Award Season: World Fantasy Award winners

Thu 18 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , | Comments Off on Award Season: World Fantasy Award winners | Posted by: Gavin

Catching up on my ongoing simple male/female count of nominees and winners of awards. First, congratulations to the winners of the of the World Fantasy Awards—especially of course Karen Joy Fowler whose story “The Pelican Bar” received the award.

The awards went 5:4, men to women, but the Life Achievement awards went to 3 guys meaning the final count was:

8 men
4 women

  • 8 USA
  • 1 UK
  • 2 Australia
  • 1 Russia

Of note: there were no women nominees in the art category. Please consider nominating women artists next year either directly to the judges or by voting. Although I’m not suggesting voting in blocks as they are horribly obvious and no fun.

There was one woman (Kelly!) on the jury this year. In the last ten years the jury makeup has been:

15 women, 35 men

2010: 1 woman, 4 men
2009: 3 women, 2 men
2008: 5 men
2007: 5 men
2006: 2 women, 3 men
2005: 2 women, 3 men
2004: 1 woman, 4 men
2003: 2 women, 3 men
2002: 2 women, 3 men
2001: 2 women, 3 men


My two bit universe by Vincent McCaffrey

Thu 18 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on My two bit universe by Vincent McCaffrey | Posted by: Gavin

My two bit universe (first bit) by Vincent McCaffrey

It was possible to sell a blue crab or buy a paperback book for a quarter in 1956. And thus my reading career began.

We lived then in a modern (as in antiseptic and geometric) brick apartment complex in Beechhurst, just where the East River meets the Long Island Sound. Across the street, where a wonderful primal wood had lingered long beyond anything else of its kind in that densely populated suburb of New York City, was a place where I had watched bats twirl in the sky over the remains of a great estate while hidden in the enfolding roots of giant oaks, and held the fortress of a fallen gatehouse against the fury of thousands upon millions of snowballs. Read more


December deadlines

Thu 18 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | 2 Comments | Posted by: Gavin

A Working Writer’s Daily Planner 2010 cover - click to view full sizeHere are a few December deadlines from A Working Writer’s Daily Calendar 2010—which will very soon now be superseded by the 2011 edition. We posted a few deadlines a couple of weeks ago. There’s also a free preview of January 2011 from the next edition on Scribd. We’ll be posting other useful parts of the Planner as the year comes to an end.

Read more


The Importance of Being Ernest by Vincent McCaffrey

Wed 17 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on The Importance of Being Ernest by Vincent McCaffrey | Posted by: Gavin

The Importance of Being Ernest by Vincent McCaffrey

I sell books for a living today, as I have for most all of my adult life. This has often seemed to me to be destined. A sort of cosmic joke. A perfect example of ‘Be careful of what you wish for.’

As a boy, I wanted to be a writer. Selling the books of the writers I loved seemed quite natural.

Having suddenly begun to read at the age of nine, I became a ‘bookworm,’ in my mother’s phrase, and ruined my eyes by the time I was twelve. Reports of other and possibly better means for doing this reached my ears belatedly.

I admit that my opinions of literature were formed alone and without proper guidance. Given the sheer quantities I read, I might even have been some sort of scholar, had I followed the advice so often offered by others who clearly knew better. But by then I wasn’t listening to anyone who couldn’t write. Read more


What I See, part 2 by Karen Joy Fowler

Tue 16 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on What I See, part 2 by Karen Joy Fowler | Posted by: Gavin

What I See, part 2 by Karen Joy Fowler

There is one cove along the cliffs of my morning walk where all the loose seaweed washes up. On one side of the street are million+ dollar homes, homes with an ocean view. On the other and down a flight of stone stairs, a great heap of bugs and rotting seaweed. In the summer you can smell this for blocks. Homes with an ocean smell.

Of course, this is the one beach in town that allows dogs off-leash. My dog (Mojito, commonly known as MJ) and I go there lots. MJ has just turned ten. We used to think that she was a good dog, but when she grew up, settled just a little, she’d be a really great dog. Maybe this is the year that happens. Fingers crossed.

At the top of the stairs, when I unclip the leash we both feel a great leap of spirits. Freedom! She can wander at will. No more being dragged along so fast you can’t stop and smell the piss. Me, too! No more stopping at every tree and fencepost. I can swing my arms.

It’s all spoiled at the bottom of the stairs. I have long ago resigned myself to the fact that we will have to pick our way through mounds of rot to get to the sand. (There is a metaphor there for writing books. The physical world is full of such metaphors. You can’t avoid them. One reason of many why scene is so affective in literature.) Yet I am continually disappointed when MJ decides to drop and roll. Somewhere there is a freedom that does not require an immediate and sullen bath. Someday we’ll find it together, MJ and I.

Another notable feature of the dog beach is a long cement wall. Not a retaining wall, or at least I don’t think so, since it runs perpendicular to the waves. I really can’t guess what it’s there for. But this wall is high enough, maybe four feet, that I sometimes have difficulty scrambling over it.

Here’s the amazing part, though. Sometimes it isn’t there at all. Sometimes the sands have shifted so much you would never know there was wall beneath you. (And see? We’ve hit another metaphor. Pay no attention; just go about your business. It’s more frightened of you than you are of it.)

Previously


The Whale in the Room by Vincent McCaffrey

Tue 16 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | 1 Comment | Posted by: Gavin

The Whale in the Room by Vincent McCaffrey

In my junior year of high school, in 1964, I opted to read Moby Dick as part of my discretionary reading. It was a bit of grandstanding, in fact. I thought I had already read it a year or two before and would use it to impress my teacher and squeeze out a higher mark. I promptly went down to Anderson’s Bookshop in Larchmont and looked around for a copy. What I found there was a humongously fat Signet paperback. I asked the forbearing woman who usually worked the counter what was wrong with it. Where was the ‘regular’ edition I had previously read? She was totally mystified by my objection. She sputtered. She looked at me hopelessly. She shook her head and said, “Looks fine to me.”

A small gathering of patrons encircled us, each offering comments of their own as they in turn took the chunky volume and fanned through the pages. I remember one who helpfully offered the added information that this copy lacked a glossary. It was actually too short. I should buy an edition with a glossary so that I could look up the meaning of unusual words. Under their scrutiny, I could not admit that I had believed it was a much shorter work to begin with. Already committed, I took the advice offered and bought an edition with a glossary.

On the way home that day I stopped at the public library and found the version—the exact volume—that I had read before. It was in fact shorter. It was edited. Abridged. All of the parts of the great book which did not further the immediate advancement of plot, as well as all the too difficult words, were removed. No comic irony. No allegory. No religious metaphor. No slicing of the whale flesh “as thin as Bible-leaves.”

Read more


That Corset by Kathe Koja

Mon 15 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on That Corset by Kathe Koja | Posted by: Gavin

That Corset by Kathe Koja

People—readers—always like to know about the research that goes into a novel, and especially, I’m finding, a historical novel. Gaslight, weevils, laudanum—the appetite is brisk for details, which makes perfect sense, as one of the reasons we read of another time is to experience it for ourselves. Throw some puppets into the mix, rude and bawdy and (somewhat-) anatomically correct puppets, and the questions become more saucy, but the main one usually boils down to “ARE there such creatures in what we like to call the real world?” Well, given the human race’s ingenuity and reputation for making everything into a sex toy (cf the Internet), the answer would have to be Yes. For one of the odder examples I found, check this out.

Read more


What I See by Karen Joy Fowler

Mon 15 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | 1 Comment | Posted by: Gavin

What I See by Karen Joy Fowler

Over the vast expanse of my life so far, I’ve made many attempts to keep a diary. None of them have lasted long. Neither will this one.

But I had a big birthday this year, sixty years on this earth and counting, which prompted a number of sober reflections. Prominent among them was a concern that I have stopped paying attention to the physical world around me. I won’t be here forever. So I should be here.

I used to leave the camera at home when I traveled. I felt it got in the way of the actual experience. Now when I travel, I’m on the web as often as not. When I have to stand in line somewhere, I read a book. Most mornings I take a long walk on a cliff-top path with the ocean below. I’m dimly aware that I’m walking through a place of great beauty. Also activity!  There are surfers and pelicans, sea otters and dolphins, joggers and street people. There are dogs. (I myself am on a leash.) But I am walking briskly, for the exercise, and my ipod is setting the pace so I don’t hear the water or the birds or the cars or the bicyclist who’s desperately honking to get past.

Often I don’t even hear the music. I use the time to think. Which, don’t get me wrong, is a very good use of time. I just don’t want thinking to be the only thing I do.

I want to establish the habit of paying attention and I figure if I’ve promised to post what I see, then I’ll have to manage to see something. Just one thing! Starting tomorrow. How hard can it be?


Today: Karen Joy Fowler and Kathe Koja

Mon 15 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on Today: Karen Joy Fowler and Kathe Koja | Posted by: Gavin

As promised the other day, we’re going to be featuring quite a few of writers here on ye olde website over the next couple of weeks. We’re not starting with a schedule—although maybe we’ll end up with one if we have to. Monday: Writer A! Tuesday: Writer B! Wednesday: where the heck has writer C gone? Eek!

We’ll post as we receive stuff (although if Howard is going to write us letters which we have to retype we might be a little slower with that) which might mean 4 posts on one day and nothing for a couple more days but it should keep things lively.

Things off today with a post each from Kathe Koja (who’ll be reading at KGB Bar in New York City this week) and Karen Joy Fowler on puppets, corsets, and seeing the world!


Alasdair Gray in Edinburgh

Fri 12 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on Alasdair Gray in Edinburgh | Posted by: Gavin

Over in the UK Alasdair Gray‘s star is really shining. There are exhibits, new books, new projects, he has a ton of stuff going on. Pity he doesn’t like air travel or we could get him over here. Here’s a short vid about a fabulous looking exhibition in Edinburgh. I wish I could see it (not likely!) but at least there’s this. It is amazing to see the size and detail in some of those prints:


LCRW the next

Thu 11 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , | Comments Off on LCRW the next | Posted by: Gavin

Stories of Your Life and OthersLCRW 26 is at the printer. At some point soon we will have a mailing party. You bring the envelope-stuffing ability, we’ll bring the tea and biscuits and zines. (Also: added more subscription options.)

Meanwhile we just contacted five writers with variations on this email: Your Story Is Lovely! We would like to publish it (but not until next year). Sorry it took us so long to get back to you (since the stories were sent in January/February/July/September!). Much reading still to be done.

Also just sent another DMCA takedown notice—why is Ted Chiang’s book so popular with pirates? Sure, it’s excellent and was out of print for a while but now it’s available in all kinds of formats.

Then I posted on a free ebook trading site asking people not to add our books. So depressing and a little silly to post but I think it’s worthwhile now and then. I don’t think every illegal download is a lost sale (and I understand that readers abroad might have trouble getting their hands on books they want) but we try and go the extra mile to make our books available everywhere. Oh well.

Later today I’m hoping to take Ursula out for a walk. I was hoping to make it to a war memorial for Veterans/Remembrance Day but since I can’t drive with her in the car alone (there needs to be 2 people with her in a car) maybe we will just go to a local cemetery and have a wander. Right now she is fighting off 2 therapists and a nurse. Strong kid.

https://smallbeerpress.com/shopping/subscriptions/

We’ll send you a book if

Thu 11 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | 4 Comments | Posted by: Gavin

you post a pic of Under the Poppy in a Borders bookstore!


Saturday: online with Karen Joy Fowler

Wed 10 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Saturday: online with Karen Joy Fowler | Posted by: Gavin

Just got a notice about an interesting-sounding online event this Saturday: What I Didn’t See and Other Stories cover

This Saturday, Nov. 13, at 10:15 a.m. Pacific, Catherine Brady and Karen Joy Fowler will join Elizabeth Stark in the Book Writing World for an online conversation, and you are invited to attend and to bring your writing questions to these two brilliant, generous experts.

This is free and open to the public, but you do need to register here, now, for free.

You’ll connect through your computer and will be able both to see the authors and talk with them. (Calling in is an option; details will be sent after you register and before the event.)


Coming soon

Mon 8 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal. | Comments Off on Coming soon | Posted by: Gavin

Lots of our writers will be writing right here. Well, not in this post, but in others: minty fresh new posts all of their own. Unless they want to interview someone/s, in which posts they will share the freshness around.

Who? When? What? Where?

Not telling! But the how is: they email us, we post them! Look for interesting things happening . . . soonish!


November deadlines

Mon 8 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on November deadlines | Posted by: Gavin

A Working Writer’s Daily Planner 2010 cover - click to view full sizeHey, it’s NaNoWriMo—good luck to you if you’re at it!

For the poets our there, here are a few November deadlines from A Working Writer’s Daily Calendar 2010—soon to be superseded by the 2011 edition. We’ll post a few more deadlines in December and we will also be posting other useful parts of the Planner as the year comes to an end.

November 15: The Yale Series of Younger Poets
The Yale Series of Younger Poets champions the most promising new American poets. Awarded since 1919, the Yale Younger Poets prize is the oldest annual literary award in the United States. Past winners include Muriel Rukeyser, Adrienne Rich, William Meredith, W.S. Merwin, John Ashbery, John Hollander, James Tate, and Carolyn Forché. Louise Glück is the current judge of the Series.
Prize: publication.
Eligibility: An American citizen under forty years of age who has not published a book of poetry.
Manuscript: Between 48–64 numbered pages. See website for full guidelines.
Fee: $15 made out to Yale University Press.
Yale Series of Younger Poets, P.O. Box 209040, New Haven, CT 06520-9040

November 15: Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award
Prize: $1,000 + publication in Measure: An Annual Review of Formal Poetry
Eligibility: Sonnets must be original and unpublished.
Manuscript: Author’s name, address, phone number, and email (if available) should be typed on the back of each entry.
Check website for any updated information.
Fee: $3 per sonnet made payable to The Formalist.
Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award, The Formalist, 320 Hunter Drive, Evansville, IN 47711

November 30: Academy of American Poets
The Academy offers several awards including the James Laughlin Award of $5,000 for an author’s second book of poetry and the Walt Whitman Award of $5,000 and a one-month residency for first book of poetry.
The Academy of American Poets, 588 Broadway, Suite 123, New York, NY 10012. 212-274-0343


George Takei says

Thu 4 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal. | Comments Off on George Takei says | Posted by: Gavin

My teenage years were a great thing to have lived through, but not a great thing to live.

George Takei: thanks for this.


Amazon

Thu 4 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Amazon | Posted by: Gavin

Best Books of 2010gets a jump on everyone else and says Redemption in Indigo is one of the:

Best Books of 2010

Top 10 Books: Science Fiction & Fantasy

Yay!

Redemption in Indigo cover - click to view full sizeNice to see Brian Conn’s The Fixed Stars on there, too. And it’s fun to compare the 2010 bestseller list (wonder if that will change over the next 2 months?) with the editors’ picks. No crossover but I love that Machine of Death made it on there. This is the one time of year we put up Amazon links and any purchases you make through these links will benefit the Endicott Studio.

Of course we have our own Holiday Best Books List. Cough.


Reading, listen to Kathe, go see Karen

Wed 3 Nov 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , , , , , | Comments Off on Reading, listen to Kathe, go see Karen | Posted by: Gavin

What up? Many things. Visitors, busyness, to and froings in the oncoming weeks. The permanence of change. Catch up, link dump, tab closer, recent reads and more:

A few books are appearing which you may enjoy: Ray Vukcevich‘s new collection Boarding Instructions is just out. Go get from Powells.

Also to get: Sarah Smith‘s first YA novel which is out this week: The Other Side of Dark. It’s about ghosts, treasure, and two teenagers and life, art, madness, love, and more and it’s set it this here fair city of Boston.

One of our great local-ish bookshops, Food for Thought in Amherst—one of those places that just makes you happy to walk into—is in a moneycrunch. If you did you next book buy here, it would be much appreciated. Biased suggestions for starting places: Under the Poppy, Stories of Your Life, What I Didn’t See, The Poison Eaters, Meeks. And, as of this writing, these books are all in stock: what an awesome place!

Another non-local fave bookshop is Subterranean in St. Louis and there’s a lovely little piece in the local student paper about it. They have signed copies in stock of a certain 1,000 page McSweeney’s brick as well as excellent Africa-supporting lit-shirts. It’s a lovely shop from which we walked away with a nice bagful of books. (via)

Really enjoyed the current issue of the Harvard Review. Got it because Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud has a story in it but there were a couple of excellent stories and essays as well as a good range of poetry in it.

Jay Baron Nicorvo has an excellent essay about re-roofing the family house with his two teenage brothers on Guernica.

Apex just published a special Arab/Muslim themed edition.

Chocolate: want. (Difficult to acquire as $$$ and in the UK.) Next time we do have $$$ to burn, maybe we will play fill-a-box-o-chocs here.

How does a book signed by Betty Ann Hull, Fred Pohl, and Gene Wolfe sound? Sounds good!

Thanks to Susan for this. Go read, but not while eating cake.

And Congratulations to Susan and to Niall: we love Strange Horizons and are both selfishly sad and very happy to hear about the transition.

Awards: John Kessel‘s story “The Invisible Empire” received an Ignotus Award, “Spain’s equivalent to the Hugo.” (via)

More on the World Fantasy Awards at some point soon. Mostly: yay!

Reviews. What?

Belletrista looks at What I Didn’t See and likes what they see, “Fowler’s stories are gripping and surprising, with multiple pleasures awaiting the reader.” The San Francisco Chronicle also published a good review: “Fowler understands how disappearances heighten suspense. And she’s equally skilled at weaving mystery from the unknown.”

Karen’s final reading of her mini-California tour is this Friday at 7 PM at Vroman’s in Pasadena.

Under?

One of our fave bloggers, The Rejectionist, read Under the Poppy and calls it a winner at Tor.com.

You can see Kathe read in Ann Arbor next Wednesday night at the Blackbird Theatre where there will be delightful and scary sexy puppets. Thanks to Scott Edelman (having more than either of us right now) you can also see her reading on the youtubes. More on those readings TK.

Great review also in the Ann Arbor Chronicle—and Kathe’s on WCBN Ann Arbor radio today at 4:30 PM—listen here.

Life?

A couple of readers discover Ted Chiang’s Stories of Your Life and Others for the first time. The sound of their heads exploding echoes through the intertubes. 1) Ed Park @ the LA Times [“patient but ruthless fascination with the limits of knowledge.”] 2) Dreams & Speculations 3) Stefan @ Fantasy Literature.


A Life in Pictures

Wed 27 Oct 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on A Life in Pictures | Posted by: Gavin

A Life in PicturesIt’s been a huge week for Alasdair Gray—in more ways than one.

A new book of his art, A Life in Pictures, has come out (can’t wait to get a copy), there’s an exhibition of sketches from the book in Edinburgh, and it was announced that Gray will be creating a mural in one of Glasgow’s subway stations “based the on the panaromic view of Hillhead used in an illustration for his novel, Old Men in Love.” You can see a clip of him on the Scottish news here.

If you’re in Glasgow (hello Ross!) don’t miss Irregular, a night at Oran Mor with:

Alasdair Gray, Liz Lochhead, Louise Welsh and David Shrigley. Music from Roddy Woomble, Lord Cut-Glass and My Latest Novel.

Would that we could go!

The Graniaud has a lovely slideshow of a few pieces of Gray’s art as well as Gray writing on three different pieces of art and how they came about.

Old Men in Love is a huge patchwork novel with three narrative strands and an absolutely fascinating interstitial story. It was without a doubt one of the most complicated books we’ve ever published. It’s in two colors (colours, really), throughout, and includes three double page plates like the one of Hillhead mentioned above. You can preview the book on Scribd and get your copy here.


Holiday book list

Wed 27 Oct 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | 2 Comments | Posted by: Gavin

Just in case you were wanting a handy all-in-one flier to take with you to your local indie bookshop, we happen to have one right here!

Since we love all of these books, the suggestions for who should get which book are obviously tongue-in-cheek and should not be taken too seriously. However, the Small Beer-books-as-gifts suggestion should be taken as seriously as your checkbook can stand!

Best Books for the Holidays


New LCRW is coming—do we know where you live?

Mon 25 Oct 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on New LCRW is coming—do we know where you live? | Posted by: Gavin

Go on, if you’ve moved, send us a COA. A cola? Meh! A change of address, por favor. Also, resubscribe! Or, get a singleton. LCRW PDF ebook subs might be available by the end of the year. We’ll see. We did a whole lot of LCRW ebook converting to various formats and the PDF is still the most popular.

Anyway. The new issue of LCRW is about to go out. Now! No, not really. More like next week. So you still have time to run out and ask your postie where you live and then send us a postcard (or an email) if it has changed since May since last we sent excellent fiction &c your way. (Did you see Tor.com’s lovely review of that previous ish?)

What’s TK in the new issue? Fantastic cover art by Sarah Goldstein and then . . . there are huge stories and tiny stories from the usual exciting mix of writers we’ve heard of and writers new to us. Just love that we get such a mix of writers in the zine. But we’re very sorry that we’re reading so slowly. Some of these stories we’ve had for years. We thought we might get 3 issues of LCRW out this year and catch up. Ha, I say to that. Ha, and again and again but that’s enough as it’s no longer funny. We are determined to catch up, as we usually do, by new year. Not so far away!

Stories! Patty Houston, Carlea Holl-Jensen, Rahul Kanakia, Veronica Schanoes, Sean Melican, Jenny Terpsichore Abeles, J. M. McDermott.

There is another lovely nonfiction piece from Ted Chiang, “Reasoning about the Body”—we’re trying to persuade him to be our science columnist. Our actual columnist, Gwenda Bond, returns with the “Dangers of Hibernation Edition” of Dear Aunt Gwenda. You will be glad you asked.

And we have a little poetry! Five poems from Lindsay Vella and two from none other than Darrell Schweitzer.

That’s it. There are chocolate bars to buy (any suggestions?), letters to send, babies to play with, letters to kern, and chocolate to eat. But not babies to send and chocolate to kern. And next week it all goes out to you and you and you and reviewers and shops and so on and we get to sit back, put the kettle on, and see what’s come in the mail.


Things to do. Things that happened.

Tue 19 Oct 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , , , | Comments Off on Things to do. Things that happened. | Posted by: Gavin

The Boston Book Fair was a ton of fun—thanks to everyone who stopped by. Most of whom, of course, didn’t know us. At some point we really must publish a small book on beer. The hit of the day was definitely the Working Writer’s Daily Planner which made me think maybe I should just set up at stalls at writerly conferences and fairs all over the country and forget about these book things. But happily there were enough readers that we sold some books, too. And that’s despite the high winds. At one point I was attacked by a mini-twister that blew everything on The Common‘s side of the booth all over the place. The Common is a new journal for everyone to subscribe to. Go on, might as well! They’re into the fictions, the poetries, and the images—aha, something different!—and their editorial angle is “a sense of place.” I didn’t get to Kelly’s panel (and neither did some others as it was full!) but reports are that it went well. With luck we’ll be back next year.

Ok, so: if you’re in the Santa Cruz area tonight, there’s only one thing to do: go see Karen Joy Fowler. She will also be in Danville on Thursday (1o/21). Those in LA have to wait until 11/5 when she will be at Vroman’s.

You can (and should, it’s great) listen to Rick Kleffel and Karen’s lovely conversation on the Agony Column. (links to MP3). Rick also reviews the book:

That rare writer who can match the power of her novels with the power of her short stories. She works in the world of myth with great ease. We feel, reading her stories, that we are in our world, but some portion of it that connects vitally with everything else. What happens here is gripping, important, compelling, and often terrifying. Her new collection of stories, ‘What I Didn’t See’ offers readers perfect renderings of a New American Mythos.

Yesterday Cory Doctorow BoingBoinged the heck out of Under the Poppy:

This book made me drunk. Koja’s language is at its poetic best, and the epic drama had me digging my nails into my palms. It’s like a Tom Waits hurdy-gurdy loser’s lament come to life, as sinister as a dark circus.

The multi-format ebook version is available now. The book has arrived from the printer and it is so heavy! We compared it to another recent hardcover and it was about twice as heavy. Maybe we should use lighter paper?

Talking of ebooks, Weightless continues apace: we added a single-title publisher: Sator Press! Plus, Featherproof titles are onsale. And so on.

If you’re in the Boston area, tonight Kelly will be at the Literary Death Match! (Me, I’ll be babysitting.)

The World SF Blog introduces you to Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud.

And, we have copies of Meeks in stock in the office. Everywhere else will be getting new stock in soon. Turns out if you publish a lovely book with French flaps, then it will take a little more time for the reprint to get done.

That’s most of what’s going on. Time, methinks, to go back to sleep!


Boston Book Fest is this Saturday

Thu 14 Oct 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , , | Comments Off on Boston Book Fest is this Saturday | Posted by: Gavin

and we’d love to see you there! We have new books and will be there 10 – 6.

And: Kelly is on Kate Bernheimer’s fairy tale panel at 3 PM with Maria Tatar and Kathryn Davis in celebration of the huge new anthology, My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me. Kelly just got her copy yesterday and it’s a fabulous looking book. There are 40 stories, including many originals, from peeps such as Shelley Jackson, Kevin Brockmeier, Ludmilla Petrushevskaya, Joy Williams, Aimee Bender, and, you know, 35 others! The cover art and design is by house fave Julie Morstad.

At the book fest, we will be sharing a booth with the completely new journal (which will be launched next year), The Common, from Amherst College. They’re open for submissions and seeking “stories, poems, essays, and dispatches that embody a strong sense of place.” You can download Issue Zero here.

You can find us and The Common at booth 26. Other exhibitors include the fine folk at One Story, Godine, and Zephyr Press, a couple of our favorite bookshops, Brookline Booksmith and the Raven, as well as Oxfam, WBUR and WGBH, Redivider, 826 Boston, and some food trucks—yum! Wish Yoma were providing the food. Maybe next year! Maybe we will bring banh mi (shades of the Brooklyn Book Fest).

If all goes well, Kelly and I will be bringing Ursula along. We can’t get a nurse for the day (eek!) so Kelly and I will be juggling looking after her (she is 18 months old and wants to do stuff!). I’m not quite sure how that will work with Kelly’s panel. Anyone want to step in from 3-4PM and help shill will be appreciated.

Lastly: two new titles, Under the Poppy and A Working Writer’s Daily Planner 2011, just arrived at the office so they will be debuting at the book fest.

Apparently it will be sunny and breezy. If that’s true, that will be a mild improvement on the rain rain rain at last month’s Brooklyn Book Fest. See you in Copley Square!

ETA: We have a nurse for Ursula for Saturday so she will only be making an appearance early in the morning during set up!


Kelly + the Literary Death Match

Fri 8 Oct 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | 1 Comment | Posted by: Gavin

(Ganked wholesale from the Literary Death Match site.)

LDM100: October 19, 2010

Save a few bucks – buy tickets now!

One of the all-time great lineups in Literary Death Match history takes center stage at Enormous Room in Cambridge, as our epic LDM100 celebration touches down for its fifth stop on the eastern seaboard.

The megastar judging trio boasts PEN/Hemingway award-winning author Jennifer Haigh (Mrs. Kimble, The Condition), author/mastermind of fun Steve Almond (Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life) and comedian-for-the-people Steve Macone.

They’ll pass judgment on a truly brilliant quartet of scribes, including poet brillianteur Charles Coe (author of Picnic on the Moon), Hugo award-winner Kelly Link (Stranger Things Happen), Iowa Short Fiction Prize champ Elizabeth Searle (Celebrities in Disgrace) and star novellaist Tim Horvath (Circulation).

Hosted by LDM creator Todd Zuniga & designer/funambulist Kirsten Sims.

Where: Enormous Room, 569 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge (map)
When: Doors open at 7:00 pm, show starts at 8:15 (sharp)
Cost: $7 pre-order, $5 for students with a valid student ID, $10 at the door

NOTE: No one under 21 years old will be admitted.


Let Dear Aunt Gwenda settle your mind

Fri 8 Oct 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | 5 Comments | Posted by: Gavin

Don’t agonize over whether to do this or that, over whether non-US corporations should be able to donate to the US Chamber of Commerce to fund their political ads, or whether you should walk up the stairs or take the elevator, ask Dear Aunt Gwenda!

Now is the time and here (or by email) is the place to send us your questions, your wonders, your inquiries for inquiring minds, your inexplicabilities, for Dear Aunt Gwenda to explicate in the next LCRW.

Coming soon!


So why do we care so much where people buy books?

Thu 7 Oct 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , | Comments Off on So why do we care so much where people buy books? | Posted by: Gavin

Well, here’s one reason we mull over now and then:

After various discounts and our excellent distro‘s cut, Small Beer Press usually receives 33.375% of the cover price when you buy a book from RudeGorilla.com.

So: should we cut the author’s royalty in half the way our contract says we can? (The way other publishers do for books we’ve sold them.)

On a paperback the author royalty would be 4-5%. ($0.64 – $0.80 on a $16 paperback.)

On a hardcover the author’s royalty would be 5-7.5%. ($1.20 – $1.80 on a $24 book.)

Sucks, doesn’t it?I don’t think we should do it but 33.375% doesn’t give us a hell of a lot of money to pay everyone else with. Ho hum, on with the show.

And, in the meantime: not so random Powell’s link!


A Working Writer’s Daily Planner 2011

Tue 5 Oct 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal. | 4 Comments | Posted by: Gavin

October 2010 · 9781931520676 · Spiral bound/ebook · 6 x 9 · 160 pp · Excerpt on Scribd

The perfect supplement to any writer’s life, this new edition of A Working Writer’s Daily Planner is even better than before, packed with more of the information writers need to organize their work schedules, track upcoming deadlines, and learn about grant opportunities, contests, and workshop programs. For 2011 we turned to those who know best what writers want—writers themselves—and asked them what resources they’d find most useful. The result is a unique and indispensable tool that makes it easy for writers to keep track of the practical, business end of writing, leaving more time for them to actually spend writing.

If you’re a writer, you’ll immediately see the advantage of gathering so much information into one spiral-bound compendium: application deadlines are built right into the calendar, along with spotlights on writing markets and helpful online resources. You’ll also find information on How to Find a Writing Group – Or Start Your Own, writing conferences, advice on formatting manuscripts, suggested readings, and the dos and don’ts of submitting your work to journals, magazines, and literary agents. If there’s a writer in your life, this calendar will make the perfect gift.

And because every professional writer needs distractions, we’ll sneak in peculiar tales of the writing life, plenty of inspiring art and photos, writing prompts, and, as always, a few surprises too.

Table of Contents

How to Format a Manuscript
Book Festivals
The Editorial Assistant — Rebecca Isherwood
How to Find a Writing Group — Ben Francisco
Debut Author Interview: N.K. Jemisin — Kelly Link
Younger Writers
Residencies
State Arts Grants
Story Idea Generation — Kelly Link
What I Know About Writing — Geoffrey Goodwin
Future Planning
Science Fiction & Fantasy Corner
A Few Random Magazines
Further Resources
CLMP Contest Code of Ethics
Contest and Award Fees
How to End a Story — Nick Mamatas
Submission Tracker

Reading Lists
11 Poets You Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Read — Kristin Evans
A Summer Reading List — Samantha Guilbert
Tales of Love and Darkness — Kristin Evans
Reading as a Writer — Kelly Link

Writing Prompts and Exercises
A Place to be Inspired
A Play on Words
Five Memoir Writing Prompts — Geoffrey Goodwin
Genre Musical Chairs
Fifty First Sentences

Photo and Illustration Credits

Lawrence Schimel, H.N. James,  Amal El-Mohtar, Mari Cheng, Rebecca Isherwood, Greg McElhatton, Kelly Link, Graeme Williams, E. Catherine Tobler, Fred Coppersmith, National Library of Scotland, Richard Butner, Alex Dally McFarlane, Claire Massey, Davida Gypsy Breier, Austin Cheng, Kristine Paulus, Samantha Guilbert, Lorna E. Carlson.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to everyone who worked, helped, or contributed, including: Kelly Link, Jedediah Berry, Michael J. DeLuca, Kristen Evans, Christi Jacques, Su-Yee Lin, Diana Cao, Samantha Guilbert, Rebecca Isherwood, Ben Francisco, Abram Thau, Geoffrey Goodwin, Nick Mamatas, and some few others.

Reader reaction to A Working Writer’s Daily Planner 2010:

“I know some writers who have spent many, many hours trying to figure out the ins and outs of residency programs, grant applications and even MFA programs in creative writing. A lot of that work is done for you here, with those deadlines detailed and looming some time before their due dates.
“With the extra time, there are writing prompts, if you should feel so inclined. And as the weeks tick by—it’s done in a weekly format, with space every day to write in appointments, or word counts or whatnot—you’ll see more and more writers’ birthdays, prompting you to, you know, get back to writing.”
—Los Angeles Times

“Each week is given a full page with enough space to jot down interview times, for example, or to make note of those awful looming deadlines…. But there’s much more in here than the birth dates of writers who are far more famous than most of us will ever be. The facing pages are packed with information about writers’ residencies, writing prizes and awards in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, writing fellowships, writing prompts and exercises, practical tips on formatting manuscripts and links to writing blogs and other online resources—and words of inspiration.”
—The Daily Hampshire Gazette

“Oh, how I wish I’d had this from the beginning of the year.”
—C.R., May 2010
A Working Writer’s Daily Planner 2011 Excerpt

Typos discovered so far: Hallowe’en is listed as Sunday Oct. 30, when it should by Monday, Oct 31.
Typo spotting help (with any of our books) is always appreciated.


Karen in California

Wed 29 Sep 2010 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on Karen in California | Posted by: Gavin

You should probably book your flight now because everyone who’s anyone is going to California next month to catch Karen Joy Fowler on her mini tour (not, sadly, by one-person submarine) celebrating her new book, her first collection of stories in ages, What I Didn’t See and Other Stories.

Karen will be reading at some of the best indie bookshops in the Great Bear state (that’s what the flag says to me, that’s what I’m going with). Why do we love these stores? Because they’re all individual, all different from one another. For instance, if you ship at Vroman’s you can sign up for their Vroman’s Gives Back program and choose which organization a % of your sale will go to. Magnifique!

If you’re not a Californian and would like a signed copy of What I Didn’t See, you can order it from any of these stores and they will hold it for you, get it signed, and ship it to you.

If you want a regular unsigned edition, order it here! Ebook fans: go here. If you’d like it from a large online booksite, we recommend Powells or Indiebound.

Get a head start on the book: “Standing Room Only” · “Always” · “The Last Worders” · or: Scribd.

Readings:

Oct. 7, 7 PM, Copperfields, Santa Rosa, CA
Oct. 11, 7 PM, Moe’s Books, Berkeley, CA — check out their new site with the lovely ad for Karen’s reading on the front page!
Oct. 15, NCIBA, Oakland, CA (Friday evening Author Reception)
Oct. 16, SF in SF (with Claude Lalumière), San Francisco, CA
Oct. 19, Capitola Book Cafe, Capitola, CA
Oct. 21, read. booksellers, Danville, CA
Nov. 5, 7 PM, Vroman’s Bookstore, Pasadena, CA


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