As we end 2018 and look forward to a new year, there is time to contemplate the highs and lows of the past year.  For us, the lows have included the loss to our writing community of such great authors and editors as Dave Duncan, Ursula K. Le Guin, Harlan Ellison, Gardner Dozois, Stan Lee, Kate Wilhelm,  William Goldman, and others. We also mourned the passing of Stephen Hawking, whose contribution to the world is unparalleled.

There’s good news to report as well. On Spec continues to publish in print form, thanks to our funding from the Government of Alberta’s Media Fund, as well as our generous monthly donors who sustain us through Patreon. We’d love to see our digital reach increase through online distribution of On Spec by agents such as Weightless Books for subscribers, and EBSCO for libraries and institutions.

During the year, we do our best to engage with our readers by attending conventions and other events, and we love to talk with people who come by the booth to chat. While we don’t have many retail outlets, we’re thrilled to be included among the works carried by the Myth Hawker Travelling Book Store to conventions we cannot get to.

I am eternally amazed and grateful for the superb volunteer efforts of the editorial team that works with me to get On Spec into the hands of our readers. They read the slush pile; select and edit the stories; proof the issues; and above all, promote On Spec with their own social media at every opportunity.

If you subscribe to this blog, you are a reader, perhaps a subscriber, a friend, and definitely someone who wishes us well, and for this we thank you today and every day.

Have the best 2019 you can possibly have. We will continue to work to bring our writers and readers together. Thanks for being such a great community.

Diane Walton , Managing Editor