This is based on a comment I made to Bill Ward's excellent blog:
I hope Lawrence’s statement that one magazine “is simply not answering subs or queries” isn’t aimed at us, but I’m afraid we at Murky Depths have been a bit remiss in that department this year. Mainly due to personal reasons that I won’t bore you with, but death, marriage and building sum them up. Our turnaround time for submissions at the moment can be anything from two days to eight months.
Any time spent away from pushing Murky Depths has a marked impression on sales and, like Kaolin and Fred, I find it frustrating that such good products are still unknown to the vast market that’s out there – and I do believe the market is easily big enough to take the diverse publications that you list here, Bill, as well as the hundreds that you’ll find at Ralan and Duotrope, which is where at least half of our site hits come from. The shout, of course, of “I told you so”, then goes up that it’s only writers who buy the mags. Wrong. Few of the writers who submit to us seem even bothered to read the guidelines let alone buy a copy, yet once contributors have received their contributor copies they quite often come back and buy later issues. But the question still remains: How do you reach that market? While Murky Depths is published in the UK it is mailed to all corners of the world, but our shipping costs to the USA are half again as much as the cover price. US publications should have a huge advantage over Murky Depths with a mainland audience that means far cheaper shipping costs yet we’re still receiving new subscriptions (and re-subscriptions) from the States (and other parts of the world).
I think there’s a lot more mileage for debate with the issue of small press. Distribution companies are either not interested (though some apologise guiltily) or want huge sums up front to minimise the risk. Risk? Gardners in the UK, who distribute to Waterstones, take 57% of the cover price, and then you’ve shipping costs on top – plus it’s sale or return! So I loose money on every copy that’s sold through Gardners, and a huge hit if they’re returned. How is that encouraging new ventures?