Another average day, notable mostly only because there was no air conditioning on my train home this evening. And while it was slightly cooler today that earlier this week, thanks to a tiny bit of rain in the morning, the temperature was still hovering around 90°F all day. The air conditioning was still sorely needed. It meant that I got a seat all to myself, in a mostly empty car, as other passengers went in search of fabled (and possibly nonexistent) cooler cars, but it also meant that we were rolling along in a sauna for some forty minutes. Still, as I overheard one other passenger say, “If I move, it’ll probably be just as bad, and I’ll be crowded with a whole bunch of people. I’d rather sweat all over myself alone.”
Beyond that, I’m just trying to get the latest issue of Kaleidotrope together…and realizing that I probably won’t until next weekend. Electronic copies have gone out to some reviewers, but it looks like contributor and subscriber copies just won’t be ready in time to mail them on Saturday like I’d hoped. I’m pretty confident they’ll be ready next weekend, all collated and stapled, so they’ll definitely mail out in early July.
And if you’d still like a copy of the latest issue — or better yet, a four-issue subscription — there’s no time like the present to act on that. Your copy is just a PayPal link — or money sent directly to me — away.
Meanwhile, I think I’m going to close the zine to submissions again for awhile, starting likely in September and running to the end of 2010. I really do want to go back to only two issues for next year, and this seems like the best way to ensure that I’m not so overstuffed with accepted stories as to require three issues again. An extra issue this July hasn’t proved too onerous, but it is an added expense, and the cost of producing an issue — certainly of mailing an issue — can be considerable. Anything I accept at this point is quite possibly not going to appear until April of 2012, and that’s edging into the ridiculous. I don’t want to start telling writers I’ll print their stories, but not for another two or more years.
So I think instituting a reading period is a definite necessity at this point. Then again, given what I’ve already accepted, another July issue might also be needed.
We’ll see.
I’m beginning to think Kaleidotrope should expand out into ebook editions or anthologies – like a once a year thing.
Ah, the public transit swelter. I have found a bottle of icey cold water seems to help. Good for drinking but also for resting against the arms. Somehow it just feels less sauna-like that way.
And if you should happen into an impromptu water fight, you’re prepared.
I do need to explore making reduced-price e-reader-friendly versions of the issues available, since it’s really as simple as printing a PDF copy of each one. I’m hesitant about going exclusively, or even primarily, online — even if, in theory, it would eliminate my main costs and hassles (i.e. printing and mailing), and would possibly allow me to pay writers more. My web design skills are minimal, and I am kind of attached to idea of a print zine.
By anthology, what do you have in mind? I don’t think two issues a year really lends itself to a yearly “best of” anthology, and if it’s print, that just adds on more costs (beyond the reprint rights from the authors), unless maybe if I do it through a POD service like Lulu.com.
And sadly, the only fights I’ve ever happened into the railroad have not been water fights.