Issue 11 Retrospective
Each Radon issue unfolds into a unique entity, like a family of half-siblings sharing slightly different DNA. The staff creating the journal changes from issue to issue, and the final creation is raised and put out into the world through differing environments and challenges.
Issue 11 Cover Reveals
We are proud and excited to unveil our front and back covers for Radon Journal Issue 11.
In conjunction with our Artist-in-Residence (AiR), Ninja Jo, please enjoy the world's first look at our print and online art.
These pieces were chosen as continuing commentary on the world we live in today. But rather than a full explanation from us now, we hope you'll take a moment to extrapolate what these i...
2025-09-17 19:14:39 +0000 UTC View PostIssue 10 Retrospective
Issue 10 launched one week ago and is perfect for your breezy summer reading—if you enjoy consuming words on stormy nights alone atop sand dunes, dejected about the increasing light pollution pushing the stars from view.
Our team is proud to have made it to double digits. We first opened January 2, 2022, and we look forward to being with you until Issue 100 in 2055 and beyond.
This landmark issue is the first to implement many changes we’ve been working on:
1) ...
2025-06-08 15:06:47 +0000 UTC View PostWhat Moving to Production Means
Around a month before an Issue you'll often hear us say "we're switching to production." But what does that mean, exactly? Here is a semi-detailed low-down on what occurs when we flip the switch:
One month before launch:
Internally close submissions for upcoming Issue. Anything past this is considered for the Issue following.
Editorial pauses weekly reading and discussion of slush pile until Issue editorial work is done. Usually 2-3 weeks.
F...
2025-05-11 14:54:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Silo Poll (Your Reading Habits Question)
Do you prefer reading journals and magazines that keep fiction and poetry in separate sections (siloed) or that mix them together (de-siloed)?
We would like to hear from you about how you best enjoy reading your content. Radon Journal currently uses a siloed format, with all fiction appearing first, followed by poetry. A de-siloed approach would see the issue ebb and flow based on the order that best fits the issue's works. This means our e...
2025-03-30 22:58:39 +0000 UTC View Post2024 Radon Retrospective
Since our launch on New Year's Day 2022, no year has brought more change than 2024. To say that we grew in 2024 is an understatement.
While we said goodbye to five editors (Saga, Sol, Kelsey, Eden, Alecto), we said hello to a whopping thirteen editors and readers (Angelica, Blake, Francis, Kallie, Lucas, Maya, Myranda, Renee, Katerina, Chloe, Dylan, James, and William).
One year ago we had never produced a print issue. Now, we have two under our belt and print has become an establ...
2025-02-03 01:24:09 +0000 UTC View PostArtist-In-Residence and Art Reveal
We are pleased to announce that our search for an Issue 9 artist is at an end. And that we have created a new yearly position titled Artist-In-Residence.
For 2025 (Issues 9/10/11) this will be Ninja Jo, who is a freelance artist born in Ukraine. She works in digital and traditional materials such as watercolor, ink, and oil. She has more than twenty years of experience in traditional art and over ten years in digital. Subjects of her paintings are usually robots, different science fic...
What We're Up To
Today's post will be an exclusive and hodge-podge list of everything our journal is currently up to. 2024 has been a year of immense growth for us as we expanded our team multiple times, introduced first readers, launched our first print version, and more.
Two Newest Teammates
We searched through CLMP and found and successfully brought Myranda and Renee on as Marketing Editors. We are currently training and integrating them into the fold. We have made a push this past year to sp...
2024-11-28 02:21:50 +0000 UTC View Post2024 Annual Funding Report
As a not-for-profit journal, it is important to us that we share with the community what we are doing with their money, where Radon is funding-wise, and also have it be a resource for future editors considering starting a lit journal. Too many journals hide this information and we never felt that was right. This will be posted publicly tomorrow, but is appearing here for our supporters first.
Our previous 2023 funding report can be viewed via the link in our FAQ "Supportin...
2024-11-11 00:17:57 +0000 UTC View PostIssue 8 Retrospective & Journal Update
Radon Issue 8 released last month online and (for the first time) in print, embodying the massive growth and changes the journal is experiencing in 2024. This post serves both as a behind-the-scenes update and a moment for us to pause and reflect on how we are doing.
A Whole New Team (Almost)
May saw the departure or hiatus of most veteran Radon editors and the arrival of four new members to the editorial team. Each left o...
2024-10-13 00:09:09 +0000 UTC View PostUpdate on Issue 8 Print Edition
The short version:
The print version of Issue 8 is coming soon but will not be available on launch day. We sincerely and humbly apologize for this. We will send an email and alert everyone through all means possible as soon as the physical edition is ready.
The long version:
Our print and epub files are still processing at IngramSpark and the delay is outside our control. Unbeknownst to us, a mandatory 3-5 processing hold is placed on al...
2024-09-15 00:26:09 +0000 UTC View PostIssue 8 Cover Image + Updates
We're excited to bring you an exclusive preview of our back cover (left side) and front cover (right side) created by German artist Cornelius Dämmrich. The image is vibrant and alive in more ways than one and invites the eye to linger and uncover new details with each pass.
September 1st we plan to unveil the front cover with our logo to the world and begin our Issue 8 author reveal on September 9th...
2024-08-26 04:25:51 +0000 UTC View PostIssue 7 Retrospective & Journal Status
Issue 7 Retrospective
We are proud of how smoothly Issue 7 came about, and the high quality of the authors and cover art. Previous retrospectives have discussed our tribulations with acquiring work later in the submission window than we would prefer, leaving us scrambling at the final hour. This issue, we started out the gate with acceptances. We had a steady flow of them over the next four months, giving us plenty of room to enter production on our own terms and ensu...
2024-06-02 20:06:43 +0000 UTC View PostPotential Genre Name Change Poll
We are mulling a potential change and would like your thoughts. Reasoning is below the question. Nothing has been decided yet and we have not made these thoughts public. We wanted our most dedicated and supportive audience to weigh in.
Should we change one of our four genre labels from "dystopia" to "cyberpunk"?
Why we are considering this:
1) The definition of Cyberpunk contains dystopia as one of its two main elements
2) Cyberpunk dystopias are what our edit...
Exclusive Cover Reveal and Journal Plans
Our post today reveals our issue 7 cover art to patrons, exciting website renovations, and more details on our journal's print plans.
Our Issue 7 Cover!
Created by the artist Yuumei, we hope you are as stunned by this magnificent art as we are. There are mesmerizing details to uncover even after staring at it for half an hour. Did you notice the leaf weaving in and out of our...
Website Refresh and More
Today we'd like to come to you with a short peek behind the scenes of what we've been up to.
Radon Website
We have officially begun what we are terming our "website refresh." Split into two phases, we are improving our site's responsiveness and overall visual feel.
Lessons have been learned in design since the site was first created in 2021. We want to continually be providing a better navigation experience for our readers.
Phase ...
2024-03-04 02:20:33 +0000 UTC View PostIssue 6 Retrospective and Looking Ahead
Production of Issue 6
Our January issues remain our most difficult. Their release date is only two weeks following a lengthy holiday season that sees most of our editors sprawled across multiple continents. Each year we find ourselves returning home the first week of January and playing frantic catch-up. In the end, everything always comes together, but there are plenty of late nights to make it happen.
There are rumblings among the Radon editors that we ...
2024-02-05 04:07:16 +0000 UTC View PostIssue 6 Sneak Peek
In exactly one week our sixth issue will release into the world. All our editors are locked in production mode and furiously editing, preparing the website, creating marketing copy, and coding the Epub.
Due to the holidays, we locked in our issue stories later than we would have liked. But we made it in the end. We are pleased to come to you today with a sneak peek at the issue and a small u...
On the Radar for Radon Journal
The image you see above is a teaser taken directly from our upcoming issue 6 cover art. The digital art piece is quite large and required cropping, so the image here is from the portion of the art we are not using. But it does give a tantalizing peek into what you can expect. What could this machine part be yelling about? You'll find out soon.
Dual Subscription and Partnership 2023-12-15 02:44:23 +0000 UTC View Post
Issue 5 Retrospective
Issue 5 is arriving inside your inbox as you read this. We truly hope that you enjoy it.
Today we have 1,100 words of journal thoughts and details you won’t find anywhere else.
Audio Collaboration
For the first time, select Radon stories appeared in audio form alongside our issue release. This wonderful happenstance was more serendipitous than anything. While we have a great working relationship with Space Cowboy Books out in California, we do not currentl...
2023-09-15 19:19:26 +0000 UTC View PostUnder the Editor's Pen
Issue 5 releases in fewer than four weeks now, with a fantastic new slate of anarchist sci-fi poetry and prose. Mark your calendar: the new issue will go live Friday, September 15! And you'll find a little extra something in your inboxes and audio streaming services that day. We can't give all of the details yet, but for the first time select Radon stories will be featured in an audio podcast.
We will unveil our full cover art for issue 5 on August 25th, but and w...
2023-08-14 18:51:50 +0000 UTC View PostSeize the Press July Issue Status
We know everyone is excited to receive the upcoming StP issue this month. But their EIC has informed us that there will be a slight delay.
A few issues have cropped up and it may be a couple of weeks to sort them all out. Rest assured, as soon as the files are ready, we will send them in .PDF and . Epub directly to your emails.
Read On About Radon
Today we'll chat about a slew of journal-related happenings and behind-the-scenes deliberations. Also attached is the world's tiniest teaser for the issue 5 cover art.
There's a lot to get into, and no set path for this post. So let's start with the good news:
1) Seize the Press (StP) has their next issue expected this month. All $4+ patrons will get the PDF and Epub sent to their emails once the issue is live. StP doesn't like to annou...
Behind the Radon Curtain
Issue four's launch was decidedly our largest yet. We are catching chatter of the issue in a growing number of online corners, and everything we hear is positive. For a DIY effort with no money put into paid advertising and views coming solely from our own effort, the posts of our authors, and word of mouth, we are immensely pleased.
Radon AI Situation
AI submissions remain easily manageable for us. Unlike pro magazines such as Clarkesworld, we currently only rece...
2023-06-06 01:32:41 +0000 UTC View PostRadon Sneak Peek
Today we are giving you the exclusive chance to see our issue four cover art!
For this issue we have partnered with a known Swedish artist who we’ll unveil next month.
We will not be sharing this art with the world until around April 23rd and so we ask that you help us keep this under wraps for the time being.
Please see the attached art and then keep reading after for more news.
Team & Graphics & Socials
Our team has solidified at aro...
2023-03-26 04:46:26 +0000 UTC View PostBehind-the-scenes distribution method
This past year we have placed our behind-the-scenes posts directly here on Patreon. Though it has occurred to us not all of our Patrons may be notified or choose to read content on this site. We are gearing up for an extensive post for you all, but want to ask you first how you'd like to receive it.
Please vote for your top option in the poll below to help us better server you:
One Year Reflection and Forward Gaze
Allow me (Aimer) to wax sentimental and reflect on Radon Journal's first year and what's to come.
First I would like to thank all twelve of you who currently support us monetarily. Together you pledge $78 each month, bringing us to 72% of our funding goal. Thousands visit our site, but you select few have gone above and beyond to help us the most.
If you did not catch our annual budget b...
2023-01-26 03:43:42 +0000 UTC View PostEnd of the Year Insights
Though Radon went public on January 2nd, 2022, we began laying the groundwork much earlier. In many regards we already passed our one-year anniversary. It took multiple lifetimes of learning and growing until the three of us who began Radon were in a place to make it a reality.
From the beginning of 2022 through to the tip of 2023 we have gone from a DIY idea to a growing community of almost a dozen editors, five dozen authors, thousands of submissions, and a home for countless.
Behind-the-scenes
Thank you to each of you for continuing your support through these months as Radon Journal continues to grow. This patron newsletter will not be formally structured, but contain the musings, thoughts, workings, and machinations from Radon editors that we do not share elsewhere. Call us a literary onion, as there are many layers working to make this enterprise succeed. And you are the most important ones.
Issue #2 Launch and Growth
Our efforts since May 15th culmin...
2022-10-01 00:22:35 +0000 UTC View PostAugust Radon Roundup
Patrons are the lifeblood of our journal. So today we're creating an intimate update--just for you. Below will be a snapshot of where we are, what we're doing, and what's coming.
A huge amount goes on behind the scenes. Even if you closely follow us on our Twitter and Discord there there's more to tell.
Issue #2 coming next month.
Now that August is ...