The following 2012 stories from Clarkesworld Magazine has been selected to appear in THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY OF THE YEAR: VOLUME 7 edited by Jonathan Strahan:
Congratulations to Aliette, Kij, Catherynne and Genevieve!
You can find a complete table of contents for Jonathan’s book here.
For the first time since the hurricane, Clarkesworld Magazine‘s response time for short story submissions is back down to 24-48 hours. Our inventory is a bit low at the moment, so now would be a very good time to send us something. Our guidelines can be found here.
Just a few things I’m thankful for at the moment…
2012 has either been the best or worst year of my life. (yeah, sounds crazy, but it’s all how you look at it – had a heart attack that almost killed me or survived the heart attack and get to see my kids grow up) Every time I think I have it figured out, something happens to push it back to the other side.This past week hasn’t been an exception. At this point, I’m inclined to hunker down and make the final call from the safety of 2013.
I have a lot of people to thank for their Herculean efforts to make things better this week. You far outnumber the people trying to drag me down and your support has been nothing short of incredible. It’s been a very uplifting experience. Our little community has really been there for me this year and I will never forget that. Hopefully, someday I’ll be in a position to pass it on.
Thank you!
Ok, burying this question in the Lemons post probably wasn’t the brightest move on my part…
I’ve had several people querying about print subscriptions to Clarkesworld. Up until this month, this wasn’t even a possibility, but now that it is, another problem steps into the picture… shipping costs. The issues themselves have to be sold at $54 a year to make this at all cost-effective. Since we don’t qualify for any shipping discounts, the best rate we can get is $2.50 per unit (US addresses only), which would make the cost of a yearly subscription $84. Maybe some people would pay that, but it just feels absurd to me. Am I being silly?
Another option is to do quarterly shipments. The shipping increases to $3, but the frequency drops making the new total $66.
Bi-annual shipments would increase shipping to $3.75, with a new total of $61.50. (For some perspective, international shipping in flat rate envelopes is cheapest at this level, which is still about $32 a year, making it $86 total.)
The big question is would anyone even want to do this? Even if we don’t do subscriptions, we can still make single issue sales (or bulk packs) available for direct sale through Wyrm Publishing. Or maybe an annual subscription should be one of the perks of the higher-level Clarkesworld citizenship donations?
Please, we’d love to have your feedback before spending too much time on this.
Apparently, 2012 has tasked me with making lemonade from big batch of lemons. Heart attack, kidney stone, broken wisdom tooth, defibrillator, hurricane, and having to find a new job… it’s exhausting just to think about it. So much so, that I just can’t talk about right now. I do want my friends to know that I’m hanging in there and getting the medical attention I need. Health and family are my top priorities at the moment.
People have been asking how they can help, so here are a few things that come to mind:
Clarkesworld Magazine Subscriptions
Looking at the long-term, this has the biggest impact. Obviously, you can subscribe, but like with the rest of these, marketing assistance is also very helpful. By purchasing or spreading the word, you push the magazine a bit closer to becoming a professional business that can pay the staff. We earn even more if you use or direct people to the affiliate links on this page.
Clarkesworld Ebook and Print Editions
The Wyrm Publishing ebook store (Amazon, Weightless, Wizards Tower, and B&N) all have the back issues of the Clarkesworld ebooks that have been made. We’ve also just created print editions of the 2012 issues of Clarkesworld (2011 and further back are under development). They can be found here.
Clarkesworld Print Subscriptions
Now that we have print copies of issues available, people have been asking about print subscriptions. Shipping, however, makes them rather expensive to do issue-by-issue. (about $7 per month) Would there be interest in receiving the print issues on a quarterly basis? (about $16 per quarter) Or in some other creative combo packs like a whole year of back issues? (for $60)
Become a Clarkesworld Citizen (Donate) or use our Affiliate Links
We’ve been offering a PBS-style donation program that gets you listed as a citizen, burgermeister, royalty or overlord in the census listed at the back of our anthologies. Shopping at Amazon or Weightless? We’ll get a cut if you follow the links from our site. Look here to find out more about these options.
Wyrm Publishing
I am also the owner of the fairly erratic small press, Wyrm Publishing. I have an inventory of books that could turn into short-term income. Signed limited editions, chapbooks, trade paperbacks, etc. (Charles Stross, Catherynne M. Valente, Clarkesworld anthologies, Jeff VanderMeer, Tobias S. Buckell and more) I’ve put a lot of our books on sale, so maybe you can find a nice present for someone (or yourself).
Ebook Design
As some of you know, I do freelance ebook design for Prime, Cheeky Frawg, Lightspeed, Electric Velocipede and a few others. Need someone to build an ebook for you? Use the contact form on this page and let me know what you’d like to do. I have enough time to take on a few new clients.
My Wife’s Business
If you are also (or more) into polymer clay, fabric or yarn, you can check out my wife’s ebook tutuorials, crochet hooks, jewelry and pens.
Clarkesworld Books
I’ve considered temporarily reopening the bookstore to sell off more inventory at crazy prices, but unlike Wyrm’s inventory, the bookstore’s isn’t easy to get at when you aren’t supposed to be moving heavy boxes. I may try to do top-box sales where I look in the boxes I can get at and list those books for sale on this blog. This will take a few days to organize.
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I have to add that I am simply overwhelmed by all the support I’ve received in the last 24-hours. Between the retweets, well wishes and independent efforts to start a subscription drive… thank you! It’s been very uplifting and I’ll never forget that.
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