Hey everyone. Just wanted to let you know that Weightless Books will release the digital version of On Spec Issue #122 VOL 32 No 4 early in the New Year.  We are very pleased to have Weightless as our main distributor for On Spec. It’s also a great way to pick up back issues you may have missed seeing.

We have just gone to the printer with On Spec VOL 32 No 4, so this review by Tangent’s Victoria Silverwolf, will give you a small taste of what our readers will find in the issue.

Enjoy.

Issue #122 of On Spec has just been sent to the printer. If you get a new subscription right now, for a friend, family member, or even a gift for yourself, we will send a copy of issue #121 absolutely free, and begin the new subscription with issue #122.

Yes, that’s right– FIVE issues of On Spec for the price of four. This offer is good until the end of December.  Think about it.

Subscribe now and save!

Hello to our Alberta friends and readers. Just a note to remind you that the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association, of which On Spec is a proud member, is running a promotion to introduce people to the variety of great magazines being published in Alberta.

Check it out!

If you are interested, a group of SFF magazine editors from the US and Canada are starting up a regular ASK THE EDITORS Zoom session in the new year. Editors from On Spec plan to participate as time goes on.

You can get more information from the following links. There will be a cap on session participants to ensure people can get their questions answered.

• post: https://magazine.metaphorosis.com/editorial/2022/sff-asktheeditors/
• Tweet thread: https://twitter.com/MetaphorosisMag/status/1598483113939992576
• Mastodon post: https://writing.exchange/@Metaphorosis/109441408730576416

Now the work begins. Final count of submissions for 2022 is 160 poems and 602 short stories!  Our first readers are hard at work, and we’d love to give some writers a nice Christmas present. Thanks to everyone who sent us their babies to read. We have nothing but respect for you!

By the way, speaking of Christmas presents, remember that we love our subscribers too, and it is gift-giving season. If everyone who follows us finds at least one person on their gift list for an On Spec subscription, we’d be absolutely thrilled.

We don’t often publish works in the horror genre, so it is gratifying to see when the stories we publish get noticed. Ellen Datlow, editor of the annual “Best Horror of the Year” anthology, just posted her long list of stories that deserve notice.

Two of On Spec’s authors made the grade this year!

Congratulations to :

Michael Harris Cohen “I Pay You”, On Spec #118

James Edward O’Brien “A Meriwether Jacket” On Spec #118

Just a reminder to writers looking to submit a story to On Spec. Our submission deadline is November 30.  After that we get to work  and read everything that has come in. From the look of things, that is upwards of 500 stories and about 200 poems, assigned to a handful of first readers. You can imagine that our response time will be a bit slow, but we do want to find the best work possible.

Please give us some time before you inquire about your submission.

On Spec has a number of Twitter followers, and they will see this message in their Twitter feed. Right now, we don’t know if the rumours of  the impending death of Twitter are “greatly exaggerated” or if this is a change in the space-time continuum that we ought to have anticipated. In any event, we don’t want to lose any followers, but it will be up to you if you want to keep getting On Spec news.

On the left side of the On Spec home page you will see an opportunity to follow On Spec‘s updates by subscribing to this blog. Just voluntarily provide your email address and we do the rest. We don’t share the list with any other parties so you won’t get unwanted advertising or solicitations from being a subscriber to the On Spec blog.

We are certainly looking into the possibilities of establishing an On Spec presence on Mastodon or other social media platforms, but until then, we encourage our Twitter followers to check us out and follow us directly, especially if you intend to leave Twitter as many have already done.

The  On Spec Editorial Team.

Recently a reader asked us for an On Spec ad that he could place on his personal web site to provide a link to prospective subscribers and contributors to On Spec. We were happy to do this.

We have ads available for your use, and we’d certainly appreciate the links.