Clarkesworld has just published an article by Jeremy L.C. Jones about anthologists and their craft. It features some really interesting stuff from the likes of Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, Ellen Datlow, John Joseph Adams, and James Lowder, as well as some incoherent ramblings from yours truly. Worth checking out.
Monthly Archives: January 2009
The year ahead
So, what does 2009 hold for me, professionally? Allowing that ‘professionally’ in this instance means in science fictional terms, I’m not really sure. There are a handful of projects just sitting on the horizon, and not quite wanting to stick up their hands and five me delivery dates and so on.
As I’ve blogged before, I have to finish Eclipse Three for June; Lou Anders and I will finish Conquering Swords for July; Jack Dann and I should finish Legends for the same month; I should finish my guest-edited special issue of Subterranean magazine for July; I should finish Life on Mars and The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 4 for December; Charles N. Brown and I need to finish The Best of Fritz Leiber for December; and I don’t have a date for them yet, but I also have to finish Engineering Infinity and at least two other things by year’s end too. There’ll also be copyedits and so on, which will take time, as they always do.
That’s enough to keep me busy, but I am thinking about 2010’s projects which need advancing. So, some time for proposals and so on needs to get built into schedules. I’m also planning on attending Swancon at Easter here in Perth, World Fantasy in San Jose in October, and would like to attend the Adelaide NatCon (though that’s looking a lot less likely right now).
And then there’s Locus work to be doing. There’s 12 months worth of columns to edit, some possible non-magazine writing to do for them, and a couple other bits and pieces.
I’m actually pretty energised by all of this, though I do need to get some time management plans in place. I’m determined to get two trips away with the family during the year as a minimum, which will mean some ‘no work’ time. I’m also determined to close on 23 December, as previously mentioned, which will mean no copyediting or writing or answering emails or anything from 23/12/2009 till year’s end, so I need to be sure columns are edited and year in review written in plenty of time.
Nebula Preliminary Ballot
The good folk over at www.nebulaawards.com have released the latest Nebula Preliminary Ballot released a progress update of the Nebula Preliminary Ballot. There’s some very fine work there, and some odd selections.  The eligibility rules for the awards also continue to have impact, which is unfortunate.  Although I’m now an associate member of SFWA, I’m ineligible to vote for the Nebs. This is cool. There should be benefits to full membership. That said, were I to attend an SFWA meeting I’d be tempted to ask how they could only find ten novels, four novellas, nine novelettes, twelve short stories and one screenplay (presumably the winner) to put on their *long* list. The work on the list is worthy, but a lot of worthy work was overlooked, which is disappointing. The Nebs used to be the champagne award in SF. These days they just look a bit out of touch.
Correction 4 January:
The page actually says “The following works have all qualified for the Preliminary Ballot and will be under consideration for the Final Ballot.” I’d assumed that meant final Nebula Ballot, but it looks like it means the final Preliminary Ballot. i.e. the awards jury can add more works to categories. My observations stand, though I acknowledge the error.
And for those interested…
…this is what one part of my birthday looked like.
Times changing…
In science fiction circles, and especially amongst those of us who follow short fiction markets, the health of the fiction magazines is a perennial topic. Each year the magazines publish their circulation figures, and each year they seem to fall further and further. There was a blip in the ’90s when Science Fiction Age and Realms of Fantasy came along, but it firmly reestablished itself throughout this decade.
It seems, to me at least, that every year someone would say the death of the magazines, especially the ‘Big Three’ of Asimov’s Science Fiction, Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, was both imminent and inevitable. Yet whenever I speak to someone who works for the magazines they tell me that, although times were tough, things are never as bad as the doomsayers suggest and that the fundamental profitability of their business is sound.
Then, last year, the US Postal Service changed postal charges for magazines and newspapers. Suddenly costs went up significantly and everyone seemed to acknowledge that it had just become much more difficult to keep any kind of magazine alive and vital in the 21st Century. I’ve been waiting to see how this would affect the magazines, and that’s slowly become clearer.
First, in December, Asimov’s and Analog changed the dimensions of their issues, becoming slightly taller and slightly thinner. The amount of fiction published went down by a small amount, but presumably costs were saved. I have no idea how this affects the long term stability of these two worthy publications, but hopefully it’s a positive. There are occasional rumours, never founded in fact, that ultimately the owners of the two magazines will merge them, but given their distinctly different editorial stances and the distinctly different audiences they attract, we can only hope this will not happen.
And today Gordon Van Gelder, the editor and publisher of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, has announced that effective from the April/May issue the magazine will be going bimonthly. The new issues will be approximately 16 pages longer than their usual annual double issues, but will result in the magazine publishing about 10% less fiction than usual. Van Gelder’s announcement makes it clear that this should reposition the magazine to be stable and profitable into the future.
Whilst this is an enormous announcement, if it proves to be a successful change then it’s a welcome one. Van Gelder’s F&SF is one of the best magazines we have and consistently publishes wonderful fiction. The magazine started life as a quarterly, before becoming bimontly in it’s second year of publication, then monthly the year after. It then moved to 11 issues per year a while back. Hopefully we’ll see this new bimonthly incarnation for some time. I certainly hope so, and will be renewing my own subscription when it falls due.