As we are starting our fifth year of publication, we’ve been looking forward and looking back.

In May, we prepared for and launched our fifth Kickstarter campaign with the stretch goal of paying the pro-rate of 8 cents/word. We want to achieve and maintain that rate in the future as we continue to publish established authors and find, help, and publish new authors and new voices from around the world. 

In all worlds and times, our tales revolve around those individuals and groups who bring meaning and value to the world, whose actions are of consequence, and whose dreams are the vanguard of things to come. As always, we love positive stories that show that the human adventure is just beginning. 

At DreamForge, we believe that we (humanity) become what we imagine! So, all DreamForge stories engage readers with strong, empathetic characters and welcoming communities committed to positive outcomes. Our 2024 Mega Issue will take on the theme of “The Grand Uplift, where stories will focus on grand events and powerful movements that spark positive change, collective endeavors that elevate humanity, and a sense of shared purpose in communities working toward uplifting themselves and others. Stories for "The Grand Uplift" suggests an inspiring and momentous shift that benefits humanity, fostering a sense of hope, progress, and optimism.

Well, back in 2018, Scot came up with the crazy idea to start a magazine. It started from conversations we had about the amount of dystopian and grimdark stories out in the world. (While we, too enjoy a good dystopia now and then, these darker stories, movies, games, etc. seemed to dominate the landscape.)  

Scot grew up on the optimism of Star Trek and science fiction of the 50s and 60s. In many of these stories the community or the hero worked with technology to make the world a better place. Jane grew up on heroic fantasies like The Lord of the Rings where battles were fought to save the world.  

We talked with our long-time friend and best-selling author Jane Lindskold about the idea, and she agreed to help. We knew it was a risky proposition and we knew it was a lot of work. (Although I’m not sure we really understood how much work!) We worked out the theme of the magazine, and a logo.

We learned that the Nebula Awards were in Pittsburgh in May of 2018.  It was right around our 20th Wedding Anniversary, and we decided our anniversary trip would be to go to the Nebulas. That really started our journey into the publishing industry, which we knew very little about.

In our day jobs, we own a small digital marketing agency. Businesses often network with other businesses, but rarely with competitors. We didn’t know what to expect, but we certainly didn’t expect the kind of open “pay it forward” community we found. 

When we first checked in at the front desk at the Nebulas, they asked why we had come and we replied, “Well we’re thinking about starting a magazine.” They responded by setting up a welcome meeting with Scott Edelman because he has tremendous experience with magazines and in the industry overall. Over that weekend, we met with Neil Clarke from Clarkesworld, Scott Andrews from Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Pablo Defedini, then with Fireside Magazine. By the end of the weekend, in a conversation with Scott Andrews, we remarked how amazing it was that everyone was so open with information about their businesses and trying to help us avoid common problems. He said, “That guy over there (pointing at Neil Clarke), helped me get started. I’ll help you get started. You help the next person get started. That’s how it works.”

Through out the years, we’ve met many wonderful people, digitally and in person. 

Our very first Patreon supporter, Jamie Munroe was from Australia. He became our first editorial assistant and helped us build our outstanding corps of First Line Readers. We count him as a friend.  

And those first line readers are integral to helping us select the very best stories for each issue. They freely dedicate their time and offer honest opinions to help Scot in so many ways. We truly appreciate all they do.

We’ve worked with Angela Yuriko Smith, publisher of Space & Time Magazine, on several initiatives. (Angela took over the reins on Space & Time just about the same time we started DreamForge.) This led to the publication of Worlds of Light and Darkness from Uproar Books where selected stories from each magazine were collected in a very well-received anthology.

We’ve become great friends with Wulf Moon. Moon won Writers of the Future during our first year of publication– when we sent magazines to the winners. He knew right away that he wanted to help and support the endeavor.  As he grew in his career as author, he developed his Super Secrets of Writing and with his “pay it forward” attitude has shared those secrets with many new writers who have come together to form his Wulf Pack. Since 2021, Moon has written an article on writing for almost every issue of our digital version, DreamForge Anvil. They are a wonderful resource and highly entertaining.

A couple of years back, we offered some videos to help writers learn their craft. As an editor, Scot saw many common mistakes in stories. Combine that with Wulf Moon’s expertise, we had some very successful webinars. It was such fun to get writers together for conversations, that we came up with the idea to create DreamCasters. 

DreamCasters support us through Kickstarter and Patreon. In turn we have monthly meetings and a Discord server where we discuss the craft and business of writing. We’ve had wonderful guests including authors like Marie Vibbert, Bruce McAllister, Jane Lindskold, and Mary Robinette Kowal. Emily Mah Tippets came to talk about e-publishing, Crystal Crawford joined us to talk about the Kindle Vella Platform and literary agent Rick Lewis from Martin Literary Management discussed how to query and find an agent.

We enjoy our monthly discussion with the DreamCasters! It’s a highlight of our month. We’ve developed a wonderful community of talented writers, each sharing information, expertise, and support with one another.

Just this past April, Scot was invited to the Writers and Illustrators of the Future in Hollywood California. (And I went along too.) As a former winner (Volume 6 in 1990), Scot was asked to do a presentation to the writers about writing for magazines and I talked to the illustrators. It was a wonderful experience where we got to meet some of our digital friends in person (including John Goodwin, the President of Galaxy Press, Wulf Moon, our current Editorial Assistant, Catherine Weaver, and Dreamcasters (and WOTF winners) including David Hankins and Brittany Rainsdon – as well as meeting many other wonderful people who will become friends in in the future.

So here we are, starting our fifth year. We’ve had more great experiences and met more wonderful people than we ever could have anticipated. We have authors, friends, and supporters from all around the world– like-minded people who don’t think the world is going to hell in a handbasket, people who do see good in the world, and are optimistic that communities can come together and envision something more for humanity.

We don’t know where the future is going to take us, where it will take DreamForge Magazine. Still, we hope to let some little mark on the world and inspire others to see our grand vision: That the human adventure is just beginning.