It started last November with an Indiegogo campaign – raise five grand to produce and fund (for a year – the goal is for it to carry its own weight at some point, I would assume) a free ezine for teens containing diverse speculative fiction stories. A laudable goal, and the campaign raised in excess of its five grand. They had enough to hire illustrators, and web builders, and logo designers — and authors — and pay them a professional rate (which, according to the Science Fiction Writers of America guild is at minimum, $.05/word).
If you’ve been on Tor.com or a few others sites this week, you know that the first story is up! While probably not everything is finished or perfect, this site looks shiny, and has powerful goodwill and hope behind it. Submissions are open, so writers of short stories and readers of awesome will want to hop over.
Want to do more to support the ideals and goals of diverse children’s lit than move your mouth and read endless articles in various journals and newspapers? Want to relive the brief kidlit glory days of THE EDGE OF THE FOREST or TBR TALLBOY (I KNOW! Remember them???) Find out how you can be involved. There have been too many “great ideas” and “great starts” in ezines that haven’t ever had a chance to find their feet. Read, submit, talk!
P.S. – TALK ABOUT A SMALL, SERENDIPITOUS WORLD: Kelly Herold, editor-in-chief of the currently shuttered EDGE OF THE FOREST… was INSCRIPTION editor-in-chief Rachel Halpern’s professor at Grinnell College in Iowa… and together they ran a YA reading group her Senior year. You’ve gotta love the kidlitosphere, people. ♥
That is so cool, on all counts! I guess I'll have to putter around with some short fiction again soon…
I want it to GOOOOO. I want it to do well. I want it to last. I want to drag everyone to the website and make them LOOOK.
I am slightly overly invested in this. Just slightly.