Million Writers Award notable stories of 2011

in

The storySouth Million Writers Award notable stories of 2011 have been released. These are the stories our preliminary judges believed were the best online short stories published last year. Congratulation to all the selected authors, and to Cha: An Asian Literary Journal for winning the best online magazine and to The Good Men's Project for winning best new online magazine.

Our three final judges will now begin going through these stories and picking out their top ten stories of the year; this top ten list will be released in June. 

Many thanks to the editors and readers who nominated stories. And a big thanks to the preliminary judges who screened the nominations and/or picked their own favorites: Lena Andersson, Sarah McCraw Crow, Thom Didato, Shaun Duke, Dorothee Lang, Robert Laughlin, Judah Mahay, Sean Markey, Erica Naone, Karen L. Newman, Nick Ripatrazone, Wayne E. Yang, and Peter Young (along with the judges who wished to remain anonymous).

Big news: Interzone is now available on the Kindle!

in ,

443_largeOver the last few years I've published nearly a dozen stories in the British SF magazine Interzone, and I've been a subscriber for even longer. Simply put, Interzone is THE magazine for cutting-edge SF. When you add in the amazing art and mind-blowing reviews, this is a magazine every genre lover should be reading.

Except, most of you don't. Which is understandable since the magazine is difficult to find in much of the world. In the U.S., for instance, only a handful of bookstores carry Interzone. And when the magazine can be found it's always rather expensive. Similar issues arise with the ebook editions of Interzone, which until now have been on distribution systems not used by most people.

So I understand why more people don't read Interzone. But guess what – your excuses are now dead little fish left in the sun for three days. I mean, they're no longer even valid as excuses and stink big time.

Because now Interzone is available on the Kindle!

You can download Interzone 239 here. The issue features great fiction from Matthew Cook, Suzanne Palmer , Nigel Brown, Jacob A. Boyd, Nick Lowe, Steve Rasnic Tem, and Jon Wallace. Kudos to Andy Cox and all the Interzone crew for putting the magazine where so many new readers can discover it.

And if you hate everything Amazon, don't worry – the magazine is still available on Smashwords and Fictionwise. 

Update: Black Static, Interzone's horror-magazine sister, is also available on the Kindle.

Today in SF History: Theodore Sturgeon rewrites an already published story

in

One of my favorite moments in SF history is Theodore Sturgeon's decision to rewrite his 1947 story "Maturity," which had already been published in Astounding Science Fiction.

As detailed in Microcosmic God: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, Volume II, this doesn't mean SF authors before Sturgeon failed to rewrite their stories. Of course many of them did  – PRIOR to publication. However, once a story was published, there wasn't a financial or professional incentive for further rewrites. Due to the low pay and prestige of the pulp markets, authors often cranked out stories as fast as they could. Going back to rewrite a story which had already earned a paycheck was not something your average authors considered doing.

However, Sturgeon wasn't your average writer. Already known as one of the genre's "master wordsmiths," Sturgeon took extreme care with his stories and was extremely irritated when a story didn't work out as he'd intended – or worse, when an editor made random edits to fit a magazine's style. For example, Sturgeon quickly learned that editor H. L. Gold of Galaxy Science Fiction continually made bad edits to his stories. As a result, when he submitted to Gold he wrote the word STET – the editorial term for letting the copy stand as is – across the margins of each page of his submissions.

But before Sturgeon worked with Galaxy, he published stories like "Maturity" in Astounding. Sturgeon wasn't satisfied with the story and, when he learned it would be reprinted in an anthology, rewrote it. Nevermind that this didn't earn him much, if any, more money. He wanted the story to be the way he wanted it.

Word soon spread in the SF community that one of the genre's best writers had rewritten an already published story. SF fans began comparing the original story to the rewritten version, trying to understand what made Sturgeon rewrite it. His rewrite was debated in fanzines and by word of mouth, and the entire genre was the better for it.

To read more about this, go to Microcosmic Gods on Google Books. Be sure to also read the following page, which describes how many SF writers of the time promoted a false belief that they never rewrote their stories. Instead, they proudly proclaimed, "It all comes out first draft." Sturgeon's famous rewrite was one major step in changing this sense of false bravado in the SF genre.

For previous "Today in SF History" items, click here.

Signed and numbered copies of Million Writers Award anthologies, along with free chapbook and new Plague Birds story!

in ,

MWAAnthologiesWhen Spotlight Publishing released my short story collection Never Never Stories last year, I offered readers the chance to purchase signed and numbered copies. Because that was so popular a few people asked if I'd do the same with the upcoming Million Writers Award anthologies.

Short answer: Yes!

Anyone who orders Million Writers Award: The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy or Million Writers Award: The Best New Online Voices through Spotlight Publishing before the publication date of June 14 will have their books signed and numbered by me. (See note at bottom for more details, including how international orders will be handled and what to do if you've already ordered an anthology.)

But wait – cue television pitchman voice – there's more!

  • Everyone who pre-orders one print copy of either MWA anthology will receive a signed, limited edition chapbook of a new story by me, "The Bayou Witch's Guide to True Forgotten Love."
     
  • Anyone who orders both MWA anthologies will also receive a sneak preview of the new novel I'm working on, Plague Birds. The novel continues the story first told in my Interzone Readers' Poll winning "Plague Birds" and continued in "The Ever-Dreaming Verdict of Plagues" (both originally published in Interzone). The sneak preview contains the first third of the Plague Birds novel, meaning you'll receive the equivalent of a third brand-new story along with the two already mentioned above. I'd send you the preview as your choice of either a PDF or e-book readable file.

And all that's on top of the special pricing and free ebook offers Spotlight is already giving for pre-orders.

The reason we're doing the special offers is I really want people to read these anthologies. These stories are, in my opinion, reshaping the world of short fiction. The authors in these anthologies are the people you'll be reading in the decades to come.

To place your order, go to 

Please note: If you order a signed copy, please allow an extra week after the June 14 publication date to receive the anthology(ies). The simple truth is the laws of time and space are difficult to bend and Spotlight needs that week to ship me the books required for signing.

Also, I want to thank Spotlight for covering the extra domestic postage required for this special offer. I'm also personally covering the additional cost for internation orders, but what the heck, me thinks. I doubt the cost will break me. But I'm also often wrong about things like this.

And finally, if you already ordered a print copy of the anthologies and you'd like it to be signed and numbered, simply email me and I'll pass the word to Spotlight.

Appearance tomorrow at OSU Intergalactic Science Fiction Club

in

I'll be appearing at the Ohio State University Intergalactic Science Fiction Club tomorrow, April 10th, at 8 pm. The club meets in Campbell Hall, Room 309, and the meeting is open to students, faculty, and non-students.

The meeting is somewhat informal, so I'll be discussing any topics people bring up. I've also been asked to discuss

  • My "journey" on how I came to the point where I am today; 
  • My inspirations and/or favourite works;
  • Setbacks in my writing career (ooh, I could talk for hours on that :-);
  • Suggestions / hints / tips for aspiring writers. 
I'll also be selling and signing copies of my short story collection Never Never Stories and the two Million Writers Award anthologies. I only have a few copies of the MWA anthologies – which won't be released until June 14 – so if you want to grab one before everyone else this is your chance.

Million Writers Award donation update

in

Thank to donations, we now we have nearly $800 in cash prizes for the top three winners of this year's Million Writers Award, along with

  • A $100 gift certificate from ThinkGeek for the overall winner;
  • Free books from Dzanc Books for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners (Dzanc Books also generously contributed to the overall prize money);
  • A $50 gift card to Powells.com for the third place winner, sponsored by writingprompts.us.

Thanks to everyone who donated. I'll post the names of individual donors soon (unless the donor wished to remain anonymous). And don't forget our goal is to offer $1000 in cash and prizes, so if you want to donate it's not too late. Simply use the button below.

Please note that because donations do not go through Spring Garden Press (storySouth's publisher), donations are not tax deductible. However, the entire donated amount is used for prize money, minus the small fee PayPal deducts for transmitting the money.

 

'Her Scientifiction, Far Future, Medieval Fantasy' available as an ebook

in

Her_sf_coverMy novelette "Her Scientifiction, Far Future, Medieval Fantasy is now available as a 99 cent ebook for both the Kindle and the Nook. Here's the blurb:

Princess Krisja Jerome lives in a futuristic playground universe of stone castles and dragons, where gallant knights fight for honor and glory using lasers and unbreakable synthetic swords. But when invaders destroy Krisja's carefully managed life, she sets out on a quest with a King Arthur duplicate to discover the truth of their world. Along the way she learns it’s not enough to merely experience great deeds – to be a true hero you must risk everything you love and hold dear.

The story was originally published last year in issue 234 of the British SF magazine Interzone, where it received great reviews. Thanks to Paul Drummond for designing the ebook files. I also should have the story in the Apple iBook store shortly.

To purchase the ebook, go to the following links:

Here they come: Million Writers Award anthologies to be published June 14!

in ,

MWAAnthologiesThis year's Million Writers Award is off to a great start, with reader and editor nominations already rolling in. Thanks to everyone who has already nominated a story and/or donated toward the award's prize money. We literally couldn't do this without you!

This is the 9th year I've run the award and during that time I've read a ton of great online short stories. I've long wished someone would publish an anthology of MWA stories so I could showcase the amazing vitality of online authors and fiction.

Well, guess what — wishes do come true! I'm please to announce the release of two MWA anthologies, which will be published on June 14 by Spotlight Publishing. The first, Million Writers Award: The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy, focuses on SF/F stories, while the second anthology, Million Writers Award: The Best New Online Voices, highlights non-genre stories. All of the stories in these anthologies either won the Million Writers Award, were in the top ten stories of the year, or were selected as notable stories by our judges. 

In making my selections I picked those stories which remained burned in my brain long after I read them. Some of these authors have been published in print magazines and books; others are only known for being published online. But all of them are reshaping the world of short fiction. Read these groundbreaking short stories and you’ll understand why online magazines and journals are the place to find today’s most vital and challenging stories.

Pre-Order Special — free ebook offer!

If you pre-order one or both anthologies from Spotlight Publishing before June 14 you'll receive special pricing on print editions and ebooks (and please note these ebooks are DRM-free). The regular price for each anthology is $15.95 + S&H. However...

  • If you pre-order the cost for one anthology is only $13.95 + S&H (1.99). 
  • If you pre-order one copy of both anthologies the cost is only $23.95 + S&H (1.99)
  • Only want the ebook? The regular price is $4.95 but the pre-order price is $3.95 for one copy or both anthologies for only $6.95.

In addition, if you use the following Million Writers Award codes when purchasing print copies of the anthologies you'll receive a free ebook. To do this, enter the following codes on the check-out page that says 'Order Summary' and 'Review Your Information.' At that time click on the link that says "Add special instructions to the seller." In the box that pops up, simply add the code you desire.

  • MWA-SF-MOBI — Code for the mobi version of the Best of SF&F ebook.
  • MWA-SF-EPUB — Code for the epub version of the Best of SF&F ebook.
  • MWA-VOICES-MOBI — Code for the mobi version of the Best New Online Voices ebook.
  • MWA-VOICES-EPUB — Code for the epub version of the Best New Online Voices ebook.
  • MWA-BOTH-MOBI — Code for the mobi version of both ebooks. Note: to receive both ebooks you must order both print editions.
  • MWA-BOTH-EPUB — Code for the epub version of both ebooks. Note: to receive both ebooks you must order both print editions.

Ebooks will be emailed to the address associated with their order/payment info at the same time the print editions are mailed out (i.e., June 14).

For more information and to pre-order, go here for the SF/F anthology or here for the New Voices anthology.

 

Million Writers Award: The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy

MWA_SFF_800px

Table of Contents

  • Non-Zero Probabilities - by N. K. Jemisin
  • The Faithful Soldier, Prompted - by Saladin Ahmed
  • Arvies - by Adam-Troy Castro
  • There’s a Hole in the City - by Richard Bowes
  • Horus Ascending - by Aliette de Bodard
  • Blue Ink - by Yoon Ha Lee
  • Eros, Philia, Agape - by Rachel Swirsky
  • A Song to Greet the Sun - by Alaya Dawn Johnson
  • Time to Say Goodnight - by Caroline M. Yoachim
  • The Fisherman’s Wife - by Jenny Williams
  • Intertropical Convergence Zone - by Nadia Bulkin
  • Urchins, While Swimming - by Catherynne M. Valente
  • The Shangri-La Affair - by Lavie Tidhar
  • Elegy for a Young Elk - by Hannu Rajaniemi

 

Million Writers Award: The Best New Online Voices

MWA_OnlineVoices_800pxTable of Contents

  • Friday Afternoons on Bus Number 51 - by Sruthi Thekkiam
  • The Incorrupt Body of Carlo Busso - by Eric Maroney
  • The Mountain’s Laughter is a Landslide in the Seed Moon’s Light - by J. M. Scoville
  • Hospitality - by Summer Block
  • I Am My Rooster - by Taylur Thu Hien Ngo
  • Do You Have a Place For Me - by Roxane Gay
  • Cancer Party - by Nicola Mason
  • Interview With A Moron - by Elizabeth Stuckey-French
  • Grief Mongers - by Sefi Atta
  • Alex Trebek Never Eats Fried Chicken - by Matt Bell
  • The Infinite Monkey Theorem - by Marshall Moore
  • Sandwiches From Home - by Jessica Schneider
  • The Black Tongue - by Anjana Basu
  • The Rules of Urban Living - by Kara Janeczko
  • Madame Sabat’s Grave - by Corey Mesler
  • The Boy With the Hole In His Head - by Gokul Rajaram
  • Vertically Divided, Blue-White-Red - by Mark MacNamara
  • Ditch - by Eric Beetner
  • You Are a 14-Year-Old Arab Chick Who Just Moved to Texas - by Randa Jarrar

 

The 2012 storySouth Million Writers Award is open

in

Pre-order Million Writers Award anthologies and receive special pricing, free ebook!

On June 14th Spotlight Publishing will release two anthologies of Million Writers Award stories. If you pre-order one or both of the anthologies before June 14th you'll receive special pricing and a free ebook. For more information, go here.

Update: We know have nearly $1000 in cash and prizes. Thank to all our donors. More information is here.

The storySouth Million Writers Award is now open. I will be running the reader and editor nominations from this blog; the main award page on storySouth will be where the notable stories and top ten stories are posted.

For background information on the award, please see my introduction to the award and the award rules. The award is for any fictional short story of at least a 1,000 words first published in an online publication during 2011. By "publication," I mean an online magazine or journal with an editorial process (so self-published stories are not eligible).

  • Reader nominations can be made here.
  • Editor nominations can be made here.

The deadline for nominations is April 9, 2012. The list of notable stories of the year will be released around the first of May, with the top ten stories released by the end of that month. Voting on the top stories of the year will last for three weeks after the top ten stories are released.

Donations Needed for Prize Money!

Here's the big thing: We need donations to fund this year's prize money. Last year there were three cash prizes: $600 for the overall winner, $200 for the runner-up, and $100 for the honorable mention/third place, plus a $100 gift certificate from the great folks at ThinkGeek. The majority of this prize money was raised through donations from writers, editors and readers. I hope we can reach these amounts again.

Please note that since these donations do not go through Spring Garden Press (storySouth's publisher), donations are not tax deductible. However, your entire donated amount will be used for the prize money, minus the small fee PayPal deducts for transmitting the money. All donors will have the option of having their name and donation listed on the Million Writers Award page. Donors may also remain anonymous.

To donate, go here.

Thanks to everyone who has taken part in the award in previous years, and I hope you enjoy it again this year. I will be posting updates on this blog throughout the award process. For more frequent updates, be sure to check out my Twitter account.

Editor Nominations for the 2012 Million Writers Award

in

Pre-order Million Writers Award anthologies and receive special pricing, free ebook!

On June 14th Spotlight Publishing will release two anthologies of Million Writers Award stories. If you pre-order one or both of the anthologies before June 14th you'll receive special pricing and a free ebook. For more information, go here.

The 2012 Million Writers Award is now open for nominations. This page is for EDITORS to nominate three short stories published in their online magazine. Individual nominations are here.

Nominations will be accepted through April 9, 2012. As always, there is no fee to nominate a story and no fee to take part. To nominate stories from your online magazine or journal, please first read the rules then use the format below to place your nominations in this page's comment box. Failure to use this format can result in nominations not being considered.

To post nominations people will need to log into this site using either Facebook, Twitter, Typepad, or another social media account. If anyone experiences problems please contact Jason Sanford.

If you like what we're doing with the Million Writers Award, please consider making a donation to increase the amount of prize money we can offer.

Correct nomination format
Enter all editor nominations in the comment box at the bottom of this page

Interzone
http://ttapress.com/interzone
Story 1: "Flying in the Face of God" by Nina Allan
http://ttapress.com/downloads/flying-in-the-face-of-god.pdf
Story 2: "The Shipmaker" by Aliette de Bodard
http://ttapress.com/downloads/the-shipmaker.pdf
Story 3: "Plague Birds" by Jason Sanford
http://www.jasonsanford.com/files/plaguebirds.pdf

Note: The above stories from Interzone are not eligible for this award since Interzone is a print magazine. However, Interzone is an amazing magazine which recently published a special issue on the fiction of Jason Sanford. Since Jason runs the Million Writers Award, he decided to use this spot to plug Interzone. He also urges people to subscribe.

Reader Nominations for the 2012 Million Writers Award

in

Pre-order Million Writers Award anthologies and receive special pricing, free ebook!

On June 14th Spotlight Publishing will release two anthologies of Million Writers Award stories. If you pre-order one or both of the anthologies before June 14th you'll receive special pricing and a free ebook. For more information, go here.

The 2012 Million Writers Award is now open for nominations. This page is for READERS to nominate one short story published in an online magazine during 2011. Editor nominations are here.

Nominations will be accepted through April 9, 2012. As always, there is no fee to nominate a story or to take part in the award process. If a story is already nominated below, there is no need to nominate that story multiple times. Attempts to "stuff" multiple nominations of the same story by one reader or a group of readers will be deleted.

To nominate a story, please first read the rules then use the following format to place information in the comment box at the bottom of this page.

Asimov's Science Fiction
http://www.asimovs.com
Story: "Stone Wall Truth" by Caroline M. Yoachim
Story URL: http://carolineyoachim.com/Stories/StoneWallTruth.html

(Note: the above story—while a top-notch piece of short fiction—is not eligible for the Million Writers Award because it was first published in Asimov's, a print magazine.)

Failure to use the above format when making a nomination can result in nominations not being considered.

Please enter your nomination into the comment box at the bottom of this page. To post nominations people will need to log into this site using either Facebook, Twitter, Typepad, or another social media account. If anyone experiences problems please contact Jason Sanford.

Finally, if you like what we're doing with the Million Writers Award please consider making a donation to increase the amount of prize money we can offer.

Introduction to the 2012 Million Writers Award

in

When I founded the online journal storySouth more than ten years ago, the literary establishment didn't believe online magazines were legitimate places to publish fiction. In fact, many of these heads-in-the-sand fools also believed that the internet was a passing fad.

Now these same people are tweeting each other links to their favorite online stories. It's amazing how the literary world can change in a decade. And now here we go again, launching the 9th go around of the storySouth Million Writers Award.

To make sure the award runs smoothly this year, please make note of these points and changes:

  1. Only stories first published in online literary journals, magazines, and e-zines that have an editorial process, during the 2011 calendar year, are eligible for nomination. This means that an editor must have selected the story for publication. Self-published stories are not eligible. Stories reprinted online, but originally published in a print edition, are not eligible.
  2. In order to keep people from spamming multiple nominations, any reader, writer, or editor who nominates stories will have to log into this site using either Facebook, Twitter, Typepad, or another social media login. The lists of ways to log in is rather long so I'll be surprised if too many people have a problem. But if you do please contact me to arrange another way of uploading your nominations.
  3. I will no longer pick the top ten stories of the year. Instead, three judges selected by me will take over this duty. I hope this will create an even more diverse and exciting group of finalists.
  4. Last year we did an experiment, declaring stories published in online editions of print magazines to no longer be eligible for the award. This change is hereby revoked. The Million Writers Award is for online publications, so if the online edition of a print magazine publishes short stories those stories are eligible provided the stories were first published online (and not first published in the print edition).

The literary world has changed massively in the last decade and I'd like to think storySouth and the Million Writers Award played a part in shaking up the old ways of doing things. It'll be interesting to see what the coming decade brings.

Sincerely,

Jason Sanford

2012 Million Writers Award Rules

in

The purpose of the 2012 storySouth Million Writers Award is to honor and promote the best fiction published in online literary journals and magazines during 2011. 

To make a nomination, go here.

The Reason

The reason for the Million Writers Award is that most of the major literary prizes for short fiction (such as the Best American Short Stories series and the O. Henry Awards) have traditionally ignored web-published fiction. This award aims to show that world-class fiction is being published online and to promote this fiction to the larger reading and literary community.

How It Works

The Million Writers Award takes its name from the idea that we in the online writing community have the power to promote the great stories we are creating. If only a few hundred writers took the time to tell fifteen of their friends about a great online short story--and if these friends then passed the word about this fiction to their friends (and so on and so on)--this one story would soon have a larger readership than all of the works in Best American Short Stories.

To help promote online stories, the Million Writers Award accepts nominations from readers, writers, and editors (and the volunteer preliminary judges who assist with the award). There is no entry fee.

Prizes

Last year there were three cash prizes: $600 for the overall winner, $200 for the runner-up, and $100 for the honorable mention/third place. There was also a $100 gift certificate from  ThinkGeek for the overall winner. All of this prize money was raised through donations from writers, editors and readers.

The 2012 Million Writers Award is starting off with an award base of $300, which has been donated by early donors like Spring Garden Press (storySouth's publisher). To help raise the amount we can give for prize money, we are seeking additional donations. To donate, go here.

Please note that since these donations do not go through Spring Garden Press (storySouth's publisher), donations are not tax deductible. However, the entire donated amount will be used for prize money, minus the small fee PayPal deducts for transmitting the money.

All donors will have the option of having their name and donation listed on the Million Writers Award page. Donors may also remain anonymous.

Please note that the all prizes will be transferred to the winners by PayPal. In order to receive the prize money, winners must have a PayPal account.

 

Best Online Publication Award

In addition to the award for best fiction, the online magazine or journal that ends up with the most stories selected as "Notable Stories of the Year" will be honored as the year's best publication for online fiction.

Why Should I Do This?

The general gripe among writers is that no one pays attention to quality writings, while bad or mediocre writings get lots of attention because they are published in prestigious magazines or written by authors who are good at gaining media attention. This award is about countering this trend by promoting the best online writers and stories.

The Rules

1) Only stories first published in online literary journals, magazines, and e-zines that have an editorial process, during the 2011 calendar year, are eligible for nomination. This means that an editor must have selected the story for publication. Self-published stories are not eligible. Stories reprinted online, but originally published in a print edition, are not eligible.

2) Anyone may nominate ONE story for the award. This means that readers of magazines can nominate one story and that writers can nominate one their own stories, provided the story was published in 2011 in an online magazine. Editors of online magazines and journals can nominate up to THREE of the stories published in their magazine during 2011.

3) To be eligible for nomination, a story must be longer than 1,000 words.

4) In addition to nominations from writers, readers, and editors, the Million Writers Award also uses preliminary judges to nominate stories for the award and to screen nominations from writers, readers, and editors. The names of the preliminary judges will be released after the award has been announced.

5) From all of the nominees, the judges will select the "Notable Stories of the Year." From this list of notable stories, three judges selected by Jason Sanford will chose the top ten stories of the year. The overall winner of the year's award will be selected by a public vote from among the top ten stories of the year. The public vote will use a secure voting system.

6) The online journal or magazine gaining the most "notable story" selections will be named as the Million Writers Award publication of the year. The editors will also select one publication as the Million Writers Award new magazine or journal of the year. Other awards for excellence may also be given out, if the editors feel there is a reason for doing so (such as highlighting a journal or magazine for doing something new or unusual which added to the overall prestige of online publishing).

7) Nominations of stories will begin March 26, 2012 and end April 9, 2012. The list of notable stories of the year will be released around the first of May with the top ten stories released around the end of May. Voting on the overall winner will last for three weeks after the top ten stories are released.

8) Any attempt by writers to distort or manipulate the public vote will result in the disqualification of their respected stories. Writers are allowed to promote their own stories during the vote and to ask others to vote for them. Attempts to repeatedly vote for their own story or to compromise the secure voting system will result in disqualification. The editors of storySouth have final authority to determine if any writer is attempting to distort or manipulate the public vote and the editors' decisions regarding disqualification are final and can not be appealed.

To Nominate a Story

To nominate a story, readers and editors will submit their name, a valid e-mail address, the name of the nominated author, the name of the magazine or journal, and a URL hyperlink to the story. The URL must go directly to the story's page in the online magazine or journal that originally published it. Links to author home pages where the story is posted are not eligible. DO NOT e-mail the entire story to any storySouth editor or to Jason Sanford. Doing so will guarantee that a story is not considered for the award.

How Can I Help?

If you want to help promote this award and online writers in general, please pass the word about this contest or link to this page. Also, please consider supporting the Million Writers Award by making a donation to help increase the award money we give out.

For more information, please e-mail Jason Sanford at lapthai@yahoo.com.

Free ebook edition of InterGalactic Medicine Show Awards Anthology, Volume I

in

IGMS Cover 1211 - FrontSpotlight Publishing, which released my collection Never Never Stories, also recently published InterGalactic Medicine Show Awards Anthology, Volume  I. Edited by Orson Scott Card and Edmund Schubert, the book collects stories from Card's online magazine and includes an introduction by Peter S. Beagle and stories by me, Beagle, Eugie Foster, Aliette deBodard, Marie Brennan, Alethea Kontis, Eric James Stone, Scott Roberts, James Maxey, and many more.

The big news is that this weekend, from today through Monday, March 26th, you can download the ebook version of the IGMS Awards anthology for free through Amazon. Go here to download the free ebook.

You can also order print copies of the book directly from Spotlight Publishing, who are offering a limited number of copies signed by both Card and Schubert.

Update: The anthology also appears to be available in the U.K. for free this weekend. Here's the UK Amazon link.

 

The science (and fiction) around Felix Baumgartner's leap from near space

in ,

Today  Felix Baumgartner rode a 100-foot helium balloon to 71,581 feet (13.6 miles) before jumping, using a special pressurized suit and parachute system to land safely. His jump was a test run for his eventual attempt to break Colonel Joseph Kittinger's world-record parachute jump of 19.5 miles.

I wish Felix the best of luck in this endevour, which is as exciting and risky as it sounds. Because I've previously published a short story about high-altitude ballooning and parachuting, I considered boring people with a long examination of the science behind Felix's attempt. Instead, how about I simply let people read that short story, which is titled "Where Away You Fall" and was published in the December 2008 issue of Analog: Science Fiction and Fact.

You can download a PDF of "Where Away You Fall" here.

If you enjoy "Where Away You Fall" keep an eye out for my story "Heaven's Touch" in the August 2012 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction. The new story is a sequel to "Where Away You Fall" and features the return of the main character Dusty, except this time instead of being stuck on a balloon she's marooned on a comet far from Earth.

Why I can't vote for Mitt Romney: His favorite novel is Battlefield Earth

in ,

All of the second-tier candidates in the Republican Primary must have crap for campaign budgets, as evidenced by the lousy opposition research they've done on Mitt Romney. I know this because, all on my lonesome, I've discovered something extremely disturbing about the Republican front-runner. To my mind, this bombshell totally disqualifies Romney from even visiting the White House, let alone being elected president.

Drum roll please: Romney's favorite novel is Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard!

Romney made this claim in a 2007 Fox News interview (you can also find additional coverage of the statement here). In case you're not familiar with this massive 1000-page novel by the founder of Scientology, let's be generous and say Battlefield Earth reads like it was cranked out by a bunch of hack monkeys defecating on a broken typewriter. Yes, the book hit the best-seller lists, but only because of a Scientology-backed purchasing campaign. The novel was also the genesis of one of the worst SF films of all time.

I simply can't believe a serious presidential contender would pick Battlefield Earth for his favorite book. As this newscast states, "Given the existence of every other book ever written, it was a curious answer." And the best part is that once Romney realized praising a bad novel by the founder of Scientology wasn't in his best political interests, he flip-flopped and claimed Battlefield Earth was only one of his favorite books (with his new favorite book being ... you guessed it ... the Bible).

But this flip-flop doesn't change the fact that Romney still claims Battlefield Earth as his favorite, or one of his favorite, novels.  

Since Newt Gingrich is a science fiction fan, you'd think he'd have some strong words to say about Romney's choice of a favorite novel. After all, Newt may be a crap SF writer but he must know enough about the genre to recognize the cliched badness oozing from every page of Battlefield Earth. 

Of course, perhaps this won't be a big issue in the campaign. After all, Romney is a fabled flip-flopper and, according to a 2011 news report, he has already moved on to praising another set of novels--the Twilight series!

Which, considering my views on sparkling vampires, is another reason I could never vote for this man.

Fun with podcasts, audio magazines, and story narration

in

Good news for people who like podcasts of my stories—I've been all over the audio place lately. Here are the details:

Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine

I'm continually blown away by the greatness which is the Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine. Just when you think they've taken podcasts as far as they can go, along comes another narrative juggernaut, in this case their adaptation of my story "The Ever-Dreaming Verdict of Plague." Originally published in Interzone, this story is a sequel to my "Plague Birds" (which Dunesteef also podcast last year). 

The podcast of "The Ever-Dreaming Verdict of Plague" is flat-out amazing, with stellar production values, tons of special effects, and dead-on voice talents. Many thanks to Big and Rish for running the podcast, to Bryan Lincoln for producing the podcast, and to all of the people who voiced characters. To listen to part one of the story, go here. Part two will be released next week.

Me, narrating a Gemma Files story and rambling on the Skiffy and Fanty Show

If you prefer your podcasts to feature my voice, check out episode 6 of Tales to Terrify, where I narrate Gemma Files' story "Sown from Salt." This is the first story by another author I've ever narrated and, while I had a blast doing it, I'm unlikely to repeat said feat. The reason? Narrating stories is hard work! But do check out the episode, which is hosted by Larry Santoro.

By the way, is it only me or does anyone else think Larry's a natural at hosting horror podcasts? I swear he's the 21st century Vincent Price of horror podcasts!

And if that doesn't satisfy your craving for my intonations, check out the newest edition of the Skiffy and Fanty Show, where I join in discussions on J. K. Rowling’s new adult novel, the abuse of Seanan McGuire by readers, and more. And apologies to hosts Shaun and Jennifer for being half-asleep during the show. I've been working like crazy lately and I was exhausted. I hope I didn't say anything too silly in my dream-like state.

StarShipSofa Jason Sanford episode

Finally, a reminder that the Hugo Award winning audio fiction magazine StarShipSofa recently released a special issue focused on my fiction. The issue features two of my stories, an essay narrated by me, and tons of other fun stuff.

StarShipSofa is one of the top SF podcasts in the world, so go check it out.

storySouth Million Writers Award launches March 15; donations and judges needed

in

Want to know if something truly matters to people? Take it away. If no one notices the absence then the thing must not matter very much. But if people scream bloody murder … well, you can guess the rest.

I mention this because my life has been rather hectic of late and I’m a little tardy in launching this year’s storySouth Million Writers Award. And boy have people let me know. At first the emails were polite. Then they took on a worried tone, asking whether something had happened to me or, more frequently, if I would be continuing the award.

Well, the good news is this year’s award cycle will launch on March 15. The contest is open to any short story of at least 1000 words published in 2011 in an online magazine with an editorial process. Beginning on that date, editors of online magazines will be able to nominate 3 stories from their magazines while writers and readers can each nominate one story.

Donations and Judges Needed

Last year we were able to offer winners $1000 in cash and prizes and we’d like to do this again, so we’re asking for donations. Complete details on donating are here. And the great news is that ThinkGeek has already stepped up with another $100 gift certificate for this year’s overall winner. Many thanks!

And if you’d like to be a judge for this year’s award, please contact me. Simple give a little background on yourself and tell me why you’d be a great judge.

Finally, the final big news for this year’s award is that Spotlight Publishing will release two Million Writers Award anthologies next month. I’ll post about these two anthologies in the coming days.

Thanks go out to everyone who has supported the Million Writers Award in the past. And thanks in advance to all the judges, editors, writers and readers who will take part in this year’s award.

A few thoughts on selecting the Nebula Award finalists

in

This morning SFWA released the 2011 Nebula Award nominees and my first thought is hell yes! Partly this is because so many stories on my ballot made the final list. I make no apologies for that. When I love a story I want it to be recognized by the greater world, and awards like this are a great way to bring recognition and additional readers to worthy authors and works.

But I'm even satisfied with many of those stories and novels I didn't vote for. In fact, I think this is the best Nebula Award final ballot since 2009. At that time I praised the ballot because it contained so many of today's most exciting new writers. I could say the same thing about this year's ballot.

One thing non-SFWA members may not know is that the voting system used over the last few years has continually changed. For the 2009 ballot, SFWA members could see how many nominations each story received in the lead-up to the ballot selection. I really liked this because it allowed members to know which stories were gaining attention. If a story was surging in the tally, many members would go out of their way to read and consider it.

However, there was a downside to having a public tally--logrolling. People could see who supported each story. Because of this, it was claimed some SFWA members pledged to vote for different people's stories if those people voted for their own tales. Now, I personally thought this practice was rarer than people stated, but it was still a concern. And because of this in the two following years SFWA removed the ability of members to see how many votes a story received. Which of course caused many people to complain about a lack of transparency in the award process.

For this year's ballot, SFWA tried a new system. While SFWA has long hosted a section in our forum where members could recommend stories for the Nebula, this process was half-hearted and difficult to manage. Basically, if you liked a recommended story you replied to its comment thread in the member-only forum with another comment saying "Like."

This year, though, SFWA created an official recommended reading section on our site. You could add your support to and recommend stories and easily see how many other members liked the same stories. This system tallied the top recommended stories, and you could make recommendations either under your name or anonymously.

I personally found a number of stories through the list which ended up making my final ballot. I also believe this system allowed works by new writers to build support. And because this recommended reading list wasn't an official ballot, and could be done anonymously, it also cut down on the ability of people to logroll.

Anyway, congrats to all the Nebula Award finalists. And congrats to SFWA for improving the transparency and efficiency of this year's Nebula Award process.

Today in SF History

in

This year I’m writing a series of tweets delving into the fascinating history of science fiction and fantasy fandom, and especially the famous genre flame wars of the past. This history is proof positive that our genre's tempests in teapots have always existed and will likely always endure.

While I’d like to believe this history might give people a sense of perspective before engaging in the next SF/F flame war, I’m not holding my clichéd breath.

Below are my first six “Today in SF History” tweets. I should also note that even though these posts were tweeted on particular days, that doesn’t mean those were the official dates these events happened. Think instead of these tweets as today’s 140-character trip down SF memory lane.

Anyone interested in seeing future “Today in SF History” tweets should follow me on Twitter. I also cross-post the tweets on my Facebook and Google+ accounts.