MindFlights 1: Intro

I should begin this tour of MindFlights e-zine by mentioning that I am a proofreader for two other Double Edged Publishing e-zines, and on one of them I also serve as an editor. I don't usually bother actually reading those e-zines; I've already read them in proof.

MindFlights isn't one of them, but I admit I've steered clear of it on several grounds, as I did from its predecessors, The Sword Review and Dragons, Knights and Angels. But it's on the CSFF list, so I thought I might as well take the time for a look.

To begin with, there's a bit of an odd nuisance factor: unless a piece is unusually short, such as a poem or flash fiction, you get a teaser page with about a printed page worth of text. You can then get the whole piece in your choice of html or pdf, and the full version comes with a copy of that month's cover art.

Free advice: Just have the whole piece in html minus the cover art, and have a link at top or bottom for those who'd rather have it in pdf. If the reader decides to drop it after a few paragraphs, that's every bit as easy to do with the full story loaded. And if catering to those with a slow connection is a concern, html loads much faster than graphics, so losing the cover art will speed up the download, and you won't have to click through. (Hands up, anyone who does enjoy click-through pages!)

Anyway, tomorrow I'll look at some of the stories that are up at the moment, and in the third post make a few observations about the e-zine as a whole.

Other CSFF Blogs on the tour:
Brandon Barr
Justin Boyer
Jackie Castle
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Kameron M. Franklin
Beth Goddard
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Michael Heald
Christopher Hopper
Joleen Howell
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Terri Main
Margaret
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Pamela Morrisson
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Rachelle
Ashley Rutherford
Mirtika or Mir's Here
Rachelle Sperling
Stuart Stockton
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Robert Treskillard
Linda Wichman
Laura Williams
Timothy Wise