Doctor Fantastique's Show of Wonders

Doctor Fantastique's Show of Wonders is a Steampunk online magazine which has been published since August 2010. Recently they made a series of exciting announcements: They started offering downloadable and print issues of their magazine; formed and published two books on Amazon; and created Fantastique Gearworks, a Doctor Fantastique Books sub-label which will focus on LGBTQ Steampunk.

Doctor Fantastique's site has colourful descriptions of their staff, which comprise of some well known names, and an impressive list of international correspondents. The site makes available their first 5 issues for free, and they cover every aspect of the Steampunk subculture, from books, blogs and writing tips, graphic novels and comics, movies and music, to fashion and conventions.

Doctor Fantastique is a great launch pad for writers, because they publish short stories and serialized novels on their magazine, besides owning their publishing label.

The magazine's sixth issue, which is their first print issue, is a massive 60 pages, half of which contain articles, interviews, and reviews, while the other half contain Steampunk short stories and serialized novels. Going forward, the short stories, serialized novels and some new articles will still be available for free through the website, but to get the full content you'll need to purchase the issues or subscribe.

Doctor Fantastique offers three subscription plans, Print only, Print & Electronic, or Electronic only. The payment methods are PayPal, Google Checkout and Certified Check. The subscription starts from January / February 2012, so you'll still need to purchase this year's remaining issue individually. The Subscription page has a handy FAQ section in case you have any questions.

Individual issues can be purchased through the Doctor Fantastique website. Scrolling down, on the left sidebar you'll find a banner with the cover of their current issue. Clicking on it takes you to the HP MagCloud website, and if you click on the magazine cover again you'll get a preview of all its pages, although none of them are readable.

You are given a choice between purchasing the Digital edition or Print edition of the magazine. Purchasing the Print edition allows you to download the Digital version for free, so you don't have to wait for the hard copy to arrive to start reading.

Before purchasing you need to sign up or log in to HP MagCloud, and you're given the option to pay with various cards or PayPal. After the purchase, you'll receive a payment receipt by email, which has an order history link, and an account link where you can see all previously purchased download links. Neat!

Curiously there is a second way to purchase the magazine. On the Doctor Fantastique site, if you scroll further down on the left sidebar you'll find a Featured Products section. Clicking an issue takes you to a page where you can add it to your shopping cart, and you're given PayPal or Google Checkout as payment options.

If you're still not convinced, have a look at the past issues in The Archives, or jump straight to my favourite articles: Steampunk for the Uninitiated and The Steampunk Guide to Airships.

P.S. Those of you who have lots of friends and contacts may want to avail of the Doctor's Subscription Drive, which offers rewards for referring new subscribers.