|
2021 Site Renovation Info Pages
B. Jump From Index Page
About Far Sector SFFH. We originally launched as Outside: Speculative & Dark Fiction on 15 April 1998, and (after death threats from a backpacking magazine) renamed ourselves Deep Outside SFFH in the fall of that year. With the end of Ellen Datlow's Event Horizon website, we became (and remained until our closing in January 2007) the world's oldest professional, web-only magazine of speculative and dark fiction (or sf/f/h). We were never recognized by SFWA—yet we paid professional rates, obeyed all of their rules, and published a considerable number of Hugo/Nebula/Sturgeon (all world top awards) winners and/or nominees during our nearly decade long run. We were also known for the kindest 'pass' slips in the industry, and for publishing a large number of unknown authors&including a few, like Ted Kosmatka, whose distinguished careers we helped launch. We are, in a nutshell, a solid part of Internet publishing industry that will forever remain historical milestones (for a number of reasons). For more information on our history, see the Clocktower Books Museum.
Using new possibilities online, we developed a successful pay model that allowed us to stay in business as long as our retailer did (which was closed by B&N in 2012, or we'd still be in business). We never charged authors a penny for anything, but we provided professional covers, text layout, and uploads free. We paid the author a small advance on royalties, and no longer paid the SFWA professional rate (anyway pointless since they refused to acknowledge our existence, for reasons they can explain to history themselves).
About Our Team. The original magazine was launched on 15 April 1998 by John T. Cullen and Brian Callahan, who were also publishers together of Clocktower Books, which had been launched in 1996 (April-Neon Blue Fiction (suspense); July-The Haunted Village (sf/df/h); Fall-Clocktower Fiction (umbrella for the previous two; early name of Clocktower Books). Traces of Clocktower Books' early pubs can be found scattered on line still today, including a few at the Wayback Machine. Brian left to launch, with his wife Gwen, their highly successful New Orleans and later Portland, OR based graphics firm Sighco.com. John T. Cullen has been, since 2001, sole proprietor of Clocktower Books and its imprints.
Artist, author, and musician A. L. Sirois was on board from the beginning until the very end in 2007. Author and critic John K. Muir wrote a brilliant and insightful column for years. Author, comedian, and musician/singer Dennis Latham contributed for many years, especially as a columnist and reader. Author and SF historian/critic Shaun Farrell made a vital contribution, interviewing many of the historically great authors and newcomers of the SF/F/H categories for Far Sector SFFH. Gwen and Brian Callahan were leaders in selecting many of the short stories for Deep Outside SFFH. Many good friends across the Internet offered advice, help, and support over the years. All of it is deeply appreciated, and lives on beyond the moment of its doing or creation.
TOP
|
