Editor’s Geeble
Welcome to our seriously fiction-heavy, end-of-year issue! You have a lot of great reading ahead of you this quarter, so find a comfy chair, pour a cuppa and enjoy.
This is my annual wrap-up of the year, in which I sum up events significant to the magazine and forecast what is to come. It was an eventful 2010, so in the interest of space, I’ll just stick to the highlights:
- The Economy - No news here; it was rough, but there were some good things. Paper prices remained stable, which kept print costs (barely) manageable. Plus, the government denied a postage increase for the first time in ages, which kept shipping from spiraling out of control, at least for now. Advertising remained stable, in that if one advertiser didn’t run in an issue, another stepped into his/her slot. I’d really like to see an increase this year and am taking steps to improve how we find new advertisers. I would like to take a moment to thank one of our staunchest advertiser-supporters, the Lunacon convention, which takes place annually in Rye Town, NY. If you haven’t gone before, it is a terrific con and I highly recommend you check it out. For more information, flip this issue over and read the back cover!
- The Venues - The big news was our distributor, Ingram Periodicals, announced that it would begin selling Space and Time into Indigo Books, which is the largest chain in Canada. This is expected to seriously impact on our bottom line-in a good way-in 2011.
- The Media - While we offer a .pdf e-version of every issue, I’d hoped to get us into a format that would make us available via e-reader and Smart phone stores. However, every single attempt I made through all the existing purveyors of electronic magazines and books outright ignored my emails and phone calls. I’ve since found out this is pretty much par for the course, as many other, larger magazine publishers struggled to get any responses or were turned down flat. I’ve decided to give up on the online stores and just get a .MOBI file of the magazine developed, which I’ll make available via the web site. Stay tuned in 2011 for more on that!
- The Conventions - I learned two important things this year: Comic-Con is not worth the investment for a small press publisher like moi, while targeted, off-the-beaten track gatherings like the NJ Zombie Walk absolutely are. My marketing plan for 2011 will reflect these lessons learned.
- The Partnership - This was the year we entered into a partnership with DarkQuest Books, a publisher of fine speculative fiction. This strategic alliance is the main reason we were able to remain a print publication, so please join me in thanking publisher Neal Levin for his faith in S&T by visiting his web site and buying a great book: www.darkquestbooks.com.
In conclusion, I’d like to express appreciation to my dedicated staff, without whom this little venture would fade into history. Gerard Houarner, thank you for maintaining the high quality of fiction. Linda Addison, thank you for nurturing our wonderful poets. Diane Weinstein, thank you for acquiring incredible interior illustrations and cover art. Kathryn Freeman, thank you for developing and maintaining our sharp layout. And to all of my associate editors, a special thanks for taking time to sift through all the silt to find gems. Thank you for a great 2010 and here’s to an even better 2011!
Hildy Silverman
Editor-in-Chief
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