Magazines that are free to readers have to cover their costs as well and fund drives make it possible for the donor to feel good, and at the same time to get a great deal
We're so used to getting our fiction for free on the web, that it's easy to forget that the people who provide it often incur costs, and often bear them out of their own pockets.
One trend that was started some years ago by Strange Horizons is to have fund drives, whereby people pledge money in return for small prizes, or for the chance to go into a raffle.
So it is that the people at the excellent Flash Me! webzine have picked up this trend. If you're not familar with them, Flash Me! publishes micro-fiction, stories of less than 500 words, ideal for reading on the bus or the train. In this case they've pledged instant rewards for pledging certain amounts, while everyone goes into a prize draw.
One of the prizes is my novel The Silk Palace, while Bruce Boston's wonderful Stoker-nominated The Guardener's Tale, and Writers of the Future volume XXIII are also on offer.
Do go and pay them a visit. They deserve your support. And you may win a good book in the process.
