M-BRANE SF #1 TO BE RELEASED TOMORROW

The PDF edition of M-Brane #1 will be "unofficially" released tomorrow, a few weeks ahead of its scheduled 2/15/09 publication date.  It will trickle out in a couple of stages: 1) subscribers and writers will receive it first; 2) then, over tomorrow and the next couple of days, a long list of other people whom I have selected to receive complimentary copies of the first issue will begin to receive them. My reason for a broad free release of the first issue is twofold: I'd like to drum up interest and attention for the magazine as early as possible and I'd like to encourage more people who may or may not have heard of it to spring for a paid subscription. Accompanying this will be a special offer for those who receive issue #1 (and whoever else they might want to tell about it) to subscribe at a lower, limited time price.  I'll have the details of that up on the blog and in the cover email going out with the freebie copies. Those of you who have stories in #1 can take some pleasure in the fact that a LOT of people beyond the zine's still-quite-small subscriber base will have the chance to see your work. I think this will work as a good "advertisement" for the magazine, too. To pay the writers the paltry fee that I am currently offering, I need to raise about a thousand dollars in subscriptions or donations or ads to cover that for a year (figuring that I am going to buy about 100 stories this year).  What I would rather do, however, is raise quite a lot more through subscriptions so that I can offer higher payment to writers and attract a lot more attention to M-Brane SF. (I'd also like to not have to screw around with selling ads, and junk up the zine with them, but it may be necessary). Wouldn't it be awesome if someday we had a zine that could pay writers at a semi-pro or even pro level but still be very inexpensive to the reader because we have a HUGE readership base? 

THE PRINT EDITION: Though the PDF version is coming out tomorrow, I am not committing to availability of the print edition before 2/15, as originally scheduled. When we get to issue #2 and beyond, I'll be set up to have it all happen at the same time. Getting the set-up completed for the paper version has been much more of a hassle than I had guessed, but I think it's just about resolved.  I am concerned about the cost to the customer for it (the "cover price" isn't that crazy, but shipping fees from the POD printer are pretty ridiculous, and I am still working on a way to alleviate that). I will update very soon on the real details of the print version, including it's final price. I ask any writers for #1 who are looking forward to the print version of their work to be patient for a few days.  It's coming. 

PAYMENTS TO WRITERS: Some #1 (and #2 and beyond) writers opted for a year subscription to the PDF edition as their payment.  For them, that begins tomorrow.  Others took the money option.  For them, it's forthcoming.  I don't mean to get all technical and legalistic about how our contracts are for 2/15 "payment on publication"--I just didn't budget it into January's cash flow because I didn't know for sure that I was publishing early. I'll get y'all paid at least on time if not well early. Hang tight.

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