Hello folks, Alasdair here. It’s the top of the year and, as is always the way with times like this, we’re taking stock and making some changes. Specifically, to what our Patreon goals are.

You can find all the details in our latest post. TL;DR – we’re bringing swag to our Patrons in support of our two new goals. If you support us through PayPal or in any of the millions of other ways, thank you as well — you literally keep the lights on.

It’s those new goals we want to talk about a bit more. Last year was a great year for us, and it’s driven us to think deeper about what we want to be as an organization, what we want to be known for in our industry, and how we want to get there. We’ve achieved a lot more critical recognition this year (for good and for ill), and yes, awards are considered benchmarks of success. We’d love to continue being nominated and maybe win some, but ultimately they’re outside our control.

So we’re focusing our energy on what positive changes we can make to strengthen our editorial voices and Widen the Circle for all.

Goal 1: Eight Cents a Word

As soon as we hit this goal, every show gets to increase the pay rate for original fiction to eight cents a word. This would be amazing not only because authors deserve to be paid better for their writing but because it helps us keep pace with our peers and gives our editorial teams the additional budget they need to attract submissions from and publish the best in their fields.

Goal 2: Pay our Associate Editors

The PoB Scorecard project by Fiyah highlighted that Associate Editors, or ‘slush readers’, are the life blood of our industry. Short fiction markets live and die based on the hard work and dedication of first readers. As genre fiction has deeper conversations about barriers to entry, paying for the labor (emotional and otherwise) involved in the editorial process has also received increased scrutiny.

We want to pay our associate editors. They’re the only members of our teams not currently compensated. That has to stop. Reaching this goal means every single person involved with our shows would be receiving compensation for their time. It’s desperately overdue industry-wide. We want to live our values and bring this level of professionalism to every member of our teams.

Your help has made all the different reaching where we are today, and we’re not planning to slow down. Thank you for all you do and continue to do to support us. With your help, we’ll reward the people most deserving of that recognition, help raise the standards industry-wide, and continue to evolve and grow.