interesting on the site!
Posted in announcements, Editorial process | 155 comments | 334 trackbacks
Posted by Darker Matter
Thu, 31 May 2007 18:32:10 GMT
Issue four of Darker Matter has just gone live. We've got five great new short science fiction stories, a fascinating article on faster than light travel by I. E. Lester, a review of the latest novel by Alastair Reynolds (The Prefect), and most exciting of all: the fourth part of our three part interview with Douglas Adams from 1979. Yes, we had such a positive reaction to the interview, and had so much material left over that we decided to put together a "bonus" feature.
Please tell everyone you know about Darker Matter. Do enjoy the stories, vote in the polls, and comment on the forums. Oh, and if you use reddit, digg, slashdot, newsvine, stumbleupon, del.icio.us etc., please bookmark the stories and features you like. It all helps!
Posted in announcements, Darker Matter | 410 comments | 686 trackbacks
Posted by Darker Matter
Mon, 21 May 2007 20:45:00 GMT
For some reason I've really struggled with selecting the stories for issue four - partly it's been budgetary (I have allowed myself less money for this issue than for previous ones) but also partly because I've had some really great stories, and I've really found it hard to reject some of them. Anyway, I've finally got my line-up. Here it is:
- The Black Orophant by Daniel Braum
- Chaos Theory by Rick Novy
-
Copywrong by Edward M. Lerner
-
Final Report by B. A. Barnett
-
Head on a Stick by Charles Richard Laing
There's also a great article on faster than light travel by I. E. Lester and a book review.
Issue four goes live on 1st June (www.darkermatter.com). I hope you'll be able to check it out!
Posted in Editorial process, announcements | 137 comments | 471 trackbacks
