Brave Enough to Burn

Originally posted by valarltd at Reproductive Rights

Originally posted by deathpixie at Signal Boost: Return of the DDoS

Occasionally, I will stumble across someone or something, or someone doing something, that I really feel the need to share with others. I’m not talking about silly videos or links here; I’m talking about things or people or causes that I feel strongly about, that create, in their own way, a bit of magic in the world. I usually make a post or two encouraging you guys to check someone out, listen to their music or read their article. This time, I’d like to ask for something a bit more involved- a little help.

I want to talk to you about Crossed Genres Magazine

Crossed Genres is the second child of metafrantic and sandykidd. Just over a year ago, Meta and Sandy (Bart and Kay, respectively) embarked on the rather ambitious journey to create a quality publication of original science fiction/fantasy fiction and art one which not only would serve as a venue for new authors, but as a challenge of sorts for writers in that rather varied genre. Crossed Genres is available via print, through PDF downloads, through Amazon’s Kindle reader, and for free on their website. That’s right, they make the entire issue available for free to web readers. All they ask is that if you like a story, create an account and tell the author. You can even view the art from each issue online, and I have to say that they get some amazing artists submissions.

The twist Crossed Genres adds is that each month, they accept submissions for a certain genre of SciFi/Fantasy fiction and artwork. For example, the theme might be horror, western, or children’s fiction. All submissions must incorporate Scifi/Fantasy elements into the monthly theme. The idea is to remind writers that there’s more than one way to write in their chosen meta-genre of choice, and to challenge them to try writing outside their normal box. All submissions must meet Bart and Kay’s guidelines for submission and chosen submissions are run through the editorial wringer. And boy, are they good editors!

Their November Issue marked the magazine’s one year anniversary and featured a double-sized issue. November’s theme was LGBTQ- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Queer- and features some of the best fiction they’ve published to date, in my opinion. My favorite was The Tale of the Innocent Little Mermaid Statue That Corrupted Many a Youth and Turned Many a Young Lady Into a Lesbian by Megan Rose Gedris, largely because it riffed the classic fairytale in a wonderful and unpretentious manner, and also because it reminds me of the type of tale s00j might sing. November also marked the announcement of their first anthology, wherein they collect one story from each of the first twelve issues. They hit some amazing milestones this month, hitting more page views than ever before.

But they might not be able to continue.

Bart and Kay, they never went into this to make money. This magazine, it’s as much a labor of love as any thing else, and when I called it their second child I was not exaggerating. Anyone who has ever built something up with their own hands and sweat and effort knows what it’s like to push your precious darling out into the sun and hope it survives. They love writing. They love art. They love the crazy, wonderful, mixed-up mess that Science Fiction and Fantasy can be. They want to keep Crossed Genres going as long as they possibly can, but bankrolling it is putting a strain on them financially, something they’ve been loathe to speak about but finally had to admit. Shortly before Thanksgiving, they were more than a grand in the really bad red; not just “we need this to break even” it’s “we need this to be able to continue.” Even though response to the magazine is growing by leaps and bounds, sales aren’t.

They need those sales. They need them badly.

I’m not asking everyone to go out and buy the magazine. I’m not asking for you go donate. I’m just asking that you go to the site, read a few stories. Check out the archive if the current genre isn’t to your liking, but stay and look around. If you like what you see, pass the site on to your friends. Twitter, LJ, Facebook, MySpace, whatever- just get the word out. If you want to buy, then by all means, buy.

Bart and Kay are two of my dearest friends, and I want them to succeed. I want to help them however I can, and while I can’t help them financially, I can damn sure signal boost to the moon.