Science fiction and fantasy still share a (relatively) thriving short fiction market, but what happens to the stories once they've been published? Sure, some of them get picked up for reprints or translations, but a lot of excellent work becomes hard to get hold of a very short time after it first appears. infinity plus aims to make some of these stories available again. We've also published some excellent original fiction.

Back in the early eighties, Josh Pachter put together an anthology, Top Science Fiction, where 25 writers selected what they regarded as the best stories they had ever written (in the original Dutch version there were even more writers involved).

What you'll find in infinity plus is something similar: stories, extracts and non-fiction chosen by the authors themselves. Over time it will grow into an archive which will republish some of the best science fiction and fantasy being written.

I hope you enjoy it - I know I'm going to!

(For a more complete history of the site, take a look at the infinity plus story, first published in Interzone.)

In publishing you encounter all kinds of people. We have our fair share of unscrupulous, spiteful and generally unpleasant individuals, but it's been my experience that most of the people I've come across have been my kind of people.

I've been helped in my writing career by far too many people to name, but I'd like to name a few of them, nonetheless.

• The editors of magazines and anthologies: David Pringle and the team at Interzone, who launched my career and have kept it going; Rob Holdstock and Chris Evans, who bought an early story and did their best to help me get established; David Garnett, who has always insisted he wants to buy one of my stories, but has never quite found the one; Algis Budrys, who devotes so much of his time to promoting new writers.
• The book editors and publishers: Julia Smith, who plucked my first novel out of her towering slush pile and gave it to ... Colin Murray, who bought and edited my first three novels; the late Richard Evans, who bought hardback rights to my books, and was responsible for promoting so much that is good in British sf.
• My fellow writers, who have always been on hand to direct me towards markets and constructively criticise my work; in particular, I'd like to single out Eric Brown, who is the first person to read most of my work and with whom I've collaborated on a number of short stories and novels.
• And, of course, all those writers who have responded so enthusiastically to my request for submissions to infinity plus.

That's it, I'll stop now. You can go and explore the site. I hope you enjoy what you find, and I hope you'll let us know what you think.

Keith Brooke
9 August 1997