Hi, this is Soft Star

Soft Star Magazine features stories of science fiction, futurism, and speculative fiction with a healthy dose of optimism. No dystopias here; Soft Star stands for curiosity, openness, and the inherent magic of the unknown.

Soft Star publishes both online via this newsletter as well as in periodic print issues. Print issues also include full-color visual art pieces.

Masthead

Miranda Adkins is the Editor-in-Chief of Soft Star Magazine. She is a writer, a linguist, and a software engineer. Her love of lit mags began when she served as the Design Editor and the Editor-in-Chief of Echo Literary Magazine during her time as a student at the University of Texas at Austin (2013-2017). She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Korinne West (she/they) is a Guest Editor for Soft Star Magazine's fifth issue, and a three-time contributor to the magazine. They are a graphic designer currently working in higher-ed communications in their home state of Texas. She spends her free time writing stories, reading stories, making art, and drinking copious amounts of tea.

Mellisa Pascale is a first reader at Soft Star. Mellisa's creative nonfiction and poetry have appeared in Paperbark, The Common, Hometown Poems, and other publications. She holds an M.A. in Writing from Johns Hopkins University and an M.Phil. in Medieval Language and Literature from Trinity College Dublin. She is from southeastern Pennsylvania.

Elly Campbell is a first reader for Soft Star Magazine’s fifth edition. She lives in her hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah. Her livelihood is construction; however, her personal life is enriched by literature, reading her cat’s tarot, and short story writing.

Subscribe for more stories

Soft Star is now offering tiered subscriptions! That means that your options for involvement in Soft Star Magazine are expanding. If you choose to become a paid subscriber, 100% of your subscription contribution goes back into the magazine in the form of printing and postage costs for contributor copies of the print issues, as well as our Canva subscription and essay contest prizes. Your support helps keep Soft Star free to access on Substack and allows the print issues to keep coming!

The tiers are as follows:

Free

Free subscribers will receive all contributor posts in their email inboxes. This includes all fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that is published on Soft Star. You’ll also receive all important announcement emails (like theme and deadline announcements).

Paid

Paid subscribers to Soft Star receive all free-tier content plus:

  • Access to monthly-ish letters from the editor (yours truly). These Month-in-Review posts will cover a variety of topics — recommended reading, short essays related to the current issue’s theme, previews of print issues in progress, polls and opportunities for feedback, and more.

  • Access to digital PDF versions of every print issue published during your membership.

  • A free sticker from the Soft Star store (coming soon).

  • Free print copies of every mini-zine published during your membership.

Becoming a paid member means getting a glimpse into the inner workings of Soft Star. All contributors published on the website receive complimentary access to paid subscriber posts.

Founding Member

Founding members receive all of the above content, plus:

  • A free physical copy of every issue published during their membership.

Subscribe to Soft Star

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An optimistic repository of sci fi, slipstream, futurism, and spec fic

People

✨ Linguist + sci fi enthusiast 🪐 EIC of Soft Star Magazine 🌎 SLC, UT
Mellisa Pascale is a nature and travel writer from southeastern Pennsylvania. She is studying for her M.Phil. in Medieval Language and Literature at Trinity College Dublin. Find her at mellisapascale.com or on Instagram @mellisapascale
Texas-born writer and artist who cares an awful lot about sci-fi and medieval art. Probably drinking tea right now. @tealbrigade on Twitter.
Besides Elly's career in construction, she is an amateur short-story writer who prefers the fantasy and horror genres. Her first publication is 'Siberian Sprites' in Issue Four of Soft Star magazine.