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The Story of Polar Borealis Magazine

by R. Graeme Cameron with adaptations for the blog by Lynda Williams

A photograph of SF fan, author and publisher R. Graeme Cameron.
Author and publisher R. Graeme Cameron

About the Story Thing (2025) - 13

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"About the Story Things" is a thematic series of articles, sponsored by Reality Skimming Press. Pieces will appear every other Monday Jun 2 through to the end of 2025. Query us about contributing to future themes at https://facebook.com/relskim or info@realityskimming.com


The Story of Polar Borealis Magazine


In the fall of 2015, Lynda Williams and R. Graeme Cameron had lunch. As Graeme describes the key developments:


"Discussion turned to difficulties facing beginning writers. Lynda said, 'To stand out in the submission reading, beginners, competing with professionals, have to write better than professionals, something even professionals find hard to do.' Mulling things over on the way home, [I thought] why not publish a magazine targeting beginning writers? Provide an extra market for long-time writers struggling for a first sale?"


And from this idea, Polar Borealis Magazine was born.


Says Graeme: "Traditionally, hobbyists spend $100 a month. I can afford that much from my pension income. Make that my budget. Plus, two decades experience with newsletters and fanzines. Even won an Aurora award for one.    I decided to develop a template for a professional-looking, readable online zine with a set font type, size, layout, etc. Once set, never change. Concentrate on contents. On editing. Publish online.   I also decided to make the magazine available for free. Terrific advantage. Never need to worry about sales or finances. I suspect other Magazine editors envy me. Guaranteed 4 issues per year on my income."


Screenshot from the homepage of Polar Borealis Magazine, a Canadian SF magazine free to download.
Screenshot of the Polar Borealis website.

The nature of the magazine was to encourage beginning authors by affirming their goals and promoting their talent. "Nothing to do with money," Graeme points out. "I earn nothing. It’s all about supporting beginning writers. That’s my retirement hobby."


It's been an impressive "hobby", too.


Here's how Graeme summed up his results.


Proven market

      I have published 35 issues of PB to date. That’s 325 short stories and 308 poems.

 

Market reach

      Last time I checked PB is read in 137 countries.

 

Market longevity

On average, any given issue of PB is downloaded 100 or more times in the first month. Each issue remains available for free download in perpetuity. Some of my earliest issues have been downloaded 3,000 times and climbing. Market reach longevity.


Awards

  Polar Borealis has won five Aurora awards. Granted, Fan publication category, but that’s because I don’t charge money for the zine. Even the ads are placed for free. So technically, Fannish, rather than professional.


On the other hand, people published in PB, because they are paid, can be nominated for professional Aurora categories. Several have been nominated. Matt Moore won best poem Aurora for “Heaven is the Hell of No Choices” published in Issue #4 in July of 2017. You, too, can win an Aurora if you publish in PB.


In fact, the magazine has attracted nearly as many professional SF writers in Canada as it has honest beginners, which is how it should be. A mix of new and proven talent building a product's reputation together.


It is still a special place for new Canadian writers to try their hand, too.


Says Graeme:

"PB is a narrow niche magazine. I publish only Canadian authors. When you submit, you are competing with fewer writers than is the case with magazines open to writers worldwide. Improves your chances of acceptance. PB publishes 4 times a year which, at 9 stories and 9 poems per issue, means I need to acquire 36 stories and 36 poems every annual submission period.    I generally get about 100 submissions in each category. This means your chance of acceptance is roughly 36%. Darn good odds!"


It is a paying market, at the semi-pro level,, but like Reality Skimming Press operates on its own unique model, acknowledging different publisher "fly for their own reasons" - as Reality Skimming Press would put it. In Graeme's case, he pays authors although the magazines can be downloaded for free. And all rights revert to the author within a week of publication should they wish to use the story in additional ways. "The contract is designed to maximize freedom of options for the author," Graeme explained.


Richard Graeme Cameron, who writes under the variation of his name R. Graeme Cameron, is also the author of an SF series called Shatter Dark -- a series he has wanted to write for a long time.


The Shatter Dark website describes it thus: "If you love ancient history, enjoy political shenanigans no matter what era, view the history of civilization with a cynical eye, and were born with a weird and idiosyncratic offbeat sense of humour, then I wrote this book for you! Actually, I wrote it to please myself, but since I know I'm not unique, and if you match the description above, then I'm absolutely certain that I definitely wrote it for you!"


R. Graeme Cameron, with adaptations for the blog by Lynda Williams.

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Richard Graeme Cameron has won 7 Aurora awards and inducted into the Canadian SF&F Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2019. His bio comes up online as "a Canadian science fiction and fantasy fan, writer and editor known for his long history in the fan community, particularly in British Columbia." He chaired the VCON convention twice, in 2000 (VCON 25) and 2016 (VCON 41). He was also a key organizer for the first VCON in 1971. He has edited numerous fanzines such as BCSFAzine and Entropy Blues and currently publishes the semi-pro magazines Polar Borealis and Polar Starlight as well as writing reviews for Amazing Stories and writing the Shatter Dark Series.





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