As Future SF enters its second year, we do so without a safety net.

Our first year’s run was sponsored by the Future Affairs Administration.  Together we were able to publish a considerable amount of excellent international fiction, and we thank FAA for their help and support as the magazine launched and found its footing. While FAA is still considering their options regarding any future partnerships with us, at this moment they’re not affiliated with the magazine.

So, what does it mean for Future SF going forward? We aren’t going away, but we have to considerably scale back until we secure alternate funding, or follow the path of many other e-zines in our field and slowly build up a subscription and patron base.

I’m currently talking to the FAA, as well as to a couple of other companies, to see if we can work out another sponsorship or partnership. But even if that proves successful, it is a temporary solution. Only a substantial base of subscribers can ensure stable funding in the long term.

Our team is going to have to work on a much tighter budget for the time being. You will no doubt notice that this is a considerably slimmer issue. Previous issues featured over 50,000 words of fiction each, whereas issue five includes three stories totaling 11,300 words. Going forward, the issues will contain roughly this amount of material and will grow slowly as our budget permits.

The stories in this issue hail from Sweden, Germany, and Brazil. We’re committed to our international focus and will continue to feature voices from outside the Anglosphere as frequently as possible. We already have some very exciting stories lined up for 2020.

Meanwhile, please consider subscribing via Patreon at www.patreon.com/ufopublishing for as little as a dollar per month.  For all the sponsorships and advertisers, the success of this endeavor is ultimately up to the partnership between our staff and our readers.