Locus (magazine)

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Locus

description newsmagazine
Area of ​​Expertise Science fiction and fantasy
language English
publishing company Locus Publications (United States)
Headquarters Oakland
First edition 1968
founder Charles N. Brown
Frequency of publication per month
editor Liza Groen Trombi
Web link locusmag.com
ISSN (print) 0047-4959

Locus: The Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Field is an English language science fiction and fantasy magazine. It is the established magazine for industry news in these genres in the Anglo-Saxon sector .

history

Locus was first published in 1968 as a one-sheet fanzine with news from the SF scene, edited by Charles N. Brown (always as Charlie Brown in the early years), Ed Meskys and Dave Vanderwerf. After his partners left, Brown's then wife Marsha Brown took over the editing. After his divorce from Marsha, Brown's new wife, Dena Benatan, became co-editor. In 1972 the Brown couple moved from New York to San Francisco . The year before, Locus had been awarded the Hugo for the first time , which was to be followed by many more. From 1976, Brown devoted himself full-time to the magazine and became the sole editor after the divorce from Dena in 1977.

In the 1970s, Locus became increasingly professional , in 1977 a first employee was hired, the scope increased and the magazine was now published monthly. From 1974 onwards, Locus recorded all SF releases in the US. In 1980 the circulation was 5,000 and in 1984 it reached 7,000 copies, from 1998 to 1994 the circulation fluctuated between 8,100 and 8,700. In 1983 it was switched to computer typesetting and the scope was expanded to 48 pages, from 1992 to 74 pages, since then the editions have been between 70 and 80 pages.

Content and organization

Important components of Locus are the news from the industry, which covers the United States as well as Great Britain and other countries, and the detailed book reviews, which make up a significant part of the content.

Locus Online

The Internet version Locus Online started in April 1997. The content of the online version consists of short news and articles in the print version, the latter often in excerpts. There are also lists of interviews and reviews as well as the cumulative annual lists of science fiction published in the USA from 2002 onwards (see below Locus Index to Science Fiction ). In addition to the online version, there is a digital edition with the same content as the print edition in the formats PDF , Kindle-Mobi and EPUB , which can be subscribed to both separately and in combination with the print edition.

Locus Science Fiction Foundation

Locus is published by Locus Publications based in Oakland. Superordinate to this is the Locus Science Fiction Foundation (LSFF), a non-profit company whose main task is the publication of Locus in both the print and the online version. The LSFF also organizes the annual Locus Awards and oversees the Locus Collection , an extensive collection of historical materials and writings on science fiction and fantasy.

Locus Awards

Alongside the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, the Locus Award is one of the most important awards for SF and fantasy literature. The award is based on a reader survey. Originally intended to make recommendations and suggestions for the upcoming awarding of Hugos, participation in the Locus Awards was often higher than at Hugo and Nebula combined, which is why the view is that the Locus Award represents the judgment of the SF fandom more representative than the Hugo Award based on a vote by Worldcon participants.

The Locus Index to Science Fiction

The Locus Index to Science Fiction is a comprehensive cumulative bibliography of appearing in the US SF & Fantasy from 1984. It was created when Charles N. Brown, along with William G. Contento began, first in the monthly Books Received -Kolumne of locus contained Summarize titles annually. With the more complete and more accurate recording of new publications, the annual compilations also became increasingly valuable bibliographical aids, supplemented from 1988 by the lists of research literature compiled by Hal W. Hall. Some editions of the index appeared on CD-ROM, most recently in 2009. The index is now available online, namely the annual collections up to 2007 with some additional lists on locusmag.com, the lists from 2002 onwards can be found under Resources on Locus Online .

The Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards

The Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards has been the authoritative source for awards and award ceremonies in SF & Fantasy since 2000. The entries here were often more up-to-date and more complete than the content on the websites of the lending institutions. The directory has been obsolete since 2012 and has been replaced by the Science Fiction Awards + Database . The old homepage still exists without the database content and only contains a few essays.

editor

  • 1968 (# 1-8): Charles N. Brown, Dave Vanderwerf, Edmund R. Meskys
  • 1968-1969 (# 9-45): Charles N. Brown, Marsha Brown
  • 1970 (# 46-59): Charles N. Brown
  • 1970 to 1977 (# 60–206): Charles N. Brown, Dena Brown (initially as Dena Benatan)
  • 1977-2009 (# 207-583): Charles N. Brown
  • since 2009 (from # 584): Liza Groen Trombi

Awards

Since 1971, Locus and its editors have won the Hugo Award in the relevant categories on an almost regular basis. First nominated in 1970, Locus was Hugo winner in the following years:

  • 1971 as a fanzine (Charles N. Brown)
  • 1972 to 1978 as Amateur Magazine (Charles N. and Dana Brown)
  • 1980 to 1983 as a fanzine (Charles N. Brown)
  • 1984 to 1992 and 1996 to 2002 as semiprozine (Charles N. Brown)
  • 2003 and 2004 as semiprozine (Charles N. Brown, Jennifer A. Hall and Kirsten Gong-Wong)
  • 2006 to 2010 as a semiprozine (Charles N. Brown, Liza Groen Trombi and Kirsten Gong-Wong)
  • 2011 and 2012 as a semiprozine (Liza Groen Trombi and Kirsten Gong-Wong)

Locus received a total of 30 Hugos. After a change in the regulations, it was no longer possible to qualify as a semi-process after 2012.

In addition, Locus was nominated 13 times between 1983 and 1997 in the Science Fiction Chronicle Readers Poll , each with place 2 or 3.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tax-exempt, nonprofit company under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code , cf. LSFF , accessed December 2, 2018.
  2. ^ A b Peter Nicholls , David Langford : Locus. In: John Clute , Peter Nicholls: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . 3rd edition (online edition), version dated May 8, 2013.
  3. ^ John Clute : Brown, Charles N. In: John Clute, Peter Nicholls : The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . 3rd edition (online edition), version dated November 27, 2018.
  4. ^ The Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards , accessed December 2, 2018.