WHAT IS THE

GRANTVILLE GAZETTE?

A Message from Eric Flint, Author/Creator of the Ring of Fire Series

The Grantville Gazette is a bi-monthly electronic magazine that is primarily devoted to the Ring of Fire series but also includes at least one general interest science fiction and fantasy story in every issue. The magazine was launched on a professional basis in May of 2007. (Prior to that time, it was published on a semi-pro, occasional basis.) As of May of 2020, it will have enjoyed thirteen years of unbroken publication and be coming out with its 89th issue.

The magazine began as a vehicle for organizing and professionalizing the very large amount of fan fiction that was being generated in the Ring of Fire universe. That fictional setting was launched in February of 2000 with my novel 1632, and has continued to expand since. As of today—the end of March, 2020—Baen Books has published 23 novels in the series along with 12 anthologies of short fiction and many other volumes have been published by Ring of Fire Press.

Most of my co-authors of these novels as well as the authors who fill the pages of the various anthologies began as fans of the series and learned to write through the vehicle of the Grantville Gazette. The magazine long ago shed its identity as a semi-pro fanfic outlet. Since May, 2007, the Grantville Gazette has been recognized by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) as a professional magazine. Being published in its (virtual) pages is a qualification for SFWA membership.

Beginning with the July, 2010 issue, the Grantville Gazette added a new section titled “the Annex,” which we use to publish stories that are not part of the Ring of Fire series. I was the editor of Jim Baen’s Universe magazine, which ceased publication in April of that year, and most of the staff of JBU were people who got their start in F&SF publishing through the Ring of Fire series. We all wanted to continue the tradition of JBU and created the Universe Annex for that purpose.

We don’t sell traditional subscriptions, where you’d get six issues spread out over a year. Instead we offer three levels of membership, for an annual fee of $50, $100 or $200. You can pay that either all at once or spread out in small monthly payments.

The $50 subscriber level gives you access to all issues of the magazine going back to the very first issue. That’s (as of now) 89 issues, which comes to well over five millions words’ worth of stories and articles. All of these issues can be downloaded in a variety of formats, and all of them are completely free of annoying DRM (Digital Right Management).

For the $100 and $200 level memberships you will get autographed hardcover copies of whatever volumes in the Ring of Fire series you desire. (Provided we have them in stock, which we do for all volumes except the very early ones: 1632, 1633, 1634: The Baltic War and the first Ring of Fire anthology.) For $100, you will be entitled to two volumes per year, which are worth an average value of $50. For $200, you will be entitled to six volumes per year, which are worth an average value of $150. Plus, of course, the same access to all issues of the magazine. These books will be shipped to you at no additional cost.

So join the (large and ever-growing) Ring of Fire club!

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