Semiprozine

A semiprozine is a "semi-professional" science fiction/fantasy/horror magazine in the nebulous area between the traditional non-paying amateur fanzine, and the better-paying professional magazines of the field. Defining exactly what a "semi-professional" magazine is, thus, takes considerable verbiage.

For purposes of eligibility for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine, the Constitution of the World Science Fiction Society defines a semiprozine as follows:

"Any generally available non-professional publication devoted to science fiction or fantasy which by the close of the previous calendar year has published four (4) or more issues, at least one (1) of which appeared in the previous calendar year, and which in the previous calendar year met at least two (2) of the following criteria:""(1) had an average press run of at least one thousand (1000) copies per issue,""(2) paid its contributors and/or staff in other than copies of the publication,""(3) provided at least half the income of any one person,""(4) had at least fifteen percent (15%) of its total space occupied by advertising,""(5) announced itself to be a semiprozine."

Within the field of science fiction fandom, the category of "semiprozine" was created to distinguish these publications (particularly "Locus") from traditional fanzines, since the semiprozines were seen as monopolizing the fanzine Hugos, a category originally intended for the traditional fanzine. (At the time of the creation of the fanzine Hugos, there "were" no semiprozines.)

At the Business Meeting of the 2008 WorldCon, it was voted to abolish the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine, which has been dominated by "Locus" since its creation. The new language (which must be ratified at the Business Meeting of the 2009 WorldCon to take effect) would leave perennial runners-up such as "Ansible", "New York Review of Science Fiction" and others eligible once more for the fanzine Hugo, if they make small changes in their current practices.