Rick Hollon: It’s a goddamn shame that short speculative fiction is at its creative peak now, when its markets are in economic shambles. I wish 1920s-80s levels of SFF money were available now to finance beautiful and gay and provocative genre fic, instead of during the libertarian-punches-his-way-to-Mars era.

It’s a goddamn shame that short speculative fiction is at its creative peak now, when its markets are in economic shambles. I wish 1920s-80s levels of SFF money were available now to finance beautiful and gay and provocative genre fic, instead of during the libertarian-punches-his-way-to-Mars era.

I love short fiction, both reading and writing it, so much more than novels. The changes in the past few years have been dire indeed.

It's so infuriating how much it's contracted inward in the last five years specifically. Just a conflagration of the worst possible circumstances and outcomes. It didn't have to be like this.

Truly. It’s been an awful time.

I used to pay my bills writing short speculative fiction, at a time when you could make a living at it - though not easily. That wouldn’t be possible today.

“libertarian punches his way to Mars” 🎯

By the same token it's driving me crazy that there's no good ecosystem to help get a bunch of the cool exciting ideas and talent in spec fic right now working on television unless they somehow get like an Apple deal. It's an area where modern Star Trek is REALLY dropping the ball

*cries in "started a short fic mag two years ago"*

I sub to as many short fiction mags as I can afford every month. But with Amazon's changes last year it can't be easy for any of them right now.

"The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress," says man who never fought in war and wrote his most famous book about how good it is for you to fight in space war.

There are still some solid operations. I'm personally a fan of Clarkesworld. Gotta support whose putting in the work to help uplift the entire community. But it is a shame, and AI isn't helping.

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