Archive for the ‘writing’ Category

ReaderCon this Weekend

Monday, July 6th, 2009

As I mentioned in last week’s post, this weekend I will be at ReaderCon, where I will plug my magazine Beneath Ceaseless Skies.   The ReaderCon program folks ahve scenduled a BCS reading, on Sunday at 1PM.  Authors who will be reading include C.C. Finlay, S.C. Butler, Saladin Ahmed, and Kris Dikeman.

Also at the con, my writer cohorts from the Homeless Moon and I will also be premiering our second chapbook of all-original short fiction, this time based around lands from Alberto Manguel’s Dictionary of Imaginary Places.

So if you’re at the con, look out for a free copy of our chapbook and/or feel free to come by the BCS reading.   Thanks.

Happily Swamped

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

So much stuff going on lately that I haven’t had any time to come up with a neat blog topic.

I’m wrapping up the podcast for Beneath Ceaseless Skies #20 that comes out this Thursday, which is a story by Richard Parks, and I need to start work on the next one. Issue #20 has two exciting young writers, Caroline M. Yoachim and James Lecky, and Issue #21 in mid-July will have a great novelette by award-winning author Holly Phillips.

Next week I’m headed to ReaderCon, where I will plug BCS and hopefully host a reading of authors from the magazine, including C.C. Finlay, S.C. Butler, Margaret Ronald, Saladin Ahmed, and Kris Dikeman. Also at the con, my writer cohorts from the Homeless Moon and I will also be premiering our second chapbook of all-original short fiction, this time based around lands from Alberto Manguel’s Dictionary of Imaginary Places.

Then I’ve got to critique thirty manuscripts and finish writing a lecture, both for the annual Odyssey alumni workshop. All while reading a month’s worth of slush!

Onward!

More on the State of Short Fiction

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

The recent closures of Lone Star Stories and Talebones have promtped more blogs posts about the current state of short fiction. Mine yesterday was more of a personal musing; these are more about the field, from writers and editors with far more experience and blogging eloquence than me.

—Tor novelist and fellow Viable Paradise grad Sandra McDonald. I agree with her general pessimism about the lack of quality markets, but my view on that is affected in large part by the even more acute lack of markets for 7000-word secondary-world fantasy stories, like I write.

—writer Michele Lee, who I don’t know, but whose frustrations I understand and in some part, share.

Lone Star Stories Editor Eric Marin, who seems surprised to hear that there are fewer quality markets out there than he thought. With some interesting comments, including by BCS author J. Kathleen Cheney, and one that points out the specialization or niche appeal of many of the remaining markets (BCS certainly qualifies there).

Clarkesworld Magazine Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Neil Clarke, with his comprehensive annual analysis of the field. I agree with his description of Tor.com as more an online community than a magazine, especially since their fiction is infrequent and by commission only. He also gives a nice shout-out to BCS–thanks very much.

So is short fiction thriving, like Neil Clarke asserts, in large part because of new online magazines? Or is it in peril?

I’m conflicted, perhaps because I’m both a writer and an indie publisher. BCS is doing well, and I’m grateful for the support of our writers, our readers, and especially our donors. But as a mid-level writer trying to sell 7000-word fantasy stories, the market has and continues to look bleak.

The Lone Tale Paradox?

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

This past weekend, the well-respected print ‘zine Talebones announced that they were ceasing publication, with plans to return next year as an anthology. Last week, the equally well-regarded e-zine Lone Star Stories also ceased publication. And last month, the alt-history print ‘zine Paradox too ceased publication, with tentative plans to return as an anthology.

All three of these magazines were on my list of places to send my stories. I’m very sad to see any magazine close, but especially the “mid-level” ones. As a “mid-level” writer who hasn’t yet gotten the higher-profile markets interested in my work, I think the mid-level markets serve a very important role. All three of these magazines had published great fiction from all sorts of writers over their roughly five-year runs, which in these bleak days for short fiction is quite impressive.

I found it interesting that two of these magazines cited as their reasons not the current turbulence in publishing or the economy but rather the time commitment or needing to take a break. All three of these magazines as far as I’m aware were “sole proprietorships”– magazines run exclusively by one person. As is my magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

All of which got me thinking. I’ve certainly learned about the time commitment in running a magazine– the first five months of this year I was working seven days a week every week just to keep up with the magazine, especially the podcasts, and my own writing. Things have eased a bit lately, but only because I’ve set my writing aside for a while. And I still have plenty of other things demanding my attention, including thirty manuscripts to critique this month in addition to BCS slush.

So where might I be after five years of BCS? Or even three? I’m less concerned with where publishing in general and short fiction might be– I’m publishing a different sort of fantasy than anyone else, and I’m happy doing my own thing on the periphery. But maybe that means the state of my sole proprietor is even more important.

So we’ll see. Nothing ever lasts forever, so someday there will inevitably be a post saying that BCS is ceasing publication. But I will do every last thing I can to make it five years at least, if not ten. Hell, I’m booked through the end of this year already!