Strange Horizons
Strange Horizons is a volunteer-staffed, 501(c)(3) nonprofit weekly online magazine publishing speculative fiction, poetry, reviews, essays, and art free to readers while paying contributors professionally, funded almost entirely by reader donations.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersCorpus Christi, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Strange Horizons does
Strange Horizons is a volunteer-staffed, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit weekly online magazine of speculative fiction, founded in 2000 and operating from the United States with a global online readership. It publishes fiction, poetry, reviews, essays, interviews, and art on a continuous weekly cadence, paying contributors at professional per-piece rates while making all content free to readers. The publication is best known for championing diverse and emerging voices in science fiction and fantasy, and has published acclaimed authors including Saladin Ahmed, Charlie Jane Anders, and N.K. Jemisin.
The core technology stack is a WordPress-based content management system with RSS feed infrastructure for category-level content syndication; the site has no mobile app, no public API, and no AI-augmented features. The product surface extends beyond the core magazine into podcast series (Critical Friends for literary criticism, Writing While Disabled for disability in SFF, and SH@25 anniversary content), the Samovar satellite publication, and the 100 African Writers of SFF editorial initiative.
The business model is donation-driven nonprofit. Strange Horizons raises revenue almost entirely from reader contributions through Patreon, Network for Good, Ko-fi, PayPal, and mailed checks, supplemented by modest Etsy merchandise sales (~$4 retained per item) and Bookshop.org affiliate commissions (10%) on books purchased through its review links. The organization operates with no paid employees and has no disclosed revenue, funding rounds, or institutional investors. Go-to-market is community-led, relying on word-of-mouth within the speculative fiction community, organic search, RSS subscribers, podcast listeners, and periodic fund drives.
Strange Horizons firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Strange Horizons
- Legal name
- Strange Horizons
- Website
- https://strangehorizons.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Strange Horizons is a volunteer-staffed, 501(c)(3) nonprofit weekly online magazine publishing speculative fiction, poetry, reviews, essays, and art free to readers while paying contributors professionally, funded almost entirely by reader donations.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Strange Horizons industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Speculative Fiction Magazine
- NAICS
- Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (71151), Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (7115)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Alternative/Independent Newsweeklies & Opinion Press (MPAJADAH)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Libraries, Archives & Special Collections (BPAGAHAF)
Keywords
Where Strange Horizons is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Corpus Christi
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Strange Horizons business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Donations and Patron Support: Reader donations through Patreon, Network for Good, Ko-fi, PayPal, and check/money order. Weekly magazine content is free to readers while paying contributors professional rates.
- Merchandise Sales: Sales through Etsy merch store, with approximately $4 retained per item sold.
- Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate commissions from Bookshop.org (10% commission) when readers purchase books through links in reviews. Online bookstore available at bookshop.org/shop/strangehorizons.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free content with optional donation support |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels6 records
Strange Horizons product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Strange Horizons is a volunteer-staffed, nonprofit weekly online magazine that publishes speculative fiction, poetry, reviews, essays, interviews, and original art. All content is provided free to readers while contributors are paid professional rates, with funding coming from reader donations, merchandise sales, and affiliate commissions.
Product overview
Strange Horizons is a volunteer-staffed, nonprofit weekly magazine of speculative fiction, operating as a single unified digital publication. The core product is the magazine itself, which publishes fiction, poetry, reviews, essays, interviews, and art on a weekly basis. It is supplemented by several podcast series—Critical Friends (literary criticism and genre analysis), Writing While Disabled (disability in SFF spaces), and SH@25 (anniversary content)—as well as the Samovar satellite publication and the 100 African Writers of SFF editorial initiative. Content syndication is provided via category-specific RSS feeds. The organization maintains a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status and relies on reader donations for funding.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Samovar: An RSS feed/aggregation platform mentioned on the website at samovar.strangehorizons.com
- Critical Friends
- Writing While Disabled (WWD)
- SH@25
Products and services
- Strange Horizons Magazine A weekly online magazine publishing speculative fiction, poetry, reviews, essays, interviews, and art; free to readers, paying contributors professional rates, and targeted at speculative fiction enthusiasts and genre literature readers.
- Critical Friends Podcast A recurring podcast series featuring discussions about speculative fiction, genre analysis, and literary criticism, with episodes on topics such as 'Reading Queerly,' 'On Oeuvres,' 'On Reviewing Debuts,' 'Romancing The Genre,' and 'On Style.'
- Writing While Disabled Podcast A podcast series exploring disability and science fiction spaces, featuring episodes on convention accessibility, accommodations, and disabled writers' experiences; published as an audio column on Strange Horizons.
- SH@25 Podcast A podcast series associated with Strange Horizons' 25th anniversary, featuring special episodes such as 'A 2025 Hugo Awards Primer' and other anniversary-themed content.
- Samovar A separate blog/publication associated with Strange Horizons, featuring occasional issues and supplementary content that complements the main magazine.
- 100 African Writers of SFF An initiative and archive section dedicated to featuring and promoting African speculative fiction writers, published as a curated editorial section within the magazine.
Companies that use Strange Horizons
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Strange Horizons technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Strange Horizons partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Network for GoodminorNonprofit organization dedicated to helping other nonprofit organizations with online donations; used as a donation processing platform
- PatreoncoreMonthly patronage platform enabling ongoing supporter engagement and recurring donations
- Bookshop.orgminorAffiliate partnership where Strange Horizons earns 10% commission on books purchased through their review links and bookstore
- EtsyminorMerchandise store platform where Strange Horizons sells branded items, retaining approximately $4 per item
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Strange Horizons competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies: An online magazine focused on fantasy short fiction published biweekly. Directly comparable in online-first speculative fiction publishing, professional contributor payment, and audience overlap with Strange Horizons readers.
- PodCastle: A fantasy fiction podcast magazine (Escape Artists network), publishing speculative fiction as audio. Comparable to Strange Horizons' podcast products (Critical Friends, Writing While Disabled) in format and audience, and to its fiction content in genre focus.
- Clarkesworld Magazine: A long-running online magazine of speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy) publishing original short fiction monthly. Closely comparable in mission, format, audience, and payment model to Strange Horizons, though it has a paid staff and paid subscriptions.
- FIYAH Literary Magazine: A quarterly speculative fiction magazine focused on Black writers and readers, publishing fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews. Comparable to Strange Horizons in digital-first format, nonprofit orientation, and mission-driven focus on underrepresented voices in speculative fiction.
- Apex Magazine: An online speculative fiction magazine with a focus on horror and dark fantasy, publishing fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Comparable in online format, genre focus, and digital distribution model.
- Uncanny Magazine: A Hugo Award-winning online SFF magazine publishing fiction, poetry, essays, and interviews. Directly comparable in mission to support diverse new voices, in online format, and in nonprofit crowdfunding-funded operations - making it the closest operational analog.
- Lightspeed Magazine: An online science fiction and fantasy magazine publishing original short fiction. Comparable in weekly/monthly digital publishing cadence, original fiction focus, and audio/podcast adaptations - though commercially operated by John Joseph Adams.
Broad incumbents
- Tor.com: The online publishing arm of Tor Books, a major SFF publisher. Publishes original fiction, reviews, essays, and podcasts covering the speculative fiction space. Overlaps directly with Strange Horizons' content but operates with substantially more resources and commercial backing.
- Locus Magazine: The leading trade news magazine for the science fiction and fantasy field, covering reviews, interviews, and industry news. Comparable to Strange Horizons in genre focus and review publication, but operates as the established industry trade publication with print and digital editions.
Others
- Samovar (sub-brand of Strange Horizons): Satellite publication/blog associated with Strange Horizons featuring occasional issues and curated content. Listed here as it's actually a sub-property but illustrates the same kind of sister-publication model used by other SFF magazines like Lightspeed's companion Fantasy Magazine.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Strange Horizons social profiles
Digital presenceStrange Horizons compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Strange Horizons financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Strange Horizons leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Strange Horizons funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Strange Horizons M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Strange Horizons
What does Strange Horizons do?
Strange Horizons is a volunteer-staffed, nonprofit weekly online magazine that publishes speculative fiction, poetry, reviews, essays, interviews, and original art. All content is provided free to readers while contributors are paid professional rates, with funding coming from reader donations, merchandise sales, and affiliate commissions.
Is Strange Horizons a public or private company?
Strange Horizons is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Strange Horizons founded?
Strange Horizons was founded in 2000. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Strange Horizons based?
Strange Horizons is headquartered in Corpus Christi, United States, in the North America region.
How does Strange Horizons make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Donations and Patron Support is the primary driver. The others are merchandise Sales and affiliate Marketing.
Who are Strange Horizons's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Beneath Ceaseless Skies, PodCastle, Clarkesworld Magazine, FIYAH Literary Magazine, Apex Magazine, Uncanny Magazine and Lightspeed Magazine. Broad incumbents are Tor.com and Locus Magazine. Samovar (sub-brand of Strange Horizons) is listed as an others.
Does Strange Horizons have an API?
No public API is recorded for Strange Horizons.
What industry is Strange Horizons in?
Strange Horizons's product category is Online Speculative Fiction Magazine. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJADAH, Alternative/Independent Newsweeklies & Opinion Press, with a secondary code of BPAGAHAF, Libraries, Archives & Special Collections. Its NAICS code is 71151.