UFO Can Haz Funny Cartoon

April 19, 2013

I’ve been cheating on this blog with all the other blogs.

While I’ve been egregiously ignoring my blogging duties here, my interviews have popped up at the W1S1 site and Emma Larkin’s blog this week.  I even cavorted with several podcasts, appearing on The Gamer’s Dome (which, incidentally, is what actually lies beyond Thunderdome) and having an awesome disagreement about the merits of Babylon 5 on an episode of the DJ Grandpa podcast which is scheduled to air this coming Monday.

All of this, of course, is in the effort to raise awareness of the ongoing UFO2 Kickstarter campaign. I’m willing to dispense my cheap jokes elsewhere, dance in front of SF conventions wearing a zombear suit, and even allow my my voice to be heard on podcasts, in order to raise awareness of this book. Because it is scientifically proven (aka I read the list of referring links on the Kickstarter page) that doing such things helps bring new backers to the project.

You and I know that the readers of this blog are the smartest, wittiest, and most interesting SF fans anywhere. FDA won’t let me claim this outright as a fact, so I’m insinuating it instead. And now, you have an opportunity to prove it. Click on this link and pledge to the UFO2 Kickstarter campaign.  Not only will you get an awesome collection of humorous short stories, but you will also help prove beyond doubt how awesome you all are. Because I will be able to click on the Dashboard of the Kickstarter account and see how much support is coming from *this site*. And then I will be inclined — nay, morally obligated — to blog a lot more often.

Think about that.

And while you think, I shall leave you with this awesome cartoon, courtesy of writer and illustrator Douglas Sterling:

alien

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

UFO2 Submission Guidelines Are Posted

April 5, 2013

We are going to have an open submission period in May.  SFWA and Codex members have an “early pass” and can submit now. The guidelines are posted here:

UFO Series

There are some changes from the last year’s guidelines, so please read carefully. So far, more than 50% of the handful of submissions we already received either failed to remove the identifying information from their document (annoying, since I have to then do it before forwarding the story to associate editors) or failed to include the info I asked for in the subject line (much less annoying, but still indicates inattention to guidelines), or both!

A minor guideline infraction like that won’t hurt anyone’s chances — after all, the editors who are reading the submission won’t even be aware of it — but it doesn’t mean I can’t complain about it here 🙂

Meanwhile, the Kickstarter campaign is in full swing. We raised $1500 in the first 48 hours and are up to 60 backers as of the writing of this post. Now that we got past the initial rush, the tough slog begins. We must raise an average of $250 per day in order to meet our funding goals. So please consider pre-ordering your copy of UFO2 via Kickstarter sooner, rather than later, and help us spread the word of this project to others:

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

UFO2 Kickstarter is live

April 2, 2013

Unidentified Funny Objects 2 is coming to the bookshelf near you this September!

I already have stories from Robert Silverberg, Mike Resnick and Ken Liu. In addition, Esther Friesner, Jody Lynn Nye, and Tim Pratt agreed to contribute stories to this volume. And we hope to announce several more headliners this month.

Meanwhile, I can really use everyone’s help. Funding a quality anthology is *expensive*. It cost about $15,000 to create and print the original UFO book. I think I can keep these costs down to under $12,000 this time around, but it’s still a lot of money. So I went back to Kickstarter in order to help cover some of these costs. If you enjoyed the first book, or simply think the idea of an annual humor SF/F anthology is a good one and it’s something that should exist in the world, please consider supporting this project on Kickstarter.

Also, please help spread the word. The more money I can raise this month, the more cool stuff I’ll be able to do for this book and for the UFO web site.  I will blog lots more about this project, but for now the text of the Kickstarter campaign should cover most of the basics. Check it out!

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Guest Post: Beyond the Sun by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

September 24, 2012

 

I’m the editor of a Kickstarter anthology project called Beyond The Sun, which has four multi-award winning headliners–Robert Silverberg, Nancy Kress, Mike Resnick and Krisine Kathryn Rusch–and many successful midlist writers as well. Bestselling novelist Jean Johnson, novelist Erin Hoffman, Hugo/Nebula nominee & Analog regular Brad R. Torgersen, Analog regular Jamie Todd Rubin, Interzone regulars Jason Sanford and Matthew Cook, fellow editors Cat Rambo and Jennifer Brozek–do any of these names sound familiar? All of them are attached to write new space colonists stories for this project. The fact that they’re all also friends of mine just makes it better.

I love helping writers. And I’m a big believer that networking matters. And when you have a track record and a good network, you don’t have to wait for opportunity to come to you, you can create it. With NASA downsized and scientific exploration being downplayed, there’s a need for the kind of inspiration those shuttle launches and moon landings once provided. For imagining the world beyond that which we know and the possibilities that exist “out there” somewhere.  Beyond The Sun is an attempt to fill that gap while, at the same time, giving writers work that pays fair rates and allows up and coming writers the opportunity to reach a larger audience both, by appearing alongside big name headliners, and by being involved in something aimed at a larger audience.

Beyond The Sun is not intended to be academic, but it is intended to be academic friendly and family friendly–writers are free to explore a variety of subjects but graphic violence, language and sex should not be employed to do so. Neither should heavy-handed politics or religion. We have stories that touch on both, just not in a prosletyzing manner. For example, Bob Silverberg’s “The Dybbok Of Mazel Tov IV” is about what happens when Jewish settlers, tired of fighing over Israel, instead immigrate to a planet to start a new homeland. When a spirit (Dybbok) appears in a native alien of the planet which speaks with the voice of one of their own, they find themselves asking can aliens be Jews? What does it mean that things their modern sect gave up for old fashioneed have occurred in their midst? It’s an interesting story and the only one in which Silverberg touches on his Jewish heritage.

Mike Resnick’s Africa tales have won numerous awards. And he’s writing a new one for this project. Nancy Kress’ work has explored colonization in many forms, from her Hugo-winning “Beggars Of Spain” to her short stories and she’ll explore it again here. And Kris Rusch’s work is so diverse yet powerful, I can’t wait to see what she comes up with. The easiest part of the project has been recruiting writers. The SFF crew love this concept. It’s a theme everyone loves to explore. The hard part is the Kickstarter, and that’s where you come in.

Because a lot of anthologies today just stick with cover art, we’re hoping to raise money to have interior b&w illustrations, like the one shown for Silverberg’s tale. It adds a visual connection to the story that aids thee imagination for readers and we writers love to see how artists interpret our vision as well. Special art prizes are in the rewards as well because award-winning digital artist Mitchell Bentley has come up with a great cover (currently in mockup.) And I get the chance to nurture and encourage writers, which is what I love, but also to do it around a subject I’m passionate about. I got the chance to do it before with Space Battles, which I edited in 2011 and was published in April 2012 and as a freelance book editor. But I want to do more, so I created the opportunity.

It’s also an opportunity for you to see some great artwork and stories from both established and up and coming artists and writers. And a chance to revisit the part of your childhood and mind that still wants to know what’s out there and longs to see it for yourself one day. Just writing those words gets me excited. I’m hoping many of you feel the same. Thanks for supporting us!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/601968027/beyond-the-sun-anthology

 

Bryan Thomas Schmidt is an author and editor of adult and children’s speculative fiction. His debut novel, The Worker Prince(2011) received Honorable Mention on Barnes & Noble Book Club’s Year’s Best Science Fiction Releases for 2011. A sequel The Returning followed in 2012 and The Exodus will appear in 2013, completing the space opera Saga Of Davi Rhii. His first children’s books, 102 More Hilarious Dinosaur Books For Kids (ebook only) and Abraham Lincoln: Dinosaur Hunter- Lost In A Land Of Legends (forthcoming) appeared from Delabarre Publishing in 2012.  His short stories have appeared in magazines, anthologies and online. He edited the anthology Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales #6 (2012) and is working on World Encounters and Space & Shadows: SpecNoir with coeditor John Helfers, both forthcoming. He hosts #sffwrtcht (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writer’s Chat) Wednesdays at 9 pm ET on Twitter and is an affiliate member of the SFWA.

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Kickstarter Update #4 – Unidentified Funny Objects

August 29, 2012

 

Remember my last blog post? It was all about how the UFO Kickstarter was a little bit behind its curve, and how we were still $1000 short of our funding goal? That was yesterday.

Today, we are fully funded. We broke $5000, then broke $5100 and on our way up, up, up.  I’m thrilled and thankful to nearly 200 people who believed in the project enough to support it at this early stage. I still can’t believe we managed to raise over $1000 in less than 36 hours.

I’m planning on spending some of the money to do Really Cool Things ™ that will benefit both our Kickstarter supporters and the SF/F community in general. These Really Cool Things ™ will most certainly include publishing some fiction on the UFO web site, for the whole world to read for free. What better way to give back to the community than that?

There are other Really Cool Things I can think of as well. It all depends on how much money we end up raising, in the end. Do expect me to aggressively look for ways to reward our Kickstarter supporters with all kinds of additional content beyond what was promised. So please, continue to spread the word and encourage anyone who is interested in humorous SF/F to explore this anthology and add their pledge on Kickstarter in the next few days.

And while on the subject of Kickstarter, I’d like to mention that Smoke & Mirrors podcast just launched their own campaign. Dennis Miller, the host of Smoke & Mirrors is also the voice actor in the UFO promo video. He needs and deserves support. I pledged to his campaign personally and hope you will check it out and consider doing the same.

 

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Kickstarter Update #3 – Unidentified Funny Objects

August 27, 2012

 

We’re down to the wire, with just over 4 days to go and still $1000 short of the funding goal.

I’m doing my best to raise awareness about this project. Recently I’ve had interviews about it posted on the blogs of Luc Reid and D.M. Bonanno. But I’ve also been incredibly busy tackling the ever-increasing volume of submissions as we get nearer to the deadline. Which leaves a lot less time for fundraising.  So if you were planning on pre-ordering the book via Kickstarter, please consider doing so today so we can generate some extra momentum going into the final stretch. Thank you!

 

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Kickstarter Update #2 – Unidentified Funny Objects

August 13, 2012

The response to the Kickstarter campaign has been tremendous. It raised over $1900 in the first 11 days, with over 70 people choosing to back this project so far.

Of course, it has to get to $5000 by the end of the month or we get nothing. I think we can get there and to help entice further pledges I added several new exciting rewards to the campaign:

1) Become a character is a SF/F story! Five of the authors agreed to “write in” whoever pledges funds to this project into one of their future stories. You can become immortalized by Ken Liu, Anatoly Belilovsky, Nathaniel Lee, James Beamon or Matt Mikalatos! This is a cool reward and it’s unique – we’re offering only one such opportunity per author.

2) Retailer reward. You can now pre-order 10 copies of the trade paperback at wholesale. This is perfect for independent stores and convention book vendors who might want to support the project.

Help spread the word please!

 

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Anthology Submissions Update – The Sixth Hundred

August 11, 2012

Space Chicken is satisfied with all the success the most recent batch of submission brings.

We read and voted on stories #501-600 over the course of 11 days (longer if you count the time it took to vote on them, which is why I’m only posting this update now).

16 stories made it past the first reading and onto being read anonymously by the board.  And of those sixteen I bought two and advanced three into the third round. A great crop for an 11 day span! There’s also one that has a requested rewrite but is promising as well.

61 of the stories received personal rejections, leaving only a third as form Rs. However, a form rejection doesn’t mean we especially hated the story. There are a lot of factors that go into it — sometimes the first reader just didn’t have a particularly useful comment to pass along, sometimes I’m crazy busy and trying to handle the slush pile, and *need* that extra minute or two per story (whereas the same story would get a comment if I read it at a less-hectic moment).

Duotrope is showing 186 submissions out of 633 actually received to date. If you’re not using Duotrope to track and report your submissions, you should really consider it. It helps you and it helps other writers keep tabs on submission statistics from markets, especially markets that don’t post detailed reports on their submissions 🙂

There are presently 16 stories purchased for the book totaling 51,500 words.  16 stories in round 3 total 30,000 words. We’re now officially in the territory where round 3 cuts will become necessary, and we aren’t nearly done yet, with over 2 weeks of submissions to go.

Our Kickstarter campaign has been chugging along and, as of this writing, stands at about $1850. Still a very long way to go, and we have to hit $5000 to get anything at all. So if you plan on buying the book when it comes out, please consider pre-ordering it via Kickstarter so we can reach our goal.

 

 

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Kickstarter Update: Unidentified Funny Objects

August 7, 2012

 

It has been five days since I launched the Kickstarter campaign for Unidentified Funny Objects. The response has been great. Nearly fifty people pledged money to this project helping me raise over $1250, or 25% of the goal. Of course, there is a long way to go.  Kickstarter is an all or nothing proposition — either the project gets to its funding goal, or it gets no money at all and all that promotion and unkind spamming of friends’ Facebook and Twitter feeds will have been for naught.

I think this project has what it takes to get there. That’s because I believe in how awesome UFO is going to be, and in the need for such an anthology in the marketplace. In short, I believe in what I preach :). But it can use a signal boost. Please let people who you think would be interested in this book know about UFO.  And, of course, don’t hesitate to order your copy via Kickstarter if you plan on buying UFO when it comes out anyway.

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Free Story and UFO Launches Kickstarter

August 2, 2012

Kickstarter campaign for Unidentified Funny Objects is now live! You can pre-order the book and support it in various other ways by clicking below. As this is my first Kickstarter, I would also appreciate any feedback on the reward levels, text, video, and anything else.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/776571295/unidentified-funny-objects-anthology-of-humor-sf-a

We worked very hard to put together a great presentation and I would like to especially thank Dennis Miller of the Smoke & Mirrors Podcast who is the announcer voice in the video, and Justin Swapp who put together an awesome video using previous few unique images and art we had to work with. And, of course, Dixon Leavitt for the amazing cover art.

I’m also thrilled to present in its entirely Jake Kerr’s hilarious story “THE ALIEN INVASION AS SEEN IN THE TWITTER STREAM OF @DWEEBLESS”

Click on the link above to read it. Enjoy!

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