Welcome to the 2014 Strange Horizons fund drive!
As you undoubtedly know, Bob, Strange Horizons is a volunteer-run, non-profit organization funded by donations, and thus once a year we hang out our hat to raise funds for the next twelve months. You can find all the details on our main fund drive page, but the short version is—this year, we're aiming to raise US$13,500.
That budget will enable us to publish another year's worth of stories, reviews, poems, articles, columns and artwork. We want to continue to showcase work that challenges and delights us, by new and established writers, from diverse backgrounds and with diverse concerns—queer writers, writers of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, writers from different countries and different traditions.
It's been, so far as we can judge, a good year for the magazine. We had five stories picked up for "Year's Best" volumes; Sofia Samatar's "Selkie Stories Are for Losers" was nominated for the BSFA, Hugo and Nebula Awards (and is still a nominee for the World Fantasy Awards—good luck, Sofia!); Sarah Pinsker's "In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind" was nominated for a Nebula and won the Sturgeon Award (our second win in a row!); Mat Joiner's "And Deeper Than Did Ever Plummet Sound" won the SFPA Dwarf Star Award, and Mari Ness was runner-up for "The Loss"; and of course the magazine itself was nominated for the Best Semiprozine Hugo Award. So we want to continue, and to do more.
To encourage you to donate, as usual we have our donor prize draw, and a fund drive special issue.
Everyone who donates is entered into a draw for prizes ranging from signed books to artworks to games. The initial batch includes books by Lavie Tidhar and Sarah Tolmie, art by Laura Walton Allen, the Machine of Death game, and more, but check back as we add more prizes each week.
As for the bonus issue, we've got a whole pile of material that will be published as our fundraising hits certain thresholds. You can see the full table of contents on this page, but first up, when we hit $1,500, is Adam Roberts' review of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy; after that we have poetry by Arkady Martine, Rose Lemberg and Emily Jiang, a final interview with Iain Banks, a bonus column by John Clute, and stories by Alex Dally MacFarlane and Ann Leckie.
Our target of $13,500 is enough to allow us to continue publishing at our current schedule, paying our current rates, to the end of 2015. But we do have one stretch goal this year, as well. If we can raise an extra $1,500 (for a $15,000 total), we'll be able to publish an extra 18,000 words of fiction—which would mean more longer stories, throughout the year. Anything above that will go to other general magazine improvements and publicity—hosting more events at conventions, for instance.
We hope you've been enjoying SH this year, and if you have we hope you consider donating. Almost all of your donations go to our contributors: we pay $30 for a poem or review, $50 for an article, and $300 for a story, if that helps you to work out what to donate. But even if you only put in a few dollars, it's very much appreciated. Everyone who's a part of Strange Horizons is proud of the magazine: please help us to make it bigger and better next year. Thank you!