storySouth poem in Best American Poetry 2008

The poem "Homage to Calvin Spotswood" by Kate Daniels, published in the journal storySouth, has been selected for the Best American Poetry 2008. Many thanks to guest editor Charles Wright for selecting the poem. And an equal thanks goes out to my storySouth co-editor Jake Adam York and, in particular, our poetry editor Dan Albergotti. They are totally responsible for selecting Daniels' wonderful poem.

Seven years ago Jake and I founded storySouth. In the years since, we have been honored to be the home for many of the best writers the new South has to offer. Now storySouth is entering a new phase of its development. While I can't reveal the specifics at this moment, let me simply state that change is coming and its a big change for the better. I hope to reveal more details in a few weeks.

Best wishes to Tobias Buckell

I got busy the last few days and didn't read much online, so I was missed hearing that one of my favorite authors, Tobias Buckell, is in the hospital. The good news is that his wife, Emily, just posted on Facebook that the issue seems to now be a minor one and he'll go home in the morning.

Still, send him plenty of prayers, good vibes, positive karma, or whatever your take on life is. He's also been blogging his health situation, so check his blog for updates.

Kicked out of church for writing a vampire novel

According to the November issue of Locus, author J. F. Lewis was "excommunicated from his church in response to his debut vampire novel Staked." Over on the Asimov's forum, Lewis writes that excommunicated isn't the correct term, because the non-denominational church instead "withdrew fellowship from rather than 'excommunicated' me." Lewis adds that the elders of his church believe that "by writing the book, I committed the sins contained within it. They also felt that I'd aimed the novel at young children (which boggles the mind) and that it teaches and encourages the use of vulgar language.Though I disagree wholeheartedly with their decision, I can't really say they took the action they took in order to be mean... they appear to have been acting out of genuine concern."

As a fellow SF/F writer from Alabama who grew up in a similar sounding church, I want to publicly say Lewis has my full support on this. Just because one writes a story about something doesn't mean that story is a true reflection of who the author is inside.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Poetry "Best Sellers"

I'm not trying to pick on the poets and poetry lovers out there. I write poetry on occasion, and read the genre with a passion. As a writer, I can truly say here's nothing harder than compressing language into that perfect blend of syntax and meaning which makes up a great poem.

But today a friend e-mailed me a link to the Poetry Foundation's list of poetry best sellers. I began browsing the contemporary poetry best seller list to see what books were popular with readers. However, very quickly my bullshit meter began going off. There are books on the list which have been out for years and shouldn't still be listed as best sellers. So I did a little digging. What I found out is that the Poetry Foundation must have a different definition of "best seller" than the rest of the world.

First off, the facts. As of the week of Nov. 2, 2008, the number one contemporary poetry bestseller is Ballistics by Billy Collins. However, if you head to the Amazon.com listing for the book, you will see that the book's sales rank is only 5,236 (as of the date and time I wrote this). According to this analysis of the Amazon.com sales ranking, that means Billy Collins' book only sold 15 to 20 copies through Amazon over the entire last week. The number two book on the list, The Niagara River by Kay Ryan, had a sales rank of 22,024 (meaning 1 to 5 books sold the last week through Amazon), while the number three book (The Truro Bear and Other Adventures by Mary Oliver) had a similar sales rank as Ryan's book.

Worse, the Poetry Foundation's list of Small Press Best Sellers number one seller for October is from Unincorporated Territory by Craig Santos Perez, which isn't even available through Amazon. The number 2 seller isAction Kylie by Kevin Killian, which has a sales rank of 1,417,289.

Now granted, these numbers only focus on Amazon.com sales. And since Amazon doesn't reveal exactly how its sales ranking compares to book sales numbers, all of this is estimated. But if these really are the types of numbers seen through the biggest bookseller in the United States, sales through all other bookstores can't be that high. (For another analysis of Amazon's sales rank, go here. According to this alternate estimate, these poetry books may have slightly higher sales numbers. But as the author of the analysis states, a book must have a sales rank under a 1,000 to be seriously successful title, while a rank of 10,000 or more means a book is "no bestseller.")

This analysis isn't meant as an attack on any of these poets or their books. I understand that poetry doesn't sell as well as fiction, nonfiction, or, based on these numbers, just about anything else in the book store. But for the Poetry Foundation to label these types of numbers "best sellers" is misleading. I mean, in poetry the specific words you use matter. Don't use the term "best seller" when a book only sells a few copies a week.

BTW, not all the Poetry Foundation lists are misleading. On their list of Children's Poetry Best Sellers, the number one book is the 30th Anniversary Edition of Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. When I last checked that book's Amazon.com sales ranking, it was a very respectable 284, meaning that 150 to 200 copies were sold in the last week through the online bookseller. I'd call that a true best seller (although the number still pales compared to fiction best sellers). But I doubt the Poetry Foundation wants to trumpet the fact that a dead poet's wonderful collection of poems for kids is out selling the country's top contemporary poetry book by more than a 10 to 1 ratio!

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)

When Thorns Are the Tips of Trees

My short story "When Thorns Are the Tips of Trees" is now out in issue 219 of Interzone (December 2008). The Fix Online has a review of the issue up and the reviewer liked my story. However, he didn't like the ending, but says that "like-minded readers can simply enjoy this as a story that has a conclusion they happen to disagree with." Of course, this stands in contrast to one early reader who e-mailed me to say that she loved the ending. So who knows what to make of all this.

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.

Three stories of the week

I've been negligent in posting my stories of the week. As a result, I'm going to quickly mention several of the best stories I've read in the last month.

  • "Days of Wonder" by Geoff Ryman, a great story which shows how wonderful a writer Ryman can be when he avoids mundane SF (from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Oct./Nov. 2008).
  • "Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake" by Naomi Novik. In this beautifully written tale of an aristocratic lady trying to find her own way in a constrained world, sometimes becoming a pirate is the only choice one can make (from Fast Ships, Black Sails, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer).
  • "Way Down East" by Tim Sullivan. This elegant and moving tale of first contact takes a very personal look at the lives of two aged New England lobstermen. The unexpected yet totally perfect payoff makes this one of my favorite stories of the year (from Asimov's Science Fiction, December 2008).

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.

Recent reviews and comments

There have been some really nice comments about my fiction in recent days. S.M. Duke really liked my short story "The Ships Like Clouds, Risen By Their Rain" from Interzone #217. He includes this high praise:

I simply think that this is a terrific story with a fantastic, if not unique, vision. It puts Sanford in a category of people I admire and perhaps hope to be like--not in the sense of imitation, but in the sense of rising to that level. And he's in good company (Tobias S. Buckell is on that list, along with John Scalzi, Paul Genesse, and a handful of other fine writers)

All I can say is "Wow!"

And in another very nice complement, Aaron Wilson said reading my story "Where Away You Fall" helped him pass the time before presenting his MFA defense. Glad to hear his defense was successful. I wouldn't recommend waving copies of Analog: Science Fiction and Fact before too many MFA defense committees, but I'm glad to hear that there are some open-minded institutions out there.

Rehashing the Cormac McCarthy / A Canticle for Leibowitz war

A year and a half ago I published an essay in the New York Review of Science Fiction which took literary critics to task for not mentioning the influence of Walter M. Miller Jr's classic A Canticle for Leibowitz on Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel The Road. (You can read a reprinted version of the essay here).

I was severely taken to task for this essay by some critics. But history has a nice way of vindicating simple truths. The proof is over on the Guardian book blog where a short essay states that "Walter M Miller Jr's A Canticle for Leibowitz is a direct ancestor of Cormac McCarthy's The Road" and "Rare and brave were the mainstream critics who recognised its SF antecedents without coughing and spluttering about how it somehow transcended the genre."

It's always nice to get the last word in an argument, especially when someone else echoes what you'd been saying all along.

Review of Fast Ships, Black Sails

My featured review of the new anthology Fast Ships, Black Sails, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, is now up at Monsters and Critics. There are a number of great stories in this collection, including "Boojum" by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette, "A Cold Day in Hell" by Paul Batteiger, "Beyond the Sea Gate of the Scholar-Pirates of Sarskoe" by Garth Nix, and my favorite story, "Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake" by Naomi Novik.

This collection is an all-star treat which both plays with the pirates we all know and love, and takes those self-same pirates into new and exciting waters. Check it out.

An insider's guide to SF for insiders

My new review of Strange Horizons' fiction is now up at The Fix, and in the review I discuss why science fiction is so often written for SF insiders. As I say in the review,

It’s not that we don’t like readers. After all, every literary genre lives only through the graces of that genre’s readers. The problem for science fiction writers, however, comes in explaining to the general public many of our genre’s current insights—concepts such as the singularity, neural downloads, nanotechnology, ansibles, and so on. While all these concepts are well known to science fiction insiders, they can easily confuse people who don’t continually immerse themselves in the genre. So every time science fiction authors write a story, they have to decide how much explanation they’re willing to give for ideas which their biggest fans are likely already familiar.

The result is a chasm between science fiction which is accessible to the general reading public and that which can only be appreciated by science fiction insiders.

So what's the solution? I'm not sure. But unless SF can gain new readers, it risks become inbred. And like anything that becomes too inbred, extinction is the end result.

The hard work that goes into being a successful writer

Leah Bobet is an up and coming fantasy and science fiction writer whose stories and poems have been published in places like Strange Horizons, Interzone, Realms of Fantasy, and a number of prestigious reprint anthologies. In addition to being a great writer, she obviously she has enough name recognition that her submissions don't get buried in the slush piles.

But despite this success, she still receives many more rejections than acceptances. I know this because she tracks her submissions on her website. For example, in 2003 she wrote 101,150 words of fiction and poetry, made 179 submissions, and received 151 rejections and 17 acceptances. As her success has grown through the years, her ratio of rejections to acceptances has improved, but she still receives many more rejects than acceptances. Such is the life of any writer.

I think Leah's submission statistics are a great illustration of the hard work a writer must put in to be successful. I suggest new writers look at her numbers. If you aren't willing to put in that type of effort, don't expect to be successful.

Editor aims to help writers--even boneheaded ones!

Edmund Schubert, editor of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, has written two must-read posts for new writers on his blog. The first, "Submission Basics," tells what every author should include on their submission: Their Contact Information! It's highly possible your cover letter will get separated from your sub somewhere in the editorial process. The next post is "Basic Definitions for Writers" and defines all those pesky words writers and editors throw around when talking about the submission process.

In addition to being a working editor, Edmund is also a fiction writer whose first novel Dreaming Creek will be published in two weeks. So I suggest giving him a listen, because he's experienced this business from both sides of the submission fence.

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.

Did some independent bookstores deserve to die?

With a number of science fiction authors like Tobias Buckell complaining of late about their books being "skipped," Andrew Wheeler has a long post both explaining the situation and stating why chain book stores are "vastly better than the bulk of the existing independent bookstores" they replaced. Here's the paragraph that will probably get up a lot of people's noses:

One thing is indeed true: about eighteen years ago, there were 7,500 independent bookstores; now there are 1700. Sure, some good stores closed. But the rosy-colored view of the wonderful lost indy bookstore, land of miracles, where enlightened, Buddha-esque bookmen and -women sold only the finest of literature to a happy and contented audience is pure bunk. Most of those vanished stores were too small, undercapitalized, badly run marginal businesses run by cranks. They went out of business because they were bad at business, lacking any point-of-sale systems or serious inventory tracking at all. If they didn't return all that many books, it was because they had no idea what they had or where it was. Oh, and most of them -- as those of us who remember those days without the gauzy light of nostalgia -- were actively hostile to science fiction and fantasy. (Remember? This is the era when SF sold mostly in paperback, through entirely different channels, or in small hardcover editions to libraries. Those supposed wondrous independent stores of yore didn't carry SFF.) The independent stores still open are probably 90% of the well-managed independent bookstores that ever existed; there's a serious selection bias in looking at what's still around and extrapolating that back to all of the stores that didn't survive -- most of them didn't survive for a reason.

I'm a fan of independent bookstores and shop at them quite often, but I can also see where Wheeler is coming from. Growing up in central Alabama during the 70s and 80s, there were no good independent bookstores in the area that stocked quality science fiction or fantasy. Only with the arrival of the big chain stores did central Alabama suddenly have access to the same great books that were taken for granted in the big cities.

That said, the best bookstores in the country tend to be independent bookstores. My favorites include Dreamhaven Books in Minneapolis, Burke's Book Store in Memphis (run by a great writer named Corey Mesler), and the wonderful Book Loft near my home in Columbus, Ohio. So while I understand what Wheeler is saying about poorly run independents being replaced by chain stores, I also know that the bookstores which make the biggest impression on me are always independents. And what worries me about the current bookseller landscape is that too many of the great independent bookstores I care about are also at risk of disappearing--and I know the unreal pressure they're facing is not because they are poorly run.

Two notes on my writing

My essay "Singing the Songs of Arthur C. Clarke's Distant Earth" is in the current New York Review of Science Fiction (October 2008, issue 242). The essay examines the many different versions of Clarke's story The Songs of Distant Earth, which was the late grandmaster's self-professed favorite novel.

In other great news, Richard Horton, who reviews short fiction for Locus and edits anthologies such as Fantasy: The Best of the Year 2008, selected my story "Where Away You Fall" as one of four impressive short stories to appear this year in Analog: Science Fiction and Fact. He discussed this on his blog, where he also provided a very nice overview of what Analog published during 2008. Many thanks to Richard for the kind words.