Darker Matter has just launched its first issue as an on-line science fiction magazine. It’s available at www.darkermatter.com. Editor Ben Coppin is the author of Artificial Intelligence Illuminated and the “founder of a successful Cambridge AI and Internet search company.”
The first issue includes an editorial, an interview with Douglas Adams (by Ian Shircore), an article by I.E. Lester entitled “Exoplanets,” and five stories: “Babel Probe” by David D. Levine; “Frost” by Bud Sparhawk; “Lightning War” by Duncan Long; “RSVP” by Edward M. Lerner; and “Tagging” by Ken Brady.
The name of the magazine, Darker Matter, “reflects a slight editorial bias towards darker science fiction stories,” rather than any connection to Sheree Thomas’ anthology Dark Matter, or to the unknown stuff in the universe.
They pay 5-10 cents per word for stories of 500-4,000 words, and will also be paying for artwork. They haven’t set a specific publication schedule, noting instead that frequency “will depend on the level of interest and the volume of high quality stories we receive.”
Writers’ guidelines are available on the site.