Pif Magazine July 1998 Newsletter
Camille Renshaw
Pif Magazine Newsletter July 1st, 1998
In This Issue:
> Drunk & Disorderly
> Pif Is Moving
> Our Literary Search Engine
> Who Are You?
> Win Prizes, Become Famous!
> Deadline for Next Issue
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DRUNK & DISORDERLY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm pleased to present our 14th issue, online
now at http://www.dimax.com/pif/
Tenuously crafted around that most vexing
of elements: Alcohol. Sometimes humorous,
sometimes sobering, the subject pricked up
a lot of ears, caused many a wallflower writer
to finally put pen to paper, and flooded our in-
boxes with both the best and worst writing
we've ever seen. (Just a hint: downing a fifth
of gin before you begin your first paragraph
is not always a good idea.)
THIS ISSUE FEATURES:
Poetry:
"Apes" by Rusty Fischer
"The Boy in Baseball" by Liam Rector
"Duck Soup" by Patty Mooney
"Paris Autumn" by Anjana Basu
"The Remarkable Objectivity of ..." by Liam Rector
"When Down by Long Boy's Lane" by Liam Rector
"You Take" by Anjana Basu
Macro-Fiction:
"The Dentist" by Stephen Pain.
Micro-Fiction:
"Into Deeper Sand" by Stuart Harris
"Undermusic" by Greggory Moore
"Inperpetuity" by Lila Guzmán
"Liaison" by Gail Hosking Gilberg
Commentary:
"Dad" Samantha Craggs looks back on
a childhood dominated by her alcoholic father.
Features:
"Magic From Scratch for Improvised Women"
Stefene Russell on being single in the land of brides.
"Violence: The American Way " Jeremy
Worsham muses over our national past-times.
"Father's Day - Almost" Daryl Lease speaks
with his unborn daughter in a language
only they can understand.
Book Reviews of:
Edisto and Aliens of Affection by Padgett
Powell, as well as the Pulitzer Prize-
winning The World Doesn't End by
Charles Simic.
Music Reviews of:
Simply Red's Blue,
Ben Harper's Fight for Your Mind,
Davîd Garza's This Euphoria,
the motion picture soundtrack from The
Horse Whisperer, and all the Van
Morrison you can swallow.
Video Reviews of:
L.A. Confidential, Alien Ressurection,
As Good As It Gets, and Last Year
At Marienbad.
Zine Reviews of:
Spokenwar, Mississippi Review, and Maxi.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PIF IS MOVING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes, that's right. Pif Magazine, your beloved
journal of literary arts and entertainment, has
outgrown it's current digs. We were hoping to
be in our new home by the beginning of this
month, but because of InterNIC delays and
such it looks like we will not be moved over
to the new IP until around the 15th.
Our new home will be pifmagazine.com.
Checking the URL you'll see that the address
is active - we just haven't been allowed
access to it yet. When everything is settled
we'll send out an email announcement letting
you all know.
As stated last month, we will continue to
maintain a mirror site on dimax.com for
the next few months or so, ensuring your
uninterrupted reading pleasure.
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PIF PRIZE - UPAWARDS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Calling all zine editors - here's your chance
to show off your publication.
Pif Magazine feels that e-zines are the true
pioneers in literary publishing, regularly
taking risks and publishing authors that
traditional "mainstream" publishers don't
dare to touch. Unfortunately, most of our
pioneering efforts go unnoticed. When attention
is cast upon us it is usually in a negative,
condescending light. To combat this, Pif is
establishing the new standard.
>From now until December 1st, 1998, Pif
Magazine will accept nominations for the
1998 Pif Prize - Underground Press Awards.
There is no entry fee required. Affiliation with
an Internet or publishing "guild" is not
prerequisite. In short, if you publish a zine
you're already half way there.
There are several categories, including: Best
Online Fiction, Best Online Poetry, Best
Artwork, etc. To nominate individual works
from your zine do the following:
1. Send the URL of the online story, poem,
or article to p...@dimax.com.
2. Indicate the original date of publication
(must be in 1998) and the author's or
artist's name and email (if applicable).
3. Include the name of your magazine, its
main URL, and the name and email
address of the editor and/or publisher.
Also tell us how long you've been online,
as we're offering a prize for best "Rookie Zine."
4. Editors can nominate a maximum of 5
pieces from their magazine each year -
so start compiling a list of your best
work now.
Remember, you need not wait until the last
moment to nominate something from your zine.
If you have something you feel is worthy of
the Prize (and the award that will accompany
it), send us the nomination now. You might
forget later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PENGUIN - LITERARY SEARCH ENGINE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our literary search engine, home based at
http://www.dimax.com/express/, has changed
names - and has nearly doubled the number
of zines, writing related resources, and literary
sites listed in the past 30 days. Your continued
contributions enable us to provide what is
quickly becoming the best, most thorough
Literary Search Engine on the Net.
If you know of a site that we've overlooked,
the online submission form is easy to fill out,
self-explanatory, and will even allow you to
add your own category should you find that
your site doesn't fit with what we already have.
If you know of a site that should be listed but
just don't have the time or inclination to do it
yourself, email us at p...@dimax.com and we'll
list it for you! What could be easier?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WHO ARE YOU?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you know that a full 12% of Pif's readers
live in New York? We didn't either - but we
do now. Thanks to all of you who have filled
out our reader survey, we're learning more and
more about our audience each and every day.
For example:
2% of you live in Australia
33% of you are professional writers
More of you read magazines than watch TV
Nearly 60% of you have college degrees
43% of you don't know whether you're
a boy or a girl (??)
We're continually trying to refine our content,
and to do so we need to hear from a lot more
of you. To accomplish this we ask that you
visit our on-line survey at
http://www.dimax.com/pif/survey.htm, and
take a moment to answer a few questions
about yourself. The information you provide
will assist us in determining the future direction
of Pif, give us ideas about articles that might
be popular, or tell us if we need to abandon
certain venues all-together.
Missed our last print issue? Always wanted to
know what we put in them that we don't put
in the web issues? Well, now's your chance to
find out. As a way of saying thanks, we're
offering a gift to all those who take the time to
answer our questions. Fill out the survey,
receive a copy of our last print issue (a $4 value!).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WIN PRIZES, BECOME FAMOUS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!
Time is running out! The annual Pif Prize for
Poetry and Fiction is in full-swing. Prizes include
$250 for best short story, $150 for best poem.
Honorable Mention cash awards, one-year
subscription to Writer's Digest, Story, or other
fine goodies. To find out more about where and
when to send your entry, go to
http://www.dimax.com/pif/contest.htm, or email
pif....@dimax.com to receive the submission
guidelines via email.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, you want to write for Pif Magazine. Great!
We'd love to have you. Just follow the guidelines
at http://www.dimax.com/pif/rules.shtml
And remember: the deadline for our next issue
is July 20th - and the theme is "Work."
Thanks, and have a great month.
Camille Renshaw
Fiction Editor
Pif Magazine
http://www.dimax.com/pif