A Brief History of Electric Velocipede

At the end of 2000, I left publishing and was missing working in the field. The zine was started in 2001. I was inspired by Gavin Grant at a Readercon that summer to start my own zine. I had a lot of contacts in the field from my work at Asimov's and Tor Books. I felt there was something I could do that was more than just be a fan at conventions.

I started contacting people I knew to see if they would be willing to provide fiction for a new magazine. It was gratis work (work for a 'good cause' one of the authors called it) and something I hoped to fix some day. The first issue was mainly distributed for free at the annual SFWA Writers/Editors Banquet. From there I began selling subscriptions and single issues.

I've put out two issues a year without fail. Even when I was laid off I found a way to get that issue out. The first five issues were sorted, collated, folded, and stapled by me and friends. The zine is more professional looking these days, but I think it was good experience to start out touching every part of the process.

I was able to start paying authors in 2006 with issue #10. I also started publishing chapbooks that same year. I have some thoughts about what the future holds for Electric Velocipede and Spilt Milk Press, but I'm keeping those ideas close to the vest for now.

I've published a lot of authors that I enjoy reading, including, but not limited to: Liz Williams, Jeff VanderMeer, Jeffrey Ford, Catherynne M. Valente, Hal Duncan, Neal Barrett Jr., Alex Irvine, and many many more. If you're curious as to exact contributors, click on the ISSUES link in the navigational bar to look at back issues.

And an interesting side note: the panel that inspired Electric Velocipede also inspired the following zines: Trunk Stories, Rabid Transit, Say..., and Full Unit Hookup. All of those zines are still publishing five years later. That's pretty amazing considering that most zines only publish an issue or two.

You can contact the editor about Electric Velocipede or Spilt Milk Press at this address:

John Klima
Electric Velocipede
PO Box 266
Bettendorf, IA 52722

Or via e-mail with the contact link at the top of the page.