Fantasy Magazine started as a print periodical in 2005 and switched to publishing online issues in February of last year, so it's an ideal forum for discussion on the increasing troubles of our speculative fiction providers. Columnist Randy Henderson (whose "Why We Need Scientist Heroes Again" made my io9 implant beep with joy) asks:

What dark forces threaten our pulp magazines? Are online magazines any better off? And how can both print and online magazines stand out and prevail in this crazy wired world of information overload and multimedia mania?

Those are questions authors, editors, and publishers have struggled with ever since the first geek scribe typed "alt.sf.creative" into her primitive terminal. Sure, Asimov's, F&SF, and Analog are all losing subscribers; hell, you're probably reading this very article on your iPhone. But Henderson points out that it's a magazine's responsibility to adapt to its readers' technology and lifestyles, for better or for worse:

There's plenty of stuff out there to distract us all. Expecting readers to remember to check out your magazine a month or six from now for the next big issue stuffed full of fictiony goodness is asking a bit much. But give those readers a tasty little online snack every day and they’ll constantly drop by and check in on you, kind of like a broke college student.

And he gets right to the heart of the matter with his next bit of advice.

The absolute best thing any speculative fiction magazine can have is outstanding speculative fiction.

... if you sell truly great fiction then readers will buy it. But only if they can trust it will be of the highest quality, they are reminded when it is available, and they can easily find and purchase it for a reasonable price.

I suppose that's why Fantasy posted a stories of 2008 roundup and poll, with prizes. They're just doing their part to bring speculative fiction further into the future.

Randym Thoughts: On the Future of Speculative Fiction Magazines [Fantasy Magazine]

First of all, Gardner Dozois just announced the table of contents of the next Year's Best SF anthology, and it seems to include a lot of stuff from original anthologies like Eclipse 2, Fast Forward 2, The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Galactic Empires, Fast Ships, Black Sails, Seeds Of Change and others. Maybe I'm on crack, but was there always such a high proportion of the year's best stories from anthologies rather than magazines? (Full list below.)

Meanwhile, the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, the source of a few of those best stories, just announced it's going bi-monthly. (Side note: I'm glad "The Political Prisoner" and "Five Thrillers," my faves from last year's F&SF, made it in.) In practice, this move doesn't mean F&SF will get all that much smaller — it'll be doing all double issues, so there will be only about 10 percent less content in 2009. And I get why it's happening — postage costs are shooting up, and this is a way to reach subscribers more cheaply.

But it also seems to bring the magazine closer to being a bimonthly anthology, instead of a magazine. (To me, part of the distinction between magazines and anthologies is the extreme regularity with which magazines appear. Your mileage, as usual, may vary.) More importantly, it seems to be another stage in the slow, lingering death of the print mags: already, their circulations are plummeting, and they claim less rack space in bookstores and newstands. Coming out half as often means you get half as much visibility in retail venues, since few bookstores will keep you on the shelf for two whole months. It means F&SF is resigning itself to servicing its existing subscriber base, instead of trying to reach new readers via retail distribution.

So here's the full TOC of this year's best:

• TURING’S APPLES, Stephen Baxter (Eclipse 2, ed. Jonathan Strahan)
• FROM BABEL’S FALL’N GLORY WE FLED, Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s, February 2008)
• THE GAMBLER, Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2, ed. Lou Anders)
• BOOJUM, Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette (Fast Ships, Black Sails, ed. Ann VanderMeer & Jeff VanderMeer)
• THE SIX DIRECTIONS OF SPACE, Alastair Reynolds (Galactic Empires, ed. Gardner Dozois)
• N-WORDS, Ted Kosmatka (Seeds of Change, ed. John Joseph Adams)
• AN ELIGIBLE BOY, Ian McDonald (Fast Forward 2, ed. Lou Anders)
• SHINING ARMOUR, Dominic Green (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume 2, ed. George Mann)
• THE HERO, Karl Schroeder (Eclipse 2, ed. Jonathan Strahan)
• EVIL ROBOT MONKEY, Mary Robinette Kowal (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume 2, ed. George Mann)
• FIVE THRILLERS, Robert Reed (F & SF, April 2008)
• THE SKY THAT WRAPS THE WORLD ROUND, PAST THE BLUE AND INTO THE BLACK, Jay Lake (Clarkesworld, March 2008)
• INCOMERS, Paul McAuley (The Starry Rift, ed. Jonathan Strahan)
• CRYSTAL NIGHTS, Greg Egan (Interzone, April 2008)
• THE EGG MAN, Mary Rosenblum (Asimov’s, February 2008)
• HIS MASTER’S VOICE, Hannu Rajaniemi (Interzone, October 2008)
• THE POLITICAL PRISONER, Charles Coleman Finlay (F & SF, August 2008)
• BALANCING ACCOUNTS, James L. Cambias (F & SF, February 2008)
• SPECIAL ECONOMICS, Maureen McHugh (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed. Ellen Datlow)
• DAYS OF WONDER, Geoff Ryman (F & SF, October/November 2008)
• CITY OF THE DEAD, Paul McAuley (Postscripts # 15)
• THE VOYAGE OUT, Gwyneth Jones (Periphery: Erotic Lesbian Futures, ed. Lynne Jamneck)
• THE ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY OF LORD GRIMM, Daryl Gregory (Eclipse 2, ed. Jonathan Strahan)
• G-MEN, Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Sideways in Crime, ed. Lou Anders)
• THE ERDMANN NEXUS, Nancy Kress (Asimov’s, October/November 2008)
• OLD FRIENDS, Garth Nix (Dreaming Again, ed. Jack Dann)
• THE RAY-GUN: A LOVE STORY, James Alan Gardner (Asimov’s, February 2008)
• LESTER YOUNG AND THE JUPITER’S MOONS’ BLUES, Gord Sellar (Asimov’s, July 2008)
• BUTTERFLY, FALLING AT DAWN, Aliete de Bodard (Interzone, November 2008)
• THE TEAR, Ian McDonald (Galactic Empires, ed. Gardner Dozois)