Reading: Something Positive
Music: Ed's Redeeming Qualities
TV/Movie: Law & Order marathon
Link o' the Day: Argosy

I'm starting to get disturbed about the state of the print SF magazines. I'm usually one of those folks who think that slumps are either a.) temporary or b.) not as bad as all that if you consider it a simple levelling of the market. Obviously I know about as much of this as an ant does of archery.

What brings this up is noting the lack of anything coming out of DNA lately. They publish Fantastic, Weird Tales, Absolute Magnitude, Chronicle, and a couple of others. Fantastic has become something of an industry joke. AbsMag claims it's a quartlerly yet puts out one issue per year. Weird Tales is falling way behind. I know of very few writers who are willing to send anything to DNA anymore. Then there's Artemis, a magazine that has great potential, but no money to put out any issues. I paid for a four-issue subscription in 2002. I've received one subscribers copy. I submitted a story to them almost a year ago and haven't heard back. Even a rejection or an Ed McFadden-famous "closed to submissions until further notice" letter.

Oh.. there's Amazing, which is slipping already after only a handful of issues. Argosy #3 will be a Spring 2005, not quite a quarterly's schedule.

Online seems to be doing well--particularly Scifiction.com and Strangehorizons.com. MoF&SF, Asimov's and Analog who have proven track records of dependability. These last five examples have proven editors and staffs.

But overall it's kind of depressing. Sure, there are a lot of small press places. And some slicks that occasionally take genre fiction, but yeesh.

What's a writer to do?

Preservere and hope that novels don't tank next.

* * *
Okay, on a more cheerful note, it's the 11th and it's my birfday. I won't mention how old I am, but let's just say that I t'ain't no kid no more. Although I have the heart of one--two, actually. In the basement. And a third in a safety deposit box, but that's for emergencies only.

A busy week we're having. I'm rushing to get a bio of Peggy Ann Garner finished by this weekend, and then I have a book on Guy Williams to lay out. In between are the finishing touches to a Twilight Zone book, and prepping Bickersons and Sybil Jason for the mail.

And there's the next SFWA Bulletin.

Busy busy!

And back to work for yours truly. Before we go, here's a link to Argosy's webpage. I still thnk Argosy is a slick, slick publication. Let's hope they continue to put out such great work and on a timely schedule.