Notes: pages on the TIN HOUSE website suggest that its circulation has risen from 10000 to 12000 since 2003. As of 2006, it was stated that The Paris Review’s circulation had risen “from under 5,000 to more than 13,000.” As of 2006, McSWEENEY’S “prints 20,000 copies an issue.” As of end 2006, “GRANTA’s circulation is steady at almost 50,000 worldwide”. GRANTA’s been up and down over the years — seems to me that this is a slight increase over since 2004 or so.

I’m quite surprised to note that ADBUSTERS has a circulation of 120000.

a magazine that wants to be successful needs to be commissioning at least 75% of each issue's content directly from invited writers

Clarkesworld - I agree.

ScottS . . . since I've been reading this thread I went out yesterday and bought Weird Tales

warrenellis - As Neil says, it'll always be harder to get those stories. But worth it.

warrenellis - See, I think that's a fine thing for new writers -- gives them a good-looking publication to hand to other editors and publishers as an introduction. That may, of course, not exactly be what your intention was...!

How does $436.43 compare with what I could get for the story on the open market? Actually, very well. The story is about 7,400 words long, so in a week of shareware release, I’ve been paid 5.9 cents a word, which is right in line with what the “Big Three” science fiction magazines pay: my Writer’s Market has Analog at 6 cents/word, Asimov at 5 cents/word, and Fantasy & Science Fiction at 5 to 9 cents/word. And consider that the story is still on the market — that is, that people continue to be able to find it, read it and pay for it. It’s not unreasonable to assume more people will read it and pay for it as time goes on — probably not as much or as regularly as in this first week, when I’ve drawn attention to it. But from the point of view of whether or not I’d make what I’m make sending it to the print magazines, everything else from this point is gravy.

(It’s not as much as I’d make for at least a few online sites, interestingly: Subterranean Online and Baen’s Universe pay substantially more than 6 cents/word, which is a fact I think is occasionally overlooked. But it’s true! Look it up, people.)

. . . why current payment success may not be an indicator of future performance, or why this experiment might not be repeatable with others:

1. This site is heavily trafficked and thus is its own good marketing, which is an advantage others might not have;

2. People who might pitch in for a first story are not guaranteed to pitch in for a second story (or if they do, they not pay as much);

3. The fact that half of the money netted after service charges will go to charity may have caused people to pay more than they might otherwise.

WordWill - At least, and unhappily, I think that ASIMOV deserves to languish. Hoping for a sea change from the old guard seems like folly. (Except, maybe, WEIRD TALES, who seems to be trying to straddle the divide between an 85-year-old reputation and a more modern relevance.)

warrenellis - But you'll get more people buying a magazine with Bruce Sterling on a cover. And that alone lets you live to fight another day.

Not to imply that it has fantasy elves getting ass-raped by drug-crazed cyborg chainsaws...

@Lucifal - On my (quick) calculations Murky Depths could almost survive on a quarterly roll-on of 100 subscribers (that's 400 subscribers a year).

So, what does this new publication look like? Well, it certainly isn’t like any pulp publication I’ve seen before. It’s roughly the same size as Asimov’s and Fantasy And Science Fiction - more of a paperback size than magazine size. It consists of 196 pages and is bound solidly, with a tight spine like a book. The paper is good quality, it looks like its been selected for its readability, especially in sunlight; it’s a lower contrast pulp (i.e. not completely white) making it much easier on the eyes. And it works.

warrenellis: I let my subscription expire some months back. Same with ASIMOV'S