Briefs and Links

Wednesday 27 June 2001

Publishing and Bookselling News

§ The US Supreme Court's ruling on New York Times Company v. Tasini went in favor of freelance writers; publishers must compensate writers for compiling their work in electronic databases.

— AP, 25 June
— SFWA News, 25 June
— New York Times, 26 June

One immediate consequence of the ruling is that publishers will begin removing articles by such freelancers from databases like Lexis-Nexis.

— New York Times, 26 June

§ PW Daily confirms reader observations (see Letters) that Amazon.com has done away with discounts on most books, in favor of a free shipping incentive when two or more books are ordered at the same time. New York Times bestsellers remain discounted 40%.

— CNET.com, 25 June

Awards

• The final ballot has been released for the eleventh annual HOMer Awards, presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature and Media Forums on CompuServe. Deadline for voting is July 4, and winners will be announced soon thereafter.

NOVEL

Calculating God, Robert Sawyer (Tor)

Jumping Off the Planet, David Gerrold (Tor)

The Sky Road, Ken MacLeod (Tor)

NOVELLA

"Heart of Glass", William Barton (Asimov's Jan 2000)

"Radiant Green Star", Lucius Shepard (Asimov's Aug 2000)

"A Roll of the Dice", Catherine Asaro (Analog Jul/Aug 2000)

"The Ultimate Earth", Jack Williamson (Analog Dec 2000)

NOVELETTE

"Agape Among the Robots", Allen Steele (Analog May 2000)

"Black Smoker", Kage Baker (Asimov's Jan 2000)

"Chromosome Circus", Amy Sterling Casil (F&SF Jan 2000)

"Feel the Zaz", James Patrick Kelly (Asimov's Jun 2000)

"Redchapel", Mike Resnick (Asimov's Dec 2000)

"The Taranth Stone", Ron Collins (Analog Oct 2000)

SHORT STORY

"Different Kinds of Darkness", David Langford (F&SF Jan 2000)

"The Elephants of Neptune", Mike Resnick (Asimov's May 2000)

"The Fantasy Writer's Assistant", Jeffrey Ford (F&SF Feb 2000)

"Flyby Aliens", Nick DiChario (Galaxy Online Jul 2000)

"Kaddish for the Last Survivor", Michael A. Burstein (Analog Nov 2000)

"Moon Dogs", Michael Swanwick (Moon Dogs NESFA Press; Asimov's Mar 2000)

DRAMATIC PRESENTATION

Chicken Run

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Frank Herbert's Dune (SciFi Channel)

X-Men

Announcements

§ This year's Edinburgh International Book Festival, 11 - 27 August, will include for the first time a science fiction strand, with guests including Brian Aldiss, Stephen Baxter, John Clute, China Miéville, Iain M Banks, Terry Pratchett, and others. For the complete SF schedule, click here and then on 'Science Fiction'.

§ Future Orbits is a new bimonthly digital magazine to be released in various e-book formats, scheduled for launch this Fall. Payment is 6 - 10 cents per word for fiction and nonfiction.

— Submission Guidelines

• SCI FI Wire, the online news service of the SCI FI Channel, is looking for one or more freelance writers to cover the science fiction and fantasy publishing field. We are primarily interested in reporting on major genre book deals and releases, with an emphasis on exclusive stories. Reporters will be paid on a per story basis. Applicants must have previous daily or weekly newspaper experience as well as a broad knowledge of SF&F books. A resume and 3-5 published clips are required for consideration. Contact: scifiwire@www.scifi.com.

• World Fantasy and British Fantasy Award-winning editors Stephen Jones and David Sutton will be accepting submissions for Dark Terrors 6: The Gollancz Book of Horror from July 1st until October 31st, 2001. As with the previous volume, Dark Terrors 6 will be ''double-sized'' (approximately 200,000 words) and will be published in hardcover in the UK by Victor Gollancz in Autumn 2002, with a paperback edition to follow. Because of the extremely high standard of the award-winning horror series and a desire to see only the very best examples of a writer's work, we are again strictly limiting submissions to just one story per author (unless otherwise discussed). We are interested in contemporary cutting-edge supernatural and psychological horror and dark fantasy. No pastiches. We are buying first world publication rights (unless otherwise agreed beforehand). There are no word limits (although shorter stories stand more chance of being accepted than novellas). We will only read a standard hardcopy manuscript (no electronic submissions) and please attach a brief covering letter with (preferably) an e-mail contact address. If this is not possible, then please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope if submitting from the UK and a self-addressed envelope plus at least two (2) International Reply Coupons if submitting from any other country if you require a reply. All manuscripts will be deemed disposable. Reporting time varies. All unsolicited manuscripts should be sent ONLY to David Sutton, Dark Terrors 6, c/o 194 Station Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham B14 7TE, England.

— Stephen Jones
Co-Editor, Dark Terrors

Thursday 14 June 2001

Broad Universe

§ Broad Universe, an organization with the primary goal of promoting science fiction, fantasy, and horror written by women, launched at Wiscon over Memorial Day weekend. The celebration party was attended by both guests of honor, Nancy Kress and Elisabeth Vonarburg. Molly Gloss donated a cake frosted with a replica of her book cover that she'd been given as part of the Tiptree Award -- the first time many in the crowd had ever eaten an award.

(Photo by Mary Anne Mohanraj shows Tiptree award winner Molly Gloss, in Tiptree tiara; GOH Nancy Kress; and auctioneer extraordinaire Ellen Klages, at the Broad Universe kickoff party.)

Awards at Worldcon

• Finalists for this year's Seiun Awards ("the Japanese Hugos") in the Foreign categories are as follows. Winners will be announced at the Japan SF Convention 2001, 18-19 August 2001, in Chiba, and be re-presented during the Hugo Award ceremony at this year's Worldcon in Philadelphia.

FOREIGN NOVEL

All Tomorrow's Parties, William Gibson

Barrayar, Lois McMaster Bujold

Darwin's Radio, Greg Bear

Ender's Shadow, Orson Scott Card

Frameshift, Robert J. Sawyer

The Light of Other Days, Arthur C. Clarke & Stephen Baxter

The Moon and the Sun, Vonda N. McIntyre

The Positronic Man, Isaac Asimov & Robert Silverberg

Simulacron-3, Daniel R. Galouye

FOREIGN SHORT STORY

"An Explanation for the Disappearance of the Moon", John Sladek

"'…for a single yesterday'", George R.R. Martin

"The Hundred Light-Year Diary", Greg Egan

"The Little Magic Shop", Bruce Sterling

"Oceanic", Greg Egan

"Orphans of the Helix", Dan Simmons

"The Saliva Tree", Brian W. Aldiss

"A Separate War", Joe Haldeman

"The Sharks of Pentreath", Michael G. Coney

§ The Libertarian Futurist Society has awarded Poul Anderson its first Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement, and The Survival of Freedom, edited by Jerry Pournelle and John Carr (published in 1981), has won the 2001 Prometheus Hall of Fame award for Best Classic Fiction. Both awards were presented at LFScon, the Libertarian Futurist Society’s first national conference and 20th anniversary celebration, May 25-27 during Marcon 36 in Columbus, Ohio.

The Prometheus Award for Best Novel of 2000 will be announced Sunday, September 2, during the Millennium Philcon, this year's Worldcon in Philadelphia. Finalists for this year's award are listed on the April News Log page, as well as here--

— Libertarian Futurist Society Press Releases

§ Also to be presented at this year's Worldcon, the first annual Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award, on Sunday, September 2. (The announcement of the award was first listed on the April News Log page.) A photo of the "Cordwainer" trophy for 2001 is shown here:

— Press Releases on Cordwainer Smith and his Remarkable Science Fiction

Wednesday 6 June 2001

Publishers and Publishing

§ UK publisher Pan is piecing together Douglas Adams's unfinished works, cobbled together from fragments on the late author's PC, for publication this Fall, including the third Dirk Gently novel The Salmon of Doubt and Adams's screenplay for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

— The Independent, 3 June

§ US/UK publisher HarperCollins -- and the Lewis estate -- are planning a new marketing campaign for C.S. Lewis's popular Narnia series, perhaps influenced by Harry Potter's success and perhaps intentionally de-emphasizing the series' Christian themes. There are plush Narnian toys, and tie-in Narnia novels by unidentified authors, in the works too.

— New York Times, 3 June

§ If you missed the Book Expo in Chicago last week, here's The Onion's satirical report, courtesy Random House:

— PDF file

Awards

§ Winner of the 2001 Lambda Literary Award, in the Horror/Science Fiction/Fantasy category, is Jim Grimsley for Kirith Kirin (Meisha Merlin).

— 2001 Lambda Literary Award Winners

§ Winners of the Firecracker Alternative Book Awards include, in the Nonfiction category, Alexander Theroux's The Strange Case of Edward Gorey (Fantagraphics Books), and for Graphic Novel, Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth. (This site also has an interview with Neil Gaiman about American Gods.)

— TheComicStore.com

Announcements