NJ DMV Update

OK, so I posted a while back about a phone call I made to the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles. I was a little irritated about the phone call. Here's the kicker, after I sent the e-mail in, I got a response that said all I needed to do was throw out the registration. If I didn't renew, they removed me from the database.

How come the woman on the phone didn't know that? Where did her crazy idea of mailing the license plates back to NJ come from?

Zine Series

OK, I've hit a few basic ideas, and it seems to be going well. I was considering talking about the submission process next. But then I started to wonder, what do people want me to talk about next? Anything from previous entries you'd like me to expand on?

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

In Part Three, I mention the following things that I feel deserve their own post. Is there one of these you'd like me to talk about next?

Proper Desktop Publishing Programs
Editing

Let me know!

So You Want to Start a Zine Pt. 3

So I promised some discussions on the common pitfalls of print short fiction publishing. This is pretty long, so I apologize for that.

Not paying authors
I will admit, I was guilty of this for a long time with my publication. Years. Many issues. It's tough. This costs a lot of money to make a print zine. And with postal costs rising, it's even more expensive. But you should do everything within your power to pay the author.

It doesn't have to be professional rates, or even bad rates. It can be $5 a story, it just has to be something. It shows potential submitters that you have faith in your product and that you want to support the writer's craft in some fashion. Writing is not easy, and it's insulting to the author for them to be expected to do all that work for nothing.

Some people feel that contributor copies are payment. Well, sort of. But you'll generate a lot better buzz (and karma) by paying some actual cash.

I started with a lot of goodwill and essentially soliciting my first few issues from writers I knew. I was able to build some sort of good vibes about my zine before I started working more from slush than from solicitations. I approached people with the concept that I was starting a zine and needed a hand to get it going. I know that a lot of writers gave serious consideration to submitting to me before choosing a paying market. In fact, I often heard that I was one of the few (the only?) non-paying market that pros would consider.

That said, I won't recommend not paying. If you can't pay, then don't make a big splash trying to get stories for your publication. You'll only invite derision. Contact people individually, talk to them about what you're trying to do.

In the end, pay your authors.

Not coming out on any sort of schedule
You'll lost any audience you gain by having them not know when the next issue is coming out. You'll also frustrate people if you start on a schedule and then go off it.

So, start slow. Start with two issues a year. Get an idea of how much work an issue involves. Then see if you can stick to the schedule of two a year. If you can, look to increase it.

I see a lot of new magazine look to start quarterly, or bi-monthly, or god forbid, monthly. You'll never make it. I worked on a monthly. It's takes an enormous amount of organization. For example:

Let's say it's September since we're only a few days away from that month. You have an issue coming from the printer. Without going into the concept of future dating issues, let's just say it's the September issue. So, if Sept is coming back from the printer then your also: proofreading the October issue, laying out the November issue, editing the December issue, getting artwork for the January issue, finalizing content for the February issue, picking stories for the March issue, and reading for April and beyond. And you do that every month. You are actively working on seven issues at one time and passively working on the next five. You work on at least a year's worth of issues all the time.

For me: I'm editing the Fall 2007 issue, I'm finalizing the Spring 2008 issue (it's going to be super-sized otherwise this would be done), I've selected more than half the Fall/Summer 2008 issue, and I'm selecting stories for the Winter 2008 (I'm going to try three issue next year; it's taken me six years to get to the point where I feel comfortable doing more than two in a year) issue. I'm reading for all issues beyond that. I have accepted a few issues worth of stories, but I need to see what works together before I slap them together into the next issue.

Maybe for you this is not the way to work. Flytrap and Talebones read for the next issue and close to submissions once they have a full issue. I can't work that way since I've done the full-time editing stuff.

Not editing stories
You might feel that you don't know what to do. You might think, there's nothing wrong with that story.

Wrong!

There is something wrong with that story. There's something wrong with every story. You just need to look for it. We'll go into editing (or at least try) in a different post, but read the story a bunch of times. Any place where it stumbles? Anything that you don't care for? Why? Why not?

It's true, there are a few stories that I've published without changing anything in them. It's rare. And I agonize over whether I've done the right thing.*

If you do nothing with the stories you publish, the word will get out. People won't work with you in the long term because they feel you're not doing anything to help their career.

Here's a quick hint: look at the end of the story. Often short fiction fails at the end. It can tough to wrap up a great setting. Try to make the stories your publishing as seamless as possible.

Using Microsoft Word (or some other word processor) to lay out your zine
If you're going to make a print magazine, you HAVE to invest in a proper desktop publishing program. It will make a huge difference in how your publication looks. Word processors are not built to do lay out, no matter what Microsoft or Apple wants you to think. They are made to create documents, to hold lots of text. They are not meant to make something that looks pretty.

Even Microsoft Publisher is a better option than Word. Hell, a pair of scissors, some glue, and a photocopier will make better layout than Word. Word will never be able to lay out your zine in a fashion that a printer can use (i.e., signatures or booklets...another separate post).

I use InDesign and I absolutely love it. My brother-in-law does prepress work for the largest printer in this hemisphere (they print Playboy, People, Super Bowl programs, etc.) and they use InDesign. It's that good. And yes, it carries the expense and learning curve that something that good carries (I'm still learning). But it's worth it. The trick here might be to find someone you know who is in school so you can buy it via an educational discount. It will still be almost $200, but it's worth it's weight in gold.

Paying too much for printing
This one is tough. You can do it without knowing you're doing it. You need to ask around. Find out what other zines are using. Look through the phone book. Search online and ask for quotes.

When I moved, I decided to try to support a local business since my old printer was in MA. I contacted more than forty printers from here through Madison, WI. I've find a local place that's not too bad in price, but gives me great service. But, if I get a great price from somewhere far away...

You should try to shoot for $1 a copy for printing. I've never been able to hit that number, but I'm close. The more copies you print, the total cost should come down, reducing your price per copy, so if you're only making a few hundred it may be hard to hit $1/copy. But feel free to use the $1/copy when asking for quotes. Or maybe use $1.25/copy. Lots of places can't handle a price that low. But that'll help you save money.

And honestly, at our level, you're not actually looking to print. My zine is a high quality photocopy. Actually printing would run around $1200 an issue. Of course, with actual printing, the costs are mostly set up. The price per copy drops drastically as the volume goes up. But you won't be making that many copies. Which brings us to:

Printing Too Many Copies
I wouldn't make more than 300 copies of each issues to start with. Even at this, you'll have plenty left over. Unless you have a lot of space, you don't want to be left with thousands or even hundreds of copies of your back issues.

Yes, that means you can sell out of an issue. That's ok. That just gives you a reason to do an anthology down the road or do some reprints. I've sold out of my first five issues, and I'm really close on issue #6. (and the current issue...which I'll have to reprint here soon)

Hint: don't use Kinko's**.

And most importantly:

Publishing your own stories
Never, ever do this. Even under a pseudonym. Never do this. It does not look professional. It makes your zine look like something not worth reading or submitting to. I mean, if you had to use your own stories to fill out the issue, what sort of motivation is that for the reader or writer to be a part of your publication?

It looks like you got frustrated with rejection letters and decided you would publish your stories yourself.

I understand the temptation. But I feel that this is a rule you must adhere to.

But what if I'm (insert famous name here)? No. Just no. I was going to write that if you had already proven your writing chops elsewhere you could consider publishing yourself. But then I decided, no. No. No. No.

No.

Am I being clear? I apologize to people I know who have done this. It's a practice I don't agree with. Whether you're publishing a zine or an anthology**, in my opinion, there is no justifiable reason to publish your own story. Of course, I have no inclination to write, so perhaps this is easier for me to do.

* But when they get nominated for a World Fantasy Award, you assume in retrospect that you made the right decision.

** Or Staples, or Office Max or any national chain. Find a small local place. It's likely they have the best prices.

*** In the extraordinarily RARE occasion that a theme anthology has been created on your most amazing, award-winning story, and you are editing this anthology, and the publisher wants your story--i.e., the one that started it all, the one that inspired everyone else--in the anthology, then that might be ok. Otherwise, no.

Post-Barzak Day Feelings of Contentment

As you should know, yesterday was Barzak day to celebrate the release of of Christopher Barzak's first novel One For Sorrow. Many people celebrated the day with me.

For me, the best thing about Barzak day was when I got a package in the mail from Amazon yesterday, it had a copy of One for Sorrow in it. I got the book the day it was released. That's just...stunning.

Now I just need to clear my schedule to read it. :)

I'm So Happy I Could Just Barzak!

Matt Cheney (an extremely smart guy) has declared today Barzak Day. This is one of the best ideas I've heard in a long time.

You see, today is the official release of Christopher Barzak's first novel One For Sorrow. The book is winding its way to me through the mysterious vagaries of the Amazon ordering system. I can't wait to read it.

I've read a number of Barzak short stories, and always enjoy them immensely. I was not surprised to learn that my editor, the talented Juliet Ulman, acquired this novel since his style of writing falls right in line with other things she's acquired.

If you haven't read Barzak's fiction, you can find some online here, here, here, here, and here.

And when you're done with those, go pick up the novel. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

We've Been Boinged

As readers of this blog know, I picked up William Shunn's chapbook from the printer the other day. The inestimable Cory Doctorow wrote the introduction to the chapbook. I let Cory know that the book was out, and he mentioned it here.

You can read more about it here or go buy yourself (and your friends) a copy here.

I'll grab a screen shot of my stats after the weekend. It may be tough, but I think you'll be able to see the spike.

So You Want to Start a Zine Pt. 2

Deciding What Your Zine Is (And Isn't)

Let's get personal for a moment. You see, this is where we talk about what goes between the covers of your zine. And that's up to you.

Completely.

I can't state that too plainly. You are the editor & publisher of your zine. You, and only you decide what goes in it. If you don't like it, if you don't approve of it, you don't have to use it. Whatever it is.

This is the post where I can only speak in generalities. I'll explain how I made my decisions, and hopefully that will guide you in your decisions. Deciding your content, and by proxy your format (i.e., print or electronic) is a very important step that you should think about before you make any commitments.

It seems a simple step, but it can be the first stumbling block for a young zine maker. Do you want a lot of fiction in your zine, or would you prefer mostly nonfiction? Are you going to focus on a particular topic, or will your zine be about just anything? While there are many many more questions to ask yourself at the beginning, these two two-part questions will help limit what you're trying to do, and trust me, that's a good thing.

This is where I suggest you get out pencil and paper. (there's a lot of paper involved in my process of making a zine, so don't be afraid) Start making a list of what you think you want to do. You have to think about what you're doing before you dive in. This may seem anathema to a lot of people since innovation often comes from people who don't have a lot of experience in a field (i.e., they don't avoid the 'known' failures and they just TRY stuff), but that doesn't mean they didn't think about what they were doing.

For me it was easy to decide what kind of zine I wanted to make. But, I had worked on monthly magazines, and for a book publisher. I knew what I was getting into, what needed to happen month to month, how to get in touch with authors, etc. I love the physicalness of books and magazines, so I knew that a print zine was right for me, too. I had no interest in creating my own content, so I wasn't about to make a nonfiction zine that had reviews and criticism in it. Even though it's only been six years, some of the current online tools weren't quite as cool as they are now.

And electronic content has gained more respectability in the past few years. When I was starting my zine, online fiction...online content of any sort...was viewed as inferior to printed material. Not that the pendulum has swung completely the other way, but it's approaching the middle. If I were to start a zine, I'd have to give a lot of serious thought about making it an online only publication.

As for the actual content, my tastes are pretty varied (and they change all the time; I absolutely despise 'what is you favorite band/author/food' questions since I have no forever favorites, just things I'm currently enjoying) so I was comfortable making a fiction zine that didn't really have any sort of theme to it. The title of the zine gave it a loose theme, but I see very little in the way of steampunk. A theme would arise through my editorial choices, and it might change as what I'm interested in changes through time.

For you, that could be different. You may really like stories with robots. You may want to think about making a robot story zine. That could be really cool. It could also be really limiting if you make more than five issues. Today you think you'll never get sick of robot stories, but after a couple years of reading submissions of robot stories you might change your mind. Then what? Well, you could change the theme of your zine (which could be disastrous) or you could start a new zine. You'll probably want to publish the kind of stuff you like to read; just don't make it so specific/obscure that you have trouble getting quality submissions.

If you find the concept of working with fiction kind of daunting, perhaps your zine should be something that publishes more nonfiction content. If you read a lot, perhaps you could write up simple reviews of all the books/magazines you read. Or maybe you want to make your High School English teacher proud and you have all sorts of literary criticism thoughts in your head after you read a book and you'll publish longer, more critical pieces that compare and contrast severals works by the same author or perhaps several works by several authors who write on a similar theme.

To me, that sounds like a lot of work. It already takes up a lot of time reading submissions, selecting stories, editing stories, laying out issues, etc. and I don't offer any original content to the issue. But perhaps if you cut out entirely the process of working with other people, all you'll need to do is write enough content for an entire issue, edit yourself, lay it out, etc. There's merits to both. You need to decide which appeals to you more.

(Of course, you could be less insane than me and go into this endeavor with someone else (or with multiple someone elses). It wasn't until this year that I learned that most of my fellow fiction zinesters didn't do this alone. Here I was putting this zine out twice a year like clockwork and feeling like everyone else was outpacing me like crazy in content, format, etc. Then I learn that there's several people at every publication. And I was still almost keeping up with them. No wonder I was going crazy!)

And there's no reason why your fiction zine couldn't have a nonfiction column or two. I used to have one, and I'll be implementing one with the next issue. Most of the fiction zines out there offer some sort of review feature. Since zines come out irregularly (a few times a year) often it's not just a pure review; it tends to be something a little more value added so to speak. And your literary criticism/review zine could always feature one story in each issue.

That's what Strange Horizons does; they just do it every week! And they have a host of talented people who help put it together under the direction of the amazing Susan Marie Groppi. There's like 20 or more people that work on Strange Horizons. However, 20 people is a little ambitious when starting out, so try to find one or two people to work with instead.

Having done this by myself for so long, I will say that if you can find even one other person who shares your vision of what the zine should be then do so. While I can proudly say that any accolades the zine has received so far are 100% due to my efforts, I won't feel bad now that I've added some help. The problem is I enjoy every phase of making the zine, so it's hard to pass those duties on to anyone since that means that I won't be doing that part any more. Just like I would give serious consideration to making a new zine online, I would never start one on my own. If I ever make a second zine, it will be with someone's help.

Next time, some of the common pitfalls of the fiction magazine. (there won't be a partner post about nonfiction as I have no experience in it)

How About You?

82%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Mingle² - Dating Site

Shunn Chapbook Seen in Wild

BETTENDORF, Iowa - John Klima, publisher of the World Fantasy Award nominated Electric Velocipede, reports that his publishing company's second chapbook -- William Shunn's An Alternate History of the 21st Century, with an introduction by Cory Doctorow and illustrations from Mattias Adolfsson -- has been seen in the wild.

'Approach with caution,' said Klima. 'There's some wild stuff inside those covers.' Klima could be referring to one of the four previously published stories: "From Our Point of View We Had Moved to the Left," "Kevin - 17," "Observations from the City of Angels," or "Strong Medicine," but it's more likely that he means one of the two new stories in the chapbook: "Objective Impermeability in a Closed System" or "Not of This Fold."

'This is some of the best stuff we've published,' continued Klima. 'I'm not surprised that it got free. It's very powerful. I can only hope to guide it, not contain it.' The chapbook is available now directly from Klima for $5 (slightly higher outside the US) at his website and soon to be at finer bookstores everywhere.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)

So You Want to Start a Zine Pt. 1

As the title promises, this is the first in a series of posts where I talk about how you can start and maintain your own zine. I'm not certain at this point how many installments there will be, but I will have separate posts for the following topics (but not limited to only these topics):

• Starting a zine
• Getting submissions
• Layout
• Printing vs. Copying
• Marketing/Promotion

The germination for this idea started with an old post wherein I talked about laying out the pages of my zine. I'll redo that post when I get to layout. I may even need to break it into multiple posts.

This first post is going to talk some about why I make a zine and why you should make a zine. Here's some background about me. I moved from WI to NJ in 1997 to work at Facts On File News Services as an associate editor. A year later, I had a new boss and no job. I quickly found work at Dell Magazines working with their puzzle magazines (really working for the editor-in-chief). It came to my attention that Dell also published Analog and Asimov's science fiction magazines, and when a job opened a few months later, I applied. I worked as the editorial assistant on both magazines for a while when I learned of a job opening at Tor Books. I worked at Tor for two years, meeting and working with most every science fiction and fantasy author that I read. I acquired Alex Irvine's A Scattering of Jades while I was there.

However, at $25,000/year in New York, I wasn't going to be able to buy a house, start a family, etc. So I left publishing as a full-time endeavor to enter the thrilling world of computer programming. For five years I worked as a programmer then a senior programmer. Early on, I noticed that I felt something was missing. I missed working with authors, with books, with the written word. Programming was a very solitary experience, and as I've gotten older I've found that I like being around people and working with people.

It was a fateful Readercon where I sat on a panel (I'm fairly certain it was this Readercon, but the panel is not listed in the program) run by Gavin Grant about starting your own magazine. (there's a panel by this name the year after the one I link to, but by that time I was already publishing Electric Velocipede) As soon as I left his panel, I knew that I wanted to make my own magazine. I had the contacts through Tor/Asimov's/Analog; and I wanted to keep in touch with those people. It made perfect sense.

So let's say you have inspiration to start your own magazine, or you're on the fence and wondering if you should start one. Here's some words of advice on getting the ball rolling.

One of your concerns might be that you might think that there are too many magazines out there, that there's no room for another publication. This is where you're wrong. Every single person who sees this post can (and should) make a zine. And they can be fiction zines. There's a lot of good fiction out there.

The more of us that compete for fiction, the better our publications become. The more of us that compete for fiction, the better the writing becomes. Competition makes a market stronger. I'm glad that there are more and more well-made independent fiction zines out there. Yes, it maddens me when stories get published by someone else that I think would be perfect in Electric Velocipede. I'm sure they feel the same about me.

You might wonder if you have the time to make a zine. This could be a problem if your schedule is tight or you already have a lot of commitments. Making a zine is a big commitment. I work very hard to have issues come out when I say they're going to come out. I work very hard to always have two issues a year. I'm often up late or up early to work on things as the publication date draws near. But it matters to me. I wasn't going to start this process and fizzle out after an issue or two. If I was starting a zine, it was going to go on forever.

Still not sure? Do you have a blog? If you think about it, a blog is essentially an electronic zine. If you have the time and energy to blog and comment and read blogs, you have the time and energy to make a zine. When I started this six years ago, blogging was virtually nonexistent. These days, there are millions of blogs. People go online and write billions of words every day. And most of them don't even think of the time and effort they're committing to their blog. A zine is the same thing.

If you think you want to make an electronic zine, you can get away with using blog software, which can have very robust features and programming aspects. If you're doing print, there are a whole different set of considerations, but you can get away with basic office suite applications in the beginning for layout. You can even go old school and use the photocopies to create your master pages rather than laying them out electronically. (a future post will cover print vs. electronic in greater detail)

There's nothing in your way as far as content is concerned: there are a lot of writers out there looking for a home; there are a lot of thoughts in your head; there has to be something that you have a lot of interest in that you could talk about. There's nothing in your way when it comes to making the zine: blogging is free and easy; if you have a job you have access to office suite software and photocopiers; if you're worried about doing this at work--or god forbid you aren't working--there are free computers at your local public library if you don't have one at home already.

Stop deciding whether you should make a zine. The answer is yes. Now you need to start thinking about WHAT you're going to make. Since this post is getting overlong, the next one in this series will go into more detail on making that decision.

Subscriptions

UPDATE: Holy crud Batman! I TOTALLY forgot Talebones! Sorry Patrick!

In light of all the talk online of supporting short fiction markets, I thought I would list the places I subscribe to that are short-fiction publications:

• The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
• Realms of Fantasy
• Fantasy Magazine
• Weird Tales
• Talebones
• Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet
• Shimmer Magazine
• Farthing
• Flytrap
• Full Unit HookUp

This obviously doesn't include online publications that I read regularly such as:

• Strange Horizons (comes out WEEKLY!)
• Clarkesworld Magazines
• Farrago's Wainscot
• Heliotrope Magazines
• Ideomancer
• Mytholog
• ElectricSpec

I also buy every issue of Rabid Transit and Say... when they come out. I'd buy a subscription to Sybil's Garage if they offered one.

I did have a subscription to Asimov's and I've often thought about re-subscribing, but haven't. I never subscribed to Analog, although I did work there. I think Stanley Schmidt does a great job selecting fiction for Analog, it's just not what I look for in short stories.

I did subscribe to Trunk Stories and Grendelsong, but those magazines are currently not publishing. Also, I used to buy/receive copies of Artemis, Century, and CRANK!, but none of those magazines are with us any more.

BTW, Ian Randall Strock, who was the editor of Artemis, is currently doing a fantastic job with SF Scope, an all-around news source for speculative fiction (i.e., science fiction, fantasy, horror, etc.). If you haven't checked out SF Scope, you're doing yourself a disservice.

At one time I used to get all of the DNA publications--Absolute Magnitude, Dreams of Decadance, Fantastic, Chronicle, and Pirate Writings--in the mail, but I haven't seen any issues from them in more than five years.

Short Fiction

So there's been some talk lately about the state of short fiction. I won't link to anything since you should have no trouble finding recent articles/blog entries on the subject. The most recent spate of articles talk about whether or not to support short fiction markets. Of course, my basic response to that is: yes. I am a short-fiction market, I would be remiss if I didn't feel it should be supported.

There's also been some recent activity along the lines of 'short fiction is dying.' And then reactionary (do not read that as 'inflammatory,' I just mean things written in response and I thought responsitory sounded too much like suppository so there you are) writing about how short fiction is just changing.

Now since I recently did my own drive for help, I've been avoiding posting on the subject since I didn't want people to think I was asking for more*. But I do have some thoughts on the subject.

First, supporting short fiction markets. Yep. This is good. And actually, no one has said don't do this. There are a lot of markets out there. If you think you know them all, you probably actually know about half of them. While I was mentioned in a lot of the things being written, virtually none of them mentioned that I had done a subscription drive earlier this year**. Nearly all of them mentioned the Strange Horizons fund-raising drive, however. This is not sour grapes. The SH drive began recently, while my drive started in May. It just shows how short-term the memory of the Internet is.

Second, the state of the short-fiction market: dying or alive? My answer is: yes. Or more accurately: it's changing. Yes, there are fewer people reading short fiction than ever***; i.e., short fiction is dying. I typically see this opinion expressed by younger people/people newer to the field. This could mean two things: 1. they're not experienced enough to understand the nuances of the market and to see who it's changing, or 2. they're our audience of the future and we should pay attention to the fact that our future audience isn't interested in reading short-fiction. One person even claimed that the fact was that everyone would rather prefer to read a novel over short fiction*****. That may be. I don't quite believe that's the case, but I don't know either.

I can also state (with I hope, some authority) that the number of well-made, short-fiction publications is fairly large and growing. Maybe it's not the 60s when everything had newsstand distribution, but there are a lot of things out there. And the small stuff is getting the same attention that's given to the big stuff. This is true in the book world, too. The smaller, independent presses are getting the same attention (from reviewers, distributors, authors, agents, etc.) that the big NY houses are. That's pretty significant, IMO. There's a rich, fertile proving ground for up-and-coming writers (and some experienced ones who still write short fiction) out there that people should take advantage of******.

I think people need to alter their expectations on what a short-fiction publication should be. I think aiming for newsstand distribution, or even thousands (as opposed to tens or hundreds of thousands) of subscribers will only lead to heartbreak. It's not an easy business. It costs a lot of money to start something like this (even if it's only a few hundred dollars, that's a lot of money to most people, particularly when it all comes out of your pocket). I think even expecting to break even (or mostly even) quicker than five years******* is patently ridiculous. Particularly if you coming to the field with no experience in it.

This is not meant as damning words for any individual. I've seen a lot of publications start and end while I've been doing mine. I know that it's rare for small magazines to survive beyond a few issues. It happens.

We may be entering into a time where professional-paying short-fiction markets are extremely difficult to keep running. And certainly tough to start. And despite the respect that Electric Velocipede seems to garner, the truth is I'll never see a submission form Robert Silverberg, or China Mieville, or Richard Morgan, or Scott Lynch, or John Scalzi, or [insert name here].

This is slightly unfair, as some of the writers I mention just don't write short fiction. But I'm also not a big enough venue for what they do. And I'm ok with that. I'd be thrilled to death to get a submission from anyone in that list; but I don't expect it. Part of the thrill I get from publishing EV is finding the author that no one's heard of before. This makes it tougher to sell lots of copies since people want a known quantity, but again, that's not why I started this.

This has gone on long enough. Soon I'll get my starting your own zine post series going and I'll talk about some of this stuff in even more detail*********.

-----------------------------------------
* I'll always take more, it's just not always right to ask for it.
** My subscription drive is officially running to the end of the year. At which time, the $100 Patronage will go away for the timebeing. Of course, I'm always interested in subscribers.
*** I contend that there are actually fewer people reader than ever; they're just BUYING more books****.
**** And of course, more books are published each year than the previous, so buying more sort of falls hand in hand with that.
***** I can't speak for anyone but me, but these days, I cannot get into a novel. I'd rather read short fiction every day. I acquire a lot of novels, but I read almost none of them. The thought of reading a novel just makes me freeze up like a panic attack. Yuk.
****** Just go to Ralan (who also likes support) and see the number of markets.
******* I've been doing this for almost six years now, and I'm getting close to breaking even********.
******** Of course, then I go and start making chapbooks and thinking about bigger projects, so there goes the breaking even.
********* Great. Can't wait. This is like a Hal Duncan post. It just doesn't STOP.

I <3 Jennifer Pelland

She knows why. ;)

BTW, that's a heart in the title of the post if you didn't know...

Publishing Numbers

I can't say it any better than Joe did here. Joe breaks down some information about books in print vs. sales of books. Then he talks about intelligently. Here's the intro to the piece, just to pique your interest:

In 2004, there were roughly 1.2 million books in print.

80% of those books sold fewer than 100 copies.

98% sold fewer than 5000 copies.

Only a few hundred books sold more than 100,000 copies.

About 10 books sold over a million copies.

While those numbers look depressing, they really aren't. In my mind, they should give people some good motivation to treat writing more like a business than not.

At least when you get to the point where you're shopping your book around for an agent/publisher/distributor. Whether you like it or not, if you publish your book, you have created a product, and you need to treat that product with the same craft and guile that any other seller of a product does.

That doesn't mean your book can't be artistic and lovely; you just need to think of what types of people/places/things would be interested in your artistic and lovely endeavor, where those people/places/things are, how those people/places/things look for reading material, why those people/places/things read, and when those people/places/things read. Once you understand your audience, you'll be able to reach them. You'll impress your publisher, and you'll connect to your fans. Everyone's happy.

Wiscon 32

So I didn't make my room reservations for next year's Wiscon at this year's, and that appears to have been a mistake. You see, the Governor's Club is booked. When I called today (and they just started taking phone reservations this week...at least that's what they told me last week when I called; this is after a few week's of trying to get the group code to work online and it wouldn't...) they told me they only had regular rooms available.

I've made my reservation in a regular room, but I'd rather be staying in the Governor's Club. Anyone have room for a large editor in their Governor's Club room? I'm fairly quiet (heck, I'd hardly be there) and I'm clean.

I'll repost this as the dates draw near.

Ezra Pines takes on Hal Duncan

Last year I published a chapbook, "The Sense of Falling," (also at LibraryThing) from Electric Velocipede regular Ezra Pines. He is perhaps best known for his Mr. Brain stories, particularly the ones that he co-wrote with World Fantasy Award winner Rick Bowes: "Mr. Brain and the Island of Lost Socks" and "Mr. Brain and the Voting Booth From Outer Space."

Original to the chapbook, is a reactionary, satirical piece "Antevellum" that Pines wrote about Hal Duncan's brilliant novel Vellum. The piece is brilliant. The opening paragraph goes for a page-and-a-half. If you've ever met Hal in person, the Pines piece reads very much like Hal talks. In a delicious piece of irony, Hal Duncan himself provided the introduction to the Pines chapbook.

Now it's come to my attention that this piece has received a few recommendations for the Nebula award. I think it deserves more recognition than it's received and getting on the Nebula preliminary ballot would be an excellent way to do just that. I've posted the piece here (in PDF form) so that SFWA members can read and decide for themselves if it should receive additional recommendations to make the extended ballot this year (it's eligible in the short story category). It's not easy to ape someone else's style and still create a piece that's unique to yourself, but Pines pulls it off here.

Let's Go to the Movies

The other night I was driving home from work. It was about 11:30 at night, and the display at the bank said it was 84 degrees out. I was thinking, 'That's just not right,' when White Zombie's "Thunder Kiss '65" came on the radio (you've got to love the Midwest, only here would they play a song that's...OMG! 15 years old, man that makes me feel old now).

Now, besides being a slight insight into the insane whirlwind that's my mind, this song got me thinking about movies (like how we go from ungodly heat late at night to movies?). You see, "Thunder Kiss '65" is filled with quotes from Russ Meyers' Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! And as I heard the quotes interspersed with White Zombie's driving beats, I thought about how much I liked this movie.

Oh, it's no masterpiece of cinema. In fact, at best it's well-made exploitation. From IMDb:

Three strippers seeking thrills encounter a young couple in the desert. After dispatching the boyfriend, they take the girl hostage and begin scheming on a crippled old man living with his two sons in the desert, reputedly hiding a tidy sum of cash. They become houseguests of the old man and try and seduce the sons in an attempt to locate the money, not realizing that the old man has a few sinister intentions of his own.

While I never thought they were strippers, and were in fact exotic dancers or Go-Go dancers (i.e., they did not get paid to remove their clothing) that basic plot outline is correct.

And to be honest, despite the fact that the women are for the most part a male fantasy portrayal (i.e., large breasts, small waists, skimpy outfits, they work as dancers/strippers; all of which are typical, in fact required, of a Russ Meyer film) these are actually very female-empowering roles. These women are in control the whole time. They are stronger, faster, and smarter than the men in this movie. This is particularly true of the role of Varla, played by Tura Satana. She's the leader of the three women, and you've probably heard her bark out the most famous quote from the movie: "I never try anything. I just do it."

This movie is just fun. I can't remember when I first saw, but I remember Norman Partridge expounding on its merits to me many moons ago. Norm claimed it to be his favorite movie, and I even went so far as to send a copy of it to Norm.

All of that flits through my head in about thirty seconds. And you know what? I don't own a copy of this movie, and that's a real shame. I would like to have a copy of it. It's not currently in print, and I'm not willing to spend $50 for a used copy (at least through Amazon, it could be available elsewhere). If a new version is ever released, I'll most likely get a copy of it.

That got me thinking about other movies that I really like that I don't own. I honestly don't own a lot of movies. I don't have the time to watch movies these days. And with a Netflix queue of almost 275 movies, and dozens of things on my DVR, it's unlikely that time will magically appear somewhere in my movie watching world.

All the same, there are some movies that I'd like to own so that I had the freedom to watch them whenever I wanted. It's a short list:

In the Mood For Love (currently my favorite movie)
Oldboy
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Lost Highway (I have it on VHS and would prefer a DVD)
Twin Peaks (both seasons and pilot)
A Clockwork Orange
Full Metal jacket
Eyes Wide Shut

How about you? Any movies that you love that you wish you owned?

"The Way He Does It" now Online!

Yes, that's right. The World Fantasy Award nominated story, "The Way He Does It," from Jeff Ford is now available, in its entirety, online.

Check it out:

http://www.electricvelocipede.com/htm/wayhedoesit.htm

World Fantasy Awards

Well, to say proud or excited starts to cover how I feel. Throw in a little flabbergasted and 'aw shucks' and you might get a little closer.

What the heck am I talking about?

I'm on the final ballot for the World Fantasy Awards:

(from Locus Online)

NOVEL

• Lisey's Story, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton)
• The Privilege of the Sword, Ellen Kushner (Bantam Spectra; Small Beer Press)
• The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch (Gollancz; Bantam Spectra)
• The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden, Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam Spectra)
• Soldier of Sidon, Gene Wolfe (Tor)

NOVELLA

• "Botch Town", Jeffrey Ford (The Empire of Ice Cream, Golden Gryphon)
• "The Man Who Got Off the Ghost Train", Kim Newman (The Man from the Diogenes Club, MonkeyBrain)
• Dark Harvest, Norman Partridge (Cemetery Dance)
• "Map of Dreams", M. Rickert (Map of Dreams, Golden Gryphon)
• "The Lineaments of Gratified Desire", Ysabeau S. Wilce (F&SF Jul 2006)

SHORT FICTION

• "The Way He Does It", Jeffrey Ford (Electric Velocipede #10, Spr 2006)
• "Journey Into the Kingdom", M. Rickert (F&SF May 2006)
• "A Siege of Cranes", Benjamin Rosenbaum (Twenty Epics, All-Star Stories)
• "Another Word for Map is Faith", Christopher Rowe (F&SF Aug 2006)
• "Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter (Fantasy)", Geoff Ryman (F&SF Oct/Nov 2006)

ANTHOLOGY

• Cross Plains Universe: Texans Celebrate Robert E. Howard, Scott A. Cupp & Joe R. Lansdale, eds. (MonkeyBrain and the Fandom Association of Central Texas)
• Salon Fantastique, Ellen Datlow & Terry Windling, eds. (Thunder's Mouth)
• Retro Pulp Tales, Joe R. Lansdale, ed. (Subterranean)
• Twenty Epics, David Moles & Susan Marie Groppi, eds. (All-Star Stories)
• Firebirds Rising, Sharyn November, ed. (Firebird)

COLLECTION

• The Ladies of Grace Adieu and other stories, Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury)
• The Empire of Ice Cream, Jeffrey Ford (Golden Gryphon)
• American Morons, Glen Hirshberg (Earthling)
• Red Spikes, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin Australia; Knopf)
• Map of Dreams, M. Rickert (Golden Gryphon)

ARTIST

• Jon Foster
• Edward Miller
• John Picacio
• Shaun Tan
• Jill Thompson

SPECIAL AWARD, PROFESSIONAL

• Ellen Asher (For work at SFBC)
• Mark Finn (for Blood & Thunder: The Life of Robert E. Howard, MonkeyBrain)
• Deanna Hoak for copyediting
• Greg Ketter for Dreamhaven
• Leonard S. Marcus, ed. (for The Wand in the Word: Conversations with Writers of Fantasy, Candlewick)

SPECIAL AWARD, NON-PROFESSIONAL

• Leslie Howle (for her work at Clarion West)
• Leo Grin (for The Cimmerian)
• Susan Marie Groppi (for Strange Horizons)
• John Klima (for Electric Velocipede)
• Gary K. Wolfe (for reviews and criticism in Locus and elsewhere)

See me there in Special Award, Non-Professional (which means I don't earn my living, or didn't earn a professional rate doing what I did to get the nomination).

My money's on Gary Wolfe, Leslie Howle, or Susan Groppi (and how come Mark Kelly isn't up for this award, hmm?), although everyone on the list does a lot of good work. Since the award is decided by a panel of judges, it's hard to say how it will go.

I'm more proud of the nod for Jeff Ford's story "The Way He Does It" from Electric Velocipede #10. It's very cool to see something that I edited up for an award, particularly this story as Jeff's other nomination "Botch Town" was what he and I initially planned for Electric Velocipede before the story took over and made itself too long for my purposes. "Botch Town" appeared in Jeff's story collection, The Empire of Ice Cream (also on the ballot), as original fiction.

A big congrats to everyone on the list. See you in Saratoga!

READING: The Princes of the Golden Cage by Nathalie Mallet

I recently finished reading Nathalie Mallet's book The Princes of the Golden Cage that will come out from Night Shade Books later this month (August 2007). This is their first mass-market, and I think it's a great choice.

This book was given to me with great enthusiasm by Jeremy Lassen at Wiscon this past May. It took a while before I had the free time to read the book, but now that I have, I will say that I really enjoyed it.

And I think that's the point of it. It's a FUN book. It tells the story of Price Amir and his brothers, the princes of the golden cage that title comes from. Their father, the sultan, has his sons placed in a sequestered part of the palace. Every day a list of succession is updated and posted within the cage. The brothers constantly scheme against each other in an effort to attain the top of the list. Amir has worked to be invisible to his brothers so that he can study his books in private.

And then something starts killing the princes and Amir is enlisted to help find the killer due to his perceived knowledge of the dark arts. (Amir has a number of 'magical' books in his library) Now, not only is Amir in the public eye of his brothers, but just like them, he is in danger of this unknown killer.

Of course, to make things worse, one of his brothers (born from a foreign-born sultana) has a cousin who is betrothed to the next sultan and Amir falls in love with her. So while he should be keeping a watchful eye on the other princes as well as searching for the killer, Amir is distracted by this fair-skinned beauty from the north.

The book has some nice intrigues and sub plots, and a good number of twists and turns as Amir learns more about his brothers, the sultan, magic, and love. Amir is a good narrator for the reader; one who leads without pulling and experiences revelations around the same time the reader does. This book should appeal to anyone who likes smartly written character-driven fantasy. The exotic setting lends a further air of mystery to the book.

Now I read an advance copy of the book, and I'm very interested in seeing what the final version of the book looks like. The cover shown above is different from what was on the ARC, and I think it reflects the book and its audience better. This isn't the type of book I would normally pick up based on its cover, but having read it, I know that this book is one I would regret passing on. Don't miss it.

OK, here's some levity

Since the most recent posts were me complaining about stuff, I thought I would point you towards something I've been following online that is just...fun. Without further ado:

Cereal Killers

Kreepsville Industries presents Cereal Killers. A spooky, kooky coffin table cartoon art book featuring terrorfying takes on some of your favorite breakfast cereal's.

This is a blog wherein the people reimagine classic cereal boxes as more terrifying images of themselves. The early ones were Count Chocula and his buds, but now it's into more unique fare.

Here's a recent one that's my current fav of the lot:

So, go! Have fun! Waste some time!

(I'm typing this while my boss is standing five feet from me)

Another Complaining Post

This one's about Capitol One, who I called immediately after I called the NJ DMV. Now, I am slightly proud of the fact that I can be the worst customer a customer service has to deal with on any given day if I want to, but the NJ DMV wasn't the time or place for that persona.

I saved that for calling Capital One who had charged me interest even though I had paid my bill in full and closed my card. It took some doing, but I finally got it through their heads at Capitol One that I didn't think they were great and I actually did want to close the card. I cited their customer service as the main reason for closing the account.

Not the service I received when I called them. That's always been quite nice. Particularly the small business people, with whom I interacted. No, it was how their bill came to me. There was no leeway on payments (I started paying online since I could mail the bill up to two weeks before it was due and still get a late fee). The wording on the statement always made me feel like I had already missed the payment and they were sending some guys after me to get some money (since I clearly wouldn't have enough to pay the whole bill)

Then I get this bill. See, I paid the whole balance. Two weeks before it was due. I waited until the money cleared through the account and it showed a zero balance. I did this because Capital One told me I couldn't close the card UNTIL it had zero balance. But then I get this bill, for interest earned. But see, I paid the whole thing off. Maybe I'm crazy, but all my other credit cards don't charge me interest if I pay my bill off in full before the due date. Why was this different? The young lady helping me (Molly, very very nice, very well-informed) didn't understand it either. But, since the account was 'closed' she couldn't clear the balance and had to put in a work order.

The great thing is, the account isn't closed until I have a zero balance for two statements. This means I won't be able to get this off my credit until after October at the earliest. If this interest balance gets cleared off before next month.

Today I was happy to say to Capital One: "This is why I closed my account with you. Every interaction with you I feel like I've done something, that I'm being persecuted. You treat me like a potential criminal instead of a customer."

Then today I get a letter in the mail from explaining the changes to fees on my card (they're going higher! surprise!). You do have the option to decline the changes, but then they close your account.

Nice. Now that's great customer service. Accept our higher fees or we drop you as a customer.

NJ DMV

So I had to call the New Jersey DMV this morning. Yesterday, my wife received her car registration in the mail. Unfortunately, see, we've moved to Iowa, and changed all our registration to here. I can't see any reason to have the car registered in two states (heck, don't know if that's even legal) so I thought I would call NJDMV (also know as [obscenely foul language redacted]) and explain the situation.

It took less than ten seconds of conversation to remember why I was ready to move away from NJ when I did. The conversation started off ok. I was surprised that I was able to get to a phone number where I would reach a person. After she introduced herself, I explained what had happened. I will try to transcribe the conversation.

NJDMV W: Thank you for calling New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles, this is Spring, how can I help you?

ME: My wife received her car registration in the mail the other day, but we've moved to Iowa and retitled the car here.

NJDMV W: Did you mail the plates back to us?

(this is where my blood boils. I can't get across how snide her tone was. And secondly, I must have missed that notice on the NJ border signs; Please mail your plates back to the DMV if you're moving, thanks!)

ME: No. They took them from me.

NJDMV W: Well, they shouldn't have oughtn't have done that.

(again, where was I told I needed to MAIL my plates back to NJ?)

ME: That's what NJ did with my plates from the state I came from when I moved there.

NJDMV W: Well, you need to get them back from them and mail them to us.

(master of the English language this lady, at least she's mastered pronouns)

ME: It's been months. They disposed of them.

NJDMV W: *huge sigh*

(I wanted to reach through the phone and punch this woman in the eye; while I truly try to cut the NJDMV people a little slack--their job sucks, there are a ton of drivers in NJ and I'm sure it gets tiring dealing with everyone--her attitude was just amazing)

ME: So what do I do now?

NJDMV W: You need to send a letter or an e-mail to the DMV and tell them what happened.

[long beat]

ME: OK. Do you have an address I can use?

NJDMV W: Well, are you going to e-mail or write a letter?

ME: *sigh* Which one works better?

NJDMV W: You tell me. Which do you--

ME: (cutting her off) E-mail.

Then I got instructions on how to send an e-mail. I couldn't be given an e-mail address, I had to go fill out a form. Hopefully it works. I did it for my car, too. I was just amazed by this woman. She seemed to expect that I would know the complete workings of the NJ DMV and treated me like shit for asking her questions and not following directions I didn't know existed.

When I help people who don't know the procedures for doing things, I try to be helpful and encouraging. I don't try to take out my frustration on them, even if I feel like it.

The sad thing was, her attitude wasn't surprising. It fell exactly in place with what I remember dealing with on a daily basis in NJ. There was always someone who was COMPLETELY annoyed at having to deal with you. Even though all you were going to do was make them do their job (i.e., have them ring up your purchase in a store).

I won't write here what I vented at my wife since there are a lot of people in NJ who I like and respect. It seemed like the whole intent of her interaction with me was to make me feel small and insignificant; or better put, to make her feel better; or even better, to make someone else feel as bad as she did. That's not her job, that's my job as the customer.

William Shunn - An Alternate History of the 21st Century

Here is the cover art (sans typography; here's a link to the PDF of the cover with type) for the William Shunn chapbook, "An Alternate History of the 21st Century." This was drawn by the ultra-talented Mattias Aldofsson. I figured since Mattias was posting about the artwork, I could feel safe linking to it, too.

When I first saw Mattias' work, I thought it would be perfect for Bill's chapbook. Lucky for me (and for you!), Mattias was available for the job. The artwork is just perfect.

This project has come together so well, from an introduction by Cory Doctorow to the artwork from Mattias to the incredible fiction from Bill. Just a great collection of stuff that all clicks. We should be sending out copies at the end of the month, you can pre-order yours today! Here is the table of contents:

• "From Our Point of View We Had Moved to the Left" originally appeared in the Magazine of Science Fiction & Fantasy February 1993
• "Kevin-17" originally appeared in the Magazine of Science Fiction & Fantasy February 1995
• "Observations from the City of Angels" originally appeared online at Salon.com in July 2003
• "Strong Medicine" originally appeared online at Salon.com in November 2003
• "Objective Impermeability in a Closed System"
• "Not of this Fold" (novelette)

Anyone who's read the previously published stories will totally love the new ones. And if you've not read any of these stories, then you're in a for a real treat.

Chicago, Chicago, it's a hell of a town....

Spent the weekend (OK, just Saturday) in Chicago visiting Mr. Shunn, his lovely wife Laura, and Ella-pup. Aubrey was quite enamored or Ms. Ella, Ms. Ella less certain of the Aubrey monster. We were even able to spend some time with my old college buddy (and erstwhile baker) Pat Beard (Pat's starting a new job today, please send good vibes his way).

It was a blast. We'll definitely be back. We went to Lush (ooh, I was in Heaven; Lush how I've missed you!), Costco (we had to return some things...there is not a Costco in the Quad Cities; could someone please fix that?), and the AMAZING Sam's Wines & Spirits.

Oh. My. God.

This place is freaking AWESOME! Bill and I stood for about ten minutes (and that's literally ten minutes, which is a long time to just stand there) in the single-malt aisle, trying to wrap our brains around the experience. I mean, just look at these photos from Sara Cantor, the curious shopper. (seriously, search Flick for Sam's wine and you'll start to get a sense how gigantic this store is) How many places sell Milwaukee's Best and a $1800 bottle of single malt? I was able to pick up Old Monk rum, my new favorite rum. As my wife said, it tastes like you think vanilla is going to taste when you smell it.

Of course, the highlight of the trip was hanging out with Bill, Laura, Ella, and Pat. The trappings of Chicago just happened to be there. In the future, when we come back to Chicago, we will stay longer than a day and really have some fun. We had lunch at Streetside, and caught up with Pat (I haven't seen him in about ten years) and Bill & Laura got to meet one of their neighbors (they live only a few blocks apart). And dinner was a pile of cheeses, olives, and sausages (photos coming soon). Good fun. Tough to be away from home (with so much to do at home) but so nice to get away with great friends.