My mailman just brought me the 1000th issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. That’s right, the June 2015 issue is # 1000. Not very many fiction magazines, be they dedicated to science fiction or other genres, can say they’ve celebrated similar milestones. Analog started out as Astounding in January, 1930. It had already been publishing for decades before other esteemed magazines in our field, such as Galaxy, the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Interzone, Omni,and Asimov’s Science Fiction, got their starts. In 1960, Astounding changed its name to Analog. And no, despite the jokes, I sincerely doubt that the magazine will ever change its name to Digital.
I’m thrilled to have had a few stories published in Analog and to share its pages with so many terrific writers and thinkers. More about them below. But first, I wanted to note that my next appearance in Analog will be something a bit different for me—a guest editorial! I hope you’ll look for it in the forthcoming July/August 2015 issue.
Getting back to Issue 1000, the June 2015 magazine has a gorgeous cover illustrated by the supremely talented Vincent Di Fate, who has created the cover art for over 59 other issues of Analog, and has interior work in numerous issues. How cool is that?
As a writer, I have come to admire and appreciate the necessity for persistence. I do subscribe to the bon mot that 80 per cent of success is just showing up. Writers know it’s a tough business. So do editors and publishers. That just makes Analog’s 1000th issue all the more impressive. This latest issue didn’t just happen; it could only have come about via the years of diligence and excellence of its publishers and editors and writers. Hence, I want to take a moment to salute Astounding/Analog’s four most recent editors, whose combined tenure at the magazine’s helm reaches back to 1938. They are:
John W. Campbell, Jr.
Ben Bova
Stanley Schmidt
Trevor Quachri
And what of the writers who’ve filled the pages of Astounding/Analog for these many years? There are milestones aplenty, including nominations and wins of the field’s most important awards. But more than that, it is these writers, and their editors, who have gifted us with some true classics, some masterful works. Here’s a partial list of those who have graced the magazine’s pages these last 85 years, although I have this sinking feeling that I’ve accidentally left off some terrific writers.
Jack Williamson – almost 70 years of stories in Astounding/Analog
Murray Leinster
H. P. Lovecraft
L Sprague de Camp
Clifford Simak
C.L. Moore
Henry Kuttner
Theodore Sturgeon
Isaac Asimov
Robert A. Heinlein
A. E. van Vogt
E.E. Smith
Hal Clement
Lester del Rey
Fritz Lieber
Arthur C. Clarke
Jack Vance
Alfred Bester
H. Beam Piper
Tom Godwin
Ray Bradbury
Ben Bova
Fred Pohl
Frank Herbert
Harlan Ellison
Damon Knight
Mack Reynolds
James H. Schmitz
Poul Anderson
Greg Bear
Anne McCaffrey
Larry Niven
Jerry Pournell
Alfred Bester
Robert Silverberg
Philip K. Dick
Edward Bryant
Bob Shaw
Steven Gould
Roger Zelazny
Timothy Zahn
David Brin
Gene Wolfe
James Gunn
Marc Stiegler
Orson Scott Card
Robert J. Sawyer
Joe Haldeman
Harry Turtledove
Joan D. Vinge
James Tiptree, Jr.
Lois McMaster Bujold
Spider Robinson
Randall Garrett
Edward Bryant
Gordon R. Dickson
Allen M. Steele
Vernor Vinge
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Gregory Benford
Paul Levinson
James White
Catherine Asaro
Michael Burstein
Charles Sheffield
Geoffrey Landis
Michael Swanwick
George R. R. Martin
All in all, these 1000 issues of Astounding/Analog contain more than 5600 stories and serials, as well as more than 2800 non-fiction pieces (articles, editorials, features), plus some gorgeous, iconic covers by top artists in the field.
For all of this, I must say, Well done. Here’s to the next thousand issues. For I do believe that there will always be writers and artists and editors and other visionaries busy imagining the people and the science in our future.