Neil Clarke's Blog, page 20

April/May Catching Up

I’ve been meaning to post more here, but it’s been tough recently. Being sick in April completely undermined my schedule. New issues to prep, ebooks to design for other publishers, slush to catch up on, an anthology to wrap contracts and deliver to the publisher, a trip to Chicago to talk with the Myth-Ink writers group, a family get-away, and prepping for the SFWA Nebula Awards Weekend… so a quick catch-up post feels necessary.

I’m a Hugo Nominee Finalist for Best Editor Short Form for the fifth time. The award ceremony will be held at Worldcon in Finland. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend. My travel budget is significantly restricted now that I’m self-employed and that trip turns out to be considerably more expensive than I was told it would be. Will miss attending in person, but Ann VanderMeer has agreed to accept on my behalf should I win, so I will be well-represented.

Two and a half months in

I’m now just a bit over two and a half months into my new life as a full-time editor. Aside from a couple of knock-down colds, things have been moving along rather nicely. One of the big worries I had in going full-time was healthcare. Nearly five years ago, I suffered a major heart attack and the fallout from that continues to require a bunch of prescriptions and regular visits. In short, I require a better-than-average healthcare plan.

I had been on the upgraded plan my former employer offered as an option, but when I resigned, COBRA, financially, was not an option. (Seriously, who can afford those insane rates?) I did a lot of research and ended up with a decent silver plan via the ACA, but the costs are still significant and all on me. (My wife’s employer does offer a plan, but it’s the worst one I’ve ever seen.)

To cover these new expenses, I’ve been taking on short-term projects–ebook design, consulting–but that’s not stable income and it makes me nervous. Having a reliable source of income for this has been on my to-do list, but now it’s moved to the top.

Over the last ten years, I’ve directed money from new Clarkesworld or Forever subscriptions or Patreon pledges towards different projects that have ranged from adding more stories to creating an equipment budget for the podcast. Now I’m targeting healthcare.

As a funding goal, healthcare is anything but sexy. It’s not something I expect to see people rally around or get excited about. Adding new content? Sure, that gives a pretty tangible and easy-to-sell consequence. Insurance, well, you know… Still, it has to be done if I want to continue down this path.

At present, I’m sending a target of reaching this goal of July 12, 2017–the fifth anniversary of my heart attack. It’s an ambitious deadline, but one worth going for.

If you aren’t already a subscriber or Patreon supporter, here are the links I hope you’ll be interested in:

Patreon: http://patreon.com/clarkesworld
Clarkesworld Subscriptions: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/subscribe/
Forever Subscriptions: http://forever-magazine.com/subscribe.html

If you’re already a subscriber or supporter, thank you! You’ve made it possible to get this far. If you want to help further, share the above links or leave a review on our Amazon subscription page–good reviews there help encourage new subscribers. You’d be surprised by how much of an impact it has.

Take care,

-Neil

Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume 2: Recommended Reading List

The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 2 was published earlier this month in trade paperback and ebook. Each year, there are more good stories than I can fit in the book, so I include a recommended reading list at the back of the book to give them the recognition they deserve. That list is duplicated here:

2016 Recommended Reading List

“The Art of Space Travel” by Nina Allen, Tor.com, July 2016
“Mika Model” by Paolo Bacigalupi, Slate, April 2016
“Fifty Shades of Grays” by Steven Barnes, Lightspeed, June 2016
“A Fair War” by Taiyo Fuji, Saiensu Fikushon 2016, edited by Nick Mamatas and Masumi Washington
“The Mutants Men Don”t See” by James Alan Gardner, Asimov’s, September 2016
“My Generations Will Praise” by Samantha Henderson, Interzone, November/December 2016
“Origins” by Carlos Hernandez, The Grim Future, edited by Erin Underwood
“Stories of the Trees, Stories of the Birds, Stories of the Bones” by Kat Howard, The Grim Future, edited by Erin Underwood
“One Sister, Two Sisters, Three” by James Patrick Kelly, Clarkesworld, October 2016
“Kit: Some Assembly Required” by Kathe Koja, Asimov’s, September 2016
“The One Who Isn”t” by Ted Kosmatka, Lightspeed, July 2016
“Sleep Factory” by Rich Larson, Analog, October/November 2016
“Innumerable Glimmering Lights” by Rich Larson, Clockwork Phoenix 5,
“Seven Birthdays” by Ken Liu, Bridging Infinity, edited by Jonathan Strahan
“Elves of Antarctica” by Paul McAuley, Drowned Worlds, edited by Jonathan Strahan
“Not Quite Taterona Kempi” by Ryan W. Norris, Analog, May 2016
“Travelling into Nothing” by An Owomoyela, Bridging Infinity, edited by Jonathan Strahan
“Unauthorized Access” by An Owomoyela, Lightspeed, September 2016
“A Song Transmuted” by Sarah Pinsker, Cyber World, edited by Jason Heller and Joshua Viola
“Red in Tooth and Cog” by Cat Rambo, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March/April 2016
“Passelande” by Robert Reed, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November/December 2016
“Those Shadows Laugh” by Geoff Ryman, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September/October 2016
“Firstborn, Lastborn” by Melissa Scott, To Shape the Dark, edited by Athena Andreadis
“The Whole Mess” by Jack Skillingstead, Asimov’s, September 2016
“Licorice” by Jack Skillingstead, Now We Are Ten, edited by Ian Whates
“Everybody from Themis Sends Letters Home” by Genevieve Valentine, Clarkesworld, October 2016
“La beauté sans vertu” by Genevieve Valentine, Tor.com, April 2016
“The Mind Is Its Own Place” by Carrie Vaughn, Asimov’s, September 2016
“That Game We Played During the War” by Carrie Vaughn, Tor.com, March 2016
“First Light at Mistaken Point” by Kali Wallace, Clarkesworld, August 2016
“Passion Summer” by Nick Wolven, Asimov’s, February 2016
“Painter of Stars” by Wang Yuan, Clarkesworld, December 2016

2016 Aurealis Awards

The 2016 Aurealis Award-winners have been announced. Special congratulations to Samantha Murray on her win in the Best Science Fiction Short Story for “Of Sight, of Mind, of Heart” from the November 2016 issue of Clarkesworld!

 

Still Recovering (again)

I thought I’d be better by now, but it’s looking like my prior health issues are impacting my recovery from this cold. It’s become fairly easy to draw lines from my heart issues and a prior case of pneumonia to the lingering cough and fatigue, so I’ve been taking it easy. At least I can look at a screen again without the letters beginning to move. I did get out for a bit this weekend, but even just standing around talking wiped me out.

Today I managed to get some work on my pending mountain of email and slush. I know I owe more than a few people responses, but it’s going to take a bit of time with my current energy levels. I’ll get to the rest as I can, but I know not to push myself or I’ll just make things worse.

Radio Silence

It’s been a rough couple of weeks in our house. A mean little bug has been taking us out one-by-one. Fortunately, it waits until the previous host is better before striking the next. It came home with my oldest and by the time it moved onto his brother, I knew the right medications to bring it to its knees. Unfortunately, it jumped to me next and none of those medications are on my “allowed” list. I’ve had to take the scenic route through death slime valley.

The worst appears to be over, but with pieces still sitting in my chest, it could be a few days before I’m back to 100%. This was probably the worst cold I’ve had since my heart attack and the only one that has really triggered any real concern on my part. It’s serving as a reminder that my life isn’t as it was before. Just trying to do some simple tasks yesterday quickly tossed me back on the couch, exhausted. Reminds me a lot of those first days out of the hospital. Just need to take it easy. Nothing needs to be done today.

It’s Alive! Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume 2

While I was attending ICFA, The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 2 started shipping from Amazon and other bookstores. I just returned home and found a few boxes of them waiting for me.

The Year in Slush: 2016

Recently, an author on twitter asked me what the point of submitting to Clarkesworld when the acceptance rate is around 3%. Two things immediately came to mind:

1. If you pay attention to the odds, you’ll go insane

I keep finding myself having to explain quantitive vs. qualititive processes. If you think of submissions as a quantitative process (believing slush pile stats to be your odds of being published), then the skill or talent of the author and the story itself have absolutely no value in the decision. The selection process might as well be a lottery that assumes every story is equal to the next.

I have data that confirms a minimum of 15,000 different authors submitting stories to multiple markets over the past three years. Even with the short fiction market as over-saturated with venues as it is–an argument I make based on the size of the reading community that can sustain it–there aren’t enough slots for every story written. No one is guaranteed a spot.

While every story is given the same chance to prove itself, getting published involves a qualitative evaluation for those few open slots. That evaluation will be different for every editor and their rejection or acceptance of a story is an assessment of that story’s value to that specific market at that specific time. Sure, chance can play a role in being rejected–for example, when an editor already has a very similar story in inventory–but being accepted always requires talent. (Being rejected does not imply the inverse–a lack of talent.) If you believe you have talent, ignore slush pile statistics. They are the devil on your shoulder telling you to give up/you’re not good enough.

Oh and if you have a hard time believing you are good enough, volunteer to read slush somewhere for a while. Aside from gaining some interesting insights into writing and the state of the field, you’ll quickly discover how much better or worse you are than the majority of authors submitting stories. I haven’t met anyone who ended up thinking they were worse.

2. His rejection rate was wrong

Ok, if you are an author and still reading, I think we’ve established that you are potentially self-destructive.

The rate of 3% has never been true at Clarkesworld. That’s closer to the percentage of people who receive the near-miss top-tier rejection letters. If you get one of these, we’ve seen something in your work that makes us think you have a good shot at being published with us some day. If you’ve received multiples, you are skating around the edges of what we want and need to shake things up a little. If you get a lot of these, I’m probably now recognizing your name in slush and will inevitably try to push you in the right direction.

The actual acceptance rate for 2016 was 0.41%. That’s up slightly from 2015, but we saw some late-year declines in submissions that appear to line-up with the presidential election. December had the highest monthly acceptance rate: 0.83%. The lowest was September, which had none.

Slush Pile by Genre

39.54%
Science Fiction


26.57%
Fantasy


9.22%
Horror


8.80%
Fantasy/Horror


7.23%
Science Fiction/Fantasy


5.26%
Science Fiction/Horror


3.38%
Other

Accepted Stories by Genre

76.47%
Science Fiction


1.96%
Fantasy


15.69%
Science Fiction/Fantasy


5.88%
Science Fiction/Horror

What does this mean? Essentially, it’s a snapshot of the types of stories that most appealed to me based on what I received in 2016. I’m always hesitant to post data like this because it can cause an unnatural shift in the submissions we receive. If I suddenly declared “I love robot stories,” I’d inevitably get flooded with robot stories and find myself hating them. Unfortunately, the inverse is not true. I can scream “DON’T SEND ME ZOMBIE STORIES!” to some people’s faces and they’ll still do it. That should say something about writer psychology, but I’m not sure what.

In the end, don’t write what you think I want. That’s a likely path to boring me. Write what you want, throw it at my wall, and I’ll see if it sticks. Don’t let the numbers psych you out. If you’ve made it this far, they probably don’t apply to you.

Reading Period: More Human Than Human

More Human Than Human is a reprint anthology focused on the theme of androids, replicants, and other artificial humanoids that will be published by Night Shade Books in trade paperback, ebook, and (maybe) audio editions in late 2017.

What am I looking for

Previously published science fiction stories between 3000 and 25000 words in length.
Stories must include androids, replicants, etc. as a major character or plot element.

What I don’t want

Stories outside the stated word count
Poetry
Fantasy
Original stories (this is a reprint anthology, send originals to Clarkesworld)
Zombies (yeah, they are always on the list)

Payment and Required rights

If accepted, payment of one cent/word will be issued on receipt of signed contract . Pro-rata share of royalties issued twice per year (if additional payment is due).
Non-exclusive English language rights for print, digital, and audio editions required.

Reading Period, Response Times, ANd How to SUbmit

Open for submissions through 3/20/2017.
Acceptance and rejection letters will be emailed sometime before April 5, 2017.
All submissions must be made through my anthology submissions system at: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/anthology/

Recommending Stories

If you would like to recommend a story that you have not written, please post it in the comments section of this post.

Questions

If you have questions, email neil(at)clarkesworldmagazine.com.

March Issues

 

Despite battling a cold most of last week, I’ll have the March issues of Clarkesworld and Forever out into the world today.  Amazon, Patreon, Weightless, Apple, Google, and B&N subscribers should be getting their copies first. Just want to thanks those folks for their support. It makes a world of difference around here.

Clarkesworld has new stories by Robert Reed, Naomi Kritzer, Xia Jia, J.B. Park, and Octavia Cade, with reprints by Ian R. MacLeod and Alexander Jablokov.

Forever has reprints by Ian McDonald, T.R. Napper, and Ken Liu.