Online Books & Magazines

[Dave]

We discussed a while ago in another thread about the demise of the Sci-Fi Magazine. Right up until the 80's there was a wide range of these magazines where new authors cut their teeth and established authors wrote their best work. We even considered that maybe Sci-Fi works best in the short story format with a punchline, rather than the full blown novel.

So, the question is where have they all gone?

Well, obviously it is clear that they have all gone online. Just today SciFi Wire has this report of a new web magazine helmed by Orson Scott Card.

Multiple award-winning SF author Orson Scott Card told SCI FI Wire that he will be helming a new online genre fiction magazine, Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. Although Card (Ender's Game) usually prefers print ventures, he decided on a magazine "that really uses the power of the Web," he said in an interview.

Medicine Show will include "special-value items," such as audio books, Card said. "In fact, [Card's short story] 'Mazer in Prison' has an audio production included for the price of the first issue," he said. The story, which will be downloadable as an MP3 file, will be read by Stefan Rudnicki, who won an Audie award for his performance of Card's novel Lost Boys.

Card said that he believes online magazines have benefits over print, such as a reduced price ($2.50 per issue, payable through PayPal), as well as the ability to add new material without adhering to a rigid publication schedule. Plus, "we can also serialize a novel in a single issue," he said. "A new section is added each week."

The current production schedule is quarterly, with columnists writing monthly. Each issue will contain a story set within Card's popular Ender's Game universe, though Card himself may not write each one.

Card said that he considers new writers to be the lifeblood of the magazine, and Medicine Show will be accepting submissions from authors after the first issue appears. "We're paying 6 cents a word, up to $500, in the ballpark for a professional publication," he said. The first issue of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show will debut Oct. 15.

That report gives a number of advantages of the online magazine, but obviously doesn't mention any of the disadvantages:

I like reading in bed at night - even with a lap top that's not so easy. What about reading on the train or bus, ship or plane, or in the bath? I could print out the story, using my own ink and paper, but I'd rather have a small bound book than reams of loose leaf.

I can't read from a screen for long. The ink on paper won't give you eye-strain and you don't get a back ache.

The real reason is cost. Online books are cheaper and paper is becoming increasing more expensive. In the future, publishing will increasingly be online, as it has already started to be with music.

Just as with music, publishers will be concerned about pirated copying, but they are working on ways around this, and the 'free to read, pay to print' route will become more common.

I think I'll miss a real book tough.