Comments on: Sofa Nuts: Wubba Wubba Asimov’s 90 Minutes Crazy Town

By: Christie

Christie — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:41:03 +0000

I thought the podcast was great, and the conversation was one that needed to happen. Tired or not, wired or not, it was a challenging discussion and I hope that the Asimov’s team and their higher-ups took the important parts away with them: they need a plan, and a platform in the 2.0 world. I felt for Sheila when she repeatedly said that she is just one person and has been working on some of these things but does not have the final say – who doesn’t deal with that in their day job? I sincerely hope that the Powers That Be listen.

Personally I find a certain charm in the continuity, but I think the lack of an immediate and interactive web presence does not allow them to present that continuity to its best advantage. The one thing that really startled me was ‘most people know who we are’ (horribly paraphrased I’m sure) – that’s just head-in-the-sand thinking. Most people 35 and up, who have been reading short science fiction all their lives, do – but my kids have never heard of them, and *that’s* who the periodicals need to reach out to if they’re going to last, (‘the iPod generation,’ either you or Jeremy called them, I think.)

Thanks for doing the show even though you didn’t feel like it.

By: rushmc

rushmc — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:31:47 +0000

A former subscriber, I saw an issue of Asimov’s on the newsstand a few months ago. I would *never* buy a copy in its current form, no matter how good the content was. It was worse than a wad of toilet paper. I have zines going back to the 50s, and part of their charm is their format (and that their format was substantial enough to allow them to *last* since the 50s). Seeing the path Asimov’s has chosen to take, which I think is an insult to their readers, whatever their financial realities, sent my renewal money to F&SF.

By: Blue Tyson

Blue Tyson — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:26:24 +0000

You did pretty well, espresso wired or not. A bit of fast talking there, certainly. :)

Good to hear the electronic thing is going reasonably well.

What’s bizarre to me is Realms Of Fantasy restarting, not a mention of that anywhere. Maybe you can couchinate some more editors sometime?

Post offices undergoing some interesting times in the Chinese sense – so mailing stuff is only going to get more challenging, I think?

By: Jeff VanderMeer

Jeff VanderMeer — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:56:06 +0000

I’m sure, Mike. I’m tired as hell and was heavily caffeinated. I was going to just bow out but didn’t want to let Tony down and also didn’t want to let Sheila down since she insisted I be on the show. I really didn’t even want to do it today, to be honest. Just very tired. Anyway, apologies. I really was just talking about things on an abstract level. Happy to make that clear wherever or whenever it needs to be.

By: Mike Resnick

Mike Resnick — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:51:51 +0000

Just curious. The way you worded it could be — and was — misinterpreted. No problem.

By: Jeff VanderMeer

Jeff VanderMeer — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:40:22 +0000

Mike–No, I’m not suggesting either one of those things. I asked Sheila a question about continuity in a magazine and used the comparison of the two issues to show how things had stayed the same. Staying the same is not a bad thing, nor was I making any comment on the quality of the writers or writing. And I think I stated that pretty explicitly, although my Skype connection wiped out so I don’t know if all of it got recorded. You’re free to think I was saying something different, but I was not. I’m a big fan of Brian Stableford, for example, and I mentioned him as well in the context of my question.

Jeff

By: Mike Resnick

Mike Resnick — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:30:08 +0000

Are you suggesting that I should not sell to Asimov’s, or they should not buy from me, because I sold them a story 15 years ago?

Mike Resnick