Quote:
Originally Posted by sabredog
Seems a lot of SF has moved to more independent, ebook self published authors these days. Ranges from truly bad to excellent.
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Historically, SF has always kept a foot outside the world of corporate publishing; it is well-nigh the last refuge of the (print media) short story, for one.
Magazines have endured for decades after the rest of the pulps vanished and even fanzines have endured.
And, traditionally, the best SF has come from the smaller houses.
The biggest surprise (for me) of the last decade was the failure of BAEN's UNIVERSE. Alas, they were two years ahead of the times.
I wish they would try again.
As to SF readership always being relatively small (and cheap; let's own up to that one, too.
) consider the initial hardcover print runs for classics like the Lensmen and Foundation series. They topped out at the (very) low 4 figures.
SF simply isn't as accessible as the other genres.
It's the nature of the beast.
And the reason why retread and watered-down SF tropes get grafted onto other genres or exploited in the video and gaming worlds is that that is how the ideas born in SF filter into the broader society.
SF is fine, folks.
Situation nominal; all systems are (still) go.