Free/Bargain Science Fiction & Fantasy in February 2014

[Rev. Bob]

So it turns out that Lightspeed Magazine is in the last two days of a successful Kickstarter with the goal of publishing a double-sized SF issue created entirely by women. They've knocked down two additional stretch goals, which add two more double-sized women-only issues to the list: one fantasy and one horror. Five bucks for all three is a bargain, but that's not what made me pledge (or post).

The real bargain, IMO, is the $40 pledge. It was originally a one-year subscription to Lightspeed plus the first special issue, and now it's all three special issues, the one-year subscription, plus the first four years of Lightspeed.

Let's see - add 35 bucks and get sixty more monthly issues, over 40 of which are available right now? I'm in.

The project closes Saturday night at midnight Eastern time. All the content is advertised as available in EPUB, mobi, and PDF formats, and some pledges even include dead trees.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

The real bargain, IMO, is the $40 pledge. It was originally a one-year subscription to Lightspeed plus the first special issue, and now it's all three special issues, the one-year subscription, plus the first four years of Lightspeed.

That is extremely tempting. And I suppose I can spread the cost over the lifetime of the subscription in my accounting (which is what I do for other subscriptions like Grantville Gazette).

[Update]In the end I went for the $145 pledge. That's the $5 for the special issues and $140 for the first 48 issues of Lightspeed plus the next 60 issues, or just $15.56 per year, or $1.30 per issue, a saving of 56% over the normal subscription price. But I think I'll account for it as getting the first 48 issues for free, $1.33 per special issue and $2.33 per issue of my five year subscription.

Well, that's my Fictionwise refund spent!

[Further update] I find I do already have ten of the back issues in my library. So my $140 is getting me 98 issues in total, which would be about $1.43 per issue. But if I account for it that way, I have to note down $54.29 spent as soon as I get access to the back issues. This will severely impact my book budget for the year, but is probably the most honest accounting of the spend. Decision, decisions!

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

[Update]In the end I went for the $145 pledge. That's the $5 for the special issues and $140 for the first 48 issues of Lightspeed plus the next 60 issues,

The way I figure it, if I like the first batch, I can renew; I'm not committing to a big chunk sight unseen. Plus, there's some talk of other Kickstarters down the line.

Besides, $35* for 48 back issues and 12 more to come is a little less than sixty cents a pop. I like that breakdown better.

* That's breaking out the special issues as their own $5 cost, as you did, for a $40 total.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

The way I figure it, if I like the first batch, I can renew; I'm not committing to a big chunk sight unseen. Plus, there's some talk of other Kickstarters down the line.

Besides, $35* for 48 back issues and 12 more to come is a little less than sixty cents a pop. I like that breakdown better.

* That's breaking out the special issues as their own $5 cost, as you did, for a $40 total.

Yes, one can work it various ways. Perhaps the most realistic is saying it's $100 for 48 issues. Perhaps it was an extravagance. That I got about $140 back from Fictionwise probably tipped the balance.

[rguion]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

The way I figure it, if I like the first batch, I can renew; I'm not committing to a big chunk sight unseen. Plus, there's some talk of other Kickstarters down the line.

Besides, $35* for 48 back issues and 12 more to come is a little less than sixty cents a pop. I like that breakdown better.

* That's breaking out the special issues as their own $5 cost, as you did, for a $40 total.

Thanks Bob - I have often looked at Lightspeed and never subscribed before so this seemed like a great opportunity to read it! Any idea when we will get the back issues? After the kickstarter is done?

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by rguion

Thanks Bob - I have often looked at Lightspeed and never subscribed before so this seemed like a great opportunity to read it! Any idea when we will get the back issues? After the kickstarter is done?

Well, certainly not before!

Seriously, I figure it'll take 'em at least a couple of weeks to get a handle on all the data and even think about fulfillment, so I wouldn't expect anything before March. That's just a very rough guess from the outside, though.

One bit of clarification: it turns out that one can also select the $29 pledge (1-year sub to Nightmare, the horror zine) and get Lightspeed 1-48 with that. The update was a little fuzzy about that, but I got confirmation earlier today.

[Brendan Moody]

I ended up pledging at the $70 level, which if I'm doing the math right will yield 108 issues across the three magazines. Some of those I already own (a couple of the Lightspeeds and a full year's worth of Nightmare overlap my existing subscriptions), but still, a great deal.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

Well, certainly not before!

Seriously, I figure it'll take 'em at least a couple of weeks to get a handle on all the data and even think about fulfillment, so I wouldn't expect anything before March. That's just a very rough guess from the outside, though.

One bit of clarification: it turns out that one can also select the $29 pledge (1-year sub to Nightmare, the horror zine) and get Lightspeed 1-48 with that. The update was a little fuzzy about that, but I got confirmation earlier today.

This interests me, but I see nowhere in the description that one gets the first 48 issues of Lightspeed.

Am I misunderstanding something on this?

Thanks.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

This interests me, but I see nowhere in the description that one gets the first 48 issues of Lightspeed.

Am I misunderstanding something on this?

It's their first 'stretch' goal, reached at $20,000 in backing, and detailed in Update #14:

• Everyone who backs at any of the ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION, TWO-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION, or THREE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION reward tiers will get get LIGHTSPEED issues 1-48 (June 2010 - May 2014) plus the WOMEN DESTROY SCIENCE FICTION (June 2014) issue, and then your subscription would start with the July 2014 issue. This now adds like $80+ of value to your reward!
• Everyone who backs at the FOUR-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION tier will get everything mentioned above in the $20,000 stretch goal, plus an additional 12 months will be added to the subscription (so the four-year subscription would become a five-year subscription). That's like $100+ value!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Yes, one can work it various ways. Perhaps the most realistic is saying it's $100 for 48 issues. Perhaps it was an extravagance. That I got about $140 back from Fictionwise probably tipped the balance.

I've just gone back to check this again. The standard subscription price is $36/year. The difference between the $40 and the $145 level is $105 and four years subscription - i.e. $26.25 per year. That's only a 27% discount on the standard subscription price, and it's in dollar today, not two/three/four years down the line.

You were right, I think. The $40 level is the sweet point (unless you also want Fantasy back issues).

Luckily, I find you can change your pledge amount at any point up until the kickstarter closes!

I'm now on the $40 level, and a lot happier.

$5 for the three special issues - $1.67 each
$35 for 60 issues (48 back issues and 12 subscription issues) at $0.58 per issue.

Even accounting for already owning ten of the back issues, that makes it $0.70 per issue. A definite bargain.

Your comments helped me make a much better decision — thanks.

[Manabi]

I ended up going for the $40 level too, 60 issues + 3 special issues at that price is just too good to pass up.

[Dr. Drib]

So for a $29 pledge I can, indeed, get those first 48 issues of Lightspeed, in addition to a one-year subscription to Nightmare?

--- Thanks, Paul, for the info...I just want to make certain I understand this fully.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

So for a $29 pledge I can, indeed, get those first 48 issues of Lightspeed, in addition to a one-year subscription to Nightmare?

Correct. That specific combo isn't spelled out in the update, but I asked them about it and they confirmed that yes, that's how that pledge level works now:

In update 14, you note that the "subscription" pledge levels would include LIGHTSPEED 1-48, then the three Kickstarted issues, and the LIGHTSPEED subscription would start with issue 50.

What I was asking is if that deal also applies to someone who, say, pledged at the $29 level for a year of NIGHTMARE - would they also get LIGHTSPEED 1-48 in addition to their year's subscription to NIGHTMARE?

Oh! That's an excellent question. Given the way it's worded, I suppose the answer must be yes. We hadn't actually thought about it, but that makes sense, and we're fine with it.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

So for a $29 pledge I can, indeed, get those first 48 issues of Lightspeed, in addition to a one-year subscription to Nightmare?

--- Thanks, Paul, for the info...I just want to make certain I understand this fully.

Yes, that's one of the deals available. Since I don't like horror, not an option that appeals to me.

I did look to see if there were any deals that got the back-issues of Fantasy Magazine as well, but nothing that made any sense when the entire collection of back-issues can be obtained for $114.90 directly from the website.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I did look to see if there were any deals that got the back-issues of Fantasy Magazine as well, but nothing that made any sense when the entire collection of back-issues can be obtained for $114.90 directly from the website.

Given that you already own ten of the Lightspeed back issues, perhaps they'd let you get ten Fantasy issues. Can't guarantee anything, but they seem reasonable about such things and it's worth asking.