UFO3 Cover Art and Kickstarter

January 19, 2014

#SFWAPro

image description

I’m thrilled to share cover art and the line-up of headliners for UFO3 with the world today! Although not yet listed on the cover mockup, NYT bestselling author David Farland just joined the list of headliners earlier this week. We’ll add his name on there shortly!

The Kickstarter campaign for the book launched today, with many lofty goals. I appreciate the help of anyone able to pledge, but even if you can’t spend the extra dough, please help by letting as many new people know about the UFO books as possible!

Click here to visit the Kickstarter page.

 

 

2 Comments | Publishing | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

New Publication: Bedtime Story on Christmas Eve, 1,000,000 AD in Spark IV

January 17, 2014

spark

My humorous flash “Bedtime Story on Christmas Eve, 1,000,000 AD” appears in the current volume of Spark: A Creative Anthology.

In addition to my humble story and the great cover art, this volume is packed to the gills with amazing speculative fiction, including stories from my friends and fellow Codexians  like Brad Torgersen, Alex Kane, Annie Bellet, Erica Satifka, Alexis Hunter, Anna Yeatts, and Michael Hodges. And, to put the icing on the cake, the foreword is by Kevin J. Anderson.

A large percentage of my stories are published in online zines and can be read for free. In this case, you’ll have to actually buy the book. But you can get a nice discount — 35% off, until January 31, if you use a coupon code SHVARTSMAN-FRIENDS.

So there. Don’t say I never gave you anything.

Seriously though, editor Brian Lewis has produced a really nice-looking book, and you would do well to support Spark by picking up a copy if you can spare a few bucks.

In other news, I’m thrilled to have made my third sale to Mike Resnick’s Galaxy’s Edge magazine. After a tough-but-necessary rewrite, Mike accepted “Fate and Other Variables” — a story of a hacker and a kabbalist teaming up to alter what’s written in the metaphysical Book of Fate. What can possibly go wrong?

I’m very excited to share this story with the world, but there is no release date yet. Should be sometime this year, but likely after another story of mine (“Doubt”) sees the light of day at GE.

 

Comments Off on New Publication: Bedtime Story on Christmas Eve, 1,000,000 AD in Spark IV | Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

2013 Year In Review

January 1, 2014

Another year has come and gone — almost too quickly. It wasn’t as much of a spectacular writing-accomplishments year for me as 2012 was, but it was pretty darn good anyway.

I luuuurve me some data to crunch, so I continue the annual tradition of sharing my submission info with the world. First, I’d like to address my 2013 resolutions, which were definitely a mixed bag:

* Complete at least one novel and begin shopping it around to agents/publishers

Failed that one miserably. I have approximately 20,000 words written on the novel so far, and keep distracting myself with short stories. Definitely must get this done in ’14.

* Continue to participate in the Write1Sub1 initiative and write at least one new short story per month.

Blew that one out of the water by completing two short stories per month instead.

* Translate into English at least two SF/F short stories by Russian authors

Translated one short story (The Ferryman by Siarhey Bulyha) and am shopping it around.

* Attend at least one major SF con (something like WorldCon or World Fantasy) and a few smaller ones

WorldCon accomplished:

Ken's Hugo receives the George R.R. Martin seal of approval.

Ken’s Hugo receives the George R.R. Martin seal of approval.

I also got to attend LunaCon, BaltiCon, CapClave and PhilCon, and will likely be back to all or most of these next year. I  already registered for next year’s WorldCon in London.

And now, to the good stuff:

Short stories written in 2013: 24

This is not counting a handful of stories I started but didn’t complete for some reason. Totaling approximately 65,000 words. 11 of these have already been sold. One I felt wasn’t quite good enough to submit. The rest are out to markets.

Number of Submissions sent out (including reprints, foreign rights, podcasts, translation, etc.): 224

Number of Acceptances (includes stories submitted in 2012 but accepted in 2013):  39

Lost/Withdrawn: 2

Currently on Submission: 18 (with 3 more waiting for specific markets to open in January)

Rejections: 168

$ Earned from Short Fiction Sales: $1850

This is calculated based on what I’ve been paid for in 2013 (i.e. a bunch of stories from 2012, and a bunch of recent sales haven’t been paid for yet).

Non-Reprint Sales: 19

Pro Rates ($0.05+ per word) 13

Semi-Pro Rates ($0.01 – $0.04 per word) 5

Token payment: 0 (the only token market I even bother to occasionally submit to anymore is Every Day Fiction)

Royalty-only: 1 (A story I wrote for an anthology edited by a friend)

I also edited and published two anthologies: Unidentified Funny Objects 2 and Coffee. and began working on at least two more for 2014.

Overall it was a solid year, and I look forward to do more of the same in 2014. I do hope to get my first novel finished (and maybe even a second one if I can find a way to switch to novel mode). Otherwise, my major goal is to break into more of the top short fiction markets that haven’t yet published me.  And, most importantly, continue to have a great time being a part of SF/F fandom.

#SFWApro

 

 

Comments Off on 2013 Year In Review | Craft of Writing | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

My Top 5 2013 Blog Posts

December 31, 2013

I’ve been moderately good about updating the blog this year — lots of publication and story sale news, but also an occasional interesting post about other things. As the year winds down, I went over my blog posts of 2013 and picked out my favorites. That is, the five favorite entries that I wrote, not the 5 best I read on the Internet

#SFWAPro

#5: It Came from the Slush Pile

I was posting regular slush updates during the UFO2 reading period, and at some point came up with the following bit of wisdom:  “This doesn’t mean that you can’t sell us a zombie reality TV story about a road trip in space. But it won’t be easy.” I suppose I shouldn’t have been at all surprised to find a flash story that used all those tropes in my inbox shortly thereafter! I couldn’t include it in UFO2, but I offered the author, Rachel Winchester, an opportunity to publish it on my blog (and paid her for it. You all know how I feel about 4-the-luv markets by now).

#4: Getting Short Fiction Published

I’m kind of cheating here. This was linked from my blog, but actually posted at SF Signal. They interviewed me about all sorts of submission-related things, including what kind of bribes I accept (for the record: coffee, chocolate, and flattery.) The interview came out really well and is easily one of my favorite blog posts this year. I would also like to give a shout-out to SF Signal, who don’t only provide an amazing service to the SF/F community, but have been incredibly generous and helpful to me as a publisher, in promoting UFO books.

#3: Hijacking the Space Marines

There was an outcry earlier this year about Games Workshop bullying indie author M.C.A. Hogarth over the use of the term “space marine.” They claimed ownership of it as part of their miniatures game, despite the term enjoying a healthy and consistent usage in a variety of science fiction stories that predate their company. Fortunately mine was but one voice of many, M.C.A.’s books were restored on Amazon, and GW hasn’t taken any action against her, to my knowledge.

#2: How I Spent My WorldCon: An Illustrated Report

A lengthy post about what it was like to attend my very first WorldCon, and to go on stage to pick up Ken Liu’s Hugo. With pictures!

#1: 5 Practical Tips on Writing Humor

Once again, I leave my own blog to find my favorite article of 2013. I wrote this as a guest-post for the Dark Cargo blog, and was very pleased with the result. There are precious few articles that deal with humor writing in any sort of practical way (since it is even more difficult to try and teach someone to be funny than it is to teach someone to be a good writer), but I hope that my advice will be of some use to those interested in writing humorous SF/F in particular.

2 Comments | Craft of Writing | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Paying Back, 2013 Edition

December 26, 2013

Every year, I spent a bit of money I’ve earned from my fiction on supporting worthy writing-related web sites and magazines, be it via subscription or donations. In the past, I made most of these purchases in December, but this year I ended up spreading it out more throughout the year because of so many worthy Kickstarter projects I simply had to support. Even so, there are two in particular that I supported this month that I’d like to draw attention to in this post:

Crossed Genres

This is a quality magazine that is extremely supportive of diverse voices as well as new authors. They began to pay professional rates at the beginning of 2013, and are now holding a subscription drive in order to continue to publish and to pay writers fairly in 2014.  I was one of over 300 people who already bought a subscription, but they aren’t there yet — they need 600 subscriptions total to fully fund, and the subscription drives ends December 31.  Click here for more details.

 

The Submission Grinder

There is a fine balance between supporting the writing-related services you love, and becoming an over-charged customer. When Duotrope became a paid service at the rate of $50+ a year, I could not justify paying that much for what they offered. I was happy to donate $20 per year in previous years because it was a) voluntary and b) more along the lines of what I felt comfortable spending on a service where most of the value is added by its users Wiki-style to begin with.

Fortunately, the fine folks at Diabolical Plots have stepped in and created an excellent alternative service called The Grinder, which they are committed to keeping free for everyone.

While the Grinder is new and does not yet have the volume of users of Duotrope (they are growing fast, though!) — a much greater percentage of their users are neo-pro SF/F writers, and so the data for the markets that interest me is generally as reliable or more reliable than Duotrope, even with less people reporting.  They are constantly updating the site, introducing new and innovative features, and they’re extremely open to feedback. All in all, I am very thankful for the service they have provided to the SF/F writing community this year, and I encourage those of you who can afford it to kick in a few bucks and those who cannot to support them by uploading your submissions data, therefore improving the accuracy of their database.

 

Whether you choose to support these two venues or someone else (and there is no shortage of worthy candidates!) please consider spending a few extra dollars with venues that provide you with free, quality services year-around.  Your help will keep them going and available for you and for many other users who may not be fortunate enough to have the disposable income for this.

And while I’m updating the blog, also check out my story Nuclear Family, podcast by the wonderful folks at the Cast of Wonders.

NuclearFamily

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

#SFWApro

 

 

Comments Off on Paying Back, 2013 Edition | Acceptances & Publications, Craft of Writing | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Getting Short Fiction Published & a Coffee Giveaway

December 20, 2013

Coffee_Cover_v1r2

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: , , , , , , | 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: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

New Publication: An Indelible Feast (aka the Kosher Pig story) at Stupefying Stories Showcase

November 15, 2013

I don’t remember exactly how it came about, but one day I got it into my head that I should write a kosher pig story. Challenge accepted! From this silly notion, “An Indelible Feast” was born.

I’m a foodie. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, and I don’t party — but I love a good meal. So it was only natural for me to write a story laden with foodie references.  Ferran Adria is a real chef, by the way. I guess he better open a fancy molecular gastronomy restaurant by 2015, or my story will become dated!

Read the story here:

Stupefying Stories Showcase #10

Some other exciting news to report:

Mike Resnick accepted my cybernetic-assassin-who-can’t-feel-pain story “Doubt” for an upcoming issue of Galaxy’s Edge magazine.

“Coffee in End Times,” a story I co-wrote with Alvaro Zinos-Amaro was accepted at Nature and will run sometime in early 2014.

“The Keepsake Box” was accepted at Daily Science Fiction and will also likely appear in early 2014 (though their schedule varies).

My volume of sales is likely to slow down a lot in the near future, as I concentrate on the novel instead of pumping out more short stories and I will miss it terribly. Because receiving that acceptance in my inbox never gets old!

#SFWApro

 

Comments Off on New Publication: An Indelible Feast (aka the Kosher Pig story) at Stupefying Stories Showcase | Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

PhilCon 2013 Schedule

November 5, 2013

I’ll be at PhilCon this weekend, participating on a variety of panels. I’ll also have a reading and a signing. This is my schedule:

#SFWAPro

    • Fri 7:00 PM in Crystal Ballroom Three—“Ender’s Game”: The Book versus The Movie (1504)Just one week before Philcon 2013, Hollywood finally released a film version of the classic SF novel “Ender’s Game”. How did the movie differ from the book. Were the changes necessary, or did they change the tone and theme of the story? Did they do it right?

Andrew C. Murphy (mod), Andrew Breslin, Alex Shvartsman, Tim Souder

    • Sat 11:00 AM in Autograph Table—Autograph: Neil Clarke, Alex Shvartsman (1671)

Neil Clarke (mod), Alex Shvartsman

    • Sat 1:00 PM in Plaza III (Three)—Editing Anthologies: Beyond the Gimmick (1499)Anthologies are often sold on the basis of a gimmick or concept that connects the stories, such as “Killer Rutabagas from Space”. How do you get beyond the gimmick to a work of substance?

Elektra Hammond (mod), Brian Koscienski, Alex Shvartsman, Keith R.A. DeCandido

    • Sat 6:00 PM in Crystal Ballroom Two—Becoming a Full Time Writer (1496)How do you become a full time writer? Is that a good idea for you?

Alyce Wilson (mod), Alex Shvartsman, David Sklar, D.L. Carter, Thomas Willeford

    • Sun 11:00 AM in Executive Suite 623—Reading: Alex Shvartsman (1664)

Alex Shvartsman (mod)

    • Sun 2:00 PM in Crystal Ballroom Two—Meet the Editors Panel (1535)Magazine and book editors discuss the current fiction markets.

Marvin Kaye (mod), Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Alex Shvartsman, Ian Randal Strock, Neal Levin, April Grey

 

Comments Off on PhilCon 2013 Schedule | Event Appearances | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

New Publication: In the Wake of the Storm

October 22, 2013

This October is flying by faster than any month has a right to.  I’ve been incredibly swamped with a variety of projects, but wanted to pop in and post a quick update.

New Publications:

“In the Wake of the Storm” is live today at BuzzyMag.com

This is a modern fantasy story about the aftermath of super-storm Sandy in NYC.  The opening scene was inspired by my own experience helping my stepfather deal with the flood damage while trying to get around in the borough deprived of electricity and gasoline.  This is the actual photo I took inside of his house:

Water surge flooded most basements or even ground floors in Rockaway. The high-water line in this photo is at nearly six feet.

Water surge flooded most basements or even ground floors in Rockaway. The high-water line in this photo is at nearly six feet.

I loved playing with the voice and tone of this story, but the best part was that publishers at Buzzy were kind enough to schedule it to go live just before the one year anniversary of Sandy! I hope it will be well-received.

#SFWApro“A Man in an Angel Costume” is live at Horror d’oeuvres.

This one is behind a pay wall but may be well worth for horror fans, as they provide lots of content including a weekly flash story. I read a handful and enjoyed most of them, even though I am not typically a horror reader.

“A Man in an Angel Costume” is one of my oldest stories that haven’t sold previously. But I never gave up on it — I love the prose poetry opening that transitions into a more traditional narrative as the story develops. Some editors really hated this format while for others it came very close, but I never gave up and kept submitting it, until the story found a right home.

New Sales

If I had to choose one signature story to represent my writing, I would definitely go with “Explaining Cthulhu to Grandma,” a humor fantasy piece about a magic pawn shop which was published at InterGalactic Medicine Show earlier this year. I’m extraordinarily pleased that IGMS also picked up its sequel, “High-Tech Fairies and the Pandora Perplexity.” It will appear in an upcoming issue, though I don’t have the exact time frame yet.

There are also a handful of reprint sales (two instances of markets taking three reprint stories each!) One is a printed magazine and another a mobile platform. I will be able to talk more about both sometime in the near future, but I’m glad to find more ways to share my stories with readers.

Conventions

I had a wonderful time at CapClave and hope to return next year. My next convention will be PhilCon in November and I will post my panel schedule once I have it.

Unidentified Funny Objects 2

The book launched on October 7 and the sales are solid. In fact, we’ve sold more copies of UFO2 so far than we did copies of UFO1 in its first month! So definitely moving in the right direction.

Coffee

I’m woefully behind on this project, but the good news is that the stories have been copy-edited and should go out to book designers for e-book and physical layout later this week. It’ll be really tough to meet the November goal, but I still expect to have them out to all Kickstarter backers before Christmas.

Dark Expanse

This project is chugging along on schedule, and the anthology should release in the first quarter of 2014.

Unidentified Funny Objects 3

I am already laying some groundwork for the third volume of the series, such as inviting headliners, lining up a cover artist, etc. So far I have two stories in already from two Big Name authors. But I won’t tell you more until I’m ready to make an official announcement, because I am mean and I like to tease people.

 

And that’s all the updates I have for now. Back to the pixel mines for me!

Comments Off on New Publication: In the Wake of the Storm | Acceptances & Publications, Publishing | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »