Neil Clarke's Blog, page 21

SFWA Bulletin articles

I don’t bring it up often, but one of the publications I edit is The SFWA Bulletin. We publish non-fiction at 10 cents/word and both members and non-members are welcome to submit. You can find the guidelines here.

From time-to-time, people make suggestions for the types of articles they would like to see us publish. Currently, this list includes the following topics:

Book Trailers (pros, cons, how-to, why)


Selling Books at Conventions (getting my own table vs teaming up vs commission)


Understanding Print on Demand and it’s relationship with bookstores (who carries what and why)


Essential Elements of Author Websites (We’ve done this before, but trends change)


Audiobooks (what’s the marketplace like, should I get in, how?)

If any of these are within your area of expertise, please consider pitching an article.

Also, I’m looking for people to help cover the Nebula Awards Conference, so if you will be attending this year and have an interest, please contact me at the address listed in the guidelines.

Boskone 2017 Schedule

This weekend, I’ll be attending Boskone at the Westin Waterfront Hotel in Boston. In addition to dropping several boxes of books on the freebie table, I’ll be participating in the following 13events and panels:

Nontraditional Magazines

Friday 20:00 – 21:00, Marina 2 (Westin)

Jeremy Flagg (M), Robert B. Finegold M.D., Julie C. Day, Ken Altabef, Neil Clarke

If print is dead, then printed magazines are. But, at least in our genres, they’re going strong as online magazine and perhaps we should include blogs and both audio and video podcasts. What is the future of the magazine online and in any mutation or combination? And what does this mean for the journalist/writer?

Digital Rights and Other Small Press Traps and Issues

Saturday 14:00 – 15:00, Marina 4 (Westin)

Darlene Marshall (M) , Walter Jon Williams, Neil Clarke

How has the revolution in (and evolution of) digital technology affected the SF publishing field? What has the popularity/promise of e-books and of e-publishing in general done to demand, and to the whole publishing process? What are the complications of these media, barely out of their infancy? What do writers, readers, and publishers need to know to avoid running into trouble in these exciting (but dangerous) digital waters?

The Copy Editor Is Your Friend

Saturday 16:00 – 17:00, Marina 2 (Westin)

Janice Gelb, Brendan DuBois (M), Teresa Nielsen Hayden , Richard Shealy, Neil Clarke

No book goes directly from the author’s keyboard to the printing press. Instead, the manuscript follows a convoluted path that involves many people, and finally lands on the desk of your friendly neighborhood copy editor. So, what does a copy editor do? Can (or should) you copyedit your own work? Our panel of red pencil warriors explains how and why copy editors make stories better and authors look good. Learn some tips, tricks, and tales of copyediting woe!

Autographing: Neil Clarke, Max Gladstone, Fran Wilde

Saturday 17:00 – 18:00, Galleria – Autographing (Westin)

Boskone Book Party

Saturday 18:30 – 19:30, Galleria – Stage (Westin)

Kaffeeklatsch: Neil Clarke

Sunday 10:00 – 11:00, Harbor I – Kaffeeklatsch 2 (Westin)

Marketing Matters

Sunday 14:00 – 15:00, Burroughs (Westin)

Moshe Feder, Melanie Meadors (M), Neil Clarke

Authors are bombarded with “wisdom” about marketing and social media. Let’s cut to the chase and get back to basics. When it comes to marketing, what works, what doesn’t work, and what are the still-open questions?

Ten days in

Hard to believe that I’m ten days into this self-employed editor thing. Still doesn’t quite feel real, but I at least I’m making progress on many fronts: backlogged projects, current projects, housework, and even a little coding to make my life easier.

I’ll probably find myself sleeping a bit better when I know I have the income gap and health insurance covered. To that end, next week’s agenda includes some time spent on anthology pitches, finding more ebook design clients, marketing, and perhaps some consulting work for my former employer.

Over at Patreon, I’ve been asking our existing supporters what types of things make attractive rewards to them. That will be feeding a blog post sometime in the next week… Yes, this connects to a survey I did last year and yes, I will be sharing some of what I learned from that soon.

Participating in a NASA Social event

I’ve been selected to be part of a NASA Social event at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. I’ll be attending the launch of the SpaceX CRS-10 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station later this month.

During the event, I’ll be provided with the opportunity to:

Tour NASA facilities at Kennedy
Meet and interact with engineers, technicians and other team members from Kennedy
View and take photographs of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A
Meet fellow space enthusiasts who are active on social media
Meet members of NASA’s social media team
View the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft

Now I just need to make travel arrangements and find a decent hotel. Any friends in Florida have any recommendations?

2016 Locus Recommended Reading List

The 2016 Locus Recommended Reading List was published last week and it includes the following stories from Clarkesworld Magazine:

Novelettes

“Checkerboard Planet”, Eleanor Arnason (Clarkesworld 12/16)
“Touring with the Alien”, Carolyn Ives Gilman (Clarkesworld 4/16)
“Jonas and the Fox”, Rich Larson (Clarkesworld 5/16)
“Everyone from Themis Sends Letters Home”, Genevieve Valentine (Clarkesworld 10/16)

Short Stories

“A Tower for the Coming World”, Maggie Clark (Clarkesworld 12/16)
“Breathe”, Cassandra Khaw (Clarkesworld 5/16)
“Things with Beards”, Sam J. Miller (Clarkesworld 6/16)
“Afrofuturist 419”, Nnedi Okorafor (Clarkesworld 11/16)
“Between Dragons and Their Wrath”, An Owomoyela & Rachel Swirsky (Clarkesworld 2/16)
“Left Behind”, Cat Rambo (Clarkesworld 5/16)
“The Abduction of Europa”, E. Catherine Tobler (Clarkesworld 1/16)
“First Light at Mistaken Point”, Kali Wallace (Clarkesworld 8/16)

Congratulations to our authors!

Oh and I am very flattered that The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume One made their list of recommended anthologies.

Locus uses this list as the foundation for their annual poll and survey. Winners will be announced at the Locus Awards ceremony later in the year. The poll should be online shortly.

Dealing with the remains of Clarkesworld Books

Once upon a time, I owned a bookstore: Clarkesworld Books. When it closed eight years ago, I ended up with a basement full of books which I’ve been slowly selling off via Amazon, at conventions, and other places. If you’ve seen my table at Capclave or Readercon, you know I’ve become extremely motivated to find these books a new home, often discounting things down to a $1. A few months ago, at Philcon, I brought nine boxes of books that failed to sell and dumped them on the freebie table. I’ve already packed eight more to bring to Boskone.

Despite these efforts, a significant volume of books remain. After Boskone, I’ll check with some used bookstores in the area and see if they are interested in the paperbacks I decided not to use in the recent cull. I’ll probably put the rest on EBay in lots of 20-30 and see what happens. At worst, Lunacon comes around in April and I can always give away a few more boxes there.

If anyone knows any other places that might be interested in buying paperbacks/trade paperbacks/hardcovers in bulk–cheap–let me know. I’m in Northern NJ and wouldn’t be opposed to driving a couple of hours if it reduces the pile significantly. I also have road trips to the DC and Boston areas scheduled this year.

In cleaning this all up, I’ve also uncovered a bunch of small press and signed limited edition books. Those will likely be added to my Amazon Seller account as some of them have become quite valuable. Makes ditching the others for next-to-nothing a lot more palatable.

The first few days…

So what are the first few days of being self-employed like? It turns out that it feels a lot like anytime I’ve taken a few days off from my old day job: a mad rush of catching up on things that have piled up. My daily routine–which includes cooking and taking care of the house–is beginning to fall into place, but will likely adjust once I clear the backlog and start focusing forward.

This is the Day

Another song from my youth that seems appropriate for the last day of my day job.

Galactic Empires Gets New York Times Book Review

“…over all this anthology is mostly hits, remarkably few misses. Highly recommended.”

–New York Times Book Review, Otherworldly column by N.K. Jemisin

Galactic Empires Table of Contents and Ordering Information

Clarkesworld and 2016 Award Eligibility

It’s that time of year again. People are beginning to fill out the award ballots and if you are considering nominating us or any of our stories, here’s a quick list to help you figure out what goes in what category.

As has been the case for the last few years, Clarkesworld Magazine is not eligible for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine. By Hugo rules, we are professional and therefore ineligible in this category.

I am still eligible for the Hugo Award for Best Editor (short form).

If you want to nominate one of our 2016 stories, the Hugo and Nebula Awards consider them eligible in the following categories (according to word count):

Short Stories

“The Algorithms of Value” by Robert Reed
“The Abduction of Europa” by E. Catherine Tobler
“The Fixer” by Paul McAuley
“Between Dragons and Their Wrath” by An Owomoyela and Rachel Swirsky
“That Which Stands Tends Toward Free Fall” by Benjanun Sriduangkaew
“Salvage Opportunity” by Jack Skillingstead
“Seven Cups of Coffee” by A.C. Wise
“Coyote Invents the Land of the Dead” by Kij Johnson
“The Governess with a Mechanical Womb” by Leena Likitalo
“The Cedar Grid” by Sara Saab
“Breathe” by Cassandra Khaw
“Left Behind” by Cat Rambo
“Things With Beards” by Sam J. Miller
“.identity” by E. Catherine Tobler
“And Then, One Day, the Air was Full of Voices” by Margaret Ronald
“Helio Music” by Mike Buckley
“Against the Stream” by A Que
“Fish Dance” by Eric Schwitzgebel
“The Sentry Branch Predictor Spec: A Fairy Tale” by John Chu
“The Engine’s Imperial” by Sean Bensinger
“Reclamation” by Ryan Row
“Now is the Hour” by Emily Devenport
“First Light at Mistaken Point” by Kali Wallace
“The Opposite and the Adjacent” by Liu Yang
“Aphrodite’s Blood, Decanted” by Jennifer Campbell-Hicks
“The Despoilers” by Jack Skillingstead
“Toward the Luminous Towers” by Bogi Takács
“The House of Half Mirrors” by Thoraiya Dyer
“The Next Scene” by Robert Reed
“Rusties” by Nnedi Okorafor and Wanuri Kahiu
“Afrofuturist 419” by Nnedi Okorafor
“Where Water Joins” by Nelly Geraldine García Rosas
“Of Sight, of Mind, of Heart” by Samantha Murray
“What The Stories Steal” by Nin Harris
“Follow the White Line” by Bo Balder
“Blue Grey Blue” by Yukimi Ogawa
“A Tower for the Coming World” by Maggie Clark
“A Future Far Too Bright” by Yosef Lindell
“Painter of Stars” by Wang Yuan

Novelettes

“Extraction Request” by Rich Larson
“In the Midst of Life” by Nick Wolven
“The Bridge of Dreams” by Gregory Feeley
“Balin” by Chen Qiufan
“Touring with the Alien” by Carolyn Ives Gilman
“The Universal Museum of Sagacity” by Robert Reed
“Jonas and the Fox” by Rich Larson
“Away from Home” by Luo Longxiang
“Sephine and the Leviathan” by Jack Schouten
“Teenagers from Outer Space” by Dale Bailey
“Alone, on the Wind” by Karla Schmidt
“The Green Man Cometh” by Rich Larson
“The Calculations of Artificials” by Chi Hui
“One Sister, Two Sisters, Three” by James Patrick Kelly
“Everyone from Themis Sends Letters Home” by Genevieve Valentine
“Western Heaven” by Chen Hongyu
“Checkerboard Planet” by Eleanor Arnason

Novellas

“Everybody Loves Charles” by Bao Shu
“Chimera” by Gu Shi
“The Snow of Jinyang” by Zhang Ran