by David P. Munger

John O’Neill is the publisher and editor of Black Gate Magazine, a fine quarterly anthology magazine focusing on adventure fantasy. He’s a good friend of Twilight Tales, too. He has participated in a Twilight Tales editor’s panel on publishing, and has been a judge for several of our “Authors in the Hot Seat” critique shows. John has always approached these things with a likeable frankness, and combines helpful honesty with encouragement and positivity. He’s an emminently approachable professional with a keen vision for his publication and for genre work in general.

We had a chance to toss the ball back and forth over e-mail and chat about Black Gate, ever-nebulous genre boundaries, and the future of short fiction in publishing.

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Tell us the story of Black Gate’s beginnings. What vision drove you to want to do this? How did you get started?

Whew. That’s a longer story than you might think, but I’ll spare you most of the details.

In brief, I was a business partner with a group of ambitious friends in the early 90’s in Ottawa, Canada. Among other things, we started the Hugo-nominated SF Site (www.sfsite.com) — as well as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) which did quite well, growing to be the largest independent outfit in the city. We were all gamers and fantasy fans, and we named the company Cyberus, a take on Cerberos, the legendary guardian of the gates of Hades. Our logo was a 3-headed guard dog, rendered by famed Ottawa fantasy artist Denis Beauvais. Cyberus is still around, logo and all (www.cyberus.com).

At the peak of our success, our CEO Wayne MacLaurin quietly registered a handful of related domains for a spin-off gaming company we dreamed about. The company never came about, but when I decided to launch a fantasy magazine two years later, I made a short list of possible names and did a quick search to find out which of those Internet domains were already registered. They all were by that time, of course — but imagine my surprise to discover my friend Wayne was the owner of the one on top of my own list: blackgate.com. Wayne was gracious enough to let me have it, and we officially launched the magazine with our first issue that year, at the World Fantasy Convention in 2000.

It’s interesting how much of a factor the Internet was in the formation of the magazine!

Well, it was also a natural outgrowth of what we were doing at the SF Site in 96-98 — trying to get all the major genre magazines online, pretty much single handed. I spent a lot of time on the phone with Dell Magazines (owners of Asimov’s & Analog) and many other publishers, trying to convince them that a website was a good idea. I coded the first websites for F&SF, Science Fiction Chronicle, and other mags personally. At our peak we hosted nearly a dozen. It was a crusade of sorts, but I still think we helped push the magazines onto the ‘net years earlier than they might have otherwise, and that helped find new readers.

When we launched Black Gate in 2000, we felt our use of the Internet to promote the magazine was pretty revolutionary. Today there are plenty of people doing it better than we do.

Did you have a specific editorial vision for Black Gate at that time? Was there something you felt was missing from the genre periodical market, or did you want to try to do a better or more specialized version of your favorite magazines?

Yeah, I did, though in retrospect it was probably a little ambitious.

Put it this way: no one starting a genre magazine these days is thinking “I’m going to do things the way everyone else does — because man, that sure seems to be working out!” Fiction magazines are struggling. If you don’t come into this with something new, you’re wasting your time.

I started in 2000, and I figured I had two things going for me. The first was the Internet. Less than two years after we started the SF Site, we had over 100,000 unique visitors every issue.. that’s more than the paid circulation of Asimov’s & F&SF combined. Pretty good for a site that didn’t pay contributors and was done part-time.

What could we do if we paid, and had both a print and active web presence? That turned out to be the first half of our editorial vision — using the website to attract and keep most of our customers, and that’s worked out splendidly.

The second half was a strong conviction that another thing the magazines _weren’t_ doing well was bringing in new readers — especially young readers. Everyone was so focused on being more “cutting edge” than everyone else that the barriers to entry were far higher than they used to be. And that was a shame. Why not start a magazine that was friendly to new fantasy readers?

This was something that also worked out marvelously for us. The word got around, we started to get a lot of interest from libraries, and that interest turned into sales. A surprising number of my early subscription orders were from libraries — they helped us get established, and reach a lot of readers we probably wouldn’t have otherwise.

Here’s the annoying genre question. Black Gate’s submission guidelines state that the magazine is seeking both “epic fantasy” and “adventure-based fantasy.” Can you briefly describe how you would define those classifications?

Sure: as broadly as possible. I see “Epic fantasy” and “Adventure-based fantasy” as essentially the same. Both of them have the following four things in common: colorful settings, dynamic characters, fast pacing, and high stakes drama.

Note what’s missing in that definition: any requirement for violence — or swords, or magic. Too many times I return a story with the comment that it’s not “adventure fantasy,” only to have it returned to me with a sword fight inserted on page three. That’s not what I’m looking for. Sword play is often the most boring part of a piece, especially when it’s pointless. What I’m really looking for a dramatic story, and drama can spring from many wells, few of them rooted in action or violence.

Black Gate’s new Managing Editor, Howard Andrew Jones, recently wrote an extremely insightful article probing the distinction between epic fantasy and Sword & Sorcery, and I think he hit this nail on the head when he said:

“Some sword and sorcery authors seem to believe that swift pacing must equal Action. And that Action must equal Violence. Neither of these things are true. All the fighting and running and frenzy you create will grow tiresome unless it is moving the story forward. It is the unfolding of the plot that truly captivates.”

From your guidelines and judging by the types of stories you publish, it seems you’re looking for fresh takes on well-known fantasy tropes. For example, from discussions with you as well as your stated guidelines on the web site, I know that the odds of you publishing a dragon-slaying story are very, very low. At the same time, from my understanding, you’re also looking more for heroic fantasy than anything else. Can you comment on the balance between stories that are nothing more than cliched re-hashings, and stories which are fresh takes in comfortable, familiar territory? How do you think that delicate balance is struck?

Great question. What I’m looking for is exciting original epic fantasy. The key word here is “original.” I reject more stories for being unoriginal in setting and character than for any other reason (other than poor prose, perhaps). Too often I bounce writers who are gifted prose stylists with a solid plot, simply because I don’t want another story set in a generic fantasy kingdom — complete with kings, queens, knights and princes. It’s bland, and my readers aren’t interested.

The single best way to grab my attention on page one — something that’s crucial to do with any editor, by the way — is with an original setting, or an original take on a common setting. I don’t see nearly enough fiction set in Asian settings, for example — China, India, other intriguing locales. And that goes for physical setting as well as geographic: if you’re going to open your story (God forbid) in a tavern — where about one quarter of all stories I read seem to begin — please be at least a little original. Why not start it in the kitchen? Or in the basement. Or the attic! I really don’t care, as long as it’s not another group of friends clustered around a table wondering about that ogre’s buried treasure.

What about time periods? Obviously you’re not looking for science fiction, but do you shy away from modern or even futuristic fantasy?

Not at all. I love science fantasy, especially far-future stuff. That all reads like fantasy anyway! So do most time travel stories. Contemporary fantasy/horror is a fairly large percentage of what we publish, and a low percentage of what we get. So if you’re an author, that should tell you that your chances are much better if you send us something in those categories than another generic medieval fantasy.

Can you give examples of stories or novels our readers might recognize which do a good job of striking the balance between familiar tropes and fresh takes, and some which perhaps don’t do it so well?

I’d love to. The three finest fantasy novels I can point any aspiring Black Gate writer towards are perhaps:

1) LORD OF LIGHT, by Roger Zelazny. His true masterwork, and given the scope of his career, that’s saying at lot. This is perhaps the most original science fantasy setting I have ever seen — and one of the best novels I’ve ever read.

2) BRIDGE OF BIRDS, by Barry Hughart. One of the funniest fantasy novels ever written, and yet at the same time, one of the most ingeniously plotted. The first third is perhaps the most perfect “First Act” of any fantasy novel, with the main characters racing desperately to save their village against impossible odds… only to find themselves caught up in a far vaster mystery, in which the stakes are much greater. Brilliant. Learn this trick, and you’ve got it
made as a novelist.

3) WATERSHIP DOWN, by Richard Adams. Who the hell wants to read a fantasy novel about bunnies? Anyone who’s read the first few chapters of this novel, that’s whom. Perhaps the most perfectly plotted fantasy in history, with a climax that involves virtually no on-screen violence, but is simultaneously one of the most dramatic and action-filled scenes in literature. Wonderful.

I understand that Black Gate is designed to be very friendly to young adult readers, but at the same time it also seems to be very accessible and engaging for an older audience as well. I would certainly not describe any of the featured stories as “juvenile.” Is this a deliberate approach?

Absolutely. I think it’s tough to gear a magazine for young adults — both for artistic and business reasons — and frankly I’m not even interested in trying. I’d much rather create a magazine for adults that’s at least accessible to younger readers.

And that doesn’t mean you have to steer away from sex, violence, and other sensitive topics — there’s no surer way to lose a young audience, far as I know! No, all it really means is that you avoid scenes of graphic content. Certainly that hasn’t been an issue with our writers — in the six years we’ve been publishing, I can count the number of times I’ve had to ask authors to tone down content on my fingers. And to be honest, in many of those cases I would have done it even if we didn’t have younger readers. It’s not always necessary.

I remember you saying once, in a panel discussion, that you prefer electronic submissions and like to read directly off the screen. Aren’t your eyes killing you?

Not at all. I use a big font.

Some people in publishing are saying that the short story is dying as a popular form of fiction. Others say this is the calm before the storm, and that the short story is about to experience a resurgance in popularity. What’s your opinion about the state of the short story?

Whew. Another great question.

I think it’s easy to be doom-and-gloom about the state of short genre fiction, because the outlets we’ve come to rely on — Asimov’s, F&SF, Analog — seem to be slowly dying, especially when you look at their circulation 25 years ago. I can’t help but feel dismay every year when I see Locus publish the circulation figures for the major magazines. I mean, damn. It ain’t looking good.

But on the other hand, it was a lot of work to start Black Gate… but not THAT much work. I did it in my spare time, with not much money. Our circulation is up, and growing faster than ever. And I believe the same may be true of several other small press fantasy magazines. And it just wasn’t possible to become a publisher so easily 25 years ago.

So if it’s that easy to get Black Gate out there, and I see many many other terrific magazines — Fantasy, Subterranean, Postscripts, Alchemy, TaleBones — doing the same, it’s hard for me to say that short fiction is dying. I think more is being published than 25 years ago, even if there are fewer people reading it. Perhaps not what I might have wished for, but far better than the other way around!

Readers can subscribe to Black Gate from your web site, and can also order back issues there. Where else can we pick up a copy?

Borders and Barnes and Noble both carry us in many outlets — and our newstand circulation is growing. You can also find us at most of the best online SF bookstores, such as Clarkesword Books (www.clarkesworldbooks.com), and even Amazon.com.

We’re running a special on our website at the moment — a new subscriber can receive a copy of the acclaimed anthology LORDS OF SWORDS for only $4.95. It’s a pretty good deal, though we don’t have many of them left. As they say in the business, act now!

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 6th, 2006 at 8:49 am and is filed under Articles, Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.