Written by Stephen Thompson | 29 November 2010

It has always been the The Specusphere's aim to become a player in the hard copy publishing market. Our original idea was to be a paper magazine sold in newsagents and bookshops, however we hit upon a few setbacks, not least being the sad death of one of the founders. We eventually settled for an online presence, moving from describing ourselves variously as a website, a webzine, a magazine, and even, privately, wondering whether blogzine was a better way to describe the content on these pages.

The hard copy idea, though, never quite died, and still haunts the business plan on particularly bright blue moons.

Another part of the long-term business plan for The Specusphere was for it to become a regular publisher of speculative fiction – in hard copy. One of the main reasons why fiction does not have a high profile on our web pages is because we always had it in mind to make it a special project, undiluted by the encumbrances of online reading.

As I've said in another editorial, the fiction on the website is really an exercise in identifying 'types' of fiction that make up the genre. Now, the editors at The Specusphere are keen to explore ways to help produce a high quality anthology by working closely with authors of promising manuscripts. See the submission guidelines for details of the anthology.

The anthology has a working title of Myths and Legends, which is appropriate as the earliest known speculative fiction story is Gilgamesh, who was perhaps the first hero to journey afield and is one whom some scholars believe to be the template for such legends as Jason, of Argonaut fame, and perhaps even every great warrior in the history of literature.

Our inaugural anthology, though, is only the beginning.

We have a schedule in place that, all being well, will see The Specusphere regularly publishing speculative fiction material – anthologies, novellas, novels and nonfiction – over the next five years.

The Specusphere has always tried to explore the boundaries of the genre and to promote the industry, its people and its works to the wider community. Our publishing program will reflect that and we'll be sometimes in the middle of the genre and sometimes on the cusp. We'll be inviting submissions from those within the speculative fiction community and from those who are more tentative about acknowledging the genre.

At first we will look only to Australian writers for our content, but that will probably change over time. Although our initial focus will be on anthologies, as we find our feet there will be a call for submissions for novels, novellas and non-fiction manuscripts relevant to the genre. We will also consider a book of poetry and short prose.

We have added a new section to the website that deals with our publications. You can find that on the menu bar at the side. We will develop this section to bring you updates on publications and such things as payment policy, submission guidelines and a style guide.

Eventually, there will be a provision for people to buy books and ebooks online, to order copies in advance, or to simply donate funds to help us balance the books.

As with everything we do at The Specusphere, we are always open to suggestions and advice, as well as to offers of help with proofreading.

We hope you come along with us on our journey.