coffee | Alex Shvartsman's Speculative Fiction

Getting Short Fiction Published & a Coffee Giveaway

December 20, 2013

I was recently interviewed at SF Signal on the subject of getting one’s short fiction published. Really, the answer is very simple and straightforward: write a good story and keep submitting it until it sells somewhere. But if you want a more elaborate version full of snark, or to learn what sort of bribes I accept, or to see me slam non-paying markets (again), then go ahead and click that link!

And speaking of getting short fiction published, I recently sold a humor flash “Bedtime Story on Christmas Eve, 1,000,000 AD” to Spark: A Creative Anthology and it will appear in the next issue., which launches on January 1 and features a foreword by Kevin J. Anderson.

A reprint of “Life at the Lake’s Shore” will appear in an upcoming “Outpouring: Typhoon Yolanda Relief Anthology,” a charity projected edited by Dean Francis Alfar. No link yet, but I will post one as soon as it’s available.

Not much else to report on the acceptances front at this time, but then things do tend to slow down around the holidays.

Meantime, I’ve been laboring away on Unidentified Funny Objects 3. I’m very happy to report that I already have three stories from three huge names in SF/F, and a fourth story in final edits. I have a really cool cover, too. Expect more information on this in January. A number of folks asked about the next submission period: we will have one in the Spring, most likely in March. I am absolutely committed to keeping each volume of the UFO series open to subs from the public alongside the stories solicited from the top pros.

Meantime, there are a few days left to enter the giveaway for a signed paperback copy of COFFEE: 14 Caffeinated Tales of the Fantastic. Over 700 people already entered this giveaway, but it’s free to enter, so why not give it a shot? Just click here to participate.

#SFWApro

Comments Off on Getting Short Fiction Published & a Coffee Giveaway | Acceptances & Publications, Craft of Writing, Publishing | Tagged: acceptances, anthology, coffee, giveaway, rejections, Submissions, UFO | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Your Coffee is Ready!

December 4, 2013

#SFWApro

Each time a new book is released into the world is a little bit like a birthday. Today I had the pleasure of e-mailing the COFFEE e-books to our Kickstarter backers, and folks who were kind enough to pre-order them. Tomorrow I expect to spend much of my day packing physical copies. I’m very excited about this book, and can’t wait to share the end result with the world.

For those of you who didn’t back Coffee on Kickstarter (and why not, I ask?!), you can order your very own copies at UFO Publishing Buy Our Books page. It’s only three bucks for an e-book, which is cheaper than an actual cup of coffee, if you like yours Venti or Grande.

And if you do not already own copies of UFO1 or UFO2 (and why not, I ask again?!), we have a Holiday Bundle special where you can get all three physical books for $30 or all three e-books for $12. Follow that same link to take advantage of it. The special will only last until December 9th.

And if you absolutely must get it on Amazon, here’s the link to the paperback. E-books should be popping up on Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and Smashwords by the weekend.

Remember: books make great holiday presents!

OK, I’m done with the hard sell now. Really.

2 Comments | Publishing | Tagged: anthology, coffee, fantasy, promotion, release, sale, science fiction | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Status Update: UFO2 and Coffee anthologies

August 8, 2013

#SFWAPro

Figured I’d post a quick report on how the two anthologies I’m currently editing are coming along.

UFO2 is nearly done. The digital ARC has gone out to authors. They have until the 10th to review their stories and request changes. Our proofreader is going over the text as well. There are numerous small fixes that need to be made. By mid-month, the ARC should be available to reviewers and Kickstarter supporters for whom early access was one of the rewards.

Arnie Swekel is working on the cover and should turn it in before the end of the month. Once we have it, the book is off to the printer and I’ll be able to announce the release date. The ebook files are being currently worked on as well.

Meanwhile, I’m still reading submissions for COFFEE, both originals and reprints.

As of today I have accepted 6 stories (4 reprints and 2 originals) totaling just under 15,000 words of fiction.

There are 18 more stories being held for consideration, totaling 43,000 words.

The book will total approximately 40,000 words (it will be smaller. but also cheaper, than one of the UFO anthologies). So even if we were to close to submissions today, I wouldn’t be able to accept every story I liked, and more are arriving at a clip of 5-8 per day. This is actually a very light load, compared to UFO, because the theme of this book is so narrow. I’m enjoying not getting buried under the slush pile and responding to most submissions in under 24 hours. As of right now, all submissions received prior to 6pm today have been responded to. This also means if you haven’t heard back from me, please query!

I will be out of town attending WorldCon when the submissions close, so it may take me a few days to read/catch up on everything when I get back. Still, I expect to make all final decisions in early September and have this book out in November.

And now, back to the previously scheduled reading of submissions.

Comments Off on Status Update: UFO2 and Coffee anthologies | Publishing | Tagged: coffee, slush, Submissions, UFO2 | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Good News Galore

July 15, 2013

So many good news to report lately, so little time to blog. I’m going to use this post to catch up:

* “A Gnomish Gift” was published in issue 361 of Weird Tales, out this week. Weird Tales has been around for approximately ever, and has published the likes of Howard and Bradbury, so appearing on their pages is a special treat for me. Having cool original artwork drawn for my story (love the angry little gnome!) and sharing the TOC with the likes of Peter S. Beagle and Tanith Lee? That’s just a bonus:

* Sold “Worldbuilding” to Daily Science Fiction.

“Worldbuilding” is a tongue-in-cheek flash story that makes fun of the common SF tropes. Daily SF is a great home for it, and it will be my sixth story appearing under the DSF rocket.

* “A Shard Glows in Brooklyn” will be reprinted two more times. In September it will appear in an e-book anthology Urban Harvest: Tales of the Paranormal in NYC edited by Donna Ansari. This is a charity project and all proceeds will be donated to City Harvest. This same story is also going to appear in the Write1Sub1 anthology, whenever that ends up getting put together.

* The Coffee anthology reached its initial funding goal on Kickstarter! There is approximately a week left in the campaign, and any additional contributions will help me buy more original fictions at professional rates. If we reach $2000, a cool final stretch goal will be unlocked!

* In related news, The Coffee anthology is open to both reprint and original submissions. I am getting a steady stream of stories and responding promptly, so send something while there isn’t a long queue 🙂

* UFO2 is off to the designer. I hope to have ARCs ready by the end of the month.

* Beyond the Sun anthology is off to the printer and should be shipping in August.

* I return to the DJ Grandpa podcast this week and we talk about Coffee, anthologies, and the challenges of crowdfunding. DJ Grandpa is one of the best–if not the best–crowdfunding podcast around. Be sure to check it out!

* There’s a new book store opening up in NYC (in Astoria, Queens to be precise), specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and mysteries. The owners want to build it up it as a cool local hangout, where people can not only buy books, but also socialize and participate in fun special events. The soft launch is this coming weekend, and while they’re still working on a web site, you can visit their Facebook page for updates. Local book stores are a rare breed these days, and local stores specializing in genre even more so. So stop by the Enigma Bookstore and help support these brave entrepreneurs!

Well, there you go. It’s been a busy week. I hope to report more good news soon, but for now — back to writing!

2 Comments | Acceptances & Publications, Publishing | Tagged: beyond the sun, City Harvest, coffee, crowdfunding, daily science fiction, DJ Grandpa, Donna Ansari, kickstarter, podcast, UFO, Weird Tales | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Win a copy of the COFFEE anthology!

July 7, 2013

Enter this raffle to win a signed copy of the COFFEE anthology (the book will be shipped anywhere in the world, when it releases in October).

You can accumulate multiple entries by sharing this giveaway on social media and backing the COFFEE Kickstarter campaign. You can earn an extra entry via the Twitter link each day.

#SFWApro

a Rafflecopter giveaway

6 Comments | Publishing | Tagged: anthology, coffee, contest, fiction, giveaway, raffle | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

COFFEE Anthology Update

June 25, 2013

Click here to view the COFFEE anthology campaign on Kickstarter

We had an awesome opening 24 hours, raising 45% of the initial funding goal. Things are bound to slow down after this, but I’m very hopeful that this campaign can reach a total of $2500+ by the end of its 30-day run.

Up to 50% of the money raised between $1000-$1999 will be spent buying original stories, in addition to reprints. (The limit being only the quantity and quality of the stories I might see on submission) — at professional rates.

At $2000 I will announce the super-secret achievement (and I am pretty sure you will really like it!) which will be unlocked at $2500. For now, please spread the word of this project. There are gazillions of coffee fans out there and this book can be huge if we are able to get even a fraction of them aware/involved in th is project.

I am waiting on some contracts and hope to announce the first pair of stories contracted for COFFEE really soon.

#SFWApro

Remember, we’ll open to original story submissions the moment this campaign reaches $1000. So start thinking of a cool (or hot!) coffee story idea!

1 Comment | Publishing | Tagged: anthology, coffee, fantasy, short story, Submissions, tea | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

The COFFEE Anthology Launches, Seeks Submissions & Funding

June 23, 2013

UFO Publishing launches COFFEE: Caffeinated Tales of the Fantastic.

We’re seeking to collect 40-50,000 words of fiction where coffee or tea is an integral part of the plot in some way. For the moment we’re considering reprint stories, but will be able to purchase some original fiction if the anthology is fully funded via Kickstarter.

The Kickstarter campaign launched tonight to help fund this anthology. We’re offering great rewards such as copies of the three released and upcoming UFO Publishing titles (UFO, UFO2, and COFFEE), posters of Maggie McFee’s “Boom” artwork (pictured below), and other cool items.

Please help us by spreading the word of this campaign via social media, and pre-ordering copies for yourself and all the coffee addicts in your life!

#SFWAPro

“Boom” by M. McFee. Get a poster as one of the Kickstarter backer rewards!

1 Comment | Publishing | Tagged: anthology, coffee, fantasy, kickstarter, science fiction, short stories, tea | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

COFFEE Anthology Submission Guidelines

June 17, 2013

I’m moving forward with the COFFEE anthology (See the cool preliminary cover above, designed by Emerson Matsuuchi).

Each story must somehow involve coffee as a major plot element. It’s not enough if an unrelated story is set in a coffee shop. I will also consider a few TEA stories as well. These stories must feature an element of the fantastic (fantasy, SF, light horror). No literary fiction please.

For the moment, I will only consider reprints. If you published a story that you feel might fit the theme, please e-mail it to me at ufopublishing at gmail dot com. Please include information as to where and when it was first published, and confirm that the rights have reverted to you.

Pay: $0.01 per word plus one contributor copy of trade paperback and ebook

Rights: Non-exclusive English worldwide print and electronic publishing rights.

Length: Up to 4000 words. Flash (500-1000 words) especially welcome.

Policies: Simultaneous and multiple submissions are both OK. Since these are reprints, I may take several months to respond as I won’t be holding the stories hostage and away from being considered elsewhere. I will be reading submissions until the book is filled, but no later than until end of summer. I will post a more detailed time frame soon.

There is some possibility that I’ll solicit 0riginal material for this book in the future. However, at the moment please send reprints only.

#SFWApro

7 Comments | Publishing | Tagged: anthology, coffee, fantasy, science fiction, submission guidelines | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

COFFEE: The Anthology

June 10, 2013

I am almost done with the final selection process for UFO2. Over the course of this week, all authors should be notified and those whose stories have been accepted will receive their contracts. Once all the contracts have been signed, I will announce the official table of contents.

While that’s happening, I am contemplating my next anthology idea. Namely, this:

COFFEE: The Caffeinated Stories of the Fantastic

This is not a submissions call as of yet — I am still contemplating the viability and interest in such a book. It would be a collection of speculative short stories in which coffee plays a major role. I would want to collect mostly flash fiction and short-short stories — the sort one can read while sipping a cup of coffee. I would want one or two tea stories as well. Because, as much as the Interwebs love coffee, some of us love tea, too.

I would be looking for reprints for this book: stories that have been already been published elsewhere rather than original material.

So, for now, I want to ask for everyone’s help.

Is this the sort of book you would buy?

Do you know of any stories that would be a good fit for such a book? If so, please post the link or any information you have about the story/stories in the comments below.

If you’re an author of a story that might be a good fit, you can send it to me at ufopublishing at gmail dot com. I want to stress again that this is not a submission call yet, I’m just exploring the possibility, and that I’m looking for reprints of speculative (fantasy, SF, mild horror) stories only. Published authors would be paid at the reprint rate of $0.01 per word, plus a copy of the book.

Please share whatever other thoughts/ideas you might have about this. They’re much appreciated.

#SFWApro

10 Comments | Publishing | Tagged: anthology, coffee, reprints, Submissions, tea | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman