Asimov's Science Fiction

Cover for the Mid-December 1994 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction
Categories	Science fiction
First issue	Spring 1977
Website	www.asimovs.com
ISSN	1065-2698

Asimov's Science Fiction is an American science fiction magazine edited by Sheila Williams and published by Dell Magazines, which is owned by Penny Press. It was launched as a quarterly by Davis Publications in 1977, after obtaining Isaac Asimov's consent for the use of his name. It was originally titled Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, and was quickly successful, reaching a circulation of over 100,000 within a year, and switching to monthly publication within a couple of years. George H. Scithers, the first editor, published many new writers who went on to be successful in the genre. Scithers favored traditional stories without sex or obscenity; along with frequent humorous stories, this gave Asimov's a reputation for printing juvenile fiction, despite its success. Asimov was not part of the editorial team, but wrote editorials for the magazine.

Scithers was fired in 1982, and his replacement, Kathleen Moloney, only lasted a year. Shawna McCarthy took over as editor in 1983, and quickly relaxed the strictures on the kind of fiction Asimov's was willing to publish. "Her Furry Face", by Leigh Kennedy, with a plot that involved sex with an intelligent orangutan, scandalized some readers, as did other stories involving sex or violence. Asimov defended McCarthy's choices in an editorial, and "Her Furry Face" was nominated for a Nebula Award. McCarthy transformed the magazine into a leading market for science fiction writers, and more award-winning stories appeared, including fiction by Frederik Pohl, Robert Silverberg, Lucius Shepard, and John Varley.

Gardner Dozois took over as editor in 1985 and stayed for nearly twenty years. Asimov's continued to be a prestigious market and several award-winning stories appeared during Dozois's tenure, including Lucius Shepard's "R&R"; Orson Scott Card's "Hatrack River"; Pat Murphy's "Rachel in Love"; Suzy McKee Charnas's "Boobs"; and Terry Bisson's "Bears Discover Fire". Mike Ashley, a historian of science fiction magazines, describes Dozois's time at Asimov's as "one of the greatest of all editorial careers".^[1] Dozois was succeeded by Sheila Williams in 2004.

Davis sold the magazine to Dell Magazines in 1992, and Dell was acquired by Penny Press in 1996. Asimov's switched to bimonthly publication in 2017. Circulation declined steadily over the life of the magazine and as of 2020 it was below 20,000, more than half of that coming from online subscriptions.

Publication history

In February 1976, Isaac Asimov visited the offices of Davis Publications in New York to drop off a story he was submitting to Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.^[2][3] Joel Davis, the publisher, had recently acquired Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and was interested in adding new fiction magazines to his list. One of his employees had gone to a Star Trek convention with their children, and had told Davis how much the children had enjoyed it. This prompted Davis to talk to Asimov about a new science fiction magazine,^{[2][4][note 1]} and Davis asked Asimov if he could use his name as part of the magazine's title. Asimov was concerned about the potential impact on two of the major science fiction magazines of the day, Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (F&SF), both of which were edited by friends of his, Ben Bova and Ed Ferman. Davis argued that a new magazine would be good for the field, and Bova and Ferman both told Asimov that they agreed with Davis. Asimov agreed to go ahead with the plan on condition that he did not act as editor.^[2][4] Asimov wrote a regular science column for F&SF, which he continued, but Davis asked him not to submit fiction to competing magazines.^{[4][note 2]}

Issue data for 1977 to 1980[6]
	Spring			Summer			Fall			Winter
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1977	1/1			1/2			1/3			1/4
1978	2/1		2/2		2/3		2/4		2/5		2/6
1979	3/1	3/2	3/3	3/4	3/5	3/6	3/7	3/8	3/9	3/10	3/11	3/12
1980	4/1	4/2	4/3	4/4	4/5	4/6	4/7	4/8	4/9	4/10	4/11	4/12
Issues of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, showing volume/issue number. Underlining indicates that an issue was titled as a quarterly (e.g. "Spring 1977") rather than as a monthly. George Scithers was editor throughout.

George Scithers was soon hired to fill the editorial role, with Gardner Dozois as associate editor;^[2] Dozois only stayed a year, as he and Scithers did not agree on what kind of stories should be accepted.^[7] Davis initially committed to three quarterly issues,^[7] the first of which was dated Spring 1977, and appeared on December 16, 1976.^[2] The magazine was immediately successful, circulation reaching 108,843 for the first year, a little higher than Analog's. Circulation was helped by the distribution network that Davis Publications already had access to for its existing magazines, with robust newsstand distribution. Paperback anthologies of stories from the magazine were assembled, starting at the end of 1977; these were profitable and also attracted new readers. The magazine's success persuaded Davis to move to a bimonthly schedule for 1978, and to monthly starting with the January 1979 issue.^[7] Davis decided to launch a second magazine, Asimov's SF Adventure Magazine, targeted to a younger audience. The first issue was dated Fall 1978. Four quarterly issues appeared, but sales were weak, and a planned fifth issue never appeared.^[8]

Issue data for 1981 and 1982[6]
	Issue dates	Volume numbering	Number of issues
1981	Four-weekly intervals from January 19 through December 21	5/1 to 5/13	13
1982	Four-weekly intervals from January 18 through April 14, then May to December, with an additional Mid-December issue.	6/1 to 6/13	13
Issue data for 1981 and 1982. George Scithers was editor until the February 15, 1982 issue; Kathleen Moloney was editor for the rest of 1982.

Davis moved all four of his fiction magazines to a four-weekly schedule in 1981, meaning there were thirteen issues per year.^[9][10] The change took effect at Asimov's with the January issue, which was dated January 19, 1981. This led to newsstand vendors removing the magazine more quickly, since the date implied that it was a weekly magazine. The cover date was changed back to the current month starting with the April 1982 issue, but the new schedule remained in place, with "Mid-December" issues for more than a decade thereafter.^[11]

Davis launched two more magazines in 1981: Crime Digest and Science Fiction Digest; these carried book excerpts and publishing news. Scithers had been announced as the editor of Science Fiction Digest, but when it was launched Shawna McCarthy was given the editorial role. This may have been because Scithers was based in Philadelphia, with a local team of first readers to help read the incoming manuscripts, and Davis wanted an editor who was in the New York office five days a week. According to Asimov, Scithers and Davis never got along very well. Scithers's refusal to move to New York made matters worse, and there were other sources of tension: Davis appointed Carol Gross as executive director in charge of marketing and production, and Gross instigated a redesign of the magazine and took control of the art department away from Scithers. In December 1981, Scithers was fired.^[9]

Scithers's replacement was Kathleen Moloney, who was hired away from Bantam where she had been a book editor. At first Moloney edited the stories heavily without consulting the authors until the galley proofs were printed, against McCarthy's advice. After pushback from the authors, Moloney turned over manuscript editing to McCarthy. Moloney was hired away by Times Books later that year, and replaced by McCarthy, who was told that Asimov had insisted that she become the next editor if the magazine wanted to keep his name. Her first issue was dated January 1983.^[12] She was succeeded in May 1985 by Gardner Dozois, though he was not credited on the masthead until January 1986.^[1]

Issue data for 1983 to 2023[6][13]
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Mid-Dec
1983	7/1	7/2	7/3	7/4	7/5	7/6	7/7	7/8	7/9	7/10	7/11	7/12	7/13
1984	7/1	7/2	8/3	8/4	8/5	8/6	8/7	8/8	8/9	8/10	8/11	8/12	8/13
1985	9/1	9/2	9/3	9/4	9/5	9/6	9/7	9/8	9/9	9/10	9/11	9/12	9/13
1986	10/1	10/2	10/3	10/4	10/5	10/6	10/7	10/8	10/9	10/10	10/11	10/12	10/13
1987	11/1	11/2	11/3	11/4	11/5	11/6	11/7	11/8	11/9	11/10	11/11	11/12	11/13
1988	12/1	12/2	12/3	12/4	12/5	12/6	12/7	12/8	12/9	12/10	12/11	12/12	12/13
1989	13/1	13/2	13/3	13/4	13/5	13/6	13/7	13/8	13/9	13/10	13/11	13/12	13/13
1990	14/1	14/2	14/3	14/4	14/5	14/6	14/7	14/8	14/9	14/10	14/11 & 12	14/13	14/14
1991	15/1	15/2	15/3	15/4 & 5	15/6	15/7	15/8	15/9	15/10	15/11	15/12 & 13	15/14	15/15
1992	16/1	16/2	16/3	16/4 & 5	16/6	16/7	16/8	16/9	16/10	16/11	16/12 & 13	16/14	16/15
1993	17/1	17/2	17/3	17/4 & 5	17/6	17/7	17/8	17/9	17/10	17/11	17/12 & 13	17/14	17/15
1994	18/1	18/2	18/	18/4 & 5	18/6	18/7	18/8	18/9	18/10	18/11	18/12 & 13	18/14	18/15
1995	19/1	19/2	19/3	19/4 & 5	19/6	19/7	19/8	19/9	19/10	19/11	19/12 & 13	19/14	19/15
1996	20/1	20/2	20/3	20/4	20/5	20/6	20/7	20/8	20/9	20/10 & 11		20/12
1997	21/1	21/2	21/3	21/4	21/5	21/6	21/7 & 8		21/9	21/10 & 11		21/12
1998	22/1	22/2	22/3	22/4	22/5	22/6	22/7 & 8		22/9	22/10 & 11		22/12
1999	23/1	23/2	23/3	23/4	23/5	23/6	23/7 & 8		23/9	23/10 & 11		23/12
2000	24/1	24/2	24/3	24/4	24/5	24/6	24/7 & 8		24/9	24/10 & 11		24/12
2001	25/1	25/2	25/3	25/4	25/5	25/6	25/7 & 8		25/9	25/10 & 11		25/12
2002	26/1	26/2	26/3	26/4	26/5	26/6	26/7 & 8		26/9	26/10 & 11		26/12
2003	27/1	27/2	27/3	27/4	27/5	27/6	27/7 & 8		27/9	27/10 & 11		27/12
2004	28/1		28/2	28/3		28/6	28/7 & 8		28/9	28/10 & 11		28/12
2005	29/1		29/2	29/3		29/6	29/7 & 8		29/9	29/10 & 11		29/12
2006	30/1		30/2	30/3		30/6	30/7 & 8		30/9	30/10 & 11		30/12
2007	31/1		31/2	31/3		31/6	31/7 & 8		31/9	31/10 & 11		31/12
2008	32/1		32/2	32/3		32/6	32/7 & 8		32/9	32/10 & 11		32/12
2009	33/1		33/2	33/3		33/6	33/7 & 8		33/9	33/10 & 11		33/12
2010	34/1		34/2	34/3		34/6	34/7 & 8		34/9	34/10 & 11		34/12
2011	35/1		35/2	35/3		35/6	35/7 & 8		35/9	35/10 & 11		35/12
2012	36/1		36/2	36/3		36/6	36/7 & 8		36/9	36/10 & 11		36/12
2013	37/1		37/2	37/3		37/6	37/7 & 8		37/9	37/10 & 11		37/12
2014	38/1		38/2	38/4		38/6	38/7 & 8		38/9	38/10 & 11		38/12
2015	39/1		39/2	39/4		39/6	39/7 & 8		39/9	39/10 & 11		39/12
2016	40/1		40/2	40/4		40/6	40/7 & 8		40/9	40/10 & 11		40/12
2017	41/1 & 2		41/3 & 4		41/5 & 6		41/7 & 8		41/9 & 10		41/11 & 12
2018	42/1 & 2		42/3 & 4		42/5 & 6		42/7 & 8		42/9 & 10		42/11 & 12
2019	43/1 & 2		43/3 & 4		43/5 & 6		43/7 & 8		43/9 & 10		43/11 & 12
2020	44/1 & 2		44/3 & 4		44/5 & 6		44/7 & 8		44/9 & 10		44/11 & 12
2021	45/1 & 2		45/3 & 4		45/5 & 6		45/7 & 8		45/9 & 10		45/11 & 12
2022	46/1 & 2		46/3 & 4		46/5 & 6		46/7 & 8		46/9 & 10		46/11 & 12
2023	47/1 & 2		47/3 & 4
Issues of Asimov's from 1983 to 2022, showing volume and issue number. The editors were Shawna McCarthy through the end of 1985 (blue), Gardner Dozois through November 2004 (green), and Sheila Williams (yellow).

Circulation had declined from its first-year peak to about 80,000 by the time Dozois became editor.^[14] The 1987 recession caused Davis Publications financial problems, and Davis decided to sell all four fiction magazines. While he searched for a buyer, changes were made to increase profitability: two issues per year were doubled in size and increased in price. The magazines were bought in January 1992 by Bantam-Doubleday-Dell, and became part of Dell Magazines.^[15] The title was shortened that November to Asimov's Science Fiction.^[10]

In September 1996 Dell Magazines was sold to Penny Press.^[16] The schedule returned to monthly and the October and November issues were combined, so that only eleven rather than thirteen issues appeared per year. The page count was cut, and prices increased. In June 1998 the size was increased from a standard digest size of 7.5 in × 5 in (19 cm × 13 cm) to 8.25 in × 5.25 in (21.0 cm × 13.3 cm) to match other Penny Press magazines, which made printing and binding more efficient. The page count dropped at the same time, but the changes were announced as an increase in total text of 10%, with no change in price. However, a year later the price rose again. Circulation dropped over 30% over the first four years of Penny Press's ownership, from about 46,000 to under 32,000, probably partly because of these changes. Most of the decline was in subscription sales, though profitability was helped by subscribers who came through the magazine's website, which had been started in 1998, instead of through a third party that took a commission from the subscription price.^[17]

Dozois gave up the editorship in 2004, and was succeeded by Sheila Williams, whose first issue was dated December of that year.^[18] The number of issues per year was reduced to ten starting in 2004, with the April and May issues combined into a double-sized issue.^[10] In 2008 the size was increased again, to 8.5 in × 5.75 in (21.6 cm × 14.6 cm), to make the magazine more prominent on newsstands.^[3] From January 2017, the schedule was changed to six bimonthly double-sized issues per year.^[10]

Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Isaac_Asimov's_Science_Fiction_Magazine
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