The World Fantasy Convention "unmeeting"

Are you already stressed out by this week's World Fantasy Convention? Have so many meetings scheduled with editors, writers, and the literati that you won't have time to breathe? Or are you like some of us and totally lacking in meetings--and wondering if this marks you as suspect?

Well worry not. Whether you are over-scheduled or wandering free, plan on attending the unofficial WFC "unmeeting," hosted by me and Sandra Wickham. Thursday, October 28 at 3 p.m. in the Hyatt Regency's Big Bar, which offers 53 feet of cherry finish and black granite to stand before as you talk. Absolutely nothing of consequence will be discussed at this unmeeting, unless of course you insist upon having consequences. But this is a great chance to meet people before the convention gets rolling.

Hope to see you there.

Subscribe to Interzone, receive the Jason Sanford special issue for free

Andy Cox, the editor of Interzone and Black Static, has sent me some exciting news: For a limited time, anyone who subscribes to 12 issues of either Interzone or the Interzone/Black Static combination can receive the Jason Sanford special issue for free!

As I've mentioned before, the upcoming issue of Interzone focuses on my fiction and contains three of my newest stories, an in-depth interview with me, and more. The issue will be published November 12th.

I highly recommend subscribing to Interzone and Black Static. Interzone is the best science fiction magazine in the world and I've been a subscriber for quite a while (well before they began publishing my stories). And as Ellen Datlow has said, Black Static is "the most consistently excellent horror magazine published." It's hard to argue with her assessment.

To receive this special offer, simply order a 12 issue (two-year) subscription to either Interzone or the Interzone/Black Static combination through the TTA Press online store. Then, in the Shopper’s Reference box, enter JASON SANFORD. That way you'll receive the special issue for free.

And as a note to overseas subscribers like myself, subscribing to 12 issues cuts down on your price because TTA Press sends out half those issues without any added shipping costs. Add in another free issue and you can't beat this deal.

I don't know how long Andy plans to make this special offer, so I urge people to take him up on it. And if you need any more convincing, check out the promo flyer above and its illustrations from the upcoming issues of Interzone and Black Static. Not only do these magazines publish some of the best short fiction in speculative literature, they're also the most beautifully designed.

A few updates

I'm extremely slammed with work and life, so don't expect many posts through next week. Until then, here are a few updates:

• I'll be at the World Fantasy Convention next week in Columbus. If you see me, please say hello. I'll also be taking part in two panels on Saturday, October 30 -- "The Lighter Side of Death" panel at 4 pm, with Kristine Smith, Esther Friesner, and Laurel Ann Hill; and the "Authors and Ideas" panel at 5 pm, with L.E. Modessitt, Tim Powers, and S.M. Sirling. I'm moderating this last panel, so if you've ever wondered where the hell one of my ideas came from, stop by and I'll ramble into some type of explanation.
   
• The ever-great StarShipSofa is now airing my novella "Sublimation Angels." The first of the three part serial can be downloaded here. The second part is here.
   
• Last week I took part in a SF Signal Mind Meld on the perfect science fiction anthology. My picks showcased the "then" and "now" of cutting-edge science fiction.

Realms of Fantasy yet again takes my money and dies

Realms of Fantasy is closing again, and this time their death is likely permanent. As publisher Warren Lapine explains, he dropped more than $50,000 into reviving the magazine but the horrible economy prevented the fabled magazine's resurrection.

I'm sympathetic to Lapine and appreciate him trying to revive the magazine. And I wish editors Shawna McCarthy and Douglas Cohen all the best in the coming days. But I'm also irritated about this death--irritated at myself.

You see, this is the second time Realms of Fantasy has taken my subscription money to the grave. I wasn't angry the first time. After all, periodicals occasionally fail and I prefer to err on the side of supporting great magazines. And it isn't like I rushed in when RoF returned from the dead. When Lapine revived the magazine, I took a wait and see attitude. I'd heard people at conventions muttering about the collapse of Lapine's previous DNA Publications, so I wanted to see RoF actually succeed before I resubscribed. Instead of subscribing I simply purchased copies from bookstores. If the magazine didn't make it, I wouldn't be out anything.

Then came the infamous "subscribe or we die" letter. I should have taken that as a warning to stay away, but again, I want to support my genre. So not only did I urge others to subscribe, I finally did the sub nasty through RoF's online payment system.

That's when the trouble started. My payment went through immediately but my subscription didn't. I emailed about my subscription. I repeatedly called their customer service number. Despite all that, I only received my first issue two weeks ago. And now the magazine is dead. Again.

As they say, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I saw this coming but didn't want to believe it. So many people told me this would happen, but I didn't listen.

I won't make the same mistake a third time.

When is social media a bad thing for authors?

While considering changes to the Million Writers Award, I've been pondering one particular aspect of the award: How it basically encourages authors to promote their stories both online and through social media. Since the public votes for the overall winner, if an author's story is a finalist it's obviously in the author's self-interest to raise awareness about this fact and ask people to vote for him or her.

This has long been the most controversial part of the award. Some people have complained that holding a public vote cheapens the award and that another method for selecting the top story should be utilized, such as using a panel of judges. However, I prefer an open, democratic award process. I also have faith that most people will vote for what they see as the best story--even if an author asks them to vote a different way.

What all this means, though, is that each year authors use Facebook, Twitter, and other social media tools to promote that their stories are under consideration for the Million Writers Award. And each year people complain about authors doing this.

Which brings me to my main question: If you are an author, are there certain things you shouldn't do to promote your writings using social media?

Please place that question in the proper context. We live in an interconnect world where social media is replacing the old-guard media decision makers. Instead of Walter Cronkite telling us "that's the way it is," a billion people now shout their views on how things really are. This mass opinion constantly ebbs and flows as it filters through our personal interactions and conversations. If several of your friends state on Facebook that a movie is good, you're more likely to see it than if a TV ad proclaims it the best SF epic since "Battlefield Earth." (Sorry, couldn't resist :-) As an author, I'd rather have a million people tweeting about my stories than have my fiction annointed by Sam Tanenhaus, editor of The New York Times Book Review.

The funny thing is that social media works in similar ways to how ideas and beliefs have been promoted throughout much of human history. People once learned from one another what was worth knowing and doing, and the best of these memes worked their way through the population like a unending game of telephone. It was only with the advent of mass communication technology like printing, radio, and TV that a select few became able to easily influence great numbers of people. But with social media those select few are now finding themselves increasingly drowned out. This doesn't mean influential voices won't rise up out of the social media and influence others. But this happens in a much more natural process than having a single news anchor declare "that's the way it is."

So how does this tie in with authors and social media?

It used to be that when an author published a new book, their publisher--a perfect example of an old-guard media decision maker--would arrange publicity and author tours and media exposure. A major goal of every publisher was to land reviews and mentions in high-profile magazines and newspapers, which were influential media decision makers in their own right. If this process resulted in your novel making the cover of The New York Times Book Review, you were usually assured of success. If it didn't, you had a much harder mountain to climb to reach potential readers.

Now the landscape has changed. While landing coverage in the old media is still important--its influence is waning but hasn't totally died off--thanks to social media this is no longer the only way to interact with the reading public. So these days authors should, at a minimum, engage the social media world by having websites, Twitter accounts, and Facebook pages.

So which acts of social media self-promotion are valid, and which cross the line?

In terms of authors using social media to promote their works, it is important to understand that the essence of social media is through sharing and interaction with others. With that in mind, authors should not be faulted for doing the following with their social media accounts:

• Asking people to read your stories or novels.
• Talking about your stories and novels.
• Asking people to spread the news about your stories or novels.
• Talking about your life outside of your writing.
• Giving away books and other prizes.
• Mentioning upcoming readings, prizes you've received, new stories you're writing, and so on.
• And most importantly, interacting with your readers by responding to emails, Tweets, messages, and so on.

However, there are also some big social media no-nos, even bigger than throwing your book at the President in hopes that he'll notice and talk you up. In the social media sphere, authors shouldn't:

• Forget that the essense of social media is sharing and interaction. If you're Neil Gaiman, you can play by your own rules and ignore this (not that he does). Everyone else ignores this truth at their own peril. If you don't see social media as a means of actually interacting with people, then why use social media in the first place?
   
• Let your ego run amuck through the social media landscape. If every word from your Twitter account proclaims that you're the best writer on the planet, then no one will want to follow you. It is one thing to be confident in your abilities. It is another to be an arrogant SOB. And most people know enough arrogant SOBs in their everyday lives that they have no desire to meet another through social media.
   
• Stir up controversy simply to attract attention. The easiest thing to be online is a troll, but who wants to read a troll's memoir about irritating half the world? This doesn't mean you shouldn't state what you feel and think using social media. But if the only reason you use social media is to tick people off, you should rethink what you're doing.
   
• Forget that your first job as a writer is to write. While social media can be fun, don't forget that it isn't the first thing you should do with your time. Your writing should always come before using social media.
   
• Forget that the social media world isn't the real world. Yes, real people interact using social media. And yes, social media can influence the real world. But if you don't ever leave the cocoon of the social media world, your life will suffer. And if your life suffers, your writing can't be far behind.

At the end of the day, don't forget that the best social media promotion an author can do is to be yourself. If you are a jerk at heart, this will eventually come through in your social media interactions. Likewise, if you are a nice person who cares about your readers, they will also realize that through your social media interactions.

StarShipSofa Stories, Volume 2, now on sale

StarShipSofa Stories, Volume 2, is now officially out--as in "out of this world!" The second collection of stories from the Hugo-winning podcast contains fiction by me, Neil Gaiman, Cory Doctorow, Jeff VanderMeer, Nancy Kress, Tobias S. Buckell, Stephen R. Donaldson, China Miéville and many more. My story in the anthology is "Into the Depths of Illuminated Seas."

The anthology comes in several different editions, from a regular trade paperback to a very nice hardback to a special signed limited edition. That means somewhere in the world are 25 copies of this book with my signature alongside those of Gaiman, Doctorow, et al. I can't tell you how exciting that is.

And don't forget that starting next week StarShipSofa will air my novella "Sublimation Angels" as a serial podcast. I'll post more information when it is available.

UPDATE: StarShipSofa is now airing my novella "Sublimation Angels." The first of the three part serial can be download here.

Do we still need the Million Writers Award?

Earlier this year the storySouth Million Writers Award completed its seventh straight year of recognizing online fiction and the great literary magazines and journals which embrace the digital medium. Overall the award has been very well received, with large numbers of editors, writers, and readers participating each year as stories from across all literary genres compete for top honors. And thanks to our very supportive donors, we've given away over $2500 in money and prizes to the winning writers.

But now I wonder if we still need the award. And if it is needed, should the award change with the times?

Before I explain why I'm asking these questions, let me give a little background on the award. When I helped found storySouth in 2001, I quickly discovered that many people didn't see online magazines as legitimate publications. This attitude was summed up by the editor of one of the well-known "year's best" anthologies, who claimed he couldn't consider anything from our journal. To him, storySouth wasn't a real publication because we didn't print a paper edition.

In response, I created the Million Writers Award. I saw the award as a way to give online publications and authors the attention and recognition the literary establishment had arrogantly decided we didn't deserve.

But the publishing landscape has changed dramatically over the last decade. Today, few dispute online publications can be the equal of print publications. In fact, while print magazines and journals have seen declining circulations in recent years--and are betting their future on electronic distribution via the Kindle and other ebook readers--online magazines are stronger than ever.

One thing I've loved about running the Million Writers Award is giving recognition to new and upcoming writers. Even though print magazines are embracing e-publishing out of necessity, many are still not overly receptive to new and emerging authors. As a result, purely online magazines and journals have continued to be the fertile ground on which many of tomorrow's big name authors gain their first publications and recognition. It's no coincidence that the authors highlighted by the Million Writers Award are often emerging authors. The award reflects the reality that online publications are very receptive to new voices.

That's the background. Now I return to my initial question...is the Million Writers Award still needed?

As I mentioned, many print magazines are now transitioning to electronic distribution via the Kindle and other ebook readers. Even those magazines which retain a print edition are now often also distributed in an electronic format. Where does this leave an online fiction award? Is an online fiction award even relevant in a world where most fiction is either available online or can be downloaded from an electronic system?

Or perhaps the award simply needs to change. Should it exclusively honor new and emerging authors who are published online? Should it allow any e-published magazine to compete, even if that means allowing The New Yorker in the mix via their Kindle edition? Or should the Million Writers Award simply go away, happy to have done its little part in raising the profile of so many authors and online publications?

I honestly don't know the answers to these questions. Since the online writing and publishing community has been so receptive to the award, I hope people will let me know their thoughts on this issue by either posting below or contacting me.

Remembering the dead through the pattern of their words

One day, you will die. I will die. We will all die. There's no escaping this simple fact.

Even if you believe life extension and pseudo-immortality wait around the corner, you will still die. It is the nature of our universe that all things change and, eventually, cease to exist. Or more correctly, all things are recycled into new and exciting patterns. As Joni Mitchell once wrote in one of the most scientifically accurate pop songs of all time, “We are stardust, we are golden; We are billion-year-old carbon."

These thoughts are not morbid. These thoughts are merely the ways of life.

I began reflecting on this after browsing through the old messages in my email account. I've had this account since the late '90s and there are thousands of emails in the system. Of special interest are conversations with friends and family members who have passed away. These are literal slices of life. My mother-in-law excited at my family's upcoming visit to Ohio.  My great friend Asim Sidique wanting to see the anime movie Tokyo Godfathers after I praised it in a previous discussion.

Some of the emails are sad. I received an email from Josie Fowler a few weeks before she died. She obviously knew she was near death but didn't mention this fact to me. Instead, she asked about my family and my writing and said to always remember what's important in life. Rereading that message flashed me to a memory of once wandering around the Uptown area of Minneapolis, feeling lonely and irritated at life until I ran into Josie. I walked with her for a while and we talked and laughed and I came away happy at sharing a moment with such a genuinely good person.

Or the email from John Harmon, an archeologist I worked with at Auburn University. He died in a car wreck seven years ago. What makes me sad is it appears I didn't respond to him when he emailed. I probably intended to get back to him at some point. Maybe I was busy. Maybe I didn't see the email when it first came in.

But even though I didn't respond, I have the memories of the two of us working archeology sites across Alabama. How we once worked a government-required archeology survey on a busy street--dodging cars as he laughed about the zero odds of an archeology site surviving in the middle of two lanes of asphalt. Or how we once surveyed a swamp and found a massive longleaf pine tree which had survived the loggers of decades before.  Both of us together couldn't reach around the base of its trunk. I hope the tree still stands.

So many memories.

I don't know how long these emails will survive. Like everything else in our universe, they'll one day disappear. While it is unlikely anyone will ever sing about being made of the billion-year-old electrons which once created emails, electronic mail is no more permanent than any other form of communication. Words written on paper. Words spoken by friends sitting around a campfire. All of those words and the people who create them eventually pass away.

But the amazing thing is that the patterns those words create survive. After reading or hearing our friends' words we are not the same people we were before. Our lives are nudged into exciting new directions--a change we may not understand even when our own lives reach their end.

So while all things pass away, the patterns remains. Or more correctly, our patterns echo on just as the billion-year-old carbon which makes up our bodies also continues forward, ever creating new and delightful works.

to fall at her feet and worship her life

The Real Scandal at the Virginia Quarterly Review

If you are already familiar with poet and critic Dan Schneider, you likely either love him or hate him. If you don't know him, I'll simply tell you that he has an ability to cut through literary BS like no one else.

In the last few weeks we've all heard about the scandal at The Virginia Quarterly Review. How the editor of that prestigious university literary journal supposedly bullied an underling into committing suicide.

Well, after reading Dan's examination of the issue I realized that suicide drama isn't the real scandal. Instead, it's the fact that editor Ted Genoways was paid $134k a year to run a magazine which only had a few thousand readers and was supported by public funds. Even worse, the magazine lost amazing amounts of money each year even as Genoways spent down the magazine's once-sizable endowment.

As Dan points out, this is similar to how corrupt CEOs and high-flying Wall Street firms nearly brought down our economy even as they coated their parachutes in solid gold.

In the second half of the article Dan also critiques some of the writings published by VQR and states that the real reason journals like VQR are in trouble is because of their "I'll publish you if you publish me" attitudes. This is an issue which has been debated around literary publishing for decades and I doubt Dan's comments will change anyone's mind. But it's still an interesting analysis.

Now I'm a fan of literary magazines, and even helped found an online journal called storySouth. However, the numbers Dan has pulled together about VQR are outrageous and must be seen by everyone. Go check out the essay.

Promo video for StarShipSofa Stories, Volume 2

StarShipSofa Stories, Volume 2, will be published on 10/10/10. My story "Into the Depths of Illuminated Seas" is sandwiched like a piece of organic high-grade salami between works by Jeff VanderMeer and Cory Doctorow. That's a great place to be, so call me a contented salami. :-)

The collection also features stories by Neil Gaiman, Mary Rosenblum, China Miéville, Stephen R. Donaldson, and many more.

StarShipSofa has created a catchy promo video for the collection. Be warned--the original music by David Bradshaw is very addictive.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6ONVlpR9G8&w=510&h=385]

A SF story you must look for: Matthew Cook's "The Shoe Factory"

While there are many up and coming authors out there, one of the best is Matthew Cook. I first met Matt a few years ago at the Context Convention in Columbus, Ohio. He was signing copies of his first novel Blood Magic, published by Juno Books. Even though I'm not a big fan of "paranormal romances," which Juno is mainly known for, I picked up a copy.

I was blown away.

As I wrote in my review at that time, the novel is a must read for any fan of fantasy or horror. The sequel, Nights of Sin is even better, taking Matt’s characters onto unforeseen emotional and storytelling grounds. While these novels were marketed under the paranormal romance subgenre, they picked up a much wider readership. The reason for this is Matt's story easily crosses several genres and creates a world and characters which are both totally unique and totally believable. The books did extremely well, becoming two of Juno's best-selling titles and with both being nominated for the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards. (And as a side note, I now believe the books are actually science fiction. But since Matt won't tell me the truth of that, I'll only learn if I'm correct when Matt finishes the series.)

Unfortunately, when Juno was purchased by Pocket Books they were told to focus exclusively on paranormal romance. That meant no more cross-genre books like Matt's. But he's still working on the third and final novel and I'm sure another publisher will eventually jump at the chance to purchase the book.

Until then, Matt has a new story you must read: "The Shoe Factory," which was recently accepted by Interzone.

While it may not be fair to plug something which isn't even out, I love Matt's story too much to keep quiet. I first read this science fiction tale in manuscript form a while back. Even though Matt had asked me for feedback, all I could meekly mutter was that "The Shoe Factory" was simply and utterly great. The story is beautifully written, deeply touching, and presents a view of life crossing both space and time. Over the last year I've reread the story a number of times and it dazzles with each new reading.

I know I harp on SciFi Strange a lot, but Matt's story is a perfect example of the power of this type of fiction. I don't know which issue of Interzone the story will be in, but it should be out soon. If you trust my recommendations, keep an eye out for the story. And if you aren't already a subscriber to Interzone, dang it, make it happen.

Finalist for the Last Drink Bird Head Award

So here's the deal: I'm a finalist for the Last Drink Bird Head Award for the "gentle advocacy" I do on this blog. Gentle advocacy, as the award states, actually means "In recognition of individuals willing to enter into blunt discourse about controversial issues…"

Ironically, I was named a finalist right before my most recent blog post "Robert E. Howard was a racist. Deal with it." So perhaps I am unclear on all this. What's so blunt and controversial about that topic? :-)

The other finalists in my category are

• Ay-leen the Peacemaker (for Beyond Victoriana)
• Hal Duncan (for blogging and Notes from New Sodom)
• N.K. Jemisin (for blogging and commentary)

Personally, I consider myself the least worthy of all those bloggers and commentators. If you want to check out some excellent commentary go read their sites.

This is a great award Ann and Jeff VanderMeer give out "to celebrate those in the genre community who enrich us with their time, energy, and words, for causes greater than themselves." Thanks to both of them for this honor, and I urge people to check out all of the finalists for the award.

Robert E. Howard was a racist. Deal with it.

The great thing about going to conventions is seeing the writers, editors, and fans who make up our genre. There's nothing better than meeting someone you only know through their writings and discovering, gee, she's even nicer in person.

Of course, there's also the flip side to meeting people in real life — sometimes they turn out to be ignorant or worse. This happened to me recently at a convention. I was walking out of a panel discussion when I overheard someone say, "Robert E. Howard wasn't a racist because he didn't know any black people."

My mind almost slammed out of my head at that comment. I didn't know the person who said those words — he was merely one of the many people attending the convention. Still, I was unable to let such a stupid comment slide. So I asked what the man meant.

Now you need to know the setting. The speaker was a middle-aged white guy. I'm a white guy. Everyone listening was a white guy. The speaker obviously felt comfortable in such a setting and said that no one can be racist if they don't know any of the people they're supposedly racist against. I looked at the guy and said bullshit. That some of the worst racists are people who don't actually know any of the people they're hating against.

I guess the speaker wasn't expecting a white man to call him on his stupidity because he got all flustered and began rambling about Howard's life and writings. Since I'm not an expert on Howard beyond knowing he created Conan the Barbarian and is considered the father of sword and sorcery fiction, I kept the focus on the speaker's stupid statement. The conversation didn't last long and we soon went our separate, irritated ways.

Since then, I've been thinking about Robert E. Howard. Prior to that convention the sum total of my exposure to Howard had been reading the Savage Sword of Conan comics and several modern Conan novels, which obviously Howard didn't write. So I've spent the last few weeks both reading his works and analyzing his writings and life.

And the simple truth is “Hell yes! The guy was a racist!”

The Robert E. Howard United Press Association published a fascinating article titled "Southern Discomfort: Was Howard A Racist?" by Gary Romeo. (Update: The article was deleted a while back ⁠— here’s a link to the Web Archive version). The article covers a good bit of Howard's writings, including his personal letters, to show that he held some extremely racist beliefs (pay particular attention to the personal comments by Howard in the article's second paragraph). Romeo also discusses Howard's infamous short story "Black Canaan," which you can read here.

While the article lays out what I would call a rather pointed case for Howard's racism, Romeo appears to partly excuse this by saying that by the standards of Howard's time and place — the 1920 and '30s South and Southwest ⁠— his racism wasn't that unsual. However, I disagree with this. The fact that Howard's correspondence shows some of his friends reacting negatively to his racism is proof that even back then what he believed in wasn't acceptable to quite a few people. Was such racism commonplace during that time and place? Of course. But it was still not acceptable to many people.

But this "product of his time and place" statement also dances around the more important issue ⁠— excusing a writer's racism because it was once commonplace doesn't work with literature. Here's why: Literature is a cultural artifact, and culture is a dynamic process involving continual evolution and change. Culture exists at the individual level in each and every one of us even as it is also expressed at the group level. As people change at the individual level, the group-level culture also changes.

And a major part of that cultural change is people deciding which cultural artifacts are worth passing on to others.

This cultural "passing on" is where Howard's writings embrace true failure. Despite what Howard's defenders may wish, we do not read his stories as if we were back in the 1930s. We read them through the eyes of our 21st century beliefs. Not only was his racism disturbing to some of his contemporaries, it is equally disturbing to modern readers. Because of this, many people don't believe Howard's stories are worth passing on to others.

This is cultural change in action. As a father with a biracial family, I will not recommend Howard's stories to my sons. As a critic and reader, I will not recommend his stories to anyone else. When enough people do this, an author's work moves out of the cultural mainstream.

But of course, not everything Howard created was tied in with his racist beliefs. The best of his stories don't deal with racial issues at all. And because some of his creations remain so powerful, for the last few decades we have witnessed a fascinating example of how cultures preserve those elements people deem worthy even as they discard what they disagree with.

I refer, of course, to Conan the Barbarian. Since Howard's death, the character has been featured in comics such as the Savage Sword of Conan, two highly successful films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and numerous novels. What's fascinating is that while some of these stories are based in part on Howard's tales, most are original works. In fact, many of these works ⁠— such as the series of Conan novels written by Robert Jordan in the early 1980s ⁠— are arguably more widely read than Howard's original tales.

So even though a number of Howard's original stories are marred by his racism, this doesn't mean we can't enjoy his greatest creation. But what we're enjoying is the modern reinterpretation of Howard's world building. And what we're discarding are the racist aspects of Howard's works.

Now, I'm not ignorant of literary theory. I'm familiar with the view that it is impossible to separate a writer's personal beliefs from his or her creations. And there are works and authors where this is a totally valid criticism. But in this instance, I think Howard's greatest creation can be separated from who Howard was as a man. For proof of this, consider the world's number one Conan the Barbarian fan: Barack Obama.

The fact that the first African-American President of the United States loves the Conan comic books ⁠— remember, that's a new work playing off Howard's original stories ⁠— speaks volumes about how cultural values can both change and endure. It likely wouldn't matter to Obama if he learned that Howard was so racist that, after meeting a biracial man in New Orleans, Howard referred to the man as an "it" as if he wasn't human. No, what matters is that when Obama read the Conan comics while a young man, they resonated with him. (Side note: The anecdote about Howard can be found toward the bottom of that "Southern Discomfort" article.)

I suppose this is the key point I'm trying to make here is that no author exists in a cultural vacuum. An author's writings are continually re-evaluated by everyone who reads them. The great part of this is that an author can have an amazing influence on culture through his or her readers. But the flip side is also true. If people disagree with the ideas behind an author's fiction, they'll preserve and expand upon what is of value but discard the rest.

So in the end, Robert E. Howard was a racist. When my kids are old enough, I will not recommend many of this stories to them. I'll also explain how Howard was so racist he would have thought of my sons as less than human. I'll then suggest they read Howard's fiction and history to discover for themselves how racist the man was.

That said, I’ll also point out that just as with H.P. Lovecraft, some of Howard’s stories and characters have filtered into the greater cultural consciousness and have inspired new generations of authors to create stories and works which may resonate with my kids. I'll recommend that my kids check out the new Conan the Barbarian novels and comics and even see Arnold's films. My kids will likely enjoy them — and they can do so without dealing with Howard's racist baggage.

And that is the essence of how cultures change.

For my French readers, Ténèbres 2010

For any of my French readers, my story "Here We Are, Falling Through Shadows" has been translated and printed in the Ténèbres 2010 anthology. I received my contributor copies the other day and the anthology looks like a great one, with stories by William Peter Blatty (author of The Exorcist, hence the cover), Eugie Foster (with her Nebula Award winning story "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast"), Orson Scott Card, and others.

While I'm really not a horror writer, for this anthology they also wanted science fiction stories which bordered on horror, so there I am.

As for the title of my story, it was shortened in translation to  "Les Faucheurs." Google translator tells me that means "The Reapers," which sounds about right.

Write a bad story for NPR and Michael Cunningham

Am I the only one blown away by the badness in NPR's new Three-Minute Fiction contest? As with all their contests, you have to write the story in 600 words or less. The problem is that the story must

1)  start with the first line "Some people swore that the house was haunted."

and

2)  end with the last line "Nothing was ever the same again after that."

My God! The pure, cliched badness! Badness so bad it is blinding in its badness! So bad it almost comes full circle back to goodness! (Well, maybe not.)

I mean, come on. If you're going to do a fiction contest, do it right. Don't start by mocking everyone who attempts to write a story for you.

Even worse is that Michael Cunningham wrote those opening and closing lines. He tries to palm off inspiration for the last line on Russian writer Nikolai Gogol--even as he admits Gogol "didn't actually use that line"--but I don't buy it. I think Cunningham doesn't give a shit about the contest and is playing a joke on people. Either that, or he thinks cliches are somehow inspired writings in disguise.

My suggestion is for writers to submit the worst stories they can create. Return the joke on Cunningham and NPR. And if they actually pick one of these bad stories as the winner, let them air it on Weekend All Things Considered before you admit to your own joke.

Now that would be a story worth telling.

Interzone to publish special Jason Sanford issue

This morning the British science fiction and fantasy magazine Interzone accepted my short story "Memoria" and my novelette "Peacemaker, Peacemaker, Little Bo Peep." Obviously this is the type of exciting news every writer loves waking up to.  But it turns out Interzone editor Andy Cox had even bigger news to share: Interzone will publish these stories in a special issue focused on my fiction!

My mind is blown away by this. See the hole emerging through my skull. See brain matter exploding outward. Wow!

According to Andy, this "Jason Sanford special issue" will be in Interzone 231 (November/December 2010). The issue will include the two stories mentioned above along with my already accepted story "Millisent Ka Plays in Realtime" and an interview with me conducted by Andrew Hedgecock.

I want to thank Andy Cox and all the Interzone editors for this honor and for publishing so many of my stories. Interzone took an early chance with my fiction and has given my writings more exposure than I ever could have imagined. They are also one of the best SF/F magazines in the world. Even if they'd never published a single one of my stories, I'd still eagerly await each issue because Interzone is the primary source for today's cutting edge short fiction. If you want to read mind-expanding stories which push the bounds of science fiction and fantasy, you must read Interzone.

To receive this special issue, be sure to subscribe to Interzone. And again, many thanks to Andy Cox and all the Interzone editors and readers for the amazing support they've given my fiction.

Andrew Hedgecock

A few words with Neil Clarke on his world dominating submission management system

Anyone who writes science fiction or fantasy should know Neil Clarke, editor and publisher of Clarkesworld Magazine, which this past weekend became the first online magazine to win the Best Semiprozine Hugo Award. Not only is Neil's Clarkesworld one of the most exciting genre magazines out there, he played a vital role in saving the semiprozine award when the World Science Fiction Society attempted to eliminate it.  Through semiprozine.org, Neil rallied resistance to this change by showing how magazines like Clarkesworld, Interzone, Weird Tales, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and many others are a vital part of the genre scene, publishing stories and analysis you won't find anywhere else.

However, beyond his work as an editor and promoter of semiprozines, Neil is touching the lives of SF/F writers in a much more subtle manner--he is the creator of the submission management system which is taking over the genre world. Originally created by Neil for Clarkesworld, the system has now spread to Asimov's, Fantasy Magazine, Lightspeed Magazine, Electric Velocipede and other magazines.

Neil's system is incredibly easy to use. Unlike other online submission systems, you don't need to create an account to keep track of your submissions. Simply go to the magazine's website and enter your name, email address, cover letter and other information into the system. You can then upload your manuscript in either a .rtf or .doc format. Once you submit, you receive an email confirmation with a link to check on your submission's status.

And that's where Neil's system can turn into a major case of writer addiction. When you first submit, your sub is marked in the "received" category. In some of the variations on his system you will even see your place in the queue. For example, when I submitted to Lightspeed Magazine a while back, my initial queue rank was number 14, a number which quickly fell. It was then briefly "under review" before belly flopping into the Slush God's rejection pool.

While it might be tempting to hit "refresh" over and over when your submission is under review, the value of Neil's system has nothing to do with seeing that "under review" category magically change to an acceptance (although Neil has remarked before that, at least with Clarkesworld Magazine, being "under review" for more than a few days is a good sign). Instead, the value of Neil's system is that you know your submission was received, that it is being considered, and that it isn't lost in some email or snail mail postal hell.

Because I was so impressed, I asked Neil what lead to the system's creation, about his thoughts on online submissions, and more.

Me: What led you to create your online submission system?

Neil: Gmail. Prior to 2009, we (Clarkesworld) used Gmail for all our submissions. It was fine when we started, but as the volume of submissions grew, it became increasingly obvious that this wasn't the right tool for the job. I've been designing online systems since the mid-80's, so when I couldn't find something better, I built one.

Does the system save time over postal submissions?

Postal delivery is obviously slower than electronic delivery, but the time saved isn't just that bit at the beginning and end of the submissions process. My slush readers are scattered around the country and we all have instant access to the submissions, comments, and responses. I know one paper-submissions market that makes monthly exchanges of paper between their reader and editor. That's an inefficiency we don't have to worry about.

In your opinion, does an online submission system allow magazine to attract stories from a more diverse pool of writers than is possible with postal submissions?

Allow is probably the wrong word. There are more people with postal access than internet access. What makes the difference is the decreased cost and increased convenience of electronic submission over printing, mailing and providing return postage. I don't have hard numbers, but I do hear from many grateful authors outside the US. They often cite the high price of international postage as a deterrent to sending stories to non-local markets. You can find some of these comments in response to this post.

In addition to your Clarkesworld, other genre magazines now using your system include Asimov's, Fantasy Magazine, Lightspeed Magazine, and Electric Velocipede. Why are so many genre magazines gravitating toward online submissions, and is there anything in particular about your system which makes other magazines want to use it?

Online submissions are convenient and very popular with authors. To me, it seems more like common sense and good business. I understand why some people are reluctant to embrace this format, but I think not taking them will put those markets at a disadvantage. The editors that aren't taking electronic submissions know what they are doing. They don't consider the disadvantages to be significant enough to change yet.

I've been more than willing to share my experiences with online submissions with other editors. The magazines you've mentioned (and a few more) adopted my system because they thought it would work for them. It's not always a perfect fit, but the ideas I get from the other editors are quite good and worth the time it takes to implement them, so we all end up benefiting from the deal.

At Clarkesworld, what is your process for working submissions through the system? How many editors or slush readers take part?

1. A slush reader (myself included) claims the next story in the queue and downloads the document.

2. The story is read.

3. The reader goes back to the system, tags the story for acceptance or rejection and includes a few comments for my eyes only.

4. I review the processed submissions and send out the appropriate letters to the authors.

5. The submission is closed and archived.

There are five us reading slush. I'm first reader on 20-25% of all submissions.

Have there been any major bugs with your system? Any complaints or praise from people using it?

The only problems we've had with the system have been when well-intentioned tech people at a publication have tinkered with it. No real complaints. Mostly suggestions and thanks. There is always room for improvement.

Do you foresee any new developments with future versions of your system?

I originally designed the software for Clarkesworld and didn't intend to be distributing it. There are some changes I still need to make to help each magazine become a bit more independent. The system will also continue to receive upgrades from the editor's wishlists, but the majority of those will be invisible to authors.

A few thoughts on pushing boundaries and the Hugo Awards

This morning the 2010 Hugo Award winners were announced. Unlike my excited reaction to the recent Nebula Awards, I'm mixed on these results. While the winners for Best Novella, Novelette, and Short Story are very good--they are respectively "Palimpsest" by Charles Stross, "The Island" by Peter Watts and "Bridesicle" by Will McIntosh--I don't feel they were the strongest stories in those categories. This isn't to say I don't recommend these stories. I simply prefer the Nebula Award winners for those categories.

However, I'm thrilled with the tie for Best Novel between The City & The City by China Miéville and The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. While I prefer The Windup Girl, both are amazing novels which pushed the boundaries of the genre. And that actually sums up why the short form winners don't excite me--they lacked the ambition of the novel winners. The ambition to take the reader some place new. While they are very good stories, they are still merely variations of stories I've read before.

This ambition to take people somewhere new is also why I'm happy that Clarkesworld Magazine (edited by Neil Clarke, Sean Wallace, & Cheryl Morgan) won the Best Semiprozine Hugo, and StarShipSofa (edited by Tony C. Smith) won the Best Fanzine Hugo. Clarkesworld is one of several magazines pushing the storytelling boundaries of our genre--the others are Interzone, Fantasy, and Strange Horizons. And StarShipSofa hasn't simply pushed the boundaries, they've exploded past any sense of being bounded by proving that there is a massive audience for podcast stories, interviews, and insightful genre commentary.

Despite my mixed feelings on this year's awards, congrats to all the winners. And special praise to all those writers and editors pushing the boundaries.

"Stone Wall Truth" by Caroline M. Yoachim

Over the last few weeks, I've twice mentioned "Stone Wall Truth" by Caroline M. Yoachim, which was published in the February 2010 edition of Asimov's. The first time was in "Our science fiction isn't your father's SF," where I discussed a review which claimed "the story is a masterpiece, but a masterpiece of fantasy rather than science fiction" (I disagreed and believe the story is a science fiction masterpiece). The other mention was in my "Online SciFi Strange anthology," where I listed the story as a great example of SciFi Strange.

Obviously I love this story. So I'm excited to announce that Yoachim has posted the story online.

This story will definitely be on my short-list for the major awards, and I suggest people read and likewise consider it. The story is as mind-blowing--and disturbing--as science fiction can get.

Context 23 rehash

I really enjoyed myself at the Context 23 convention this past weekend. I took part in several interesting panels, including "Is a SF Renaissance Around The Corner?" (which included such great writers and editors as Tobias Buckell, Timons Esaias, Maura Heaphy, Paul Melko, and Paul Stevens). The panel produced a good bit of insight about the future of the genre. I'm working on a summary for possible posting next week.

Another great panel I took part in was a blogging discussion which included Maurice Broaddus. Maurice had a copy of his upcoming novel King Maker, a reworking of the Arthurian legends set in modern times. The cover art for King Maker is amazing, and the novel--which comes out in the U.S. next month--has already stirred up controversy in Britain by placing that country's beloved Arthur in Indianapolis. The shock! The horror! Maurice has already addressed this issue several times, although for the life of me I can't see why this setting is such a big deal. Anyway, I can't wait to read the novel.

As always, Context was a nice little literary con and well worth attending for writers and lovers of speculative fiction. Thanks to the organizers for having me as a participating author and for indulging me with some fun panels.