SF: We Need to Stop Saying "Big Three"
In the science fiction world, you will often see the term "big three" used to reference, collectively, the magazines Asimov's, Analog, and F&SF. I think this term is sloppy and silly. First of all, they're not really that big, are they? Highest subscriber base of them is less than 20,000 right now, which makes them pretty damn small compared to non-genre magazines. The magazine with the highest subscription is published in China, or so I have read recently. It has a subscriber base of more than 500,000. So, this term is incorrect and inelegant.
But I understand the need for a term to represent them, because in the Anglo world, they are the leading publications. So I propose this word in it's place, both because it's not making any claims about size, and because this word is COOL and we all know that COOL is what we need:
Triad.
Let it be known, and let the word spread. The three publications shall henceforth be known as the Triad, at least in this blog. Feel free to use this term yourself.
I hope to come up with other COOL terms to replace OLD AND DUSTY ones soon. Stay tuned.
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How about "the dead tree three?"
Sure, there are still other printed magazines, but the others have even lower circulations and generally less-frequent publication. (And, frankly, none of them look all that healthy anyway.)
"Dead tree three" sounds kicky and modern, like whistling past the graveyard. Plus -- rhyme! Always a bonus.