The British Fantasy Society Forum

[Paul Campbell]

Hey guys, has the Prism/Dark Horizons mailing been sent out yet?

[Stephen Theaker]

I don't think it has, I'm afraid - there were problems with the printing of Prism. I'll double check with Helen.

While I'm here, I have to confess to a mistake in this Dark Horizons; the uncorrected version of the BFS Short Story Competition winner found its way into the issue, complete with a couple of embarrassing typos (Grossly for crossly, Its for its). So my apologies to Astrid, and to the members... I've changed my procedures to make sure it won't happen again...

[Stephen Theaker]

I've spoken to Martin, and I'm afraid the mailing hasn't gone out yet - Prism's not ready.

[Stephen Theaker]

Sorry to everyone who's still waiting for Dark Horizons 55. It's been ready to be sent out since early September, so as you can imagine I'm a bit frustrated...

New Horizons is ready early, so I've asked the committee if we can go ahead with a mailing of those publications at least, leaving the two Prisms to go out in the December mailing.

[Stephen Theaker]

I checked with the committee, and Martin's said that they are going to send out the September mailing shortly, with New Horizons (which has arrived early) filling in for Prism (which still hasn't arrived). Then the two Prisms can go out together in December.

[Shaun Jeffrey]

Still eagerly waiting ... 

[Stephen Theaker]

Maybe it's like a kettle, and if we stop waiting it'll arrive... 

I do probably need to be more philosophical about these things... By which I mean make the content of the magazine less time-sensitive!

If it's any consolation, the non-member contributor copies were sent out a couple of weeks ago, and the writer whose book is advertised on the back cover said he really enjoyed your story.

[Natt]

Hello!

The mailing arrived the other day, and I just thought I'd say I'm enjoying it thoroughly. However, my parcel contained The BFS Yearbook & New Horizons, but not Dark Horizons.

Is this because I didn't join until the end of October? Just thought I'd ask, so that I knew it was intentional, rather than my missing anything...

Again, thanks very much for everything. I'm really enjoying them...

N

[Stephen Theaker]

I think you must be right, but I'll ask Helen.

If you'd like an ebook version of Dark Horizons 55, just email darkhorizons@britishfantasysociety.org and say which format you'd prefer (pdf, epub, mobi).

[CarolineC]

I made enquiries of Helen about rejoining at this point (haven't done so yet though), and she said I'd get the Yearbook, New Horizons AND Dark Horizons.    So I'd like to hear about that too. Thanks.

[Degsy]

Just a point about my copy - the artwork inside seemed to be a bit fuzzy and poorly reproduced. Might just be a one-off tho'.

Degsy

[Stephen Theaker]

Yes, sorry about that...

The printers I'm using aren't ideal for artwork, because (I think) they only do one pass over the page. They are very cheap, though - another printer might have made the pictures look 30% better, but I'd have had to cut 50% of the content... I feel it's a worthwhile trade-off, because it lets me print longer stories than I could otherwise consider for the magazine. If we received lots of original artwork I might feel differently and make that more of a priority.

But I am looking into how I can optimise the art for best results, and I'm always taking quotes from other printers that have been recommended to me.

[Degsy]

Point taken. It's got to be 100% about the fiction - which I'm thoroughly enjoying working my way through at the moment!

But I do enjoy the incidental artwork which stops it becoming an incredibly bland reading experience like say, Asimov's.

Perhaps if you tried canvassing on places like deviantart you might get more subs...?

Degsy

[Peter Coleborn]

I like to see artwork in magazines (and books). I want to see it crisply and cleanly reproduced. I would rather not see poorly-reproduced artwork -- it detratcs from the art; it is a disservice to artists; it has a negative overall effect.

[Stephen Theaker]

Thanks for the input and ideas, guys. It's a tricky thing to get right, but I'm looking at the source files to see which worked well, and which didn't, and try to make sure more fall into the right camp next time.