StarShipSofa launches first ever listeners' poll

StarShipSofa, the great British audio science fiction magazine, has just launched their first readers' poll (named, appropriately, the Sofanauts). To nominate your favorite stories from first 52 episodes of StarShipSofa's "Aural Delights," use either this online poll or head over to the StarShipSofa forums. Nominations will be open for two weeks, after which listeners can select their favorites from the story shortlists.

Short story word counts—how long should a story be?

In my new review of Strange Horizons fiction for The Fix, I wander aimlessly through the intellectual wilderness while asking how long short stories should be. As most writers and readers already know, there are many different types of short stories, including flash fiction, novelettes, and novellas. But what's the breakdown of these story categories by word count, and how long should a particular story actually be? I reveal all in the review—or perhaps I don't. How's that for being coy?

I should also add that in the review, I gush all over the story “Nine Sundays in a Row” by Kris Dikeman. I strongly suggest lovers of trickster fantasies check out this wonderful tale.

Preventing the end of times for SF/F magazines

A few weeks ago I mentioned that the New York Review of Science Fiction was in need of more subscribers. Now comes news that Locus: The Magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field, is in similar straights. According to Charles N. Brown's editorial in the Dec. 2008 Locus, "The economic downturn is hitting the publishing industry (and Locus) hard." He says that this is the worst year yet for Locus, and while they had saved some money during the 1990s, the "stock market weasels are gnawing away on that." He adds that he hopes people will consider giving the gift of subscriptions this holiday season. I encourage people to check out this PDF of the October 2008 Locus, which is meant to introduce the magazine to new readers, and consider subscribing.

This news has gotten my old thinking cap to thinking, and I wonder if the next year will shape up to be a painful one for SF/F magazines. When money is tight, I know that people reconsider their priorities. My worry is that some people will cut back on subscriptions to genre magazines. Normally, this might not be that big a deal because once the economic downturn turned around, people would rediscover their favorite magazines and resubscribe.

But as Charles Brown said in his editorial, bookstore sales of Locus are way down. This is because fewer bookstores are carrying SF/F magazines. I know that when I stop by bookstores these days, I see fewer copies of all the genre magazines--if the store even carries the magazines anymore. This means that when the downturn ends, it will be that much harder for new and old readers to find these magazines and consider subscribing (or resubscribing).

The only solution I see to this is for SF/F magazines to be even more aggressive in using the web to both promote themselves and provide an alternate income stream. For example, my mother has a new Amazon Kindle reader. She loves it and constantly downloads books to read when she travels. If she wanted to, she could purchase a Kindle subscription to either Asimov's and Analog for only $2.99 per issue. Why aren't the magazines promoting the hell out of this option? As for Locus, Charles Brown says that their website is barely paying for itself. While I love Locus and eagerly await each issue, perhaps the magazine should consider putting all of its content online, but require a paid subscription (maybe $30 a year) for online access to this material. This way people who like the print magazine can keep receiving it the old fashion way, but those who like to read online could have that option. And why can't you purchase a Kindle subscription to Locus?

Don't mistake what I'm saying. I love the SF/F magazines I subscribe to. I sincerely hope I'm wrong about what this economic downturn will do to SF/F magazine subscriptions. However, my hunch is that the next year will end up being critical for the genre's magazines, and in order to survive they are going to have to be extremely innovative.

The "year's best" anthology selections begin

The first "year's best" anthology of science fiction and fantasy stories has announced its selections. Night Shade Books has posted a catalog listing for The Best SF and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 3, edited by Jonathan Strahan. According to their posting, the selections are:

  • Exhalation - Ted Chiang
  • Shoggoths in Bloom - Elizabeth Bear
  • Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel - Peter S. Beagle
  • Fixing Hanover - Jeff VanderMeer
  • The Gambler - Paolo Bacigalupi
  • The Dust Assassin - Ian McDonald
  • Virgin - Holly Black
  • Pride and Prometheus - John Kessel
  • The Thought War - Paul McAuley
  • Beyond the Sea Gates of the Scholar Pirates of Sarskoe - Garth Nix
  • The Small Door - Holly Phillips
  • Turing's Apples - Stephen Baxter
  • The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates - Stephen King
  • Five Thrillers - Robert Reed
  • The Magician's House - Megan McCarron
  • Goblin Music - Joan Aiken
  • Machine Maid - Margo Lanagan
  • The Art of Alchemy - Ted Kosmatka
  • 26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss - Kij Johnson
  • Marry the Sun - Rachel Swirsky
  • Crystal Nights - Greg Egan
  • His Master's Voice - Hannu Rajaniemi
  • Special Economics - Maureen McHugh
  • Evidence of Love in a Case of Abandonment - M Rickert
  • From Babel's Fall'n Glory We Fled... - Michael Swanwick
  • If Angels Fight - Rick Bowes
  • The Doom of Love in Small Spaces - Ken Scholes
  • Pretty Monsters - Kelly Link

I, of course, love some of the selections and have issues with others. But such is life. There are also stories I missed during 2008 (like The Gambler by Paolo Bacigalupi) which I will have to read when the anthology comes out. Congrats to all the authors who had stories selected. The anthology will be released in March 2009.

As I said note, I also want to plug my previous picks for the best stories of 2008. Overall, it looks like 2008 was a great year for short fiction.

The Best SF/F Short Fiction of 2008

Almost all of the major science fiction and fantasy magazines have finished their print runs for 2008. The exceptions are Strange Horizons and Interzone (whose December issue is winging its way to these shores right now and contains a story by me). In addition, I have yet to read the new issue of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. If any of these magazines contain stories which deserve to rank among the year's best, I'll write an addendum to this post.

There were many worthy stories published in 2008 and I'm not going to try and name them all. Instead, I am listing those stories which should be under active consideration for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards. Where possible, I have included links to previous reviews I've written for these stories. The stories are arranged in alphabetical order by author name.

My picks for the best SF/F stories of 2008

  • "Pump Six" by Paolo Bacigalupi (Pump Six and Other Stories, reprinted in F&SF) review
  • "The Tale of Junko and Sayuri" by Peter Beagle (IGMS, July 2008) review
  • "The Political Prisoner" by Charles Coleman Finlay (F&SF, Aug. 2008) review
  • "The Ray-Gun: A Love Story" by James Alan Gardner (Asimov's, Feb. 2008)
  • "Arkfall" by Carolyn Ives Gilman (F&SF, Sept. 2008) review
  • "Tenbrook of Mars" by Dean McLaughlin (Analog, July/Aug. 2008)
  • "The Magician's House" by Meghan McCarron (Strange Horizons, July 2008) review
  • "Five Thrillers" by Robert Reed (F&SF, April 2008) review
  • "Alastair Baffle's Emporium of Wonders" by Mike Resnick (Asimov's, Jan. 2008) review
  • "Far Horizon" by Jason Stoddard (Interzone, issue 214) review
  • "Way Down East" by Tim Sullivan (Asimov's, Dec. 2008)
  • "A Letter to Nancy" by Carrie Vaughn (Realms of Fantasy, August 2008)

Congrats to IGMS

I wanted to offer my deepest congratulations to Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show, which yesterday released its tenth issue. This is a big milestone for one of the best professional SF/F magazines out there--either on or offline--because it means IGMS has hit its planned publication schedule of four issues per year. Praise should also go out to editor Edmund Schubert for pushing IGMS toward its full potential.

If you aren't already reading IGMS, this looks like a great issue to pick up the habit (which only costs $2.50 per issue). Or might I suggest issue five from last year, which contains my story "Rumspringa." I know, I know--that's a pretty blatant personal plug. But one of the things I like about IGMS is how they have been so supportive of new writers. They were the first professional magazine to publish one of my SF stories, and I'm deeply grateful for that.

Wanted: 20 new subscribers for The New York Review of Science Fiction

In his editorial for the Nov. 2008 New York Review of Science Fiction, David G. Hartwell states that they are 20 subscribers in the hole. In over two decades of publishing the nonfiction journal, Hartwell and the other editors have never printed an issue without having the money in the bank to cover the printing costs. But because their margins are so tight, the recent loss of 40 subscribers--a loss due, no doubt, to the economic downturn--means they are facing the real possibility of delaying an issue or two this winter.

I highly recommend this journal to anyone who loves great essays about SF/F. I've been a subscriber for two years and I urge people to consider picking up their own subscription. The NYRSF only needs 20 subscribers to continue their regular publishing schedule. Details on subscribing are on their website.

Wanted: Web magazine for two top short fiction editors

The November 2008 Locus arrived in my mailbox today and it features a great interview with Gardner Dozois. In the interview, Dozois remarks on a recent conversation he had with Ellen Datlow, who (like Gardner) is also out of work. Gardner said, "We should really start a web magazine where you do the horror and fantasy and I do the science fiction. Now we just need somebody with deep pockets to fund it. If somebody approached us, there's no doubt we would do it."

Am I the only one dumb-founded that the two best SF/F editors around are not currently editing a magazine? If I had deep pockets, I'd start this web magazine. Since my pockets are shallow, I'll do this instead: If someone starts this magazine and hires Datlow and Dozois as editors, I'll commit to a subscription up front.

Joe Sherry wins Interzone subscription

I'm a little tardy in announcing the winner of my great Interzone subscription contest, so with any more delay the winner is Joe Sherry from the Adventures in Reading blog. I just purchased him a six issue, one year subscription to Interzone. Congrats to Joe and thanks to everyone who took part in the contest.

And in more Interzone news, my story "When Thorns Are The Tips Of Trees" is slated to appear in Interzone issue 219.

Screw-up places submissions, rejection letters online

Last year Geoff Ryman, Julian Todd and Trent Walters began accepting online submissions for their mundane science fiction issue of Interzone. I wrote a story specifically for the issue titled "Where Away You Fall," which I submitted into their online submission system. The story was a hard science fiction tale of very high altitude ballooning which, according to the editors, didn't fit with their mundane manifesto. Not a problem. Don't be a writer if you can't take rejection. I turned around and submitted the story to Analog, where the story was accepted and published in their just-released December 2008 issue.

So imagine my surprise when someone e-mailed to say they'd found a copy of my story on the internet. At first I thought someone had copied the story from Analog, but when I followed the e-mailed link I saw a Google cache of the submission I'd sent to Ryman et al. For some reason Google was able to access all the submissions for the mundane Interzone issue, along with many of the rejection letters. Among the writers affected by this are myself, Terry Bisson, Carrie Vaughn, James S. Dorr, Jeff Crook, and many more. It appears that these submitted stories and rejection letters are no longer live on the web, but they are still stored in the Google cache (you can view some of them by clicking on the cache function of individual pages found through Google searches such as this one).

Just as writers have a responsibility to not abuse the submission process, editors also have a responsibility to not let those submissions and rejections show up on the web. For the record, Interzone is not responsible for this screw-up because Geoff Ryman, Julian Todd and Trent Walters ran the submission process through their own website. I have no problem with their decision to reject my story. What I have a problem with is letting that submission and rejection letter be placed on the internet for all the world to see.

Final week to win a subscription to Interzone

We're entering the homestretch of the great Interzone subscription contest. Among the most recent bloggers to take part are:

John Ottinger at Grasping for the Wind also was nice enough to do a review of my short story, in addition to his previously mentioned plug for Interzone.

Remember, the contest ends on Wednesday, Oct. 8. For more details on how to take part, go here.

New look for Asimov's and Analog looks really good

As previously mentioned on this blog, Asimov's and Analog are undergoing their first major redesign in years. Their new size is called an L trim and is 5 and 7/8 inches by 8 and 5/8 inches, with the per issue page count reduced from 144 to 112 pages. But since the new pages are larger than the oldpages, the amount of words lost each year will be minimal.

But it's one thing to know logically what the new magazine size will look like; it's quite another to actually pick up a copy and read the stories inside. Today the December 2008 issue of Analog arrived. (SHAMELESS PLUG: Be sure to read my short story "Where Away You Fall" in the December Analog. END OF PLUG.) The magazine looks really good in the new format. Not only does it feels more modern and "streamlined," as John Thiel said over on the Analog forum, I also think the thin cover stock the magazines use go better with this size than with their previous digest dimensions. So overall, an excellent redesign which should also help the bottom line of both magazines.

More Interzone contest links

The links for my Interzone subscription contest keep coming in.

Thanks to all of these bloggers. As more bloggers join in, I'll add links to their posts. Remember, the contest ends in about two and a half weeks.

Interzone subscription contest links

With about two and a half weeks to go in my Interzone subscription contest, the entries are starting to come in. Two of the first blogs to enter--and help promote this great British science fiction magazine--are S.M. Duke's The World in the Satin Bag and John Ottinger's Grasping for the Wind. Thanks also to SF Signal for promoting this contest.

I've also been e-mailed by a number of bloggers who say they plan to take part, and I'll add these links on my site as they appear.

The great "win a subscription to Interzone" contest

Now that my power is back on after the "Great Midwestern Hurricane of 2008," I can officially launch the great Interzone promotion of 2008.

For those who don't know, Interzone is a bi-monthly British science fiction magazine often counted as one of the most influential genre publications of the last 25 years. Among the writers who got their start in their pages are Stephen Baxter, Greg Egan, Kim Newman, Alastair Reynolds and Charles Stross (per the magazine's Wikipedia entry). With a stable of authors like that, the 1980s and early 90s were truly glory times for Interzone.

A few years ago I heard whispers that the magazine--now under a new editorial team run by publisher Andy Cox--was once again making the SF world sit up and take notice. Intrigued, I tracked down a sample issue. Impressed by what I saw, I subscribed. Not only is Interzone again at the top of its game, publishing top-notch fiction and nonfiction, they also have the best design of any genre magazine. Finally, they have also been kind enough to accept two of my stories, for which I can't even begin to thank them.

To celebrate the publication of my story "The Ships Like Clouds, Risen by Their Rain" in Interzone, and to pay the magazine back for the support they've shown my writing, I'm giving away a one-year subscription to the magazine. Here's the deal: Any blogger in the United States is eligible to take part. Simply drop me an e-mail at lapthai (at sign) yahoo (dot) com with your blog's url and a few words to the effect that you want to take part in the contest. In order to showcase what Interzone has to offer, I'll e-mail you a PDF of my recently published Interzone story (thanks to Andy Cox for letting me do this; here are a few of the reviews my story has received). Don't worry. You don't have to review the story, although I won't protest if you do. I simply want to give people a taste of what Interzone publishes.

If you like the story, post information on your blog about both this contest and Interzone, including a link to Interzone's main page. If you don't like the story, I hope you'll still post info about Interzone on your blog. Either way, once you've done a blog entry about Interzone you're entered in the contest. My hope is that these blog posting about Interzone will raise the magazine's profile in the United States.

This promotion will run for three weeks. After that time I'll take all the names of the blogger participants and throw them into a random number generator. The person whose number comes up wins the free one-year, six-issue subscription.

Before anyone asks, I'm limiting this promotion to the United States because my understanding is that Interzone gets really good distribution outside these shores. If the promo works, I'll consider doing it again one day, only this time offering a free subscription to anywhere in the world.

PS: Anyone can enter this contest, but do realize that if you win you'll need a snail mail address to receive the subscription. This may go without saying, but I guess it can't hurt to state the obvious.

Hurricane Ike delays Interzone promo

The remnants of Hurricane Ike tore through the Midwest yesterday and we're now without power. By some quirk, my father-in-law's house still has electricity--and a wireless connection, hence this quick post--but my house is dark. Luckily we didn't have any damage, but some of our neighbors got hammered. It's an awe-inspiring thing seeing hurricane force winds in the Midwest.

Until the power is back up, I won't be able to launch the Interzone promo I had planned to kick off this week. The short and long of the promo is that I'll be giving away a one-year subscription to Interzone, the fabled British science fiction and fantasy magazine, to one lucky blogger in the United States. But until the power is back, I can't start the fun and games.

Gardner Dozois to write monthly column for Locus

According to an announcement on the Locus website, Gardner Dozois will be writing a monthly column on short fiction in the magazine. His first column will appear in the October issue. On the Asimov's forum, Dozois said that in the column he'll only be "mentioning stuff that catches my eye." A few weeks back Dozois expressed dismay at how little notice some of the best short fiction stories received in the Nebula Award balloting, so this column seems like a great way to bring more attention to worthy stories.

Jetse de Vries resigns from Interzone

Editor Jetse de Vries has resigned from Interzone, as stated in an announcement on his website. According to Jetse, "The reason is simple: like a rock band where one musician quits because she/he doesn't like the musical direction the band is taking (the well-known 'musical differences'), I am unhappy with the direction and tone the fiction in Interzone will be taking."

Andy Cox and the other Interzone editors have expressed puzzlement at the change in direction Jetse mentioned. Andy even stated on the Asimov's forum that, "There are no changes afoot, no new direction,we've been doing what we've always done, and will continue to do it: simply, publish the best entertaining and thought-provoking modern sf and fantasy we can find, introducing more than our fair share of new writers along the way, and staying uniquely Interzone."

I'm also in the dark about this change of direction Jetse mentioned. But I do want to thank Jetse and the other Interzone editors for the support they have given my writing. Jetse was also the initial editor who picked two of my stories out of the Interzone slushpile (both "The Ships Like Clouds, Risen By Their Rain," published in issue 217 and receiving some very nice reviews, and "When Thorns Are The Tips Of Trees," which is forthcoming in Interzone). So I wish Jetse success in whatever directions his future SF/F work takes him.