• Re: Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction--defunct?

    From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to Evelyn C. Leeper on Sun Jul 13 13:23:05 2025
    In article <1050aj0$2nd45$[email protected]>,
    Evelyn C. Leeper <[email protected]> wrote:
    I haven't gotten an issue since Summer 2024; is this defunct?

    Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Analog Science Fiction and Fact,
    Asimov's Science Fiction, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and
    The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction have been acquired by
    Must Read Magazines. MRM's proposed contract is pretty dire:
    authors must surrender their moral rights. So, it's not clear
    the magazines will survive the new owners.
    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

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  • From Gary McGath@21:1/5 to Evelyn C. Leeper on Sun Jul 13 21:36:38 2025
    On 7/13/25 8:59 AM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
    I haven't gotten an issue since Summer 2024; is this defunct?


    According to a comment on Reddit, dated "3 months ago" (I hate relative timestamps):

    F&SF had two issues out in 2024 and none so far in 2025 to my knowledge.
    In 2023, their issues became delayed due to a printing issue and that
    issue compounded to the point where they couldn't make deadlines. That's
    why they closed the submission system.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/1jqlgdh/is_the_magazine_of_fantasy_and_science_fiction/

    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

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  • From WolfFan@21:1/5 to Evelyn C. Leeper on Mon Jul 14 07:44:46 2025
    On Jul 14, 2025, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote
    (in article <1052knd$3b9qp$[email protected]>):

    On 7/13/25 9:23 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
    In article<1050aj0$2nd45$[email protected]>,
    Evelyn C. Leeper <[email protected]> wrote:
    I haven't gotten an issue since Summer 2024; is this defunct?

    Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Asimov's Science Fiction, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and
    The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction have been acquired by
    Must Read Magazines. MRM's proposed contract is pretty dire:
    authors must surrender their moral rights. So, it's not clear
    the magazines will survive the new owners.

    But Analog and Asimov's seem to still be coming out regularly. I suppose
    they could be publishing backlog, but wouldn't all the magazines have
    the same proposed contracts?

    F&SF was always an outlier, even back when it was the "Big 6" (Analog, Amazing, Fantastic, Galaxy, If, and F&SF--and that tells you how old I
    am!), and it's outlasted four of them, so it has had a good run. I have
    to admit that when it went to the thicker double issues, it never felt
    like the same magazine again to me.

    I used to have the very last issues of Galaxy and If (before If merged with Galaxy) and a lot of Analog and Asimov’s (including the first issue). I had some MS&SF and a little Amazing. For various reasons I dropped my subs to Analog and Asimov’s, but kept the old mags. I also had a lot of
    large-format comics (Creepy, Vampirella, the Spirit, Conan, etc.) and a _lot_ of Avengers and X-Men comics. All evaporated in a move 20 years ago. (Do you know how much 25 years of multiple lines of paper magazines weighs?)

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  • From Gary McGath@21:1/5 to Evelyn C. Leeper on Mon Jul 14 17:53:04 2025
    On 7/14/25 6:04 AM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
    F&SF was always an outlier, even back when it was the "Big 6" (Analog, Amazing, Fantastic, Galaxy, If, and F&SF--and that tells you how old I
    am!), and it's outlasted four of them, so it has had a good run. I have
    to admit that when it went to the thicker double issues, it never felt
    like the same magazine again to me.

    I'm reminded of Mike Rubin's "Three Laws of Thermo":

    I see all these rejections are driving you mad;
    Even F&SF won't take science this bad;
    Have some friendly advice: sell to Omni, my lad.

    (Anyone remember Omni?)

    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

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  • From Gary McGath@21:1/5 to Cryptoengineer on Thu Jul 17 05:45:57 2025
    On 7/16/25 8:40 PM, Cryptoengineer wrote:
    On 7/14/2025 5:53 PM, Gary McGath wrote:
    sues, it never felt like the same magazine again to me.

    I'm reminded of Mike Rubin's "Three Laws of Thermo":

    I see all these rejections are driving you mad;
    Even F&SF won't take science this bad;
    Have some friendly advice: sell to Omni, my lad.

    (Anyone remember Omni?)



    In the early 80s, I was a member of the New York L-5 society,
    which promoted space colonization, which somehow swung a deal to
    have its monthly meetings at the OMNI's offices after hours.

    OMNI was published by Kathy Keeton, girlfriend and later wife of
    Bob Guccione. As a result, it shared editorial offices with
    Penthouse magazine.

    The wall posters throughout the offices were entertaining, to
    say the least.

    The line in the song right after the part I quoted was:

    They're closer to Penthouse than science.

    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

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  • From Scott Dorsey@21:1/5 to Evelyn C. Leeper on Tue Jul 22 08:35:55 2025
    Evelyn C. Leeper <[email protected]> wrote:
    I still have the T-shirt they gave out (in 1982 at Chicon IV?) that says
    "A SPACESHIP HAS LANDED ON EARTH / IT CAME FROM ROCKWELL" with a picture
    of the shuttle on the front, and "OMNI / The Magazine of Tomorrow /
    Charting Man's Progess / Through the 21st Century" on the back. In fact,
    I wore it a couple of days ago. I also had some OMNI plastic bags (from
    the same convention?), but I gave them out to the panelists on the OMNI
    panel at LoneStarCon 3.

    I remember the first two or three issues came out under the name NOVA and
    then they had some legal issues with the PBS television program of the same name and got renamed OMNI. I cannot find any of the early NOVA issues online anywhere. I had all of them but my mother threw them out when I was in grad school.

    They were capitalizing on the big interest in science fiction among mainstream audiences that was either created or unveiled by Star Wars. It was a slick magazine with slick magazine ads, but with pulp (or a slight step above pulp) stories.

    Some of the stories were from authors that never got seen anywhere else, and who deserved to be seen elsewhere, like Steven Robinett. And the Last Jerry Fagin Show by John Morressy has been in my mind since it was published. But some of them were from big name authors who welcomed better pay, as well as from folks like Spider Robinson who were on the way up.
    --scott
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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  • From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to Paul Dormer on Tue Jul 22 16:12:33 2025
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Paul Dormer <[email protected]> wrote:
    In article <105o0jb$jv3$[email protected]>, [email protected] (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:

    Some of the stories were from authors that never got seen anywhere
    else, and
    who deserved to be seen elsewhere, like Steven Robinett.

    Robinett was more of an Analog author where he also used the pseudonym
    Tak Hallus.

    I think he was specifically a Ben Bova author, which would explain why
    he migrated to Omni.

    He did have a Laser book under a penname I've forgot, and two or three mysteries under his own name.
    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

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  • From Paul Dormer@21:1/5 to Dorsey on Tue Jul 22 16:55:00 2025
    In article <105o0jb$jv3$[email protected]>, [email protected] (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:

    Some of the stories were from authors that never got seen anywhere
    else, and
    who deserved to be seen elsewhere, like Steven Robinett.

    Robinett was more of an Analog author where he also used the pseudonym
    Tak Hallus.

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  • From Scott Dorsey@21:1/5 to Paul Dormer on Tue Jul 22 18:21:20 2025
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Paul Dormer <[email protected]> wrote:
    In article <105o0jb$jv3$[email protected]>, [email protected] (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:

    Some of the stories were from authors that never got seen anywhere
    else, and
    who deserved to be seen elsewhere, like Steven Robinett.

    Robinett was more of an Analog author where he also used the pseudonym
    Tak Hallus.

    Wow, I never saw him there. I think I first encountered him in some of
    the paperback collections of stories from OMNI. Now, there is an author
    who should get a NESFA Press reprint series.
    --scott

    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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  • From Paul Dormer@21:1/5 to Dorsey on Wed Jul 23 16:57:00 2025
    In article <105p2t0$i3f$[email protected]>, [email protected] (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:


    Wow, I never saw him there. I think I first encountered him in some
    of
    the paperback collections of stories from OMNI. Now, there is an
    author
    who should get a NESFA Press reprint series.

    He had a novel serialised in Analog called Stargate, years before the
    film of that name. I rather liked it.

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  • From Paul Dormer@21:1/5 to Nicoll on Wed Jul 23 16:57:00 2025
    In article <105od9h$o4r$[email protected]>, [email protected] (James
    Nicoll) wrote:


    I think he was specifically a Ben Bova author, which would explain why
    he migrated to Omni.

    He started at the end of the Campbell era - in one of the first issues of Analog I bought.

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  • From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to Paul Dormer on Wed Jul 23 16:16:18 2025
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Paul Dormer <[email protected]> wrote:
    In article <105p2t0$i3f$[email protected]>, [email protected] (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:


    Wow, I never saw him there. I think I first encountered him in some
    of
    the paperback collections of stories from OMNI. Now, there is an
    author
    who should get a NESFA Press reprint series.

    He had a novel serialised in Analog called Stargate, years before the
    film of that name. I rather liked it.

    Stargate got a mass market edition from, hmmm, Signet, I think.

    Mindwipe (as Steve Hahn) was from Laser.

    The Man Responsible was from Ace, during the period when Baen was
    editor.

    Projections was also from Ace, part of the Analog imprint.

    Final Option and Unfinished Business were both mysteries, both
    from Avon and both published in 1990.


    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

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