SF Site

{{Short description|Online science fiction magazine}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2021}}

{{Infobox magazine

| title = SF Site

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| editor = Rodger Turner

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| category = Science fiction, fantasy

| frequency = Bimonthly (until 2013)

| format = Online magazine

| circulation = 200K visitors per month

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| founder = {{unbulleted list|John O'Neill|Rodger Turner}}

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| firstdate = {{Start date and age|1997|06}}

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| country = Canada

| based = Ottawa, Ontario

| language = English

| website = {{URL|http://www.sfsite.com}}

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SF Site is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine edited by Rodger Turner. It is among the oldest of websites dedicated to science fiction and primarily publishes book reviews. It has won the Locus Award and received nominations for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards. SF Site also provides web hosting services, and was instrumental in the online presence of major magazines such as Analog, Asimov's, F&SF and Interzone.

History

Established in June 1997 by John O'Neill and Rodger Turner,{{cite encyclopedia |editor3-last=Nicholls |editor3-first=Peter |editor3-link=Peter Nicholls (writer) |editor1-last=Clute |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Clute |editor2-last=Langford |editor2-first=David |editor2-link=David Langford |last=Kincaid |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Kincaid |date=June 7, 2017 |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction |title=SF Site |url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/sf_site |publisher=Gollancz |edition=3rd |access-date=2021-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912112710/http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/sf_site |archive-date=2021-09-12 |url-status=live}} SF Site is an online magazine of science fiction and fantasy,{{cite journal |last=Breckon |first=Michelle |date=2014-05-13 |title=The SF Site: The Home Page for Science Fiction and Fantasy |journal=Reference Reviews |publisher=Emerald Group Publishing |issn=0950-4125 |volume=28 |issue=4 |page=32 |id={{ProQuest|1558804452}} |doi=10.1108/RR-02-2014-0040}} and among the oldest of SF websites. It is based in Ottawa, Canada, but includes contributors from around the world, and had 200,000 unique visitors per month in 2001. It primarily publishes reviews of science fiction books; it also reviews films, television, and features interviews with authors and fiction excerpts. Contributors include Steven H Silver, Richard Lupoff, Rick Norwood, Victoria Strauss, Mark London Williams, and Rick Klaw.

Through its web hosting services, SF Site was responsible for bringing four major science fiction magazines{{snd}} Analog, Asimov's, F&SF and Interzone{{snd}} to the Internet.

It also hosted science fiction and fantasy authors such as Steven Erikson and a fan-run website for Guy Gavriel Kay. It hosts a science fiction discussion forum and RSS feed.

In December 2013, SF Site suspended production of regular twice-monthly updates, due to declining advertising revenue.{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/News/2013/12/sf-site-suspends-regular-updates/|title=SF Site Suspends Regular Updates

|work=Locus Magazine|date=December 17, 2013

|access-date=February 27, 2014}}

The magazine's news blog was placed on hiatus in 2018.

Reception

In 2000 editor Gardner Dozois, writing in The Mammoth Book of Best New SF, described SF Site as one of the most important genre-related websites on the internet.{{cite book |last=Dozois |first=Gardner |author-link=Gardner Dozois |year=2000 |title=The Mammoth Book of Best New SF |volume=13 |publisher=Robinson |page=16 |isbn=978-1841191683}} Zachary Houle wrote in the Ottawa Citizen in 2001, "Over four short years, [SF Site] has become a big player in broadening the appeal of speculative fiction—the SF referred to in its name" and said, "the site is also highly regarded by the major publishing houses, which generously lift quotes from the site's reviews for book-cover blurbs".{{cite news |last=Houle |first=Zachary |date=2001-01-15 |title=Sci-Fi Powerhouse |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85183104/the-ottawa-citizen/ B8], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85183137/the-ottawa-citizen/ B9], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85183167/the-ottawa-citizen/ B10]. Retrieved December 16, 2021. Archived pp. [https://web.archive.org/web/20210912111538/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85183104/the-ottawa-citizen/ B8], [https://web.archive.org/web/20210912111709/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85183137/the-ottawa-citizen/ B9], [https://web.archive.org/web/20210912111855/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85183167/the-ottawa-citizen/ B10] on September 12, 2021 |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen}}

SF Site won the 2002 Locus Award for Best Website,{{cite web|url=http://www.sfadb.com/Locus_Awards_2002|title=2002 Locus Awards|work=Science Fiction Awards Database|publisher=Locus|access-date=December 15, 2021}} and was a nominee for the 2002 Hugo Award in the same category. It was also nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Non-Professional Work in 2004 and 2006.

References

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{{cite web |url=http://www.sfadb.com/Rodger_Turner |title=Rodger Turner Awards |work=Science Fiction Awards Database |publisher=Locus Science Fiction Foundation |access-date=December 15, 2021}}

{{cite magazine |url=https://locusmag.com/2018/06/publishing-news/ |title=Publishing News |date=June 17, 2018 |access-date=February 25, 2022 |magazine=Locus Magazine}}

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