John Joseph Adams's Blog, page 38
July 4, 2012
Nightmare Will Close to Submissions from July 15 to September 15
Nightmare will be temporarily closed to submissions from July 15 to September 15. This is due to the following factors:
We currently have a high volume of excellent material already in inventory.
I have three anthology deadlines coming up.
I’m in the process of buying and moving into a new house.
I’ll be teaching at the Alpha Writing Workshop in July (and then attending the Confluence convention).
I’ll be attending Worldcon at the end of August.
All those factors combined make it sensible for us to close to submissions for a time so I can focus on other editorial tasks, though of course #1 is the big one. But don’t despair! Take advantage of this time to polish up your stories to the best of your ability and have them ready to go when we re-open in September. Looking forward to seeing what you all come up with on the flip-side.
June 18, 2012
OTHER WORLDS THAN THESE Now on Sale & Official Website Launched
I’ve just launched the promotional site for my new anthology OTHER WORLDS THAN THESE, which you can find here: www.johnjosephadams.com/other-worlds-than-these. It features “free reads” (i.e., the text of a few stories from the anthology), along with Q&As with some of the authors, and just generally has more information about the book.
June 17, 2012
Other Worlds Than These
What if you could not only travel any location in the world, but to any possible world?
We can all imagine such “other worlds”—be they worlds just slightly different than our own or worlds full of magic and wonder—but it is only in fiction that we can travel to them. From The Wizard of Oz to The Dark Tower, from Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass to C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, there is a rich tradition of this kind of fiction, but never before have the best parallel world stories and portal fantasies been collected in a single volume—until now.
June 16, 2012
Nightmare Magazine
The online horror magazine, featuring a mix of original and reprinted fiction, with nonfiction, podcasts, and art.
June 12, 2012
EPIC Table of Contents & Cover
Here’s the table of contents and cover copy for Epic.
Cover Copy
There is a sickness in the land. Prophets tell of the fall of empires, the rise of champions. Great beasts stir in vaults beneath the hills, beneath the waves. Armies mass. Gods walk. The world will be torn asunder.
Epic fantasy is storytelling at its biggest and best. From the creation myths and quest sagas of ancient times to the mega-popular fantasy novels of today, these are the stories that express our greatest hopes and fears, that create worlds so rich we long to return to them again and again, and that inspire us with their timeless values of courage and friendship in the face of ultimate evil—tales that transport us to the most ancient realms, and show us the most noble sacrifices, the most astonishing wonders.
Now acclaimed editor John Joseph Adams (Wastelands, The Living Dead) brings you the best tales set in the most popular settings of today’s leading authors of epic fantasy. Return again to lands you’ve loved, or visit magical new worlds. Victory against the coming darkness is never certain, but one thing’s for sure—your adventure will be epic.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Brent Weeks
“Homecoming” by Robin Hobb
“The Word of Unbinding” by Ursula K. Le Guin
“The Burning Man” by Tad Williams
“As the Wheel Turns” by Aliette de Bodard
“The Alchemist” by Paolo Bacigalupi
“Sandmagic” by Orson Scott Card
“The Road to Levinshir” by Patrick Rothfuss
“Rysn” by Brandon Sanderson
“While the Gods Laugh” by Michael Moorcock
“Mother of All Russiya” by Melanie Rawn
“Riding the Shore of the River of Death” by Kate Elliott
“The Bound Man” by Mary Robinette Kowal
“The Narcomancer” by N. K. Jemisin
“Strife Lingers in Memory” by Carrie Vaughn
“The Mad Apprentice” by Trudi Canavan
“Otherling” by Juliet Marillier
“The Mystery Knight” by George R. R. Martin
Cover (by John Coulthart)
May 31, 2012
NIGHTMARE Needs Slush Readers!
Now that Nightmare is fully-funded, we’re looking to the future, and that means opening to fiction submissions. (We’re currently planning to open on June 15; watch this space, or our Twitter stream @nightmaremag for details.) As such, we’re looking to fill out our editorial team, and that means finding some volunteer slush readers.
If you’re not familiar with the term, “slush” is what people in the publishing industry call unsolicited submissions–that is, stories that writers send in without an explicit invitation. Most magazines have an open submissions policy–as Nightmare will–which means that anyone in the world can send in a story for us to consider, and all those stories are collectively referred to as slush.
It’s too early to say how many submissions Nightmare will receive every month, but at Lightspeed, we receive around 700 monthly, so we need a team of dedicated readers to make recommendations to the editor. That means reading and evaluating submissions, and either recommending the editor read the story himself or recommending that he reject it. There’s a bit more to it than that, which we would discuss if you’re interested in applying for the position, but that’s the gist.
And why would anyone want to do such a thing? Well, reading slush is one of the best things a writer can do to improve his or her writing because it really helps you read as an editor (and by reading lots of stories that don’t work, you can’t help but learn lots of lessons). Also, if you’re interested in working in the editing field, it’s almost always where you start, so it’s good experience.
Before you apply, some details to consider:
This is a volunteer, unpaid position.
To avoid conflicts of interest, slush readers may not submit fiction to Nightmare (but they may submit to Lightspeed). If you quit as a slush reader/editorial staff member, you may submit fiction to the magazine six months after your last day.
Slush readers are expected to read at least 2-5 stories 4-7 days a week. To get the most out of the experience, reading at least 5 a day is recommended.
We will have a team who regularly process the slush. We will have a two-day turnaround (one for the slush readers and one for the editor to review and send rejections/acceptances).
Out of respect for the writers who submit to us, who cover a wide range of experience and skill, slush readers may not post online about the stories they read, even anonymously.
Nightmare accepts electronic submissions only, so you’ll have to be comfortable reading on your computer or ebook reading device. (If you have a Kindle or Kindle app, our submission system can be setup to forward submissions to your device.)
If you’re interested in applying to be a slush reader for Nightmare, please email me at johnjosephadams+nightmare@gmail.com. In your email, please provide the following information:
What are some of your favorite horror short stories? (Or if your experience is mostly with horror novels and/or films, that’s okay too.)
What is your writing/editing background? (If your background in either is nonexistent, that’s okay, though a love of horror fiction is paramount.)
Why are you interested in reading slush?
What you hope to get out of the experience?
Well, that about does it. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
May 27, 2012
World Horror Convention
GUEST OF HONOR
New Orleans, LA
Learn More
The World Horror Convention 2013 Editor Guest of Honor is…Me!
From the official website of the Horror Writers Association:
The Horror Writers Association is proud to announce prolific anthologist John Joseph Adams as the Editor Guest of Honor for the World Horror Convention (WHC) 2013. In 2013 the HWA is hosting WHC as part of the Bram Stoker Awards™ Weekend in New Orleans from 13-16 June. [...]
HWA President Rocky Wood said, “John Joseph Adams is the type of anthology editor readers love – they know each of his books will be filled with well written, interesting tales to captivate them during their precious reading hours. We are very pleased that John has accepted our invitation to be World Horror Convention Guest of Honor, where he is likely to find 300 horror writers, all eager to impress him with their wares!”
Adams joins previously announced Guest of Honor Ramsey Campbell and Toastmaster Jeff Strand on the Guest list.
Obviously I’m thrilled and grateful to be selected for such an honor, and the timing couldn’t be better with Nightmare scheduled to launch in October. I’ve never been to a World Horror or to New Orleans, so it should be quite a trip!
In related news, it just so happens that I have a story in inventory by my co-GOH Ramsey Campbell, scheduled for issue #2 of Nightmare!
The NIGHTMARE Kickstarter has Funded!
As of 9:24am Pacific Time yesterday, the Nightmare Magazine Kickstarter is funded! Due to the $245 pledge by sf author and all around great guy John Scalzi, we’ve now reached 100% funding. So a big thanks to John, and to the rest of you who pledged. (Also a special thanks to Arachne Jericho, who obviously had the same thought as John, but was about two seconds too late to be the one that put us over the top.) A big thanks too, to our largest donor, George Peyton, who purchased a lifetime subscription to Nightmare and to Creeping Hemlock’s entire list of books.
Although we’ve reached our goal, there’s still time–11 more days–to pre-order an issue or a subscription, or to get one of our limited edition chapbooks (which will only be available to people who pledge via the Kickstarter).
For more information about Nightmare, you can visit www.nightmare-magazine.com or follow us on Twitter @nightmaremag.
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Note to writers: We’ll be opening to submissions soon. Stay tuned for updates.
May 16, 2012
Cover: The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination
Here’s the preliminary cover for one of my forthcoming anthologies, THE MAD SCIENTIST’S GUIDE TO WORLD DOMINATION (Tor, January 2013).
From Victor Frankenstein to Lex Luthor, from Dr. Moreau to Dr. Doom, readers have long been fascinated by megalomaniacal plans for world domination and the madmen who come up with them. Typically, we see these villains through the eyes of superheroes (or other good guys) as they attempt to put an end to their evil ways. This anthology, however, will explore the world of mad scientists and evil geniuses–from their own point of view.
Evil geniuses are always so keen on telling captured heroes all their fiendish plans. Isn’t it about time someone gave them a platform such as this one to reach the masses with their messages of hope death and prosperity destruction?
Featuring stories by: Carrie Vaughn, Alan Dean Foster, Daniel H. Wilson, L. E. Modesitt, Jr., L. A. Banks, Austin Grossman, Marjorie M. Liu, Ben Winters, David Farland, Mary Robinette Kowal, Harry Turtledove, Seanan McGuire, David D. Levine, Genevieve Valentine, Naomi Novik, Jeffrey Ford, Grady Hendrix, Theodora Goss, Jeremiah Tolbert, and David Brin, plus a new 40,000 word novella from Diana Gabaldon! Also featuring an introduction by legendary X-Men scribe Chris Claremont.
