Aphelion – May 2009 issue

The latest version of Aphelion Webzine has gone online. I really ought to do a better job of pimping it here, because i know there’s a lot of folks reading this who would probably enjoy it.

• What is Aphelion?
  Aphelion is an original fiction fanzine that has been published on the web since 1997. It was started by Dan Hollifield (vila_resthal) when the webzine he’d been contributing to went dark, and has been published mostly monthly ever since. I have been involved with the technical direction of Aphelion since it’s inception, have written semi-regularly for it, served a tenure as the Serials editor, and currently serve as its Features editor. Aphelion is entirely fan-run and self-funded. Because it is unable to be a paying market, it also has no advertising nor requires any subscription.

• What kinds of things will I find there?
  Aphelion publishes original science-fiction, fantasy, and horror, along with poetry and filk lyrics and non-fiction articles and essays of interest to its principle audience. In an average issue, you will find 2-3 pieces of long fiction, a dozen or so short stories, 6-10 poems, and a couple of book reviews, film reviews, essays or other non-fiction material.

• When does it come out?
  Like many fan-produced periodicals, deadlines tend to be honoured more in the breach than the observance, but the new issue generally hits the net sometime around the first Sunday of the month. It is rarely as late as the second Sunday of the month. Currently, Aphelion publishes 11 issues a year. There is no new issue in January, but Feburary features the editors choices of the best of the previous year.

  Livejournal users can be alerted to new issues at aphelionfeed, or you can subscribe to our RSS feed with your favourite RSS reader.

• So what is it for?
  The primary purpose of the zine is to give writers a chance to flex their imaginations, put their work in front of an audience, and hopefully get feedback. There is a forum where we encourage people to comment on the stories and features in that month’s issue, and try to foster a dialogue between the writers and their readers (most of whom tend to be fellow writers). It is the fondest wish of Aphelion’s editors to lose their best contributors to paying markets.

  So please drop by and give it a look. And if you read something that you like – or something that you didn’t – drop by the forum and leave a comment. Everyone who puts their stuff on the line there wants to hear from you.