''Jim Baen's Universe'' (''JBU'') was a bimonthly

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

and

science fiction magazine A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard-copy periodical format or on the Internet. Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story, novelette, nov ...

created by

Jim Baen James Patrick Baen (, beɪn , ; October 22, 1943 – June 28, 2006) was a U.S. science fiction publisher and editor. In 1983, he founded his own publishing house, Baen Books, specializing in the adventure, fantasy, military science fiction, an ...

(founder and long-time publisher of

Baen Books Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...

). It was recognized by the SFWA as a Qualifying Short Fiction Venue. ''JBU'' began soliciting materials in January 2006 and launched in June 2006. The magazine contained around 120,000 to 150,000 words per issue. It closed in 2010.

died of a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

on June 11, 2006 and did not see the magazine's full success. The first and only editor-in-chief was

Eric Flint Eric Flint (February 6, 1947 – July 17, 2022) was an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures. His works have been listed ...

, an author and

anthologist In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically catego ...

. The executive editor was

Mike Resnick Michael Diamond Resnick (; March 5, 1942 – January 9, 2020) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He won five Hugo awards and a Nebula award, and was the guest of honor at Chicon 7. He was the executive editor of the defunct ...

, a science fiction author, editor and anthologist. ''JBU'' had featured stories from a number of notable authors, including

Alan Dean Foster Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 standalone novels, and many novelizations of film scripts. Career ''Star Wars'' Foster was the ghos ...

Gregory Benford Gregory Benford (born January 30, 1941) is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is professor emeritus at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is a contributing editor of ''Reason ...

Esther Friesner Esther Mona Friesner-Stutzman, née Friesner (born July 16, 1951) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. She is also a poet and playwright. She is best known for her humorous style of writing, both in the titles and the works themsel ...

, and

Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born July 17, 1971) is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog ''Boing Boing''. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of ...

. Regular columnists included

Barry N. Malzberg Barry Nathaniel Malzberg (born July 24, 1939) is an American writer and editor, most often of science fiction and fantasy. Biography Malzberg originated from a Jewish family and graduated from Syracuse University in 1960. He worked as an investi ...

, and

Stephen Euin Cobb Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

. Part of the magazine's philosophy was to nurture new authors, slots were reserved in each issue for new writers. Amateur writers were encouraged to submit their work via an online forum, referred to as " e-slush." Stories submitted to e-slush were reviewed by peers and associate

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

s. The theory was that this process may turn stories that were not quite publishable into publishable ones. Editor Eric Flint announced in August 2009 that the magazine would close after its April 2010 issue due to insufficient subscriber income. The magazine still exists as the "Universe Annex" section of ''

The Grantville Gazettes ''The Grantville Gazettes'' are anthologies of short stories set in the 1632 universe introduced in Eric Flint's novel ''1632'' that was primarily published as a bi-monthly electronic magazine from 2003 until shortly after Flint's death in 20 ...

''.

Awards and recognition

's "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth" won the

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...

for best novelette of 2006. * ''Locus'' cites four novelettes from Baen's Universe in its 2006 Recommended Reading List. *

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

winning editor

Gardner Dozois Gardner Raymond Dozois ( ; July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American people, American science fiction author and editing, editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'' anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of ...

selected three stories from ''Universe'' to include in his 2007 anthology. * Mike Resnick's "All the Things You Are" was nominated for (but did not win) the 2007

Hugo Award for Best Novelette The Hugo Award for Best Novelette is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novelette award is available for works of fiction of ...

Reviews

Magazine reviewer Debbie Moorhouse, in ''

Greatest Uncommon Denominator ''Greatest Uncommon Denominator Magazine'' (also known as ''GUD Magazine'') is an American literary magazine, the first publication from Greatest Uncommon Denominator Publishing, founded in Laconia, New Hampshire in July 2006. Format and periodi ...

,'' says:

Electronic distribution

''JBU'' is electronic only, and is not available in print (although a hardcover "Best of" collection has been published). It is distributed without

digital rights management Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM) such as access control technologies can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. ...

(DRM).Boing Boing: Baen's Universe - new sf e-zine with no DRM and top writers
/ref> The first half of each story can be read for free, but only subscribers can read the second half. Individual issues can be purchased via

Baen Ebooks Baen Ebooks is an e-book supplier operated by Baen Books. It sells e-books for Baen and some other publishers, as well as hosting the Baen Free Library. Unlike most e-book suppliers, it does not use Digital Rights Management (i.e., copy protection). ...

. Subsequent to the announcement of the closing, subscriptions were modified to provide one year of access to all back issues.

References

{{Reflist
The Editor's Page @JBU
and the "Salvo's Against Big Brother Columns (Baen's/Flints column dedicated to fighting DRM)
News and announcements
from the editor-in-chief's home page. Q&A pages and information hold much about genesis of this e-zine.

External links

Archive image of ''Jim Baen's Universe''
(in 2007)
JBU Columns
��many ''JBU'' columns are available to non-subscribers, those that are not can be read in part (about half) Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Online magazines published in the United States Defunct science fiction magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 2006 Magazines disestablished in 2010 Science fiction webzines Baen Books