Prime Books has announced that it is moving Fantasy Magazine from print to electronic publication. Issue #7, scheduled to be released this November, will be the last print magazine. Following its release, the magazine will become a weekly online publication with updates almost daily. “The web version will feature free fiction and other constantly updated content.” The online version will be “blog-structured, and plans to post new fiction each Monday, reviews on Tuesday, other nonfiction on Wednesday, news and contests on Thursday, and a fun series of interactive ‘Fantasy Friday’ online events to kick off weekends.”
“We think this is the best way to bring Fantasy‘s great short fiction and nonfiction to the largest possible audience,” said editor Sean Wallace. “Fantasy‘s current readership is Internet-savvy and accustomed to reading stories online. At the same time, we think there’s an additional potential readership who will be more likely to discover us on the genre bookshelves.” Wallace was referring to Prime’s plans to publish a series of print anthologies collecting the short stories that have been published on the web site.
K. Tempest Bradford will join the editorial team as nonfiction editor. Paul Tremblay and Wallace remain as co-editors; Paula Guran is still reviews editor; and Stephen H. Segal continues as creative director.
Current subscribers will be given a choice of converting subscriptions to the newly revamped Weird Tales (published by Prime’s parent company Wildside Press) or receiving a copy of the Fantasy trade paperback anthology. For writers, the magazine is raising its pay rate to three cents per word.