More on SCI FICTION
Charles Coleman Finlay offers his oblogatory late take on the late SCI FICTION, which is interesting in of itself, but also includes an thought-provoking discussion in the comments.
SCI FICTION Tribute Blog
Dave Schwartz has set up a blog called the ED SF Project, in which he invites people to drop by and write an appreciation of one of the many stories SCI FICTION has published over the years. It’s first come, first serve, so get over there post-haste to claim your favorite SCI FICTION story and write up a nice tribute.
In Dave’s words:
By my count there are 320+ stories archived at the site. I’m willing to bet that there are that many SF writers/critics/fans/what have you who have some sort of presence on the web. So I’m thinking, let’s all of us write an appreciation of one of the stories.
It doesn’t need to be something long — it could be a few paragraphs, or it could be in-depth; it could be a critical analysis or just a reaction to the story. Just something that focuses on the fiction and shows how much impact the site has had. Remember, this is an appreciation. A celebration. Pick a story you love, or discover a new one by reading through the archives. Discover for yourself just what we’re losing. Then let’s give it the best sendoff possible.
STRONG MEDICINE: Nov. 2005
The
latest installment of my book review column,
STRONG MEDICINE: Books That Cure What Ails You, was just published in
Intergalactic Medicine Show. In this installment, I review Cherie Priest’s
Four and Twenty Blackbirds, Tim Pratt’s The Strange Adventures of
Rangergirl, Daniel Wilson’s How to Survive a Robot Uprising, and Ira
Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby (on audio).
Ethshar Finds Internet Success
SCI FI Wire just published a news story I wrote about Lawrence Watt-Evans’s fan-funded, online serialization of his novel The Spriggan’s Mirror.
Quantico Investigates SF Terror
SCI FI Wire just published a news story I wrote about Greg Bear’s forthcoming novel, Quantico.
Emshwiller Talks Lifetime Award
SCI FI Wire just published a news story I wrote about Carol Emshwiller’s recent World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Anders Turns To Anthologies
SCI FI Wire just published a news story I wrote about Lou Anders’s forthcoming anthologies, FutureShocks (Roc, Jan. 2006) and Fast Forward (Pyr, 2007).
Another dose of corporate-think
One of my favorite reactions thus far to the death of SCI FICTION, by Matt Hughes (via the Asimov’s forum):
Another dose of fucking corporate-think. Making a world full of people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
One of these days we’re going to have to realize that an economy is a necessary part of a civilization, but not a workable substitute for one.
Tell SCIFI What You Think
Everyone who is dismayed over the death of SCI FICTION, email SCIFI.com at feedback@scifi.com and tell them of your displeasure. Also, if you want to write a long, detailed, and eloquent letter that you’d like the community to see, send a note to Science Fiction Weekly too, at scifiweekly@scifi.com, and maybe they’ll publish it in their letters column.
Death of SCI FICTION – Ruminations
I find it curious that SCIFI.com decided to pull the plug on SCI FICTION without exploring other options first. There have been a number of online ventures that have tried modified versions of the “give it away free” business model (for instance, Salon.com, with their subscribe or watch this ad system), yet SCIFI.com didn’t bother to try with any of these. Though we all have come to expect SCI FICTION will be free, and though some of us would abandon it if we were charged money for it, I’d wager a fairly large number of people would subscribe to it, or pay some sort of small fee in order to read a particular story.
Sure, any business model that includes payment for SCI FICTION might not put the ezine in the black–it would still be a money-losing venture–but I expect it would help quite a bit, thus lessening the burden on SCIFI. If a little money were to start rolling in, wouldn’t that have been enough to stave off execution, considering all the accolades SCI FICTION has received (and all the legitimacy it afforded the SCI FI Channel)?
The other issue is the SCI FICTION anthologies…or the lack thereof. Ellen Datlow has spoken of them informally, so I assume deals for books have been in the works, but none have materialized. These anthologies could have been a great potential source of income for SCI FICTION. I don’t know the terms of their contract, but if SCIFI.com reaped most of the rewards from royalties from such books, that would go a long way toward offsetting the financial drain the site put on the network. And though that’s probably not generally how anthology royalties work, that seems fair–they pay big bucks for the stories and gave them away for free to the general public; when it comes time to sell the anthologies, they’re entitled to making some of that money back.
So while I’m disturbed that SCI FICTION is no more, I think I’m more disturbed that nothing was done to try to save it. Or if anyone did make any of these suggestions behind closed doors, the beancounters at SCIFI chose to ignore them, and instead let the axe fall without listening to any pleas for clemency.