SFWA Rate Apples Aren’t Oranges

November 27th, 2013

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) yesterday raised their pro pay rate for short fiction from 5c/word to 6c/word. Part of their reasoning was that many mags already pay higher than 5c/word.

What they did not note was that many of those mags that pay over 5c/word are buying extra rights bundled in that same payment, in addition to text publication rights. Like audio podcast rights, and reprint rights.

Comparing those mags’ rates against the pay rates of magazines that buy only the text rights for 5c/word and pay separately for audio rights, and again for reprints, is not an equivalent comparison.

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At Capclave This Weekend

October 8th, 2013

I’m at Capclave, my local D.C.-area F/SF con (where reading is not extinct!), this weekend.

I’m on four panels, all dealing with online magazines or podcasting or secondary-world fantasy:

  • Friday 7:00 pm: New Media, New Markets, New Business Models (a review of notable genre ezines, their forms and business models)
  • Saturday 2:00 pm: World’s Shortest Epics (epic fantasy in short fiction; what makes it work and who’s doing it)
  • Saturday 3:00 pm: Hearing Voices? (a survey of podcasts)
  • Saturday 5:00 pm: The Evolution of Fantasy (modern fantasy trends and tastes)

I also have a reading Friday at 8:00 pm, where I may read something forthcoming in BCS or some of my own fiction. Drop by and find out!

Other than that, I’ll be wandering the halls with plenty of BCS flyers and anthology-cover postcards, in the bar, or trawling the party floor.  Feel free to say hello!

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At WorldCon This Weekend

August 27th, 2013

This weekend I’ll be at WorldCon this weekend, in San Antonio, Texas. (Right near The Alamo, apparently.)

I’m not on any panels, although I highly recommend the State of Sword & Sorcery: New Trends one Friday at 4PM. It features BCS authors and novelists Saladin Ahmed and Chris Willrich and Pyr Books editor/BCS fan Lou Anders. That sounds like an awesome topic, a lot like the S&S panel I moderated at World Fantasy 2010, and I’m bummed that I won’t be at the con yet by then.

But I will be out and about Saturday and Sunday. Saturday night, I’m planning to hit this bar-hosted author event that will include BCS authors Cat Rambo, Brad Beaulieu, Ann Leckie, and Saladin Ahmed.

Sunday night I’ll be at the Hugo Awards banquet, where BCS has the honor of being a nominee for Best Semiprozine. (The ceremony apparently will be streamed live at www.ustream.tv/hugo-awards. In case you want to see me in a suit and tie.)

I will have a stack of BCS flyers and some brand new postcards of the forthcoming Best of BCS Year Four anthology. If you see me wandering the cavernous convention center or the party floor of the hotel late in the small hours, feel free to say hello!

“Excision” at Podcastle!

August 16th, 2013

My story “Excision,” from Ann VanderMeer‘s first issue of Weird Tales, is now out as an audio podcast from the good folks at Podcastle. Read by well-known podcaster Jen Rhodes. Thank you!

Their content rating for it says “Rated R: Contains Surgery”. How can a story with that label fail to entertain!