What are the pros and cons of starting either a print or electronic speculative fiction magazine?
People don’t read a lot, and most of what they do read is not short fiction. However, one of the strongest short fiction markets is in speculative fiction. I think the total number of people reading SF short fiction is slowly declining — they’re generally older and are gradually dying off without equal numbers of young people replacing them — but that is a more long-term effect, not something that would make or break a new publisher today. But it’s not a growth industry. Another factor to consider is the significant number of electronic ‘zines that have started up in the last ten years. This splits the total audience into smaller bits, making it harder for a big-budget magazine to survive. Print magazines are certainly in the greatest danger, since they cost the most money to produce. I wouldn’t advise starting a new print magazine unless you can afford to lose a lot of money, because that’s probably what will happen. With an e-zine, you’ll lose less money but still a lot of time, an
