Event Horizon's Web gamble

Can a publisher of blue-chip science fiction for smart readers make it online?

By Patrizia Dilucchio

Dec 7, 1998 | Some things should sell themselves -- like beer in a ballpark, or science fiction on the Internet. But the act of faith that launched Event Horizon, a Web site devoted to literary science fiction, defies much of the conventional wisdom about the two markets it hopes to conquer -- science fiction magazines and online publishing.

Rising phoenixlike from the creative ashes of the late Omni -- the first big-league magazine to try to reinvent itself entirely online -- Event Horizon has set a gold standard for science-fiction excellence on the Net. Online readers can sample the work of outstanding writers like Robert Silverberg, Lucius Shepard, Howard Waldrop and Pat Cadigan. They can participate in live chats with the likes of Neil Gaiman, Kim Stanley Robinson and William Goldman.

Event Horizon's creators, Ellen Datlow, Rob Killheffer and Pam Weintraub, proudly describe it as a professional venture. To Datlow, a critically acclaimed editor, this means, "We pay professional rates and we have editors who know what they're doing, who have some experience in editing, who have an editorial voice, who work with authors on stories, and who are not afraid to turn stories down." This distinction is particularly significant in two mediums whose culture is dominated by fan efforts.

Yet professionalism has proved no hedge against declining circulation in the traditional science-fiction magazine market, as subscriptions to the big three -- Asimov's, Analog and Fantasy & Science Fiction -- continue to plummet. And professionalism in electronic publishing has yet to prove it can fuel a profitable business.

Although Event Horizon was partly designed as bait to draw attention to its successful parent Web production company of the same name, producer Killheffer stresses, "We don't want to be a vanity project. " And the site has drawn between 15,000 and 20,000 unique users per month since its inception in August. But is that enough to survive?

Next Page: The Net's in love with science fiction -- but do "Star Wars" fans want to read?

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