WE DID IT! Or more accurately, YOU ALL did it.

The BCS Patreon yesterday reached our main goal of $700. This will enable us to pay the new higher SFWA-qualifying pay rate for stories, 8c/wd, when it starts on Sept. 1.

Thank you all so much!!! We literally could not have done it without all of you, who donated or commented or spread the word on social media. We are grateful for your support.

This doesn’t mean our fundraising campaign is finished. We still need the BCS Patreon to stay above $700 each month going forward, so we can keep paying the new rate. We’re also working on additional goals for the future, which would need reader support. So please continue to spread word of the BCS Patreon to any fantasy or short fiction readers you think might be interested in supporting us.

Thank you all!!! We look forward to paying writers more and continuing to have their story sales to BCS qualify them to join SFWA if they choose. We could not be doing that without your support.

The BCS Patreon reached its first goal! Our monthly total in pledges from our supporters on Patreon passed $350 per month. That allows us to raise our pay rate for short fiction to 7 cents/word, which will happen on June 7.

BCS is on Patreon as part of our campaign to increase revenues so we can pay authors the higher pay rate of 8 cents/word. The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) raised their qualifying “pro” pay rate for short stories by 33% effective Sept. 1, to 8c/word. All writers deserve this higher pay, but we need a 33% increase in support from our readers and donors in order to pay it.

We’ve taken steps to help readers and donors support BCS to this main goal, including changing the price on BCS ebook subscriptions, new tiers of recognition for donors, and the BCS Patreon.

We are delighted that we’re more than halfway to our goal! Thank you so much to all who have donated, bought or renewed a BCS ebook subscription, or supported us on Patreon.

If you would like to help get BCS the rest of the way to paying our authors this higher pay rate, please consider supporting us on the BCS Patreon or making a recurring donation via Paypal. Our parent company, Firkin Press, is a 501(c)3 non-profit approved by the IRS, so your donations through Patreon or Paypal are tax deductible.

$3 Monthly

$5 Monthly

$10 Monthly

Thank you!

Since our launch in 2008, BCS has always paid our authors the pay rate that Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) sets as their qualifying “pro” pay rate for short fiction (currently 6 cents/word).

We believe that all writers deserve a professional rate for their work. We publish many new and emerging writers, and we are proud that their stories sold to BCS enable them to join SFWA.

SFWA’s pro pay rate for short stories is increasing by 33% this September, to 8 cents/word. All writers deserve this higher pay, but our budget can’t absorb a 33% increase.

We don’t want to cut the number of stories we publish by 33% (4 per month down to 3) or lower the word length (15,000-word limit on submissions down to 10,000 words). So we need a 33% increase in support from our readers and donors by Sept. 1 in order to pay this new higher pro pay rate.

To reach that goal of paying the new SFWA rate, we’re making some changes, including new ways you can support BCS and help us pay authors this new higher pro rate:

1. BCS is now on Patreon. Patreon.com is a simple way for you to support BCS and many other magazines, writers, and creators. The BCS Patreon has pledge tiers from $2 to $25 per month. Our parent company, Firkin Press, is a 501(c)3 non-profit approved by the IRS, so your donations through Patreon are tax deductible.

(Update: we’re already 30% of the way to our goal on Patreon! Thank you! When we reach 50% we will raise our pay rate to 7c/word. You can help us the rest of the way.)

2. New donation tiers through Paypal, including for recurring donations. We’ve always offered donation by Paypal, with tiers of recognition for our donors (become a Knight of BCS!). Some of our Paypal donors have been donating monthly for seven and eight years (we love you!).

One-time donations are great, but recurring subscription-style donations are better for us because they let us budget on that steady small stream of revenue rather than waiting for occasional larger ones. Our parent company is a 501(c)3 non-profit, so your donations through Paypal are tax deductible.

$3 Monthly

$5 Monthly

$10 Monthly

3. Raising the price on BCS ebook subscriptions. The BCS Ebook Subscription, through our exclusive partner Weightless Books, will be going up on June 1 to $19.99 per year, for 26 issues/55 stories. That’s still only 37 cents per story, far lower than most magazines, and you can get issues delivered directly to your reader device.

4. Raising the price on BCS ebook single issues. We’ve always sold our single issues for the lowest price that Kindle Store allows, but on June 1 we will be raising that to $1.49; $2.99 for double issues. Our single-issue ebook sales don’t bring in much revenue, but in order to pay this new higher SFWA rate, we need every bit of help.

We are excited about these new ways readers and donors can support BCS and help us pay authors this new higher pro rate, and at the success these new ways have shown so far.

We hope this explanation of our situation will spark discussion in the F/SF short fiction field: that free fiction is not actually free if writers get the pro pay they deserve, and that the financial viability of indie magazines and of writers receiving pro pay depends on the combined efforts of magazines and the readership. We can’t do it without your help, but we will offer as many ways for you to help us as we can, and with your help we will reach the goal that we believe is best for us and our authors and the field.

Thank you!!

Scott H. Andrews

Editor-in-Chief, Publisher

Effective May 31, 2014, Beneath Ceaseless Skies has raised our pay rate to 6 cents/word.

This higher pay rate will meet the new qualifying pay rate for short fiction set by SFWA, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, which goes into effect July 1, 2014.

From our debut in 2008, BCS has taken great pride in being a ‘pro rate’ market, and a pro-rate market that is accessible to new writers. All writers deserve professional pay for their work. New writers deserve markets that will help them to establish themselves as short fiction authors and as members of the F/SF field.

Over our six years of publishing, we have heard from many of our newer authors that their sale to BCS was their first ‘pro’ SFWA-qualifying sale, allowing them to join SFWA as an associate member, or was their third ‘pro’ sale, allowing them to join as a full member. We are delighted that our dedication to earning and maintaining SFWA pro status has facilitated those opportunities for them and their work.

Our Submission Guidelines have been updated to reflect this new pay rate. We look forward to continuing to support new writers and continuing to showcase great fiction from writers both new and established.

The Short Fiction Snapshot column in Strange Horizons magazine (a fellow 2012 Hugo finalist for Best Semiprozine) this week takes an in-depth look at “Boat in Shadows, Crossing” by Tori Truslow, from BCS #113 and Podcast BCS 100: Boat in Shadows, Crossing.

Reviewer Abigail Nussbaum analyzes and discusses elements such as the genre reader being dumped into unfamiliar settings and societies, the way Truslow uses the different narratorial voices of the various sections of the story to comment on the gender situation and identity of the main character, how the language of the story is a key element in its world-building, and how all of these and the characters’ encounters work to build the theme that she felt in the story.

SH‘s Short Fiction Snapshot column routinely provides such thorough and well thought-out discussion, beyond the brief or casual comments in regular reviews. It’s well worth a read, especially for fans of “Boat in Shadows, Crossing”, and even for fans of literary fantasy in general.

12-02-2008, 08:56 AM

BCS in the top ten in the list of markets most frequently reported on the RA-LOG blog, a blog of writers’ acceptances and rejections. Word is definitely getting out among writers.