Book Giveaway: Num8ers Winners!
The giveaway is over. The winners are: Carraka Blogicious Andrew Parsons All of you have an email or message of some sort from me asking for your address (you know, so I can send you the book). Congrats!
The Near Future May Be Quiet(er)
My second semester as a graduate student at the University of Florida is coming to a close, and that means I have a lot of things to do: papers, papers, papers, and grading. If things get rather silent around here, it’s because I’m busy as heck. Don’t worry. I’m not leaving forever (school ends at the end of April), just don’t expect massive amounts of posting over the next few weeks. And don’t forget to enter to win a copy of Rachel Ward’s Num8ers here!
Help Make “Other Worlds” Magazine Happen: Vote!
I think this idea deserves its own post, because it’s downright awesome. John Klima, the editor of the excellent Electric Velocipede, is trying to win a $25,000 Pepsi grant in order to produce Other Worlds Magazine, a science fiction magazine dedicated to representing underrepresented cultures! Here are the details: The “Other Worlds” project will work to bring in both an audience and a creative element from cultures that are not currently represented in traditional science fiction venues. There have been a number of instances in the past few years where publications and award nominees have been comprised of white males, which has angered a lot of people. This publication will work as a showcase of all the talent that is out there and not getting in front of readers’ eyes for a variety of reasons. Some of those reasons include publishers looking to work with existing prominent writers (who are traditionally white males and require less promotional investment) and the fact that new writers aren’t sending stories to publishers whose table of contents do not represent their culture. The money from this grant would be used to get the magazine started so that it could continue for many years to come. So what are you waiting for? Vote!
Pyr’s 5th Anniversary Essay Contest
This popped up in my email this morning and I thought I should share: Pyr Celebrates 5th Anniversary With Essay ContestGrand Prize Winner Embarks on a ‘Pyr and Dragons Adventure’ Amherst, NY — To celebrate their 5th anniversary, Pyr, the science fiction and fantasy imprint of Prometheus Books, will sponsor a contest that incorporates things they hold dear: creative and powerful writing, a passion for reading genre fiction, and this year’s special number, five. For their Pyr and Dragons Adventure 5th Anniversary Contest, Pyr invites readers and fans to submit a short essay on the theme: Five reasons why science fiction and fantasy is important to you. Eligibility requirements follow*. Any essay submissions that do not meet these guidelines will be disqualified:Entrants must reside in the Continental United States and be at least 21 years of age.Essays must be no longer than 1500 words.Essays must be emailed to publicity@prometheusbooks.com as a Word document attachment, with the subject line “Pyr and Dragons Adventure Essay Submission.”The body of the submission email must clearly identify the entrant’s full name, address (within the Continental United States), phone number and email address.All submissions must be received between April 1, 2010 and June 1, 2010.*For complete list of rules and regulations see http://www.pyrsf.com. All eligible essays will be read and reviewed by publishing staff at Prometheus Books. Not all of these preliminary readers will be science fiction and fantasy fans, so outstanding essays will likely be those that pique their interest in the genre and make them want to read it too. The top twenty-five essays as determined by these industry professionals will be read by Pyr Editorial Director Lou Anders, who will select the top three. The writer of the Third Place essay will win a commemorative Pyr 5th anniversary keepsake and five complimentary books of their choice from the Pyr catalog. The writer of the Second Place essay will win a complete set of Pyr books as published by the contest end date of June 1, 2010 (one copy of each title, without duplicating those that appear in more than one binding) and a commemorative Pyr 5th anniversary keepsake. The Grand Prize Winner will embark on a “Pyr and Dragons Adventure” that includes*:A round-trip flight to Atlanta, GA during Dragon*Con, one of the largest multi-media, popular culture conventions focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US. Dragon*Con 2010 will be held September 3 – 6, 2010 (Labor Day weekend).Two nights hotel accommodation in Atlanta, GA, Sept. 3 and 4, 2010.Dragon*Con membership/entry badge.Dinner with Special Pyr Author Guests and Pyr Editorial Director Lou Anders-details to be announced!The grand prize winning essay will be posted at the Pyr-o-mania blog, and may be promoted by the publisher by other means, including but not limited to their other blogs, websites, e-newsletters and social networking pages. Prometheus Books-a provocative, progressive and independent publisher of nonfiction since 1969-launched Pyr in March 2005 to complement its strength in popular science. The imprint rather quickly earned acclaim, awards, and loyal fans, including Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Díaz, who called Pyr “the imprint to beat in the science fiction and fantasy fields.” With an emphasis on quality, Pyr helped to introduce readers to some authors then little-known in the U.S., such as John Meaney, Ian McDonald, Joel Shepherd, Justina Robson, and Joe Abercrombie. Pyr has also published such established authors as Mike Resnick, Robert Silverberg and Michael Moorcock. Pyr Editorial Director Lou Anders has been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Editor Long Form for three consecutive years. In 2009, Prometheus Books and Pyr launched a major e-book initiative, with titles available on Kindle and programs with many different e-reader platforms in the works. In 2010, in addition to celebrating its five-year anniversary, Pyr will publish its 100th title. # # # For a complete list of contest rules and regulations see http://www.pyrsf.com. So, who’s going to enter? I’m considering it.
Question For Readers: Audio Rants — Yay or Nay?
I was thinking about this earlier today in response to a book I received in the mail (a good response), and I want to test the waters by asking all of you how interested you would be in the following venture: The occasional rant in audio form, followed by a question. I would say that these would be focused to literature (specifically, science fiction and fantasy), but there may be topics that come up that deserve rant treatment. The runtime would be well under 10 minutes (most likely under five). Think of them as a podcast, but super short and without much in terms of catchy jingles and the like (not that there’s something wrong with catchy jingles). Thoughs? Opinions?
Survival By Storytelling: Win a Copy at LitDrift
This will be brief, because there’s not much to say. If you’d like to win a free copy of the first issue of Survival By Storytelling, head on over to LitDrift. All you have to do is leave a comment! The giveaway closes fairly soon, I believe. Anywho! P.S.: I was going to add the cover image for SBS to this post, but apparently Blogger is having a fit today. So, if you don’t remember what the image looks like, you can click here to see it. And yes, the image is freaking gorgeous. Thanks, Kaolin Fire!