Editorial

The State of the Union
by Trevor Quachri

Yes, it’s true: Analog has new owners. Let’s talk about what that means, both for the magazine and for you, the reader.

Of course any publication that has been around as long as Astounding/Analog is bound to have changed hands many times—heck, this likely isn’t even the first time we’ve gotten new ownership in the memory of some longtime readers: William Clayton, Street & Smith, Condé Nast, Davis Publications, Dell Magazines, and now Must Read Books have all been stewards of Analog at some point.

I’m writing this about half a year into Must Reads tenure, and you’ll be reading it nearly a year in. The news was public some time ago, so many tapped-in readers (do you subscribe to Locus? You should!) were aware when the news broke, and while I had to make a number of confirmatory statements for reporting and curious authors, I resisted going into it in an editorial until I felt like we had our ducks in a row. In particular, while the less-visible backend production and business aspects are largely new, having been rebuilt from the ground up (it has been a very busy time here!) the entire editorial staff is still in place. In fact, we’re more important that ever—Must Read is a smaller operation than our previous owners, but the magazines are a more integral part of the business plan: we’re not distant third behind puzzles or greeting cards or whatnot. There’s more energy and vision now than I can recall in my twenty-six years here. Is that any sort of guarantee of success? Of course not. But I can see what The Powers That Be see, and I’m excited.

Must Read is a new publishing imprint startup; they own Analog as well as our longtime sister science-fiction periodical, Asimov’s Science Fiction, as well as the two related mystery magazines, Alfred Hitchcock’s and Ellery Queen. They’ve also added The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction to the stable, establishing a foundation of periodicals to act as the pillars of future publishing plans.

Broadly: there will be more of an online presence; there will be more promotion (especially come award time); there will be some cool merch; there will, if anything, be more Analog in the future—more places, both physical and digital, more prominent and available, in more languages—not less, and we’ll ultimately be in a better place in the not-too-distant future, and full speed ahead by the centennial (which, yes, we’re already thinking about).

We’ve already got the goods, so we may as well strut.

That’s all well and good, but what does that really mean for readers? The magazine probably gets a new mandate, driven by some suit with a spreadsheet, and now it’s all romantasy, all the time, right?

Wrong.

We may swap a font here and there, refresh our PSAs, expand our roster of artists, and that sort of thing, but nothing significant and nothing I haven’t likely already been meaning to tackle at some point. That said, this is a chance for you to weigh in on the future of the magazine.

The door is always open, but there’s more opportunity to make big changes now, when there’s a shake-up like this. What’s working? What isn’t? How would you like to see Analog grow or expand? Write us! analogsf@mustreadbookspublishing.com.

Related to that, one change I’ll be implementing begins right here. Some time back, in response to changing issue size/frequency, I began to focus more on guest editorials—it seemed egotistical to prioritize my own couple of pages every issue when it was possible a few pages of length might be shaved off, so making sure you didn’t lose any content was the priority; me nattering on about whatever wasn’t. I still believe that, but I also think having a direct conversation with readers is important: you hear from me in this space; I hear from you in Brass Tacks—and I think the magazine is the better for it.

So even though I think you’re best served by our open Guest Editorial policy—you get more voices on more topics than you would otherwise possibly get from any one person—we’re also going to be informally chiming in more regularly. Sometimes it will be an entire essay; more often it will just be a conversational take on what we’re reading, watching, playing, listening to, or thinking. Most of it will be SFnal and of (hopefully) direct interest to SF readers; some will only tie in orthogonally. And that “we,” above, is intentional. Mostly you’ll hear from me, but you can also expect bits and bobs from longtime Analog Managing (and Poetry) Editor, Emily Hockaday, plus whoever else on the team wants to chime in: you may learn about something you had no idea existed, or at least what’s on the minds of (and thus, influencing) the people who make the magazine. Think of it as a continually evolving appendix to Analog. (Specifically an Appendix N, for the old-school TTRPG grognards out there.)

This time out, I want to talk about two things: a couple of books that didn’t make it into a formal Reference Library column but which I think Analog readers are likely to appreciate anyway, and a little about this year’s WorldCon in Seattle.

The first book is Intergalactic Rejects, edited by Storm Humbert. Per its Kickstarter page, it’s “a collection of rejected stories from award-winning authors.” As Neil Clarke says in his introduction, there are countless reasons a story might be rejected from a market that don’t have anything to do with the story’s quality: inventory gets full, editors see too much on a certain theme to use them all, magazines (like Analog!) have specific mission statements, editors have our own subjective likes and dislikes, and on and on. But with pieces from Rich Larson, Robert J. Sawyer, Catherine Wells, Laurence Raphael Brothers, Sam W. Pisciotta, Greg Bossert, and more, there are plenty of folks included who should be familiar to Analog readers, and whose stories you shouldn’t miss on their second go-around—take it from someone who may have seen a couple (or three . . . or four . . .) of the pieces before they made it into this anthology.

I admit: after a long day of editing short science fiction, I don’t often have the urge to read more short science fiction for relaxation in my downtime. These days, my tastes lean more toward classic crime novels and nonfiction (science or otherwise), and the latter is where the second book comes in. Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Fact by Keith Cooper (University of Chicago Press) seems a very Astounding/Analog-inspired title with a pulpy aesthetic, but it is, in fact, a nonfiction examination of planets from film and fiction, like Tatooine, Pandora, and Vulcan, as well as Laconia, Plateau, Zagreus, and many more, but considered as and contrasted to real exoplanets, with commentary from authors like Stephen Baxter, Paul McAuley, Charlie Jane Anders, and Alastair Reynolds, as well as a plethora of scientists.

It’s very much the sort of thing you would expect to find in an Analog fact article, expanded to book length, and obviously I mean that as a compliment.

I’m writing this shortly after this year’s World Science Fiction Convention, in Seattle, WA. It was a near-optimal combination of productive and enjoyable (Seattle is a very good town for restaurants and cafes!) and there are some photos to prove it, below.

To try to maximize our availability to authors (old, new, and prospective alike) we held a kaffeeklatch early on in the con, in a hospitable bakery that allowed us to sit and keep a coffee-and-pastries tab open while authors came and went. (Thanks to Freya Bakery & Café for being accommodating!) Below you’ll find the core group of attendees and eaters of muffins. A special shout-out to Frank Wu’s rather Seussian homemade Analog Hat. . . . it’s a hat that holds copies of Analog, you see.

We also met Larry Niven and Tim Griffin for breakfast one morning. I’ve had the pleasure of getting together with Larry on multiple occasions previously so I was glad to see him again, energetic and humorous, but this was our first time meeting Tim, and Emily and I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with him, about music, science education, and more.

In contrast to my multiple meetings with Larry in my time here, this was my very first time meeting longtime Alternate View columnist John G. Cramer in person, in spite of working together for twenty-six years!

Among other events not pictured:

• A drink with Kelly Lagor, technically about upcoming fact articles, but also covering everything from horror movies to comedians and many points between. Alas, I only belatedly realized that my brains were jetlagged oatmeal from staying up past my bedtime and I wasn’t doing a great job of keeping pace with the Tokamak that powers Kelly. Next time!
• A much-belated handing of the Astounding Award to its 2023 winner, Travis Baldree.
• A deep dive into hard magic systems with up and coming writer, Mia Ginaé.
• Dinner with David Gerrold and Malcom Kroh. I am now insufferably smug knowing David and I share the same non-mainstream reading of Heinlein’s Starship Troopers.
• Many official panels and table talks, by both myself and Emily.

I can only hope all future cons go as well!

Until next time.