Neil Clarke's Blog, page 36
April 20, 2014
2014 Hugo Nominee!
The 2014 Hugo Award nominees were announced yesterday. I’ve received my third consecutive nomination in the Best Editor (short form) category! I’d like to thank everyone that nominated me. I’m very honored and appreciate this show of support. [I was somewhat less dignified when they told me. WOOOO! ]
I wish I could attend Worldcon in London this year, but it’s looking unlikely. Basically, the rule is that I’m not allowed to attend a con in a city my wife likes unless the whole family can come along. Last I checked, plane tickets would have been $1500 each, which means $6000 total for just the airfare. The final total is closer to $8000. Even if I could go alone, it would be expensive. That’s just not practical, so I’ll have to watch online just like everyone else this year.
By the way, the Hugo Awards Ceremony will be held on Sunday at Worldcon. That’s August 17th… my birthday.
April 14, 2014
Vodo – OtherWorlds Bundle
Last month, I was approached by the folks at Vodo, a pay-what-you-want site that offers mixed bundles of movies, games, books, etc. They wanted to know if I’d be interested in offering Clarkesworld Magazine as part of an upcoming science fiction-themed bundle. I was initially skeptical about the idea, but they eventually won me over.
Given that we place all our content online for free, allow people to make PayPal or Patreon donations, you’d think that this might be a no-brainer for us. The problem is that we’ve established a price for our subscriptions and didn’t want to alienate our existing subscribers by offering a much cheaper alternative. Fortunately, Vodo was receptive to our concerns and worked with me to come up with something that felt more respectful of our existing subscribers.
While Vodo is pay-what-you-want, some content isn’t included in your bundle if you don’t pay more than the average payment or spring for the premium package. We placed a four-issue subscription (nice length for a trial) in the 2nd tier. Given the subscription’s length and average payment for that tier, it feels fair to everyone.
For our part in this, we get a share of the payments and the opportunity to reach a large audience of people who probably haven’t heard of us before. So far, over seven-hundred people have purchased the bundle (launched Friday night) and it’s still available for another eighteen days. I’ll consider this a success if even a small percentage of those people convert into regular subscribers. That’s the best you can expect from any marketing these days and if we want to build our subscriber base, we’re going to have to experiment with our approach to marketing. This seemed like a good place to start. As an added bonus, five-percent of Vodo’s sales go to charity… in this case, the EFF.
The basic Otherworlds Bundle includes the following movies, games, comics, books and music:
Cory Doctorow’s Futuristic Tales Of The Here And Now [Book] – Graphic novel of six stories by Cory Doctorow.
Bientôt L’été [Game] – Heavily atmospheric game for two players.\
2145 [Audio] – Dark Ambient music from Sabled Sun
The Surrogates [Book] – Acclaimed five-part comic series. NY Times Bestseller.
Blink [Film] – 4 tightly-crafted visions of beyond in 1 short film.
If you beat the average price, you’ll unlock these:
Ghosts With Shit Jobs [Film] – Macro-satire on a micro-budget
Future My Love [Film] -A documentary meditation on financial collapse, utopia and love.
Ai Wars: Fleet Command [Game] – Space-based RTS game and expansion pack.
Clarkesworld Subscription [Book] – Clarkesworld Sci Fi Magazine, 4-month subscription.
Apex Book of World Sf [Book] – 16 sci-fi short stories from Asia, Middle East, Eastern Europe and more.
2146 [Audio] – AudioThe Dark Ambient sequel to 2145
Out There Ep [Audio] – Bespoke compilation of haunted space-pop from Not Not Fun records
If you beat the premium price, you’ll also unlock:
The Surrogates: Flesh And Bone [Book] – Prequel to The Surrogates. Sci-Five!
Drones [Film] – A trip of an office comedy.
The Surrogates: Case Files 1 & 2 [Book] – 2 great graphic novellas set between Volumes 1 and 2.
Signals [Audio] – Triple-album spin-off to Sabled Sun’s Dark Ambient odyssey.
You can find all the details on Vodo’s Otherworlds Bundle page. Head on over now and grab yourself a bargain!
April 1, 2014
April 2014 Issue of Clarkesworld Magazine
The April 2014 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine is now available. You can get the issue:
Online at www.clarkesworldmagazine.com
Via podcast subscription (free)
or help us pay the bills by purchasing Clarkesworld with a subscription at:
Amazon.com
Apple Newsstand (iPad/iPhone)
Google Play (Android Phones and Tablets)
Weightless Books
or as a single issue ebook from Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Weightless, and direct from us at Wyrm Publishing
APRIL 2014 – ISSUE #91
FICTION
“Passage of Earth” by Michael Swanwick
“Autodidact” by Benjanun Sriduangkaew
“Water in Springtime” by Kali Wallace
“The Cuckoo” by Sean Wallace
“Going After Bobo” by Susan Palwick
“Shining Armor” by Dominic Green
NONFICTION
Realms of Dark, Deep and Cold by Julie Novakova
The Blue Collar Craftsman & the Salesmen on Mars: A Conversation with Ben Tanzer by Jeremy L. C. Jones
Another Word: Killing Rage by Daniel Abraham
Editor’s Desk: Supporting our Favorites by Neil Clarke
PODCAST
This month’s stories will be released in audio form over the course of the month. Read by Kate Baker.
COVER ART
Wake by Peter Mohrbacher
If you enjoy what we do, please consider supporting us by spreading the word about our subscription options or Patreon account on Facebook, Twitter or your blog. Your subscriptions make everything we do possible.
Thanks!
March 25, 2014
BSFS State of Short Fiction Roundtable
A video of the BSFS State of Short Fiction Roundtable is now available:
March 18, 2014
In the Baltimore area this weekend?
If you’re in the Baltimore area this weekend, check this out:
On Saturday, March 22 at 8PM, BSFS will host a free, public roundtable on “The State of Short Fiction.” Editors Neil Clarke (Clarkesworld), Scott H. Andrews (Beneath Ceaseless Skies), Jonathan Landen (Daily Science Fiction), Norm Sherman (Drabblecast), Bill Campbell (Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond), along with writer Erica Satifka (Clarkesworld, Daily Science Fiction) will participate in the discussion lead by moderator, writer and BSFS member Sarah Pinsker (Fantasy & Science Fiction, Lightspeed, Asimov’s).
This roundtable will go in-depth on the current state of the short fiction market. The panel includes top editors, writers, anthologists, and podcasters, in order to gather a complete picture of the field’s past, present, and future. Who are the new voices people should be reading? How do you fund a magazine or anthology? What makes a story work for podcast? This will be a great panel for readers and writers alike.
More details at:
https://www.facebook.com/events/253038781544502
Book sale update
All the books that were purchased in last week’s book sale have been moved out of storage, sorted, separated, and stacked. I’m now working my way through packing and hope to ship later this week.
That’s just one corner of the room.
March 14, 2014
Lunacon 2014
I’ll be attending Lunacon in Rye Brook NY this weekend and participating in the following panels:
The Changing Publishing Paradigm – Saturday 2:00pm
Westchester Ballroom A1
John R. Douglas (moderator), Sheila Williams, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Ian Randal Strock, Neil Clarke
Everything is changing: mergers, formats, lack of stigma for self-publishing – and just when you think e-books will take over — sales are flat for e-books, but not print. Our panelist analyze the past, and look forward to the future of publishing.
Survival skills of Marketer/Publisher/Editor – Sunday 10:00am
William Odelle
Bianca D’Arc (moderator), Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Andrew Wheeler, Neil Clarke
Moving beyond the print paradigm — Publishing needs a community, while acting as the “distributor” and “marketer” for the works of the author/creator…
The Resurgence of the Short(er) Story – Sunday 11:00am
Poplar
Barbara Krasnoff (moderator), Ken Altabef, Alex Shvartsman, Sheila Williams, James Chambers, Neil Clarke
So many collections, print and online magazines and other outlets — Is this a fad? Or, do readers really like short fiction again?
March 12, 2014
SFWA Bulletin
I haven’t mentioned it here, but I’m a member of the task force that has been working on/reviewing the SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) Bulletin. One of the tasks put to the group was to produce an interim issue while the search for a new editor was completed. My role has been to create the ebook edition from the files they sent to the printer. I can happily report that I’ve passed the ebook files off to the task force for review and proofreading. If all goes well, I hope to finalize the ebook edition (ePub and MOBI) early next week.
March 11, 2014
March 10, 2014
Book sale update
It looks like I have to make this paperback book sale a one-day event. No, I’m not in danger of running out of books, but the volume of orders has been significantly higher than I anticipated. I’d like to thank everyone for that!
So why shut it down? Well, I’m concerned about my health. I have enough orders to keep me very busy for the next week. I’m not going to over-exert myself. (My family and doctors would be more than upset with me if I did.) Instead, I’ll close things down tonight, concentrate on shipping the existing orders, get a better handle on what’s left and reopen again at a later date.
If you were late to the game and missed out, drop me an email at neil@clarkesworldmagazine.com and I’ll let you know when I restart the sale. Heck, I’ll give everyone on the list a day head start before anyone else can order.
Sale will end at 10:00pm EST 3/10/2014.
