Neil Clarke's Blog, page 19

2017 Readercon Schedule

I’ve just received my programming schedule for Readercon (next week!):

Friday, July 14
11:00 AM    C    How to Make a Small Fortune in Specialty Publishing.
Neil Clarke, Sandra Kasturi, Bart Leib, E.J. Stevens, Michael Damian Thomas.
Publishing is a challenging business that’s become even more challenging as retail space has declined and Amazon’s recommendation algorithms have taken over. It’s doubly difficult for small presses, which aren’t blessed with massive capital to hedge against returns. What is it really like to run a small press and what does it take to survive your early years? How do you get authors and reach important markets such as libraries, especially if you primarily publish in digital? Our experienced panelists will discuss these topics and more.

1:00 PM    6    A Golden Age of Asian Speculative Literature in English.
John Chu, Neil Clarke, Liz Gorinsky, Caroline M. Yoachim.
There’s a growing body of English-language speculative works by writers from Asian and South Asian cultures—works in translation from writers working in Asian languages, and works written in English by writers in both Asian countries and the Asian diaspora. This panel will discuss trends in translation and publication, examine different Western expectations of translated and non-translated fiction (for example, the notion that Asian diaspora writers will necessarily write on Asian themes or diasporic experiences), highlight recent works of interest, and explore how Asian and Western speculative fiction influence one another.
SATURDAY, July 15
12:00 PM    CL    Kaffeeklatsch.
Neil Clarke, Paul Tremblay.

I’ll also have a table in the dealer’s room, where I’ll be selling Clarkesworld, my anthologies, and very-low-priced books from my old bookstore’s inventory. Stop by and say hi!

Galactic Empires Ebook for $1.99

It looks like Night Shade has discounted my Galactic Empires anthology ebook to $1.99 in select stores. At the moment, it appears to be restricted to US-based stores. (I’m trying to find out if that will be extended to other countries.) Here are the places I know it’s available at the discounted price:

Amazon.com
Apple
B&N
ebooks.com
Google Play
Kobo

I’ll update this post to reflect any additions or changes. I don’t know how long the sale will last, so if you want a copy, don’t hesitate.

June 2017 Clarkesworld Submissions by Country

I recently blogged about the countries represented by Clarkesworld‘s podcast audience. This time around, I’d like to look at the submissions by country for June 2017. I should note that these statistics do not include the translated stories from China. They go through an entirely separate selection process as part of our partnership with Storycom.

1 – United States (68.08%)

2 – United Kingdom (9.61%)

3 – Canada (6.17%)

4 – Australia (3.09%)

5 – India (1.15%)

6 – Ireland (0.71%)

6 – New Zealand (0.71%)

8 – South Africa (0.62%)

9 – China (0.53%)

10 – Brazil (0.44%)

10 – Finland (0.44%)

10 – France (0.44%)

10 – Italy (0.44%)

10 – Nigeria (0.44%)

15 – Germany (0.35%)

15 – Israel (0.35%)

15 – Mexico (0.35%)

15 – Poland (0.35%)

19 – Croatia (0.26%)

19 – Greece (0.26%)

19 – Hungary (0.26%)

19 – Korea (0.26%)

19 – Netherlands (0.26%)

19 – Philippines (0.26%)

19 – Sweden (0.26%)

19 – Thailand (0.26%)

3.51% are from the combined efforts of these countries: Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan/China, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vietnam.

Normally, the US represents 70% or more, but it looks like some of my recent efforts to encourage more international submissions were somewhat effective. A small improvement over previous months, but definitely a step in the right direction. I’ll have a better sense of whether or not this is real progress or just a glitch after a few more months of submissions. Congratulations to India on cracking the top five! I think this is the first time that’s happened.

NOTE: By encouraging international submissions, I am in no way frowning on authors from the US. I’m still encouraging them to submit too. Good stories aren’t restricted to one’s own backyard, so I’m trying to make sure I cast the widest possible net. Let’s see what the rest of the world can bring to the table. Each story is considered on its own merits regardless of where it came from. (Yeah, I actually have to say this. Some people…) Many foreign authors assume we won’t consider stories from outside the US, so it requires a bit of effort on my part to help set that straight.

 

Cascade Writers Workshop

I spent last Thursday through Monday morning in Tacoma Washington at the Cascade Writers Workshop. This was my first time participating in a critique group (the sessions were run Milford-style), so I had been building a slow panic in the days and weeks leading up to it.

I printed and read through all the stories prior to leaving and decided to use my 5 1/2 hour flight to Seattle for writing out my notes. What I did not count on was turbulence and a four-year-old that screamed in the row behind me for four of those hours. (In the last thirty minutes, her sister joined her for a brain-scrambling serenade.) I finished that pass on the plane, but the notes were a mess of scribbles.

I was picked up at the airport (Kelli: I will continue to insist that it wasn’t hot there) and off we went to the La Quinta Inn in Tacoma where we were joined a some Cascade staff for dinner. I spent some time chatting with people but soon retreated back to my room to make some more legible notes on the stories in preparation for the next morning.

Unlike conventions, workshops start early. I’m very glad that I was still on East Coast time because 8:30/9:00 is not what I consider my peak operating conditions. Being a night owl helps on the other side of this time difference. Staying up late was not a problem, but the hotel bar closed insanely early (another way it’s not like a con).

There were seven authors in my group and there was a good variety in the stories. There was a mix of fantasy and science fiction, a novella, and two chapters of a novel. Despite the size of the group, this was the part that intimidated me most. Fortunately, group leader goes last. One-by-one they took turns explaining what worked and didn’t (slowly checking things off my list) before it would finally get around to me. I think I was somewhat reassured by the overlapping opinions and didn’t freeze up or pass out as I imagined in my nightmare scenario. I said my bit, the author would then get their turn and we’d discuss things for a bit. We were a bit slower than the other groups, but I liked the dynamic and we got everything done (with a ten minute extension on the last day). Nightmare scenario #2 failed to happen as well… no tears. That doesn’t mean that people loved everything they read. There were flaws to be addressed, but everyone did so quite professionally. Probably helped that I was the only person in our group that had never participated in a workshop. They knew what to expect and came prepared for the experience.

The days consisted of panels, critique sessions, meals, and time in the bar. Many discussions and never a dull moment. There were plenty of laughs as well (I could tell you the pickle-sniffing story, but I probably couldn’t do it justice, so it will remain an inside joke–I hear a sigh of relief). It was a very enjoyable experience.

Saturday night a couple of us drove–an adventure in itself–to Seattle for some quick sight-seeing, dinner, and the Locus Awards party. (The awards were earlier in the day–I lost–but there a lot of friends in town that I wanted to say hi too.)

The evening moved quickly and I didn’t have time to talk to everyone I saw there, but I was really glad to have the chance. It was particularly nice to meet people I’ve worked with but never seen in person. I really need to find a way to get out to the West Coast more often.

After the party, our little group journeyed back to the hotel and gravitated towards the hotel bar where we joined up with workshop participants and the influx of people who had recently left the Roger Waters concert down the street.

I stayed up much too late, but it was near the end and I didn’t want to miss a thing. I ended up with a normal amount of sleep for me, but I forgot how much anxiety or stress takes away from me. (I was working around my impostor syndrome and trying to feel like I was qualified to be there.)

Sunday morning arrived much too quickly. All that remained was our final individual meetings and some panels. It all went very quickly, goodbye were said to new friends and a few panelists I knew previously and I retreated to the lobby. I figured I’d join the other group leaders–we were all leaving the next day–for dinner, but the plug was pulled and I started to crash. I walked up the hill to a Subway to get a sandwich for dinner, came back and made arrangements to join the others in the bar later. Back in my room, I lay down for a minute and woke up three hours later. Never did get a chance to say goodbye to the others. My flight was early–I left the hotel at 3:15AM–so I checked the bar–it was closed–and went back to my room for a little more sleep.

Had a nice chat with Patrick Swenson as he drove me back to the airport, and that was the end of my Cascade adventure. I’m glad to have had to experience and maybe next time I won’t find the prospect of workshop critiques so damn terrifying. (nah, but at least I know I can survive it now)

And to my group, thank you! I hope my contributions were helpful to you. I look forward to seeing your work in the wild!

If you ever have the opportunity to attend Cascade Writers or participate in some manner, take it. You won’t regret it.

More Human Than Human – ToC and Cover reveal

Here’s the cover and table of contents for my next anthology:

MORE HUMAN THAN HUMAN

Night Shade Books – November 7, 2017

ISBN-10: 1597809144

ISBN-13: 978-1597809146

The idea of creating an artificial human is an old one. One of the earliest science-fictional novels, Frankenstein, concerned itself primarily with the hubris of creation, and one’s relationship to one’s creator. Later versions of this “artificial human” story (and indeed later adaptations of Frankenstein) changed the focus to more modernist questions… What is the nature of humanity? What does it mean to be human? These stories continued through the golden age of science fiction with Isaac Asimov’s I Robot story cycle, and then through post-modern iterations from new wave writers like Philip K. Dick. Today, this compelling science fiction trope persists in mass media narratives like Westworld and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, as well as twenty-first century science fiction novels like Charles Stross’s Saturn’s Children and Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl. The short stories in More Human than Human demonstrate the depth and breadth of artificial humanity in contemporary science fiction. Issues of passing . . . of what it is to be human . . . of autonomy and slavery and oppression, and yes, the hubris of creation; these ideas have fascinated us for at least two hundred years, and this selection of stories demonstrates why it is such an alluring and recurring conceit.

Order from:

Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.co.jp
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository (UK)
Powells

Table of Contents

“Dolly” by Elizabeth Bear
“A Good Home” by Karin Lowachee
“The Djinn’s Wife” by Ian McDonald
“And The Ends of The Earth For Thy Possession” by Robert B. Finegold
“Patterns of a Murmuration, in Billions of Data Points” by JY Yang
“The Birds and the Bees and the Gasoline Trees” by John Barnes
“Fixing Hanover” by Jeff VanderMeer
“Grand Jeté (The Great Leap)” by Rachel Swirsky
“Brisk Money” by Adam Christopher
“Act of Faith” by Fadzlishah Johanabas
“The Caretaker” by Ken Liu
“Seven Sexy Cowboy Robots” by Sandra McDonald
“We, Robots” by Sue Lange
“The Education of Junior Number 12” by Madeline Ashby
“A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight” by Xia Jia
“The Man” by Paul McAuley
“The Robot’s Girl” by Brenda Cooper
“.identity” by E. Catherine Tobler
“American Cheetah” by Robert Reed
“Artifice” by Naomi Kritzer
“Small Medicine” by Genevieve Valentine
“Silently and Very Fast” by Catherynne M. Valente
“I, Robot” by Cory Doctorow
“Bit Rot” by Charles Stross
“Angels of Ashes” by Alastair Reynolds
“The Old Dispensation” by Lavie Tidhar
“Today I am Paul” by Martin L. Shoemaker

Cover Art by Donato Giancola.

Poking around the podcast stats

I’ve been poking around the stats for the Clarkesworld Magazine Podcast and noticed that the numbers have been climbing again. (Yay!) The overwhelming majority (89.7%) of our listeners are in US/UK/Canada/Australia, but it’s always fun seeing where else our listeners come from. The others on this top 20 list make up 7.2% of our audience. The US alone accounts for 70.8%.

United States
United Kingdom
Canada
Australia
Germany
China
New Zealand
France
Sweden
Netherlands
Ireland
Finland
Japan
South Africa
Spain
India
Denmark
Iran, Islamic Republic of
Israel
Mexico

2017 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award Finalists

The 2017 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award finalists were announced this week and I’m very pleased to say that two stories from Clarkesworld are on the list:

“Things with Beards” by Sam J. Miller
“Touring with the Alien” by Carolyn M. Gilman

The other finalists are:

Nina Allan, “The Art of Space Travel,” Tor.com
Amal El-Mohtar, “Seasons of Glass and Iron,” The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales
Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom, Tor.com
Ian R. MacLeod, “The Visitor From Taured,” Asimov’s
Dominica Phetteplace, “Project Empathy,” Asimov’s
Catherynne M. Valente, “The Future is Blue,” Drowned Worlds
Kai Ashante Wilson, A Taste of Honey, Tor.com

The winner will be announced next month at the Campbell Conference at the University of Kansas.

 

 

Touchable Unreality

I’ve been sitting on some news for a while because I didn’t know when it would actually happen. Now that it’s finally available for preorder, I can announce Touchable Unreality, a bilingual anthology of Chinese science fiction. The stories in this anthology were translated for publication in Clarkesworld Magazine as part of our partnership with Storycom. At present, this anthology is only available in China. A US edition is being discussed.

The Shimmer Program has a great writeup featuring all the authors included in this anthology.

Contents

Ether by Zhang Ran
Coming of the Light by Chen Qiufan
Mrs. Griffin Prepares to Commit Suicide Tonight by A Que
Hunger Tower by Pan Haitian
Security Check by Han Song
Preserve Her Memory by Bao Shu
Summer at Grandma’s House by Hao Jingfang
If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Xia Jia
Yuan Yuan’s Bubbles by Liu Cixin

Nebula Awards Weekend Patreon Panel

I attended the Nebula Awards Conference in Pittsburgh this past weekend and had a great time. Since Patreon was unable to send someone this year, I volunteered to help them out by hosting the Patreon panel. I was very pleased that Cat Rambo and Merc Rustad were able to join me.

The panel was scheduled for thirty minutes on Friday and drew a good-sized crowd. We wanted to make sure we had time for audience questions, so my fellow panelists and I spent just a little over half the time talking about our experiences and sharing some things we’ve learned from creating and managing our Patreon pages. As expected, the audience had lots of questions and I suspect we could have easily filled an hour on the subject.

A week before the panel, I asked (via social media) authors and publishing professionals to share their Patreon pages and some of their own tips. I promised the crowd was that I would share this information here on my blog as post-panel resource guide. Hopefully you’ll find inspiration among the things that others have said and done.

As I said during the panel, I’m more than happy to answer questions. Feel free to comment here or to email me directly.

Panelists’ Patreon Pages

Neil Clarke – https://www.patreon.com/clarkesworld

Cat Rambo – https://www.patreon.com/catrambo

Merc Rustad – https://www.patreon.com/mercrustad

Other SF/F Writer Patreon Pages

Aliya Whiteley – patreon.com/aliyawhiteley

Alma Alexander – patreon.com/AlmaAlexander

Amy Roth – patreon.com/SurlyAmy/posts

Benjamin Cook – patreon.com/talefoundry

Carmen Maria Machado – patreon.com/carmenmariamachado

Carrie Cuinn – patreon.com/CarrieCuinn

Catherynne M. Valente – patreon.com/catvalente

Charlotte Ashley, Andrew Leon Hudson, Kurt Hunt – patreon.com/archipelago

Dawn Vogel – patreon.com/historythatneverwas

Don Sakers – patreon.com/ruleof5

E. Christopher Clark – patreon.com/echristopherclark

Gareth L Powell – patreon.com/GarethLPowell

Heather E Hutsell – patreon.com/HEHutsell

Hugh J. O’Donnell – patreon.com/hughjodonnell

I G Hulme – patreon.com/heavenfield

Inda Lauryn – patreon.com/user?u=2707160

Jeremy Zimmerman – patreon.com/bolthy

Jerry Seeger – patreon.com/jerryseeger

John Mierau – patreon.com/servingworlds

Judith Tarr as – patreon.com/dancinghorse

Kameron Hurley – patreon.com/kameronhurley

Lev Mirov & Aleksei Valentin – patreon.com/levandalekseicreate

Malcolm F. Cross – patreon.com/MalcolmFCross

Marlee Jane Ward – patreon.com/marleejaneward

Mary Robinette Kowal – patreon.com/maryrobinette

Mur Lafferty – patreon.com/mightymur

N.K. Jemisin – patreon.com/nkjemisin

Rivers Solomon – patreon.com/riverssolomon

S.A. Barton – patreon.com/sabarton

Sarah “Neila” Elkins – patreon.com/Neila

Seanan McGuire – patreon.com/seananmcguire

Tim Pratt – patreon.com/timpratt

Tobias Buckell – patreon.com/tobiasbuckell

Tonya Liburd – patreon.com/TonyaLiburd

Tristina Wright – patreon.com/TristinaWright

Woelf Dietrich – patreon.com/Wo3lf

Yoon Ha Lee – patreon.com/yhlee

Tips and Thoughts Collected from Everyone Above

Patreon isn’t a place you go to be discovered. Your target audience is people already familiar with you or your work. Promote your page via your blog, social media accounts, mailing lists, podcasts, or whatever other means you reach your readers. You don’t need a large audience, but if you are just starting, it’s best to hold off for a while.
Before you launch, look at the pages of people like you. A little research goes a long way in understanding how to present your case for supporting you and determining what kind of goals and rewards you should use.
Like anything else, marketing is key. This isn’t a particularly strong suit for most of us and we’ll often lean towards less marketing to avoid what we feel is too much. On social media, keep in mind that most of your followers will miss casual mentions. It’s best to stagger promotions across several days and times to reach a greater variety of your readers. It might seem like too much to you, but only 1-2 times to them. Just don’t make it the only thing you push out in any medium.
It’s not easy for everyone and probably more work than you think. Getting into a routine can be very helpful. It’s good to set expectations in the description of your campaign.
You can set your Patreon page up so people support you on a monthly basis or per-creation. Per-creation supporters can cap the amount of support they give in a month, so make sure your rewards make sense if they cap at a single payment. Monthly accounts provide you a more stable income, but require you to be reliable. If you promise a story each month, you have to stick to it or you will lose supporters. If you are per-creation and don’t do anything that month, no one is charged.
Use smaller goals at the beginning of your campaign. Never underestimate the value of stating just how close you are to a goal, particularly if you’ve chosen one that will appeal to a wide range of your audience.
When setting goals or rewards, remember to include your time in determining the dollar value. Goals don’t always have to result in more work for you. It can be about what you get. It’s good to remember that people are supporting you to see you succeed and not just to get stuff.
When setting rewards, don’t undersell yourself. Create one tier higher than you expect anyone to give. We’re our own worst judges when it comes to how much is too much.
Try to keep your reward system simple and straight-forward. You don’t want to confuse potential supporters or complicate the fulfillment process. Rewards don’t have to be physical. For example, a $1 reward of having your thanks is quite common.
Digital rewards can be distributed through Patreon, but keep in mind that a new supporter at that tier gets access to all previous tier-locked posts. This works fine for someone doing a serialization, but can be problematic for something more like a magazine where the back issues are being sold. In the latter case, you’ll want to distribute those rewards directly. Fortunately Patreon provides downloadable patron information that should make this easier.
Keep in mind the amount of time reward fulfillment can take. If something becomes particularly popular, you don’t want it eating up all your writing time.
Physical rewards can be problematic in any crowdfunding system, particularly when international supporters are involved. It’s always best to place information about additional shipping costs directly in the reward description to avoid confusion later. In addition to the shipping and product costs, remember shipping supplies aren’t without cost either. It is very easy to lose money (or time) by missing something when setting the price for physical rewards. Be careful.
Engage your community in the creation or revision of reward tiers and goals. Make them a part of your process. They often have great ideas.
Don’t be disappointed if your Patreon page grows slowly or even declines once in a while. Lots of people are having financial issues. It’s the number 1 reason people provide me when they stop supporting my page.
Patrons are charged at the start of the month. Expect a quick drop in your displayed dollars and number of supporters as it isn’t unusual for cards to be declined. Patreon will contact these people over the next few days and some will be fixed. I wait about five days and then email those people a polite email saying we don’t want to lose them (or have them not receive their rewards) and include a link to Patreon’s how to fix this page. Unless it’s a physical reward, I always provide that month’s reward even if the card declines. Have trust in your supporters. Oh and don’t send that email through Patreon. Email them directly. If the problem isn’t fixed by the end of the month, they will be dropped the next month, but oddly enough, still listed as declined in your overall Patron list. It just doesn’t try to charge them anymore.
Communicate regularly with your supporters. Patreon has great tools for this. Encourage reader feedback and respond. Be willing to experiment with some of those ideas and yes, sometimes they can fail. Stop doing those things and try something else. Just be up-front about it and everyone will be fine.
Try to offer updates and rewards that relate to things you do day-to-day, i.e. access to the actual work you are creating. It’s easy to offer special blog posts or content created exclusively for your Patrons, but in practice the extra work can feel like it’s pulling you away from making the content that your Patrons are supporting you for in the first place. Be authentic, do what you enjoy and experiment with your art and communication with supporters.
If you are sharing original stories, keep in mind that many publishers consider this using up your first rights, meaning you can’t sell it as original elsewhere. You can still sell it as a reprint. Also, make sure you are aware of the procedures for submitting to the various year’s best anthologies and most of them probably won’t see it otherwise.
It doesn’t have to be new stories. You can share behind-the-story information, pieces from works-in-progress (be careful about first rights issues), or share out-of-print stories or even novels, though the latter is better serialized over the course of months. Writing tips and process notes are great too.
Have fun. If you are not having fun, you are doing something wrong.

A short break

In keeping with tradition, my family and I just spent a long weekend at Ocean City, NJ. Yeah, it’s a bit early in the season to be at the beach, but the crowds are small and the off-season rates help keep the costs down. The annual clouds and rain gave way in time for Mother’s Day, so at least we had some sun on Sunday and a bit of Monday.

As usual, I didn’t want to come home.

Just curious, does this:

make it a tax-deductible business trip?

Like pictures? There’s more over on instagram.