Science Fiction Monthly was a British science fiction magazine published from 1974 to 1976 by New English Library. Launched in response to demand from readers for posters of the cover art of New English Library's science fiction paperbacks, it was initially very successful—its circulation had reached 150,000 by the third issue. It reprinted artwork by Chris Foss, Jim Burns, Bruce Pennington, Roger Dean, and many others. Well-known writers who appeared in its pages included Brian Aldiss, Bob Shaw, Christopher Priest, and Harlan Ellison. High production costs meant that a large circulation was necessary to sustain profitability, and when circulation fell to about 20,000 after two years NEL ceased publication. A new magazine, S.F. Digest, was launched in its stead but lasted only one issue.
Publication history
In the early 1970s, the London-based publisher New English Library (NEL) published a successful line of science fiction paperbacks that included well-known authors such as Frank Herbert and Robert A. Heinlein. The covers were popular with readers, and NEL frequently received requests for copies of the paperback cover art, without the overprinted material such as the title. They decided to produce a magazine to make the artwork available in poster form, hoping that the magazine would attract a young audience who might then become readers of NEL's books. By the middle of 1973 the decision was taken to add fiction and non-fiction features, though NEL still considered it primarily a vehicle for their art. The title was at first planned to be Sci-Fi Monthly, but this was abandoned when NEL found out that the abbreviation "sci-fi" was widely disliked by science fiction readers. The first issue appeared at the end of January 1974; the issues were always numbered and never dated. The editorial team included Michael Osborn as art editor, with responsibility for the magazine's layout, and, initially, Aune Butt and Penny Grant, who acquired non-fiction and fiction. From the eighth issue, Julie Davis took over Butt and Grant's editorial duties.
Interest in science fiction and fantastic art was growing at the time Science Fiction Monthly was launched, and sales were initially strong, with circulation reportedly at 150,000 by the third issue. This could not be sustained: Mike Ashley, a science fiction historian, suggests that poor economic conditions in the UK in the 1970s contributed to falling readership. Inflation, along with an increase in the cost of paper, meant that the price rose rapidly from 30p in late 1974 to 50p only eighteen months later, by which time circulation had fallen to under 20,000. Ashley also suggests that the readership was in "two factions: those who wanted the art did not want the fiction, and vice versa". The magazine was expensive to produce, because of the costs associated with colour reproduction, so it required a higher circulation than a typical digest magazine, and it was cancelled in early 1976. NEL replaced it with S.F. Digest, a smaller magazine with less emphasis on artwork, but this only lasted one issue before NEL's magazine department was cut.
Contents and reception
The magazine was published in tabloid format (), with high-quality colour reproduction; it was not stapled, so that it could be disassembled and the artwork used as posters. The first issue included four full-page reproductions, and another five double-page spreads, at . One such double-page image was Bruce Pennington's depiction of the spaceship Discovery from Arthur C. Clarke's The Lost Worlds of 2001, which was also used as the cover art for the issue. As well as the art, the first issue included stories by Christopher Priest and Brian Aldiss, an excerpt from Pirates of the Asteroids by Isaac Asimov, and columns covering films, art, and news items. The first news column, by Penny Grant, mentioned the UK's annual Easter science fiction convention and the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA). Both saw a surge in inquiries about membership as a result, and over 400 people attended the next Easter convention—a significant increase over the previous year's attendance of 250–300.