2012 Nebula Award Nominees (with links)

Posted on February 20, 2013 by D. Thomas Minton

It’s award time again.  My little segment of the fiction writing world has two major awards given out annually: the Hugo Award (named for Hugo Gernsback) presented by the World Science Fiction Society and the Nebula Award presented by the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA).  Today, the SFWA announced the Nebula Award nominees for 2012.

While the Nebulas cover many categories, I’m most interested in the short fiction categories, so I’ll cover those today and get to the other award categories in another post.

Here are the nominees for best novelette:

        • “The Pyre of New Day,” Catherine Asaro (The Mammoth Books of SF Wars)
        • “Close Encounters,” Andy Duncan (The Pottawatomie Giant & Other Stories)
        • “The Waves,” Ken Liu (Asimov’s)
        • “The Finite Canvas,” Brit Mandelo (Tor.com)
        • “Swift, Brutal Retaliation,” Meghan McCarron (Tor.com)
        • “Portrait of Lisane da Patagnia,” Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com)
        • “Fade to White,” Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld)

and for short story:

        • “Robot,” Helena Bell (Clarkesworld)
        • “Immersion,” Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld)
        • “Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes,” Tom Crosshill (Clarkesworld)
        • “Nanny’s Day,” Leah Cypess (Asimov’s)
        • “Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream,” Maria Dahvana Headley
              (Lightspeed)
        • “The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species,” Ken Liu (Lightspeed)
        • “Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain,” Cat Rambo (Near + Far)

All of the short story nominations are available for free reading online, but it will be a little more difficult for readers to find all of the novelettes because several appeared in print only.  While none of my stories were nominated (it’s a rather select list, after all), it’s nice to see publications where I’ve had stories appear get recognized (e.g., Lightspeed Magazine, Asimov’s).  It’s also nice to see some familiar names on the list along with some new names that I’m sure we’ll hear more from in the future.

As a member SFWA, I’m eligible to nominate and vote for the Nebula Awards.  Unlike last year, I’ve only read a couple of the above stories (I’ve not had as much time to read over the last year as I would have liked), so I’ve got some reading to do before the voting closes on March 30th.

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Ebooks Changing the Way We Use Libraries

Posted on February 17, 2013 by D. Thomas Minton

I finished reading the Pew Report Younger Americans’ Reading and Library Habits some time ago.  I posted a few thoughts on the report several months ago (here and here), but I never got around to posting my final thoughts.

In addition to looking at the reading habit of Americans, the Pew report also examined how Americans use libraries.  Ordinarily, this isn’t a topic that would interest me much, but the Pew report contained some interesting tidbits of information.  Personally I’m a sporadic library user for my reading needs, but my family uses the library a lot, especially my daughter.  This is consistent with the demographic findings in the Pew report.

What surprised, however, me was how e-books are changing the way people use the library.  While this finding makes sense, I hadn’t realized the degree to which this was occurring.  I didn’t know you could even check out e-books from the library.  Did you?  If not, you’re in the majority, as only 2% of library users checked out an ebook in 2011 (I suspect that number went up in 2012, considering the rise of ebooks last year).

The availability of ebooks has increased the importance of library websites, and librarians noted that technology use and support have become major aspects of their work with patrons—many people contacting librarians are looking for help navigating the library’s website and downloading e-books.  It’s highly likely that ebooks will shape the future of the library system, although it’s not clear yet exactly what that will mean.

I went online to see if my local library carries ebooks, and they do.  I also looked at several other library systems around the U.S., and found they also carried them.  If you’re curious about your local library, there’s an entire wiki page devoted to listing libraries that loan ebooks, and not just in the U.S..  So if you own an ebook reader and can’t afford to buy all the books you want for it, check out your public library.  It may be a great source of electronic reading material.

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The State of Brick-and-Mortar Bookstores

Posted on February 14, 2013 by D. Thomas Minton

Last year, Borders Books, the second largest bookseller in the U.S., closed its doors.  Their inability to compete with large online retailers such as Amazon was the primary reason cited for their bankruptcy.  When Borders went under, many industry experts wonder what other brick-and-mortar bookseller would follow.

In late January, Barnes & Noble, perhaps the largest remain U.S. brick-and-mortar bookseller, announced plans to close a third of its stores over the next decade.  Many of the store slated for closure have been deemed unprofitable by the company.  Mitchell Klipper, chief executive of Barnes & Noble’s retail group, has downplayed the closures by noting that a smaller physical footprint is “a good business model.”  This seems like a sensible strategy, considering print book sales continue to decline, dropping 22% over the past five years, while ebooks have become more popular.  Even though Barnes & Noble insists it “is fully committed to the retail concept for the long-term,” I have to wonder if this is simply a prelude to another closure.

Yet it’s not all bad news.  While Barnes & Noble “streamline” their business model, the American Booksellers Association announced that 43 new independent bookstores opened in the U.S. in 2012.  How many of these new stores will succeed is unknown, but it doesn’t look like the brick and mortar bookstore is dead just yet (like the print book isn’t dead yet, either).  Maybe the bookselling industry is moving away from “big box” stores to smaller niche store, almost “boutique” bookstores.  It’ll be interesting to see how these smaller establishments can compete with large online retailers, especially as ebooks continue increase their market shares.  This is certainly an interesting time to in the publishing industry….

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Should I Register my Copyright?

Posted on February 12, 2013 by D. Thomas Minton

As a writer, you’d think I’d know the ins-and-outs of copyright law, especially considering the recent brouhaha over the Games Workshop trademark infringement case.  Other than knowing that what I write is protected under U.S. copyright law the second I put it on paper, I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I know very little beyond that, which is more than a little worrisome…especially now.  So the timing of Ken Liu’s article on the SFWA website couldn’t have been better.  (You might recognize Ken’s name because he’s a Hugo and Nebula and World Fantasy Award winning author, but he also happens to be lawyer.)

In his article “The Benefits of Copyright Registration,” Ken offers advice on whether you need to register your copyright under U.S. law, what protections registration affords you, and the costs/benefits of registering your work.  While registration is not required under U.S. law, I wasn’t aware of the additional protections that are gained through registering a copyright—specifically the shifting of the burden of proof in an infringement case from the copyright holder to the offending party, and the way in which “damages” can be determined.

Considering this, why wouldn’t I register all of my work?  Well, the cost of registration is not a trivial thing, especially since my back catalog has expanded to 20+ published works of fiction.  Under the current registration fee, that equates to over US$700!  And that doesn’t include my numerous unpublished pieces that are making the rounds (although these would likely be cheaper to register).  Granted, at this early stage of my career, I’m not likely to lose much if someone were to infringe on my copyright, but who knows how well my next published story will do?  Or the one after that.  Prudence suggests registering my works, and perhaps I will take another look at my catalog and register some of them.  I don’t know what I’m going to do yet, but thanks to Ken, I now have the information to make a more informed decision.

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Who Owns the Space Marines?

Posted on February 10, 2013 by D. Thomas Minton

This might be old news, but I just heard about it this week (so it’s new news to me).  The story itself—or at least this round of it—is over, but it illustrates the state of things in the online world.   Here’s what happened:

Games Workshop, the makers of Warhammer 40K and other table top games, brought a trademark infringement complaint against author M. C. A. Hogarth for her novel Spots the Space Marine, which was available through Amazon and other online retailers.  Amazon immediately removed the book from sale with no recourse to the author (they told her to take the matter up with Games Workshop).  It seems Games Workshop holds a trademark in Europe and the United States on the term “space marine,” and even though the trademark in the U.S. does not cover books, they felt it was within their power to remove Ms. Hogarth’s book (the Electronic Frontier Foundation calls companies that do this “Trademark Bullies”).

On her blog, Ms. Hogarth talked about her feeling of helplessness when dealing with both Amazon and Games Workshop (read here, here, and here).  Both of these large businesses gave her little if any recourse to the takedown notice.  Fortunately, all has turned out well for Ms. Hogarth.  The Electronic Frontiers Foundation got involved and help to settle the issue (for now at least) by interceding with Amazon on Ms. Hogarth’s behalf.  Spots the Space Marine is again available for sale (find it here, if you’re interested), and Games Workshop has received a lot of bad press.   But I see this as a cautionary story, and one that is likely to play out more and more in the coming years.

It seems apparent to me that Games Workshop overstepped their bounds with this trademark complaint.  I find it ludicrous that they could even trademark “space marine” because it’s been in common usage in science fiction since the early 1930s, which pre-dates the company by many, many decades.  Heinlein used the term directly in some of his early stories (e.g., “Misfits“), and created what is now considered the stereotypical space marine in his genre-classic and award-winning novel Starship Troopers (1959), although he never calls them space marines directly in the book.  Wikipedia has an entire page devoted to “Space Marine,” detailing it’s usage in science fiction books, movies, and games (they also have short paragraph on this trademark story, too.).

Prior to growth of internet commerce, this complaint probably wouldn’t have happened because it would have been necessary for Games Workshop to bring the complaint directly against Ms. Hogarth, and the parties likely would have wound in court.  Given the apparent merits of the infringement claim (or lack thereof), Games Workshop probably wouldn’t fared well before a judge.  These days, however, a takedown notice can be filed against a third-party internet service provider (e.g., Amazon, YouTube, etc.), resulting in a fast and easy takedown.  Third-party providers aren’t interested in or don’t have the resources to investigate trademark (or copyright) infringement complaints, and removing the potentially infringing material grants the third-party provider safe harbor from future prosecution (at least under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act).

The targets of an improper takedown have no easy way to get their content back up even if they want to fight because there is no counter-notice procedure—they are simply out of luck unless they can find a lawyer to help fight the complaint, which for an independent writer is an expensive alternative.  For independent authors and small business, this is a shoot first and don’t bother asking questions later approach on the part of large business and third-party providers, and most of the “little guys” are helpless to do anything about.  Unfortunately, this appears to be the state of things now.

What can be done?  I’m not sure, but groups like the Electric Frontiers Foundation are fighting improper takedown notices.  They also have a lot of information up on the web site about the these notices and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  If nothing else, I think it’s important for people to educate themselves, especially if you’re a small business or and independent author.

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And It’s Out….

Posted on February 8, 2013 by D. Thomas Minton

That didn’t take long…but they also said it wouldn’t….

The 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology from Stupefying Stories is now available for free download.  It contains three of my stories: my Campbell-qualifying sale, “Thief of Futures” (originally published in Lightspeed Magazine), “Observations on a Clock” (originally in Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine), and “My Mask, Humanity” (originally in Daily Science Fiction).

If you missed “Observations on a Clock” the first time around (which is likely if you don’t subscribe to Asimov’s), this an opportunity to catch it.  Even if you’ve rabidly devoured everything I’ve written, this anthology promises to be chockfull of good speculative fiction from up-and-coming writers, so get a copy while it lasts.  The anthology will only be available for a limited time, and did I mention it’s free?

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Pre-Campbell Anthology Set for Release

Posted on February 7, 2013 by D. Thomas Minton

I signed my contract today allowing up to three of my stories to appear in a special issue of Stupefying Stories.  M. David Blake, one of Stupefying‘s editors, has put together a pre-award reader to assist Campbell Award voters.  (The John W. Campbell Award is presented to the “best” new writer of speculative fiction.)  The anthology will contain the Campbell Award-qualifying stories of eligible authors and up to two addition stories.  I know that “Thief of Futures” will be in the volume, and one or both of “Observations on a Clock” and “My Mask, Humanity” will also appear.  While not every Campbell-eligible writer has chosen to take part (or perhaps hasn’t heard about the effort), I’ve heard the volume is huge—over 300,000 words—and contains many, many new writers.  It’s sure to contain a lot great stories, and it will available for free, so don’t miss it.

While I don’t know the actually release date, I’ve been told it’s immanent: as soon as all of the contracts are returned to Mr. Blake.  So keep an eye out for it at Stupefying Stories, or keep visiting my site, and I’ll let you know as soon as I know.

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“Still Life Through Water Droplets” Live at Toasted Cake

Posted on February 4, 2013 by D. Thomas Minton

Yeah for Toasted Cake!  My story “Still Life Through Droplets,” originally published in Daily Science Fiction, is now up for listening at Toasted Cake, perhaps my favorite podcasts out there.  If you’re not familiar with Toasted Cake, it’s a Parsec Award winning podcast by Tina Connelly (whose debut novel, Ironskin, has gotten great reviews).

This is my second appearance on Toasted Cake.  “Clownspace” appeared on the program last summer, and Tina did an incredible job with it.  I haven’t had a chance to listen to “Still Life” yet (it went live last night), but I can’t wait to hear what Tina has done with it.  So head over Toasted Cake for a listen, and while you’re there, be sure to have a nibble of everything you have time to sample.

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Staying on Target in 2013

Posted on February 3, 2013 by D. Thomas Minton

It’s already February.  What happened to the time?  The year is one-twelfth of the way over, and I’m just now finalizing my writing goals for 2013.

For the past two years, I’ve set writing goals and targets.  Goals are important for me because they help me focus my efforts, and give me tangible targets towards which to work.  Writing goals have allowed me to get serious about trying to turn my fiction writing from a hobby into a career.  I figure I must be doing something right, because last year built nicely on the previous year.

While I was satisfied with my overall performance on my 2012 goals, I came up short on a few of them.  I thought about this as I developed my 2013 goals, and decided to keep most of my 2012 targets.  I want achievable goals—unachieveable goals aren’t worthwhile and can be counterproductive—but I also want them to be a challenge.  Goals should push me to work harder and get better.  In 2012, they did just that.

Here are my writing goals for 2013:

  1. Write and/or edit at least 700 words per day.  I decided to keep this goal the same as in 2012.  I felt this daily target was attainable without being unrealistic.  As with previous years, I will credit myself 500 words for every hour spent editing/revising my work.  I will also give myself credit for writing up to six story critiques a month because these directly contribute to improving my craft by forcing me to critically read and analyze fiction.
  2. Finish at least twelve short stories.  I consider a story “finished” if I write, edit and submit it for publication.  Anything less is unfinished.  This is the same target as I set last year, a target that I failed to met.  I will be focusing on this goal in 2013, because finishing stories is key to success.
  3. Make at least 60 story submissions or five sales.  I’ve had this conditional goal the last two years, and I like it.  Goals should be things over which I have complete control, e.g., writing, editing and submitting stories.  Whether a story is accepted or not is, to some extent, out of my hands.  Yet the number of submissions I can achieve in a year is also related to the number of stories I have making the rounds.  If I sell stories quickly, I will have few submissions over the course of the year, thus I’ve created this conditional goal.  (I made 11 short stories sales last year, and did not reach my 60 submission goal.)  If I make five or more sales in 2013, I might not make my goal of 60 story submissions, but five sales would make me very, very happy.
  4. Revise and submit my draft novel.  I completed the first draft of a novel in 2011.  I did not finish revising it last year, which I see as a failure I don’t want to repeat.
  5. Develop a series for self-publication.  I’ve given this new goal a lot of thought, and I’ve decided to give it a try.  After talking with many writers, I believe a key to consistently selling my work is to develop a series to which readers can return.  I have an idea in mind already; now I just need to write it and publish it.  This is actually a two-part goal, because to publish the story, I will need to teach myself some of the ins-and-outs of self-publishing.  I know this one will be a real challenge to complete, and fortunately, I know some writers who already have experience doing this.
  6. Complete NaNoWriMo (50,000 words in November).  I’ve successfully completed NaNoWriMo for the past five years.  I use it as a challenge to increase my writing productivity (and not necessarily to write a novel), and I’ve found it’s a great way to stimulate story ideas.

Those are my 2013 writing goals, for the world to see.  It’s up to me now to make them happen.  As I have every year, I’ll periodically revisit these to assess my progress (self-assessment is critical).  I better get to work; I’m already a month behind, and I’ve got a lot of writing to do if I’m going to make it.

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An Octopus Update

Posted on January 30, 2013 by D. Thomas Minton

Yesterday I got a status update from the Mr. David Joseph Clarke, editor of Suction Cup Dreams, the long overdue anthology that will contain my story “The Octopus Garden.”  I was beginning to wonder what was up at obsolescent.info Press—they had been quiet for a while—but I was afraid to query and possibly learn that they had canceled the projector worse, shut down.

Well, obsolescent.info are apparently alive, albeit a little worse for wear from the sounds of it, and moving forward with Suction Cup Dreams.  Mr. Clarke, the one-man force behind obsolescent.info press has had a few distractions and some challenges over the last six months, but he seems to be back on track with the anthology, which has me excited that this one will find its way into print in 2013.  (I’m particularly excited because he also said each story will have a commissioned illustration!)

While I like working with small presses, I’ve learned to expect delays and to not be surprised if things simply fall apart.  Publishing is a tough business, and I don’t think people realize exactly what they’re getting into when they decide to start a small press, edit and produce an anthology on their own.  Even though some of the small press projects I have been associated with in the past have failed, I will continue to work with them simply because I have a lot of respect for those willing to give it a try.  Oh, and when they succeed, they can produce some exceptionally fine books….

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