eFiction Magazine [Kindle Edition]

I discovered eFiction while browsing arts & entertainment magazines available on my new Kindle. Since each came with a 14-day free trial, I tried out a bunch of them.

Two magazines that have been published for decades surprised me by having a number of lame stories, while eFiction surprised me by ONLY having a couple of lame stories. eFiction's content was on par with some of the best genre mags available, and when I learned that its content is currently all by unpaid writers, developed and polished by volunteer readers and editors, I thought to myself, "Here is a new thing under the sun."

I also kept my subscription. I love good short stories and this has plenty of them. I'm happy to pay $3 or so per issue for the long-established fantasy and science fiction magazines, but I feel even better about the $1.99 for eFiction because I'm supporting something innovative that's interesting in and of itself. The very process by which so much excellent writing emerges from the independent publishing world is fascinating to behold. The community shares news of rising authors and good stories and acts as a new machine to thresh out the chaff and present the reading public with superior work.

I hesitated slightly before choosing how many stars to rank this magazine. Did it deserve five stars? It isn't the absolute best magazine out there, not quite up to snuff with others I'd give five stars. But as my cursor floated over the fourth star a little window popped up saying "I like it." Well, that wasn't strong enough. Over the fifth star the popup said "I love it."

And I do love it. I skip the unrhymed poetry, but the stories and the book reviews are mostly excellent and I even love reading the author bios.

If you're a reader who likes writers, and if you'd like to support or be part of a new kind of publication that nurtures new authors and showcase their best work, eFiction could prove a more exciting and fulfilling experience than anything you've ever bought off a news rack or downloaded to your tablet.

As the last reviewer, I also have been publish in eFiction (book reviews only).

I found eFiction through another website, and decided to check it out. I downloaded a few past issues, and found that the stories that I read were compelling to read and well thought out. I can see many of the authors that have been published and featured in eFiction going the distance in the world of indie publishing.

April's issue was the first I was published in, and the first with book reviews. It also had a story that I absolutely loved called "Boob Job". It was not about what I thought it would be, and I was pleasantly surprised when I began reading this piece. I also really enjoyed "Four Ways to Uncover a Time Traveler".

The thing that really brought me to eFiction was the diversity in the stories. They publish all genres, styles, and stages of writing, but they strive for excellence in their magazine and content. I can't wait to see what eFiction has in store for us in the months to come.

This magazine has a mixture of serial stories, short stories, poetry and book reviews. In the issue I read (September 2011) a couple of serials started (The Dead Beat, The Bike Mechanic) and they were worth reading further. One was in the middle (Blood Binds) and it didn't grab me in that one episode.

The short stories were mostly unremarkable. One Blind Date, had the twist in the tail that I expect from short stories. Gypies was good. The poetry didn't appeal. The book reviews were of books I'd never heard of, and the reviews weren't as good as I'd expect in a magazine.

The price is pretty low, so it's probably worth it as you'll probably find a few stories you'll like.