This looks totally silly, right? Some kind of scam to take advantage of new writers? Well, guess who Bennett Cerf was: only one of the founders of the LARGEST ENGLISH LANGUAGE BOOK PUBLISHER IN THE WORLD (Random House.)

Okay, so let’s see what writers were affiliated with this. ROD SERLING? ROD freaking SERLING?? (Of Twilight Zone fame.)

I wasn’t familiar with any of the other names, but several of them at least do seem to be successful writers of their era:

• Faith Baldwin: “a very successful U.S. author of romance and fiction, publishing some 100 novels, often concentrating on women juggling career and family. The New York Times said that her books had ‘never a pretense at literary significance’ and were popular because they ‘enabled lonely working people, young and old, to identify with her glamorous and wealthy characters.’”
• Bruce Catton: “an American journalist and notable historian of the American Civil War. He won a Pulitzer Prize for history in 1954 for A Stillness at Appomattox, his study of the final campaign of the war in Virginia.”
• Rudolf Flesch: “an author, readability expert and writing consultant who was a vigorous proponent of plain English in the United States. He created the Flesch Reading Ease test and was co-creator of the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test [anyone who's used Microsoft Word has likely run into this. ---JJA].”
• Other authors: Bergen Evans, Mignon G. eberhart, John Caples, J. D. Ratcliff, Mark Wiseman, Max Shulman, Red Smith.

(Strangely, the first three of the authors I looked up all died in 1978. COINCIDENCE??)

Oh, but LOOKEE HERE. My scam radar was not off after all. It seems there was a considerable scandal over the Famous Writers School’s business practices. The expose—“Let Us Now Appraise Famous Writers”—written by Jessica Mitford*, appeared in The Atlantic Monthly in 1970, and because we live in the future, you can just click through and read it right now. Snippet from Wikipedia: “Several of the Guiding Faculty attempted to defend the school’s practices, with Faith Baldwin saying ‘Oh, that’s just one of those things about advertising…. Anyone with common sense would know that the fifteen of us are much too busy to read the manuscripts the students send in.’” Yes—how silly that anyone would assume that the writers on staff would READ the manuscripts the students send in.

Man, I don’t know about you, but I’m dying to get my hands on a copy of this aptitude test.

————————————————————

*Mitford also wrote an expose on the funeral industry—which I haven’t read, but sounds fantastic—called The American Way of Death.

On the site, you will find 8 stories in their entirety, available both as regular web pages and in a downloadable ebook sampler (currently available in epub and pdf format, with additional formats forthcoming from the Baen Webscriptions store). There will also be 36 different author interviews with the contributors. They’re scheduled to appear daily, starting today, with the final one scheduled to run on Oct. 4. And last, but not least, you can also read the introduction and the header notes to each story in the anthology. (Okay, maybe that IS least!)

The anthology features all-new, original stories by zombie masters Robert Kirkman, Max Brooks, David Wellington, Brian Keene, Jonathan Maberry, Carrie Ryan, John Skipp, and Mira Grant, for a grand total of FORTY-FOUR STORIES. This includes a mix of originals (27) and reprints (17) (none of which have ever appeared in a zombie anthology before).

The free stories, which you can find here, are:

• The Skull-Faced City — David Barr Kirtley
• And the Next, and the Next — Genevieve Valentine
• Flotsam & Jetsam — Carrie Ryan
• Mouja — Matt London
• Who We Used to Be — David Moody
• The Days of Flaming Motorcycles — Catherynne M. Valente
• Obedience — Brenna Yovanoff
• Rural Dead — Bret Hammond

Advertising Manager and/or Advertising Representatives

Necessary skills: The ability to contact and facilitate the purchasing of advertising space by 3rd parties for the Lightspeed Magazine website.
Duties: Maintain the advertising network tools, add new ads, remove old ones, and respond to advertiser questions.
Benefits: Commission-based. Inquire further.

If interested, contact publisher Sean Wallace at sean@lightspeedmagazine.com.

HARLAN ELLISON
- Tuesday, August 17 2010 12:43:42

ADAM-TROY CASTRO’s NEW STORY —-

Remarkable. And in the purest intensity of the word: powerful.

You may quote me.

In any year in which “The Best” stories in this genre are selected, Adam’s “Arvies” would be a certainty for adulation.

I, in truth, read it three times, straight through.

This is a grand talent operating at top-point efficiency. Even to spend an evening with intelligent friends discusssing the underlying moralities and categorical imperatives of this deeply wrought story, is to spend an evening letting creativity lave your intellect.

I understand it will appear in LIGHTSPEED Magazine, of which I know not; but Adam-Troy should be in my wake here, somewhere, giving you the info where to get this special narrative.

Yr. Pal, Harlan

If you also know not of Lightspeed Magazine, the homepage is www.lightspeedmagazine.com, and you can find “Arvies” here.

Obviously, hearing that an author as influential and distinguished as Harlan Ellison loves a story you’ve published is an incredible honor and hugely flattering. But that the praise for this—shall we say…dangerous—story is coming from Harlan Ellison, editor of what is quite probably the most important anthology in the history of science fiction—Dangerous Visions—well, in that case, it goes quite a bit beyond that.

Friday 6:00 PM, Salon F: Panel

The Bonus DVD in Literature.  John Joseph Adams, Jim Freund (M), Marty Halpern, Robert V. S. Redick, Sarah Smith.

Brandon Sanderson has posted “author commentary” on a chapter-by-chapter basis for all of his major fantasy novels. Steven Hall wrote “un-chapters” for every chapter of his published book _The Raw Shark Texts_ and has scattered them in the world and online. And Catherynne Valente recorded audio “author’s commentary” for several chapters of her online YA novel _The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making_. How does the presence of authoritative commentary change the reading dynamic? Does it affect the sense of closure and satisfaction that is conventionally experienced when we reach the end of a story? Will a proliferation of such bonus material create more
informed readers, or simply ones less willing to work to understand a story? And how does the idea of a “published work” change when different readers may have experienced less or more of it, depending on how much bonus content they have experienced?

Saturday 11:00 AM, ME/ CT: Panel

The New and Improved Future of Magazines (Part 2).  John Joseph Adams, John Benson, Leah Bobet, Robert Killheffer (L), Sean Wallace.

After last year’s “The Future of Magazines” panels, participant K. Tempest Bradford wrote: “The magazines and anthologies that I love tend to have editors who have taken the time to examine themselves or their culture, to expend their knowledge of other people and ways of being, to open their minds. These magazines and anthologies contain far more stories I want to read by authors of many varied backgrounds. As I said, it’s not fully about print vs. online, it’s about better magazines and books.” This time, creators and proponents of both print and online magazines collaborate on determining ways that any genre magazine can create a brighter and better-read future for itself, using Bradford’s comment as a launching point.

Saturday 12:00 Noon, Vinyard: Kaffeeklatsch

You can nominate up to 5 works in each of the following categories:

Life Achievement, Novel, Novella (10,000 – 40,000 words), Short Fiction (under 10,000 words), Anthology, Collection, Artist, Special Award: Professional, and Special Award: Non-Professional. See the World Fantasy Awards page for more information.

Paper ballots must be postmarked by June 30, 2010, or else you can email your ballot to awards administrator Rodger Turner at rturner [at] arctera [dot] com.

Here’s a list of works I edited that are eligible in the various categories.

Novella

John Langan: “The Wide, Carnivorous Sky” (By Blood We Live)
Rob Rogers: “The Adventure of the Pirates of Devil’s Cape” (The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)

Short Fiction

Sergei Lukyanenko: “Foxtrot at High Noon” (By Blood We Live)

Special Award: Professional

John Joseph Adams (for editing)

ROCKVILLE, MD, JUNE 1 — Lightspeed (www.lightspeedmagazine.com), the new online science fiction magazine published by the award-winning independent press Prime Books, launches today with the publication of “I’m Alive, I Love You, I’ll See You in Reno” by Vylar Kaftan.

Lightspeed is edited by John Joseph Adams (Fiction Editor), the bestselling editor of anthologies such as Wastelands and The Living Dead, and Andrea Kail (Nonfiction Editor), a writer, critic, and television producer who worked for thirteen years on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

Lightspeed’s focus is exclusively on science fiction. It features all types of sf, from near-future, sociological soft sf, to far-future, star-spanning hard sf, and anything and everything in between. No subject is considered off-limits, and Lightspeed writers are encouraged to take chances with their fiction and push the envelope.

Each month at Lightspeed, you will find a mix of original and reprint fiction, and featuring a variety of authors—from the bestsellers and award-winners you already know to the best new voices you haven’t heard of yet. When you read Lightspeed, it is our hope that you’ll see where science fiction comes from, where it is now, and where it’s going.

Lightspeed also features a variety of nonfiction features, fiction podcasts, and Q&As with our authors that go behind-the-scenes of their stories.

Lightspeed’s regular publication schedule each month includes two pieces of original fiction and two fiction reprints, along with four nonfiction articles. Fiction posts on Tuesdays, nonfiction on Thursdays. Additionally, award-winning audiobook producer Stefan Rudnicki, will be producing the Lightspeed Magazine story podcast, which will feature audio adaptations of two Lightspeed stories every month.

Lightspeed’s debut issue features four all-new, never-before-published stories: from newcomer Vylar Kaftan, an interstellar love story dealing with the perils of communication and time-dilation; from bestselling, award-winning author Jack McDevitt, a tale about Earth’s moon and the mysteries it might still possess; from David Barr Kirtley, an adventure of a young catman who must face the last of the dogmen and something else entirely unexpected; and from bestselling author Carrie Vaughn, a cautionary tale of the near future that shows some of the extremes we might be pushed to if we don’t start implementing now the seeds for a sustainable future.

Additional features include an article about relativity and the speed of light by astronomer/author Mike Brotherton; a list of the top ten reasons why genetically-engineered animals won’t make good pets by humorist Carol Pinchefsky; a profile of astronaut Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, by Genevieve Valentine; and a primer for sustainable living by ecologist Amanda Rose Levy.

As a special feature of the debut issue, in conjunction with the popular podcasts Escape Pod and Hugo Award nominee Starship Sofa, Lightspeed will present two bonus podcasts: “I’m Alive, I Love You, I’ll See You in Reno” by Vylar Kaftan will appear on Escape Pod on June 1 and “Cats in Victory” by David Barr Kirtley will appear on Starship Sofa on June 15. This is in addition to the Lightspeed Magazine story podcast’s offerings, which will present “The Cassandra Project” by Jack McDevitt and “Amaryllis” by Carrie Vaughn.

Future issues of Lightspeed will include fiction by the likes of George R. R. Martin, Joe Haldeman, Ursula K. Le Guin, Carol Emshwiller, Catherynne M. Valene, Tobias S. Buckell, Tananarive Due, Yoon Ha Lee, Cat Rambo, and Adam-Troy Castro, as well as from newcomers such as Genevieve Valentine, Alice Sola Kim, David Tallerman, John R. Fultz, and Corey Joshua Mariani.

Lightspeed held a launch event at the science fiction convention Wiscon, in Madison, WI on Memorial Day weekend. Limited edition Lightspeed Magazine samplers in digest magazine format were made available for free to all members of the convention. This special hardcopy edition of Lightspeed features “I’m Alive, I Love You, I’ll See You in Reno” by Vylar Kaftan, “Is There Anybody Out There That Wants to Go Fast” by Mike Brotherton, “Amaryllis” by Carrie Vaughn, and an Author Spotlight on Carrie Vaughn. The launch event included readings from Vylar Kaftan, Alice Sola Kim, Cat Rambo, and Genevieve Valentine.

About John Joseph Adams (Fiction Editor)

John Joseph Adams (www.johnjosephadams.com) is the bestselling editor of many anthologies, such as Wastelands, The Living Dead (a World Fantasy Award finalist), By Blood We Live, Federations, and The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Barnes & Noble.com named him “the reigning king of the anthology world,” and his books have been named to numerous best of the year lists. Prior to taking on the role of fiction editor of Lightspeed, John worked for nearly nine years in the editorial department of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. In addition to his editorial work, John is also the co-host of Tor.com’s Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast.

About Andrea Kail (Nonfiction Editor)

Andrea Kail (www.andreakail.com) is a graduate of the Dramatic Writing Program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and has spent the last two decades working from one end of New York’s television spectrum to the other: HBO, MTV, A&E, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, as well as thirteen years at NBC’s Emmy Award-winning Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Her fiction has appeared in Fantasy Magazine, and her novella, “The Sun God at Dawn, Rising from a Lotus Blossom,” was a first-place winner in the Writers of the Future contest and appeared in Writers of the Future Vol. XXIII. Since 2005, Andrea has also been writing lively film criticism for such venues as Paradox Magazine and CinemaSpy.

About Stefan Rudnicki (Audio Editor)

Stefan Rudnicki is an independent director, producer, narrator, and publisher of audiobooks. He has received more than a dozen Audie Awards from the Audio Publishers Association, a Ray Bradbury Award, a Bram Stoker Award, and a GRAMMY Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for The Children’s Shakespeare. Outside of the audiobook industry, he’s probably best known for the dozen books he’s written or edited, from actor’s resource anthologies to a best-selling adaptation of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. He is also president of Skyboat Road Company, Inc. (www.skyboatroad.com), the most respected independent audio production team on the West Coast.

About Prime Books

Prime Books (www.prime-books.com), edited and published by Hugo Award-nominee and World Fantasy Award-winner Sean Wallace, is an award-winning independent publishing house specializing in a mix of anthologies, collections, novels, and magazines. Some of its established and new authors/editors include John Joseph Adams, KJ Bishop, Philip K. Dick, Theodora Goss, Rich Horton, Nick Mamatas, Sarah Monette, Holly Phillips, Tim Pratt, Ekaterina Sedia, Catherynne M. Valente, and Jeff VanderMeer.

Contacts

Sean Wallace, publisher, sean@lightspeedmagazine.com
John Joseph Adams, fiction editor, john@lightspeedmagazine.com
Andrea Kail, non-fiction editor, andrea@lightspeedmagazine.com

Lightspeed’s complete posting schedule for June 2010 follows:

June 1

Fiction: “I’m Alive, I Love You, I’ll See You in Reno” by Vylar Kaftan
Author Spotlight: Vylar Kaftan
Podcast: “I’m Alive, I Love You, I’ll See You in Reno” by Vylar Kaftan (on Escape Pod)
Editorial by John Joseph Adams

June 3

Nonfiction: “Is There Anybody Out There That Wants to Go Fast” by Mike Brotherton

June 8

Fiction: “The Cassandra Project” by Jack McDevitt
Author Spotlight: Jack McDevitt
Podcast: “The Cassandra Project” by Jack McDevitt, narrated by Stefan Rudnicki

June 10

Nonfiction: “The High Untresspassed Sanctity of Space: Seven True Stories about Eugene Cernan” by Genevieve Valentine

June 15

Fiction: “Cats in Victory” by David Barr Kirtley
Author Spotlight: David Barr Kirtley
Podcast: “Cats in Victory” by David Barr Kirtley (on Starship Sofa)

June 17

Nonfiction: “Top Ten Reasons Why Uplifted Animals Don’t Make Good Pets” by Carol Pinchefsky

June 22

Fiction: “Amaryllis” by Carrie Vaughn
Author Spotlight: Carrie Vaughn
Podcast: “Amaryllis” by Carrie Vaughn, narrated by Stefan Rudnicki

June 24

Nonfiction: “Every Step We Take” by Amanda Rose Levy

Here’s my programming slate:

Apocalypse Jeopardy: Fiddling While the Sun Burns Out
Fri, 4:00–5:15 pm – Senate A

Jesse the K (M), John Joseph Adams, Erin Cashier, J J Pionke

Do you prefer ice or fire? Home–front or front–line? Famine or war? Zombies or aliens? If you can answer these important questions, you’re ready to play Apocalypse Jeopardy! Come on down for the lead up, the bangs and whimpers, and the slow crawl back to civilization.

A Field Guide to Editors
Sat, 2:30–3:45 pm – Conference 4

Patrick Rothfuss (M), John Joseph Adams, Kelly McCullough, John O’Neill, Deb Taber

Most stories, books, and articles we read are edited, but how many of us know what an editor actually does? Our crack panel of editors will explain the ABCs, then regale us with tales wond’rous and awful from their careers.

Lightspeed Magazine Launch Event
Sat, 10:30–11:45 pm – Conference 2

John Joseph Adams, Vylar Kaftan, Alice Sola Kim, Cat T. Rambo, Genevieve Valentine

Join us to celebrate the launch of Lightspeed Magazine (www.lightspeedmagazine.com), a new online science fiction magazine published by Prime Books (publisher of Fantasy Magazine). Lightspeed editors John Joseph Adams and Andrea Kail, along with publisher Sean Wallace, will be on hand to discuss this exciting new venture, and will present readings by the authors.

The Sign Out
Mon, 11:30 am–12:45 pm – Capitol/Wisconsin

Come and sign your works, come and get things signed, come and hang out and wind down before you leave.