It's Aurealis, Jim, But Not As We Know It.

I see that Aurealis magazine is about to become a monthly e-pub, adding two stories to the current AurealisXpress.

I must say I'm extremely disappointed at this move. And to these eyes, it looks as though the statement on the Aurealis website is more an attempt at rationalisation than a preferred business decision. I believe that print magazines are still vital and necessary. I am fully aware that there are quality e-mags out there (Intergalactic Medicine Show, for example) but I'm convinced that traditional publications offer quality control, checks and balances and a respect that are often missing from e-mags. After all, anyone can stick a story on the net and claim it's published. (And I'm not for a minute suggesting that Aurealis will lessen it's approach to selecting stories.) Maybe I'm lodged firmly in the 20th century, but even discounting the e-pub aspect (and I realise that there may be financial considerations at play) I don't think a monthly magazine of two stories is the way to go.

One of my goals has been to get published in Aurealis - a magazine I first picked off the newsstand with issue 2 back in 1990. I've subbed a few times since I commenced writing a couple of years ago, and made shortlists for issues before being rejected. I'll always regret not making the print issues of this mag.

(And I'm still missing Issue 37 to complete the set, if anyone can help me.)

Will I be re-subscribing now that it's changed?  I doubt it. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I suspect a lot of others will feel the same way I do.

As I Muse On Where's Fit To Print.

It's no secret I love my books.  I have a couple of rooms where floor to ceiling shelves house them, and I just love looking at them. I love the feel of them, to hold them in my hands and look at their design. Some, obviously more than others. And being into Spec Fic, the cover artwork is of prime importance. Maybe you can't always judge a book by its cover but I've certainly bought books based on their cover art. Design, layout and typography are just as important for me. I've paid more for a British edition over a budget US edition based on the printing inside - even though the text was identical, word for word.

I subscribe to a couple of mags, just for the pleasure of regularly receiving new writings and artwork. Aurealis, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, even the e-zine Intergalactic Medicine Show - and I look forward to their arrival in my mailbox- real or virtual. For me, however, reading physical texts is a joy - something to savour, an experience that utilises more than one sense. Even the smell of certain old books adds to the experience. I certainly don't enjoy reading text on a screen anywhere near as much.

Which is one of the reasons why I submit my work to print mags rather than e-mags.

I'm an old-school reading kind of guy. And while I logically understand some of the e-mags are as reputable and have standards just as high as print mags, there seems to be something more real about having been published on paper. I know that I won't truly consider myself on the way until I can hold a magazine or book in my hands and see my name on the Table of Contents. Maybe that's old fashioned thinking - but I still have the notion that any fool can stick a story online whereas there are generally checks and balances before you hit the presses. And it seems to impress the relations, friends and rubes more when they can hold it.

Sure, Intergalactic Medicine Show may receive my subs in the future, but in the meantime I'll keep sending my stuff off to the print zines.