For many years German SF-magazines have been suffering from small circulation and difficult access towards their potential readership. Most magazines have only been accessible by direct subscription, therefore diminishing their sales to the hard core of SF-fans. This has changed considerably in the past months with some very interesting developments. First, the new magazine “GEEK!” entered the newsstands. A bi-monthly mainly focused on SF and Fantasy in media (movies, games and such), it also looks into new novels and series on a regular basis. Quite big in size and fully coloured, “GEEK!” caters for the fan who is not satisfied with looking for his favourite topics in the internet but wants it condensed and well-researched in print. The third issue has just been published.
The magazine “phantastisch!” has been – for many years – one of those publications quite far from public appearance, only sold through direct subscription. With a change of publisher and the very busy small-press “Atlantis” taking over, the second issue has now hit the newsstands. “phantastisch!” is a magazine mainly dedicated to the printed word and therefore a good source of infos and background material for the friend of novels and short-stories. It is published four times a year and, with the new publisher putting serious investment in the project, now also in full colour.
“NOVA” is another magazine which has been lingering outside public distribution for some years. With their issue # 20, the publishers have taken their heart in their hands and started newsstand-circulation as well. “NOVA” is mainly a magazine dedicated to publish new and fresh short-stories by mainly German, but occasionally also international authors. It is also published four times a year.
