The Ups and Downs of a Small Press

I'm not even going to call Strange a "small press". It's a hobby press, pure and simple. But we've published some good stories. Sand has had a fun run (and will continue, this isn't another "we're shutting down" post). Tainted is a darn good book and Fifty-Two Stitches is always entertaining.

I don't write much, but Aaron does, and we both keep our eyes on Duotrope/Ralan listings. Small/hobby presses are dropping like flies. (Pardon the cliches. I said I didn't write much.)

Small/hobby press folks need to have realistic expectations. Most of those long-running college lit rags are supported through grant money. The biggest names in genre fiction are having fits right now with subscribers. Aaron and I never plan a project without knowing how we are going to pay for it first. Most of the time, this means we pool our cash to make it a go. The authors for all our publications have been paid out of our pockets. No Strange Publications project will get the green light before we know we can front the cash before be post the guidelines. It's that simple.

We can be better publicists and bring in a trickle of advertising revenue, sure, but nobody is making much money on short fiction right now, save for a few of the big names. And I think some of them are hurting, too.

Stephen Theaker (Theaker's Quarterly Fiction and editor for the British Fantasy Society) writes on one of his sites "keep it free and keep it going". Good strategy. We're going to say "keep it affordable and keep it going". Sand has developed into a pretty good magazine, and I want to see many more issues. We want to offer some more anthologies in the future. I'll do my best to make that happen.