I’ve just about talked myself out of the Australian science fiction anthology idea. This is the critical period in whether I do things. I’ve spoken to at least one person who thinks it’s a great idea, and one who thinks I’m out of my tree. They both have good points. The main thing about it is that it’s a distinctly non-commercial idea, and I have to decide whether I can afford that time and money. Hmm.
I’d love to read such an anthology – featuring novellas by Greg Egan and Terry Dowling, lavishly illustrated by Shaun Tan – but I don’t have to shell out the time or money. Beyond the price of the hc, of course.
Hey Bruce – The only problem is, that it wouldn’t be like that. I love Greg and Terry’s work, but Greg has, in my experience, always preferred not to write for what I would call Australia-specific books, and Terry’s only ever written one story with a spaceship in it (that I recall). And, given his commitments, there’d be no Shaun Tan either. So, it’d be very different from that, were it to happen.
Obviously it’s up to you whether you want to do such an anthology, but I’d sure as hell buy it. I’d even put my hand up if you needed slush readers to get through the open submissions.
Me too on the slush. I see Mr. Egan is going to have a new story in Asimov’s! Alrighta.
He does indeed, which is v.cool.
So they would have to have Australia in them in some way, and spaceships, as opposed to 831st century posthumans in the Egan sense?
Is there anything like that Australian that is commercially viable? The New Australian vampire sex gods and the werewolf girls that love and fight demons with them?
Has anyone Australian done a podcast series, or anything like that?
Thanks, will have to look for the Egan story. Guess you would have 3 sales at least for such a project then. :)
How many do you have to think you would have to sell, minimum, to make it worth your expert time?
There’s been a few ‘New Australian’ or ‘Best Australian’ books, although some are pretty old. Would it need a catchier hook? Woomera isn’t bad though.
The book would be stories with big spaceships in them, as written by Australians. And they’d have to be new stories, previously unpublished. As to me doing it: it’s not really about making it worth my time, financially, at all. The money is to make sure I could pay the authors and cover the printing/distribution etc. It’d be worth it if I could get some cool stories, and could manage not to lose any money. My time I’d be happy to throw in, just as every other small press publisher in the country does. I don’t think anyone gets paid, but I’m sure everyone, like me, would like not to lose money.
Right, well that is what the question meant I suppose
For you, then the question is what sort of sales do you need to get to break-even, and can that be done?
I have a the odd Australian anthology with Egan stories, you mean that these days he is too big-time to be interested, in the sense he can get stuff published elsewhere?
Great Southern Space Stories might get some sales in Mississippi. ;-)
Yes. Is the book financially viable? Can I publish it, if I publish it myself, and have a reasonable chance of not losing money. And, can I do it, given that I’m slack and don’t want to actually have to sell or market the book.
As to Greg: no, I certainly don’t mean he’s too big time to be interested. I would never put words in Greg’s mouth, nor speculate on why he would or wouldn’t write for a specific book. I just have reaons to suspect that this probably wouldn’t be his sort of thing.