Neil Clarke's Blog, page 14
October 16, 2018
Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Four gets a hardcover
October 11, 2018
Norwescon Writers Workshop
I’ve been invited to be “Honored Professional” at the 2019 Norwescon (SeaTac, WA) in April and will be participating in the Norwescon Writers Workshop as a guest moderator (one of five or six moderators who will be critiquing manuscripts for the workshop).
I’m looking forward to participating in my first Norwescon and working with the authors in the workshop. If you are interested in signing up for the workshop, details are available here.
September 24, 2018
Capclave 2018 Schedule
I’ll be at Capclave in Rockville, MD this weekend.My schedule as follows:
Friday 7:00 pm: SF and Fantasy in Translation
Panelist:Neil Clarke, Inge Heyer (M), Alex Shvartsman
Panelists discuss what makes a good translation. How literal does it need to be? What culteral markers do and do not translate? How does the translator capture the author’s voice yet still keep the work comprehensible to an audience that doesn’t speak the original language and may not be familiar with the culture in which the author lives/lived.
Friday 8:00 pm: Anthology Builder
Panelist:Neil Clarke, Alex Shvartsman, David Stokes, Michael A. Ventrella (M)
So you want to edit and publish an anthology. How do the stories get picked? How do you come up with a theme? What sells and what doesn’t? How do authors produce readable fiction in the straitjacket of an original themed anthology? How do you properly curate your anthology?
Friday 9:00 pm: Dealing With Rejection
Panelist:Neil Clarke, Scott Edelman, Barbara Krasnoff (M), Michael A. Ventrella
Everyone in the field has to deal with rejection at some point. Panelists will talk about how they handle rejection, and in the case of editors, panelists will offer suggestions on how NOT to handle rejection
Friday 11:00 pm: How NOT to Get Published, a/k/a Late Night Tales From the Slush Pile Panelist:Neil Clarke, Wendy S. Delmater, Bjorn Hasseler, Ian Randal Strock, Michael A. Ventrella (M), Sean Wallace
Editors will discuss all the things authors shouldn’t do if they want to be published. For instance, submission guidelines exist for a reason. And no matter how brilliant your story is, threatening the editor will reduce the probability that it will be published to zero.
Saturday 10:00 am: Chinese Science Fiction Short Story: A Conversation between Xia Jia and Neil Clarke
Panelist:Neil Clarke (M), Xia Jia
There has be a steady translation of Chinese science fiction in recent years, but are you curious about the history of Chinese science fiction and its current status in China? Do you want to listen to the talk between one of the most prestigious Chinese science fiction author and the editor who has published dozens of Chinese science fiction stories translated into English? Come and enjoy the conversation between Neil Clarke (on site) and Xia Jia (remotely!)
Saturday 12:00 pm: Short Fiction Contracts Workshop
Coordinator:Michael Capobianco (M), Neil Clarke
Workshop on understanding publishing contracts for short fiction. What to look out for, what to negotiate. Limited to 10 people
Saturday 3:00 pm: Crowdfunding Dos and Don’ts
Panelist:Neil Clarke, Alex Shvartsman, Joe Stech
So you have a fabulous idea or product and a shortage of funds – what do you do. Panelists will discuss successful and unsuccessful crowd funding campaigns, either their own or those of other people. Topics include how to set reward levels, how to budget how much money you need and the merits of various crowd funding sites such as
Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Pozible.
Saturday 7:30 pm: Mass autographing (Ends at: 8:55 pm) Eisenhower
Sunday 11:00 am: Small Press Publishing 2019
Panelist:Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Neil Clarke, Ian Randal Strock, Sean Wallace, Steven H. Wilson (M)
Capclave is lucky to have a number of small press publishers as program participants. The folks from Prime Books, Wyrm Publishing, and others talk about their upcoming projects .
September 1, 2018
The Best Science Fiction of the Year v3 on sale
The latest volume of my BEST SCIENCE FICTION OF THE YEAR series, #3, is currently discounted to $1.99 in the following stores:
Amazon.com
B&N
Kobo
iBooks
August 23, 2018
2018 Chesley Award Winner
I would like to thank the members of ASFA for awarding me the 2018 Chesley Award for Best Art Director. The category was filled with people that I am in awe of and would have been content to lose to. I was so convinced one of the others would that I didn’t have a prepared speech and was caught completely off-guard when my name was called. Oh and did I mention that it was my birthday that day?
Oh and that little red thing sticking out from the award, that’s a Tesla in orbit.
August 13, 2018
2018 Worldcon Schedule
Worldcon is this week in San Jose. I’ll be arriving sometime late Wednesday evening and returning home on Tuesday.
I have the following panels:
Thursday, August 16 – 4:00pm – Chinese SF/F and its Fandom (212C)
Friday, August 17 – 11:00am – Translation & Communication of Chinese Science Fiction (210F)
Saturday, August 18 – 12:00pm – Kaffeeklatsch: Neil Clarke (211B1)
Saturday, August 18 – 4:00pm – Autographs
I’m not on any of the editing, anthologies, or short fiction panels, so if you want to hear (or talk to me) about that stuff, sign up for the Kaffeeklatsch or catch me between panels, meetings, and award ceremonies. (This is not a complaint. It’s just how things fell this year.) I go to these things to meet people, so feel free to introduce yourself or just say hi. If it’s Friday, break the ice by saying “Happy Birthday!”
I will also be attending the following award ceremonies:
Friday, August 17 – 5:00pm – Chesley Awards (Callahan’s Place). I’m a nominee for Best Art Director
Sunday, August 19 – 8:00pm – Hugo Awards (Grand Ballroom). I’m a nominee for Best Editor (Short Form)
I do not have a table in the dealer’s room, but the SFWA table will have a few copies of both Clarkesworld Year Nine volumes and some of the other dealers will have my Night Shade Books anthologies.
August 7, 2018
Not One of Us – Table of Contents and Cover
NOT ONE OF US
Night Shade Books – November 6, 2018
ISBN-10: 1597809578
ISBN-13: 978-1597809573
They Are Strangers from Far Lands . . .
Science fiction writers have been using aliens as a metaphor for the other for over one hundred years. Superman has otherworldly origins, and his struggles to blend in on our planet are a clear metaphor for immigration. Earth’s adopted son is just one example of this “Alien Among Us” narrative.
There are stories of assimilation, or the failure to do so. Stories of resistance to the forces of naturalization. Stories told from the alien viewpoint. Stories that use aliens as a manifestation of the fears and worries of specific places and eras. Stories that transcend location and time, speaking to universal issues of group identity and its relationship to the Other.
Nearly thirty authors in this reprint anthology grapple both the best and worst aspects of human nature, and they do so in utterly compelling and entertaining ways. Not One of Us is a collection of stories that aren’t afraid to tackle thorny and often controversial issues of race, nationalism, religion, political ideology, and other ways in which humanity divides itself.
Order trade paperback from:
Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.co.jp
Barnes & Noble
Powells
Available in ebook from:
Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.co.jp
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Table of Contents
Introduction
Touring with the Alien by Carolyn Ives Gilman
Laws of Survival by Nancy Kress
At Play in the Fields by Steve Rasnic Tem
Ants of Flanders by Robert Reed
Taking Care of God by Liu Cixin
Water Scorpions by Rich Larson
The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill by Kelly Robson
Men are Trouble by James Patrick Kelly
They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Bits by Naomi Kritzer
And Never Mind the Watching Ones by Keffy R. M. Kehrli
Dark Heaven by Gregory Benford
Nine-Tenths of the Law by Molly Tanzer
Five Stages of Grief After the Alien Invasion by Caroline M. Yoachim
Time of the Snake by A.M. Dellamonica
The Fear Gun by Judith Berman
Tendeléo’s Story by Ian McDonald
The Choice by Paul McAuley
Passage of Earth by Michael Swanwick
Reborn by Ken Liu
Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang
Permissions
About the Editor
Cover art by Jacques Leyreloup
August 3, 2018
The Eagle Has Landed – Call for Submissions
I’m currently working on THE EAGLE HAS LANDED, a reprint anthology that celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11’s moon landing with the best moon-related SF published since then.
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Formats: Ebook, Print, and Audio
Publication Date: 2019
Payment: 1 cent/word against a pro-rata share of royalties
Submissions Window: Submissions will be open today through September 15th, 2018.
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
Science fiction reprints (no original stories) published within the last 50 years
3000-22000 words in length
English language (translations are welcome)
Stories must take place on the moon or feature the moon in a significant way
HOW SHOULD YOU LET ME KNOW ABOUT A STORY?
If you are an editor or fan and would like to recommend a story for consideration, please leave a comment on this post or send email to neil@clarkesworldmagazine.com.
If you’re an author and have a story you would like considered for this anthology, please submit a copy in .doc or .rtf format at: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/anthology/
Multiple submissions permitted.
July 27, 2018
The Moon
The 49th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing was this month. So, obviously, next year is the big 50th anniversary. I am very happy to announce that I have signed a contract with Night Shade Books to edit THE EAGLE HAS LANDED: 50 Years of Lunar Science Fiction, a reprint anthology featuring some of the best science fiction stories (with some connection to the moon) published since Neil Armstrong took those historic first steps.
I’m old enough to have been alive when Apollo 11 landed, but not old enough to remember. My dad told me once that he kept me up and in front of the TV so I would see it. Now I get to edit an anthology connected to the event.
Like my other anthologies, there will be an open submissions and recommendations period for this project. I should have the details sometime in August.
July 7, 2018
2018 Readercon Schedule
I’ll be attending Readercon in Quincy, MA this weekend. Light schedule this time:
Friday 6:00PM – Scouting Global Speculative Stories
Liz Gorinsky (M), Neil Clarke, Mimi Mondal, Anatoly Belilovsky, Alex Shvartsman, Francesco Verso
Magazine and book editors will discuss how they scout and promote authors from outside the U.S. and U.K., sharing their expertise and best practices. How can writers and editors make the best use of resources such as Lavie Tidhar’s WorldSF Blog and Rachel Cordasco’s SF in Translation site? What would make it easier to find, publish, and publicize world speculative fiction?
Sunday 10AM – Kaffeeklatsch
I’ll also be in the Dealer’s Room at the Clarkesworld table during the open hours I’m not otherwise scheduled for.
