The book publishing world has been undergoing extreme change after change over the previous few years, with big publishers constantly merging at the same time chain box stores are closing at an astonishing rate. Flooding their bookshelves with products customers refuse to buy and coated with current-year political nonsense certainly has contributed to that downfall, as has repeatedly ignoring demand from customers. Today, it was announced that the long-running Tor.com website has decided to change its name in order to split away from that failing sector of the market.
As of January 23rd, 2024, the site will change its name and logo from Tor.com to Reactor and will accordingly give itself a new website address (reactormag.com). This is the first time since the site’s formation in 2008 that it will have nothing to do with the former giant of a publishing house.
Instead, per Publisher and President of the Tor Publisher Group Devi Pillai, the former book blog website will now be turned into a “pop culture hub” for the ever-present Geek Culture crowd like most else in the current corporate sphere involving entertainment.
Pillai’s statement is as follows:
“I am very excited to introduce Reactor to the world! We have always been the place to come to for science fiction and fantasy—but with a new name, a new design, we are going to have a magazine that will be more of a pop culture hub for people who love genre of all types. We want to expand the audience and the community that Tor.com has built over the past 15 years.”
The site will most likely not be changed much except in its rejection of the Tor moniker and the expectations of big publisher Science Fiction. There is little fault to be found in shifting focus from a dying market.
What this means for the future of Tor Publishing itself is unclear, but this news does not bode well for its brand longevity. Mainstream audiences, unpleased with Science Fiction fandom due to its constant uncovering of pedophiles and sex offenders, holding Sci-Fi cons bordering concentration camps, and being told the ingroup club is not for normal people, have turned away in droves over the years. There is little audience left to sustain even a blog of their interests in the current climate of dying publishers.
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However, this is a sign of things to come. The Tor brand, the biggest in Science Fiction fandom’s cap, is now completely tarnished to readers and has lost its brand power over years of bad decisions. They have no one to blame for this problem but themselves. Now those still working there have to find new ways to make it work and keep the lights on.
As Chris Lough, the Director of Tor.com, states:
“Oh, how we have waited for this day. For the past 15 years we have published discerning yet joyful works of media criticism, along with award-winning short fiction and art. Now, starting in 2024, the look and functionality of our magazine’s website will finally match the maturity of our contributors and the needs of our community.”
This clean break is intended to give the website a new start away from the failing brand of Tor. The only other choice is to sink with the ship. Only time will tell if this change is enough to save the website, or if too much damage has been done.
The publishing industry is changing, and it is clear it has no more room for Science Fiction fandom. As this news reveals, the future of the industry does not lie with them. It is with normal readers such as yourself.
What do you think of Tor.com becoming Reactor and its implications on the publishing industry? Leave a comment and let us know.
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