BCS reported our circulation statistics for 2020 to Locus magazine, for their annual February issue that lists such data for magazines in F/SF short fiction. We will also post them here.

In 2020, BCS produced 26 issues, containing 60 pieces of original fiction (41 stories, 17 novelettes, and 2 novellas), with 20 of those also as audio podcast episodes.

The BCS website averaged averaged 64,000 unique visitors per month, down 15% from 76,000 in 2019/2018. New podcast episodes averaged 14,000 downloads per episode, up 15% from 12,000 in 2019/2018/2017. Submissions increased 50% in March and remained 20-50% higher through the end of the year.

Highlights of 2020 included a fifth biannual science-fantasy theme month, in February; the 300th issue, in March; and a twelfth anniversary double-issue. Accolades included an eighth Hugo finalist for Best Semiprozine and “Do Not Look Back, My Lion” by Alix E. Harrow a Hugo finalist for Best Short Story.

Fiction singled out included “The Mermaid Astronaut” by Yoon Ha Lee, “Clever Jack, Heavy with Stories” by R.K. Duncan, “The Garden Where No One Ever Goes” by PH Lee, and “Girls with Needles and Frost” by Jenny Rae Rappaport, as well as pieces by C.C. Finlay, R.B. Lemberg, Andrew Dykstal, Aimee Ogden, Maurice Broaddus, Merrie Haskell, Prashanth Srivatsa, Lavie Tidhar, and K.J. Parker.

Funding remained a challenge. Supporters of the BCS Patreon enabled the magazine to maintain its 2019 increase in fiction pay rate, to 8c/wd, but a campaign to fund paying the magazine’s staff was canceled out of concern for the economic impact of the pandemic.

Overall, a down year for BCS, potentially related to pandemic effects. Thank you to our readers and fans, and we look forward to 2021.