Fusion Fragment Newsletter: Q1 2025
Hello old FFriends. It’s been too long. Since I last wrote in November, there’s been a lot going on. Let’s catch you up.
Issue #24 was just released this week! Our first issue of 2025 also debuts our brand new PDF, EPUB, and print formats, designed for easier reading on your various e-reader devices, and a print edition that’s not insanely expensive! Plus, as usual, we’ve got a ton of great stories lined up for you.
Issue #23 was released at the end of November to great success (it already ranks 4th on our all-time best-selling issues list). Emry Jordal’s “The Little Black Wand for Every Occasion” was a recommended read in Locus and Catherine Forrest’s “Stone Test” got a great writeup as well (read the reviews here).
It wasn’t our only release, though, because we launched a whole new magazine! If you haven’t heard, Saros Speculative Fiction is our new sister magazine, launched with the aim of helping develop future SFF magazine editors. Each issue will be helmed by a different editor, who's responsible for coming up with the submissions call, reading slush and making acquisitions, copy-editing, communicating with authors, selecting cover art, and giving input on design and layout. Editors are currently being drawn from FF’s talented reading team, but at some point in the future we'll expand that scope and start drawing editors from the larger community.
Megan J. Kerr took the reins for the inaugural issue which released on January 17th. The response was phenomenal, with over 400 submissions that she had to whittle down to only four choices. “Rent-A-Joe” by A.D. Sui has since appeared in Reactor’s Must Read Short Speculative Fiction from January 2025 column (check it out here).
Reading Period News: FF remains open to original fiction. At the time of writing, first-round responses are going out in 5-7 days. We’ll re-open to reprints sometime in the next couple months. Full guidelines here.
Saros #3 is wrapping up its extended reading period at the end of this month, but if you’ve got any cyberpunk-ish drabbles for a last-minute submission, check out the guidelines here.
Awards Season Reading: Award season in SFFH-land is in full-swing. If you’re voting/nominating, you can find FF’s 2024 eligible works here, and you can find my curated list of 2024 works by FFers that were recommended by various reviewers and organizations here.
2024 Submitter’s Survey: I’m currently working up a waaaay over-detailed analysis of last year’s submitter’s surveys. We got 224 responses and it’s lead to all sorts of interesting insights. For example, here’s a sneak preview of subgenre analysis, looking at Cyberpunk stories, which was our 9th-most frequently submitted subgenre amongst survey responses.
Lots more work to go, but I hope to be able to share results within a month or two.
Social Media Update: I’m in the process of deleting X/Twitter posts (though I won’t delete the account entirely, so I can keep the username). If you’re looking for the most frequent spot for FF updates, follow FF on Bluesky: @fusionfragment.bsky.social
Obligatory Photo of Associate Editor Henry
