iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I should go to more SFF conferences so I can tell the behind-the-scenes stories for issues that are too interesting to put in writing www.radonjournal.com/issue14 Issue 14 is our last of the year and is a perfect bread-and-butter Radon issue that really shows off our quality roots

radonjournal.com

Issue 14 | Radon Journal

Fourteenth issue of Radon Journal, featuring science fiction, anarchist, and a little bit of horror. Poetry and short fiction stories to widen your perception.

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Some weeks I still get the urge to go for a PhD. But there are only 1–3 programs in the world offering doctorates with a focus on science fiction publishing. Half of those are in the UK and for all of them I am not in the right tax bracket to afford it.

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I finally finished reading Neuromancer. It took seven months but don't dwell on that. I did not enjoy reading it. Look, I love the plot, the vibe, and what it's done for cyberpunk. But the prose was the most difficult I've read in my life. Half the time it felt like I forgot how to read English

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Follow-up edit: I was referring to the finalists (the final ballots) specifically in the 2020s. I've now been shown the longlist voting for 2026, where Radon made the longlist. That's lovely and humbling to see, and I commend BCS for choosing to decline as well. That's very big of them

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Semi-pro journals are only found by either a random social media post or (mostly) submission databases like The Submission Grinder, Duotrope, or Chill Subs. Pro journals can afford to use winning the semi-pro category as a marketing + ad boost. But that boost should go to actual semi-pro journals.

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I realize the voters for the Hugo's are just whomever has a ticket to worldcon. And those are mostly readers. But semi-pro journals don't have many readers. You know who reads and supports semi-pro journals? The authors submitting to them. That's 85% of their audience. There's no marketing budget.

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Change something, get crazy with it. I don't know, make winning the semiprozine category a requirement for progressing into a new professional category. Let them swap the trophy around every year so we can nominate actual up-and-coming semi-pro journals and showcase the diversity of the industry

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Who the hell is this award for? The Hugo voters and casual SF fan who looks at the nominees will never find the dozens of burgeoning semi-pro journals because they are never mentioned. You're intentionally stifling the scene and you don't even realize it.

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

[Disclaimer, I love each of the mentioned journals/magazines and all us semi-pro journals look up to them greatly. They deserve their wins, but this is getting ridiculous.]

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Holy shit, people, magazines other than Strange Horizons, Uncanny, Escape Pod, and The Deadlands exist. Even Fiyah and Kheoreo and On Spec and BCS. All pay pro rates. And again, none are actually semi-pro.

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Even the award description is a relic of the past. Absolutely no one in the 2020s pays their staff (or even has a paid staff) other than the 1-3 legacy mags from the 1900s that are bought and sold every other year, and who go bankrupt every other year.

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Semi-pro journals don't get perfect stories submitted to them. They spend additional time that the pro journals don't working 1-1 with their authors in developmental and copy edits. Often it's the author's first time ever working with an editor, or being treated with actual respect.

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The semi-pro award is not serving its purpose. It's supposed to recognize and provide a platform for the up-and-coming journals that serve the industry in a specific in-between role. I run a semi-pro journal, and I also know dozens of semi-pro journals operating in the 1-6 cent area. No attention.

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The Hugo's Best Semiprozine category has a problem. Every single nominee in the semi-pro category pays professional rates. Every single nominee in the semi-pro category is not a semi-pro magazine. The exact same professional publications get nominated every single year.

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Finished my second watercolor half-sleeve

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

I promised my agent I'd stop fiddling with poems from my first full-length that's on sub. The cheeky SFPA Poetry Contest got me to check my long poems and I got carried away making it perfect. Word change turned into a re-format and I've never loved this poem more. But uh, don't tell anyone

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

In another life I was a slam poet, touring the country with my chapbooks and leading workshops. But I hadn't spoken my words aloud (in person) in over seven years. This week I attended my first public poetry workshop and shared what I wrote that night. I hope to get back on that metaphorical horse

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

I'm working on more poems again and my god I hate the writing phase, and long for the beautiful editing. We all know getting the rough draft idea on the page is the toughest part. But it's still hard to read the draft, know so intimately that it's shit, and not be discouraged from continuing

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Eye to the Telescope SpecPoVerse Journal Trollbreath Magazine Penumbric Magazine Baubles From Bones Strange Horizons The Sprawl Mag Foofaraw Press The Deadlands Small Wonders Radon Journal Uncanny

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

The Hugo Poetry Award still needs more nominations from you. Just a few days left. Are you a fiction person who needs help judging poetry? I've got just the thing for you: bsky.app/profile/case... The best free outlets to find said poetry listed below

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Star*Line (SFPA's premier speculative poetry journal) announced today it's raising its pay rates for poems and articles sfpoetry.org/wp/starline/

sfpoetry.org

Star*Line – Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Great list, and also Radon Journal (www.radonjournal.com/issues) is a poetry-first semi-pro journal. All the sci-fi poems are all eligible for the Hugo Award

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

The best wine sweet spot is when you're just inspired enough to break out your ukulele and learn more emo songs

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Great news for the poets, in that the Hugo Award for Best Poem has been secured until at least 2029. And the voters each vote during this years-long process get more and more % in favor of speculative poetry.

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Books are all fun, until you have to move them in bulk more than 10 feet. Then they're your worst enemy

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Got an extra-nerdy book present for my birthday

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Look at me just now catching up on social media Great job, all, was a good time

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Reposted by Casey Aimer

CB Droege (Manawaker) @cbdroege.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

New "Meet the Manawakers" interview! This time: Casey Aimer, author of “Descending Digital Mind” , from Dangerous to Go Alone 2. Free to read! Follow Manawaker Studio on Patreon: www.patreon.com/manawaker/po... #AuthorInterview #WritingCommunity #IndieAuthor #FlashFiction #SpecFic #Patreon #Booksky

patreon.com

Meet the Manawakers - Casey Aimer | Manawaker Studio

Meet the Manawakers - Casey Aimer by Manawaker Studio on Patreon. Join Manawaker Studio's community for exclusive content and updates.

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

And here I thought time was flying having reached almost 5 years. The universe is saying, "you ain't seen nothing yet."

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

My MFA taught me that the world sees poets as the weird bohemians in the corner talking to themselves. And fiction writers as the cool kids in leather jackets gaining media attention and drawing crowds, drinking like Hemingway, and always just about to write the next Great American Novel

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Congrats to the Deadlands for having the most poppin' thread of the day

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Some days the urge is strong to post overly-cryptic emo statements, like how we did in 2005 with our AOL away messages

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Many writers (especially poets) will try to submit works with quotes or song lyrics beginning the text. Please don't do this, as journals have to reject you for this. These things are both copyrighted and you need express permission to use them. No journals have the resources to buy the rights

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

I challenge fiction editors in the SFF industry to add poetry editors to your teams and begin publishing SFF poetry at an equal elevation to your prose. Don't know where to begin? PM me and I'll help. If I can't help, I know poets. If I don't know enough poets, the SFWA Poetry Committee can help

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

My Saturday: Watching Starship Troopers, MMO events, and plotting 40/100 poems for the next book

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

My first Nebula, as a finalist no less, was memorable. Even if my introvert battery often died sooner than I'd like. I didn't meet one non-great person. I always considered a nomination a not-very-likely career-topper, and it's an honor to receive one while just getting started in my early 30s

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Why SFF Poetry Matters panel starts at 1 central time today at the Nebula Conference. If you've been curious what all the new hoopla is about poetry in the spec world, this is the best panel to go to this weekend for that answer

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Reposted by Casey Aimer

Seditionist Distribution @seditionist.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

A couple days late here apologies! It's the cursed thirteenth issue of the absolutely fantastic @radonjournal.bsky.social available for download freely or £3.50 P/C for the physical copy :) seditionist.uk/distro/reada...

An illustration of a man on a rocky outcrop looking out, somewhat reminiscent of WANDERER ABOVE THE SEA OF FOG by Caspar David Friedrich only in the distance is a foreboding tower. Text reads "Radon Journal Issue 13"

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Issue 13 will always be the Cursed Issue to me. Having to edit this on a boat, journal finally getting hit with AI, all the sci-fi body horror in it, the artist going dark at key moments while they went into Iran to protect their family living there Still crazy to me to think we're on Issue 13 now

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

As an active SFF journal editor dealing with increasing levels of AI bullshit, who spends more and more hours analyzing and reading and investigating all of it I'm increasingly worried my subconscious will accidentally pick up some of their writing ticks

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

I'll be a panelist at two Nebula Conference panels next week: 1) Why Speculative Poetry Matters @ 4 PM Central (Fri, June 5) 2) Best Poem Finalists in Conversation @ 8 AM (Sat, June 6)

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Booked a new session with my tattoo artist. Officially doing that rather than getting tested for neurodiversity this summer

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

One of the best parts running a semi-pro journal is working so closely with the authors for developmental and copy editing. For some it's the first in-depth experience they've had among spec journals with the process. Getting to know so intimately someone's story feels like getting to know them.

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Here I am re-reading Jack Gilbert's poem "Failing and Flying" and bawling my eyes out. I've read this so many times and I can't move past it in the book. Just eternally stuck in this one resonating moment of beautiful heartbreak.

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Reposted by Casey Aimer

foofaraw press @foofarawpress.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Well this is neat! We are still pretty fresh in our poetry publishing days (although I want to publish more and have increased our rates), but Casey’s “Black Hole Framing” continues to be one of my favorites and the one I point to when people ask what kinds of poems I’m looking for.

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Some good news amid my writer's block: "Black Hole Framing" has been announced as a Rhysling Award finalist, having cleared the jury hurdle. Run-off voting by SFPA members happens this summer. Cheers to @foofarawpress.bsky.social for the good run the poem's been having

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Casey Aimer @caseyaimer.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Tonight was a good night. I took myself on a date and started two mosh pits and one circle pit

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