Jim Baen's Universe

Infobox Website
name = Jim Baen's Universe



caption = The greatest online SF&F magazine in the world
url = http://www.baens-universe.com/
commercial = Yes
type = Periodical
language = English
registration =
owner = Baen Books
author = Eric Flint, Jim Baen, and Mike Resnick
launch date = June 2006
current status = Active
revenue =

"Jim Baen's Universe" (JBU) is a bimonthly online fantasy and science fiction magazine created by Jim Baen (founder and long-time publisher of Baen Books). Because it pays near top professional rates, it is one of the few webzines recognized by the SFWA as a Qualifying Short Fiction Venue [ [http://www.sfwa.org/org/qualify.htm#Q5 List of SFWA Qualifying Short Fiction Venues] ] . Which means that publication in it can be used to claim status as a professional science fiction writer to earn SFWA membership [ [http://www.sfwa.org/org/qualify.htm#Q1 SFWA Membership Requirements] ] . The magazine typically contains 120,000 to 150,000 words per issue, which is equivalent to the length of a "very long novel."

Jim Baen died shortly after the launch of the first issue. Eric Flint wrote of this in the foreword [Flint, GG03, "Preface", July 2006, copyright January 2007, hardcover, Baen Books.] to Grantville Gazette III that Jim Baen, by all accounts a visionary, was able to see the first issue of "JBU", but had a stroke on June 11th, 2006 and did not see its full success.

The first and current editor-in-chief is Eric Flint, a prolific author and anthologist who was called "Baen's Bulldog" (by Jim Baen) for leading the Baen's PR charge in Baen's controversial Anti-DRM stance since 1999.

Executive editor is Mike Resnick, an award-winning SF author, editor and anthologist with four decades experience in publishing.

It has featured stories from a number of notable authors, including Alan Dean Foster, Gregory Benford, Esther Friesner, and Cory Doctorow [ [http://www.baens-universe.com/authors Comprehensive Jim Baen Universe Authors Index] ] . Regular columnists include Eric Flint, Mike Resnick, Barry Malzberg, and Stephen Euin Cobb.

Because part of the magazine's stated philosophy is to nurture new authors, slots are reserved in each issue for new writers. Amateur writers are encouraged to submit their work via an online forum, referred to as "e-slush." Stories submitted to e-slush are criticized by peers and associate editors. The theory is that this process may turn stories that were not quite publishable into publishable ones.

JBU began soliciting materials in January 2006 and launched in June 2006.

Awards and recognition

* Cory Doctorow's "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth" won the Locus Award for best novelette of 2006 [ [http://www.locusmag.com/2007/06_LocusWinners.html 2007 Locus Award Winners] ] . It was later reprinted in Doctorow's .
* "Locus" also cites four novelettes from Baen's Universe in its 2006 Recommended Reading List [ [http://www.locusmag.com/2007/2006RecommendedReading.html Locus magazine 2006 Recommended Reading List] ] .
* Mike Resnick's "All the Things You Are" was nominated for (but did not win) the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Novelette [ [http://www.thehugoawards.org/index.php?page_id=127 2007 Hugo Award Nominees] ]
* Hugo Award winning editor Gardner Dozois has selected three stories from "Universe" to include in his of the year's best science fiction. He also indicated in his forward that "Jim Baen's Universe" (www.baensuniverse.com) made a very strong debut this year (sadly, and ironically, the same year that its founder died), publishing some of the year's best science fiction..."cite book
last = Dozois
first = Gardner
authorlink = Gardner Dozois
title = he Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fourth Annual Collection
publisher = St. Martin's Griffin
date = 2007
isbn = 978-0312363352 ]

Reviews

Magazine reviewer Debbie Moorhouse, in the magazine "Greatest Uncommon Denominator," says: quote|JBU is a massive read. Even at an accelerated pace, with a deadline looming, it took me days to read it all. This is what I want from a magazine: a variety of stories to get my teeth into and some non-fiction to leaven the mixture. The only drawback was that I couldn't take it with me to my usual reading place--it just isn't possible to snuggle up in bed with a computer.Cite web|author=Moorhouse, Debbie|publisher="Greatest Uncommon Denominator"|accessdate=2007-12-08|title=Review: Jim Baen's Universe Volume One Number Three|date=Tuesday, June 26, 2007|review: Debbie Moorhouse|xquote=as in quote above|url=http://www.gudmagazine.com/review/archive/2007/6/26/ jim-baens-universe-volume-one-number-three/]

* Volume One, Number Two was reviewed in Tangent Short Fiction Review [ [http://www.tangentonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=883&Itemid=266 Tangent Short Fiction Review of Vol 1 Num 2] ]
* Volume One, Number Three was reviewed in Greatest Uncommon Denominator magazine [ [http://www.gudmagazine.com/review/archive/2007/6/26/jim-baens-universe-volume-one-number-three/ Greatest Uncommon Denominator Magazine review of Vol 1 Num 3] ]
* Volume One, Number Four was reviewed in Locus Magazine [ [http://www.locusmag.com/2006/Issues/12Toc.html Locus Magazine Issue 551 Table of Contents] ]
* Volume Two, Number One was reviewed in Tangent Short Fiction Review [ [http://www.tangentonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1105&Itemid=266 Tangent Short Fiction Review of Vol 2 Num 1] ]

Electronic distribution

"Universe" originated as an experiment in e-publishing. The magazine is electronic only, and is not available in print (although a hardcover "Best of" collection has been published [cite book
last = Flint
first = Eric
authorlink = Eric Flint
title = The Best of Jim Baen's Universe
publisher = Simon & Schuster
date = 2007
isbn = 978-1-4165-2136-5 ] ). It is distributed without digital rights management. [ [http://www.boingboing.net/2006/06/07/baens-universe-new-s.html Boing Boing: Baen's Universe - new sf e-zine with no DRM and top writers] ] The first half of each story can be read for free, but only subscribers can read the second half. Individual issues can be purchased via the e-publisher Webscriptions, which was also a web entity that Jim Baen was instrumental in—so much so, Baens Webscription services and Webscriptions (owned by Webwrights of Tennessee) are confused by many.

References

* [http://baens-universe.com/authors/Eric_Flint The Editor's Page @JBU] and the "Salvo's Against Big Brother Columns (Baen's/Flints column dedicated to fighting DRM)
* [http://Ericflint.net News and announcements] from the Editor-in chief's home page. Q&A pages and information hold much about genesis of this e-zine.

External links

* [http://www.baens-universe.com/ Jim Baen's Universe]
* [http://baens-universe.com/colmuns] - many JBU columns are available to non-subscribers, those that aren't can be read in part (about half)