Science fiction podcast magazine Escape Pod has just announced some immediate and some forthcoming changes.
Effective immediately (for a planned six-month trial), they’re raising the rates they pay for stories. The new rates are 5 cents per word for original stories (maximum payment: $300), and 3 cents per word for reprints (minimum payment: $100). Editor Mur Lafferty says “We’re doing this for a couple of reasons—authors deserve to be paid, of course. We’re hoping we can attract a greater caliber of authors, which will therefore grow our audience. Along with the rate increase, we’ll be asking for ebook rights to the stories so we can print them on our site, which will bring in a bigger audience.” The change will be permanent “if our donations stay strong. If they don’t, then in April we will drop back down to $100 a story.”
Another change, Lafferty says, is “for a while, this site has been little more than a delivery device for the podcast. But now we’re going to add commentary, reviews, and news. We need help, though. If you’re interested in volunteering material for the blog, simply email me and let me know what you’d like to contribute.”
Escape Pod’s most recent offerings include “The Speed of Dreams” by Will Ludwigsen (first published in Asimov’s Science Fiction), “The Lady or the Tiger” by J.M. McDermott (first published in Apex Magazine), “Raising Jenny” by Janni Lee Simner (first published in Not Of Woman Born), and “Union Dues: The Sum of Its Parts” by Jeffrey R. DeRego (original publication).