[Ezine] Helix

Unimportant said:

Submissions to HelixSF are by invitation only, so I doubt it'll affect many people.

What is the "highly questionable content" that they've published? Their editor has been the subject of a lot of online debate, but I've not heard anything but praise for the quality of the stories they publish.

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Just to clarify, Helix was invitation-only just for the first issue. It's now limited to writers with professional credits (SFWA, HWA, etc.), or if the editor decides to make an exception.

Which is a moot point for two reasons. One, he's shutting down the magazine later this year and his inventory is full. Two, even if he were looking for more stories, he's doing a smashing job of convincing writers they don't want to put up with his behavior.

Four writers (including me) have withdrawn their stories from the site. The editor is now charging a minimum of $40 to comply with any new requests.

All this is a shame, because the magazine has published a number of fine stories and poems.

I assume that by the "questionable content" Claudia meant things like this.

IceCreamEmpress said:

I assume that by the "questionable content" Claudia meant things like this.

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By the way, those notices had vanished at one point, but they're back.

IceCreamEmpress said:

I assume that by the "questionable content" Claudia meant things like this.

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"Story deleted at author's pantiwadulous request."


Wow...such respect for the author. You'd think this was from Publish America.

Khazarkhum said:

Wow...such respect for the author.

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Sad to say, that notice is the least of his offenses in this whole episode.

As a follow-on to the controversy, a number of Helix authors have created a new website, Transcriptase. In addition to posting our stories and poems from Helix, we've posted a general statement about why we've done this. Several authors have added personal statements as well.

If nothing else, "pantiwadulous" ought to be a useful word. It's got panache.

Meh. That struck me as sexist and unprofessional.

CaoPaux said:

Nicely done. When life hands you lemons....

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It was Vylar Kaftan's most excellent idea. She and several others (including AWer nojojojo) did the main work of contacting writers and building the site. I'm delighted with the results and grateful for their work.

I am friends with Lawrence Watt-Evans, one of the editors, and this whole thing really saddened me. Helix is (was) a good ezine, with great writing. To see it flushed down the toilet because the editor in chief couldn't keep his mouth shut is a shame.

cdoctor13 said:

I am friends with Lawrence Watt-Evans, one of the editors, and this whole thing really saddened me. Helix is (was) a good ezine, with great writing. To see it flushed down the toilet because the editor in chief couldn't keep his mouth shut is a shame.

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I couldn't agree more. I used to be on the staff, too, and I thought the magazine published some damned fine stories and poems. It's too bad the senior editor has such a self-destructive streak.

I"m so glad there is a place for those stories again. There are indeed many damned fine stories and poems there.

Thanks for the link, Beth.

In the spirit of completeness:

Helix has formally closed down and removed its archives. The senior editor has posted his final editorial and an explanation why he removed the archives.

Transcriptase.org continues to archive stories and poems from Helix. We've added a number of works since August, too, so do drop by and see what's new.