Unidentified Funny Objects 9 TOC

October 22, 2022

After reviewing well over 800 submissions, the following stories will appear in Unidentified Funny Objects 9, scheduled to be released in December 2022.

“The Hero of Small Things” by Amanda Saville

“Chai Noon” by Esther Friesner

“If Pages Could Blush” by Kyle A. Massa

“The Time Loop Device is Counting Down” by Beth Goder

“Crouching Swan Hidden Polka” by Jim C Hines

“Sergeant Yeti” by Gini Koch

“The Great Beyond Commands” by John Wiswell

“The Second Wish” by James Beamon

“These Three Aliens Walk into a Bar” by Simon  R. Green

“Our Most Sincere Apologies to the People of Brazil” by Jane Espenson

“Liability Insurance Policy for Immortals, Cryptids, and Other Magical Beings: Annual Newsletter” by Tina Connolly

“The Shadchen of Venus” by Lavie Tidhar

“Cory Sucks” by Auston Habershaw

“Sunnyside Daycare Employees’ Chat Log, Post Alien Takeover” by Amanda Helms

“Cooking Up Trouble” by Clif Flynt

“Right to Remain Silent” by Jody Lynn Nye

“Antie Elsie’s Compleat Guide to Heartbreak” by Tim Pratt

“The Troll Bridge” by Adam Gaylord

“Do Gumshoes Dream of Electric Sleep” by Dave Vierling

“Hell’s Bureaucracy” by David Hankins

“A Crisis of Fate” by Zach Shephard

Comments Off on Unidentified Funny Objects 9 TOC | Publishing | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

The entire UFO series on sale!

February 25, 2020

All UFO volumes are discounted from $5.99 to $2.99 between now and Sunday, March 8. The sale price is available on Amazon, Kobo, B&N, Google, and iTunes. We’re celebrating the triumphant return of the series. Many of the volumes have never been discounted before!

On Saturday, February 29, Unidentified Funny Objects 7 will be a featured deal on Bargain Booksy. On Sunday, March 1, the same book will be the featured deal on BookBub.

Then, on or around March 3, we will launch the Kickstarter campaign to fund UFO8. We will also reveal the awesome cover for the new volume at the same time.

And, finally, submissions for UFO8 will open on April 1.

That’s the plan. It’ll be a busy Spring!

#SFWAPro

 

 

Comments Off on The entire UFO series on sale! | Publishing | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

No UFO volume in 2019

February 9, 2019

I will not be editing and publishing Unidentified Funny Objects 8 this year.

There are a number of factors that led to this decision. First and foremost among them are the health setbacks I’d experienced in the latter half of 2018. Things are pretty much back on track now, health-wise, but two surgeries and months of recovery time put a significant dent in my writing and editing schedule, creating a deficit I’m yet to recover from. Rather than to push even harder and overload myself with responsibilities, I’ve looked to reduce the number of projects on my plate, and between crowdfunding, reading submissions, editing, and marketing, UFO is the most time-consuming editing project I engage in every year.

The second contributing factor is my work on Future SF — a quarterly magazine is about as involved and complex an undertaking as one might expect, and I felt it was only fair to give it a proper amount of attention and care, especially over the course of the early issues, while I establish the ‘zine and build staff. By this time next year I hope to have content inventory levels that will allow me to focus on UFO submissions exclusively for six weeks; right now I’m still buying stories for issues 2 and 3 with pretty much nothing “banked” in my coffers yet.

Finally, there are other projects across writing, translation, and editing fields. There are some exciting things happening on the latter two fronts and I hope to be able to share something about that relatively soon, but my primary focus is on writing; I hope to complete my third novel by summer, while my agent is shopping around the first two.

UFO series is far from canceled. I expect to release UFO6 and UFO7 in audio book format this year. UFO6 is almost done and I’m waiting on my voice narrator partners to finish editing their narration so we can announce and release it. I will also feature some humorous science fiction in Future SF to tide UFO fans over. I’ll be reaching out to series regulars to solicit material for this.

Looking ahead, I hope to resume the series in 2020. I would also consider teaming up with another publisher for future volumes, which would allow me to focus on the creative work of putting the anthology together and not so much on marketing and other business aspects of the project.

Until then, and as always, happy reading.

#sfwapro

 

 

Comments Off on No UFO volume in 2019 | Publishing | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

UFO6 is live!

October 4, 2017

Unidentified Funny Objects 6 ebook is live on Amazon! Print books can be preordered and will be delivered next week.

We’ll be doing a book launch at Capclave this weekend together with friends who are also releasing great books. We’ve set up a Facebook group for this event here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1898658783787701

David Walton’s The Genius Plague is a a near-future thriller in the best traditions of Michael Creighton. I was fortunate enough to read an advance copy of this book and highly recommend it!

When Parallel Lives meet by Mike Resnick, Lezli Robyn, and Larry Hodges is a far-future alien contact story, and while I haven’t yet read it, I’ve read previous Resnick/Robyn collaborations and expect it to be a treat!

#SFWAPro

There will also be a discounted bundle of all three books you can buy (and get signed!) at the launch!

 

Comments Off on UFO6 is live! | Publishing | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

UFO Sale!

February 5, 2017

ufocover200

For the next two weeks, Unidentified Funny Objects are on sale! Not just a single UFO either, but a small fleet of them.

Between February 5 and February 18, e-books of Unidentified Funny Objects volumes 1, 2, and 3 are all going to be half price ($2.99 instead of $5.99) on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo platforms.

I know that book discounts and even giveaways are a common promotional tool, but in the five year history of the UFO series, we have never discounted these volumes below $5.99 other than as part of Kickstarter backer rewards or holiday bundle specials. But now that the series has been around for a while and has established itself well, I felt it was a good time to cast the net wider and attract new readers. So UFO1 will be a featured title on BookBub in a couple of weeks (at the $2.99 price, so you don’t have to wait for that date to grab yours) and the next two volumes are on sale as well.

Three of these books for under $10 is a steal, and I hope may readers (and many writers hoping to figure out the sort of stuff we publish as the submissions open in April) will take full advantage of the opportunity.

Here are the quick links to the US Amazon listings (the books are discounted in other countries as well!)

UFO1

UFO2

UFO3

#SFWAPro

 

 

Comments Off on UFO Sale! | Publishing | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Some Good News for UFO2

January 28, 2014

UFO2cover200x300

I just got word from Barnes & Noble — they are going to be carrying UFO2 (alongside UFO1) in their physical stores!

This is a pretty big deal. Few books from very small publishers like UFO Publishing are accepted for placement in physical B&N locations. They’ve been carrying UFO1 for about a year now, and I’ve received reports of it appearing in places like Texas and New Hampshire.  This, combined with the best Amazon sales month ever, is really good news for the long-term viability of the series.

Of course, it takes a wheelbarrow of money to put together each book. That’s why Kickstarter has been so instrumental. It doesn’t cover 100% of the costs, but it covers a large enough chunk to make it possible for me to do All The Things in order to produce the best book I can.

To that end, I’ve been doing a bit of a media blitz, promoting the current Kickstarter campaign, such as this interview.  I’ll be appearing on a few more blogs and podcasts in coming weeks to drum up support.

Also, SF Signal is running a giveaway for copies of UFO1 and UFO2. Click here for details!

#SFWAPro

 

 

Comments Off on Some Good News for UFO2 | Publishing | 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

Three chances to get a free copy of UFO2!

October 8, 2013

UFO2cover#SFWApro

It’s been a busy, busy week.

I shipped out several hundred copies of physical UFO book to Kickstarter supporters, distributors, and pre-orders. I set up the digital book to make it available on Amazon, Smashwords, B&N. and Kobo.  I hosted a launch party for UFO2 on Sunday (thanks to everyone who came by!) and attended a SFWA reception on Monday, where I got to hang out with some of our awesome contributors as well as hand out a few copies of the book.

If you haven’t attended one of these things, there are at least three separate opportunities for you to snag a free copy of UFO2:

1) GoodReads giveaway:

You can enter the GoodReads giveaway between now and October 20th to win a paperback copy signed by me.

2) Jim C. Hine’s giveaway:

Jim is giving away a signed copy  of either UFO2 or Heroes in Training on his blog to one person who contributes to Eugie Foster’s fundraiser. Eugie Foster is battling cancer right now and could really use the extra help, so please consider contributing to this.

3) J.W. Alden’s giveaway:

JW Alden is also giving away a copy of the book on his blog. All you have to do is post int he comments!

And if you don’t win? You can always click here and follow the links to buy a copy of the book from your favorite e-tailer. Or, buy a copy directly from UFO Publishing. I’ll get to keep more of the money and use it on — what else? — putting together UFO3!3

And, just in case you need a little more convincing, before you fork over some hard-earned cash for a copy of this book, check out our first review, by David Kilman at Amazing Stories.

 

 

 

Comments Off on Three chances to get a free copy of UFO2! | Publishing | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Podcast of You Bet

September 15, 2013

 

“You Bet,” the short humor story I wrote to explain what’s happening in the wacky cover art of Unidentified Funny Objects volume 1 was released as a Podcast today by Cast of Wonders. You can listen to it here. As usual, the CoW team and particularly reader John Meagher did a wonderful job with producing this story.  I really wanted to see this one produced in audio because there is a nice ensemble cast of characters in it, all speaking in wacky voices. The episode is just over 15 minutes long. and I encourage you to check it out.

This is my second story at Cast of Wonders (with the third one on the way). My previous story with them was “The Field Trip,” the translation of which happened to have been released in Romanian today. If you speak the language, you can check it out in the current issue of Revista SRSFF.

It’s really cool to have stories published in the United Kingdom and Romania at the same time. I’m also excited that one of my stories will be published in my native Russian soon. I will post details about that when I can.

 

Comments Off on Podcast of You Bet | Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: , , , , , | 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:

wt361_cover

* “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:

wtGift

* Sold “Worldbuilding” to Daily Science Fiction.

dsf“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!

enigma

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

« Previous Entries