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Welcome aboard, Alex and Dan!
Posted on 2010-08-09 at 23:33 by montsamu
Folks may get the idea that I need to get help. Well, I have.
Alex Granados is coming on as associate editor. He’ll be doing some fiction editing, handling the rewrite process, copy editing, and, when I get things sorted out enough to even be able to get help on that front, reading story submissions. His background is, like mine, in the newspaper world, and I’ve been so very fortunate to run into him.
Dan Campbell is coming on as the new Bull Spec poetry editor. He’ll be handling the poetry page(s) up until layout, so he’ll be reading submissions, evaluating them, editing them, and then sending me poems to publish. I couldn’t be more enthusiastic about his enthusiasm for this.
So: cheers! Welcome aboard, I hope I don’t lead us into the rocks, but it’s good to have a few folks on lookout and manning the sails.
Posted in announcements
Saturday at NASFiC is going to be awesome.
Posted on 2010-08-07 at 04:01 by montsamu
So. It should be the biggest and best day of the convention, and there’s a few last-minute things to mention. (Did I mention that I rhyme some of the time?) First, there’s another scheduled guest appearance at the Bull Spec dealer table. local author Mark Van Name will be on hand to sign his just-out book Children No More from 4-5p, and, if I can track down a typewriter, he’ll be writing flash fiction for charity on demand for Falling Whistles, the charity he’s supporting with Children No More. If we can’t track down a typewriter, we’ll be taking ideas and e-mails down. This should be completely awesome. Did I mention that this should be completely awesome?
Put that together with: Clay Griffith coming by to talk about the forthcoming from Pyr The Greyfriar from 1-3, David Halperin on hand to talk the forthcoming from Viking Journal of a UFO Investigator from 2-4, and the afternoon should be a very fun time to stop by.
Also late to appear on the NASFIC schedule is: John Kessel and James Patrick Kelly are doing a Kaffe Klatch session which, having just been scheduled a handful of hours ago, is not in the printed schedule. Check the daily schedule and talk to them about editing anthologies like The Secret History of Science Fiction, about Fractal, about IAFA, … and if you’d like to have a copy of The Secret History of SF on hand for them to sign, well, I can think of at least one place to get it…
But one thing you won’t find? Mur Lafferty’s books. We sold out! Now that’s a good day.
Posted in nasfic
More NASFiC scheduling: Clay Griffith coming by on Saturday!
Posted on 2010-08-06 at 02:47 by montsamu
I already mentioned that David Halperin is stopping by; if you missed him today there’s still Friday (11a-1p, 2-3p) and Saturday (2-4p) to chat about Journal of a UFO Investigator. Well, though I still don’t know when a few other folks will be coming by in concrete terms, I’m really pleased to invite folks to come by Saturday from 1-3p to talk with local author Clay Griffith, whose book (along with wife Susan) The Greyfriar: Vampire Empire Book 1 is forthcoming from Pyr (November):
In the year 1870, a horrible plague of vampires swept over the northern regions of the world. Millions of humans were killed outright. Millions more died of disease and famine due to the havoc that followed. Within two years, once-great cities were shrouded by the gray empire of the vampire clans. Human refugees fled south to the tropics because vampires could not tolerate the constant heat there. They brought technology and a feverish drive to reestablish their shattered societies of steam and iron amid the mosques of Alexandria, the torrid quietude of Panama, or the green temples of Malaya.
It is now 2020 and a bloody reckoning is coming.
Princess Adele is heir to the Empire of Equatoria, a remnant of the old tropical British Empire. She is quick with her wit as well as with a sword or gun. She is eager for an adventure before she settles into a life of duty and political marriage to a man she does not know. But her quest turns black when she becomes the target of a merciless vampire clan. Her only protector is the Greyfriar, a mysterious hero who fights the vampires from deep within their territory. Their dangerous relationship plays out against an approaching war to the death between humankind and the vampire clans.
Vampire Empire: The Greyfriar is the first book in a trilogy of high adventure and alternate history. Combining rousing pulp action with steampunk style, Vampire Empire brings epic political themes to life within a story of heartbreaking romance, sacrifice, and heroism.So the table won’t be vampire-free for much longer…
Posted in nasfic
Treats. Let me tempt you with them.
Posted on 2010-08-04 at 14:41 by montsamu
So: if a panel of John Kessel, Natania Barron, Gwendolyn Clare, and Paul Celmer can’t tempt you to come out to the Bull Spec #2 launch party at Quail Ridge Books tonight, maybe these will. Mrs. Bull Spec has once again brought out the big guns:
Three (count ‘em, three!) varietals of rice crispy treats. Sure, there’s your standard (in this case, a little more on the gooey side) ‘plain’:
And then it gets a little more interesting, with M&Ms and Reese’s Pieces:
And then something really cool, coconut raisin almond:
So there. Shamelessly: come enjoy some local speculative fiction and, of course, there will be snacks!
Posted in events
Scheduled and scheduling.
Posted on 2010-08-03 at 01:57 by montsamu
First, some upcoming things which didn’t make Issue #2’s “Happenings” which I’ve recently learned about:
- I had local author John Claude Bemis’ The Wolf Tree in Happenings, but not the book’s launch party at Purple Crow Books in Hillsborough on August 28
- Brandon Sanderson is reading and signing from Way of Kings: The Stormlight Archive, Vol. 1 at Quail Ridge Books on September 7 at 7:30 PM
- William Gibson (!!!) is bringing his Zero History tour to Duke University on September 21 at 7:00 PM
Second, and on the topic of scheduling, I’ve started putting together a schedule of folks you might see at the Bull Spec dealer table at NASFiC/ReConStruction this weekend. While I don’t know yet when some other folks will be dropping by, David J. Halperin has gotten the ball rolling by scheduling some time to meet and greet and talk to folks about his upcoming book (February 2011) from Viking, Journal of a UFO Investigator. I first heard about the book from SFScope, but did not read that last paragraph and had no idea that Dr./Prof. Halperin was writing from, literally, down the street from me. That bit of information only came via meeting him at a lunch outing with the Raleigh Write to Publish Meetup Group. Since then I’ve been very much looking forward to reading a book described like this:
The book is “structured like The Wizard of Oz and influenced by the work of Philip K. Dick, Philip Pullman, and Madeleine L’Engle, the book tells the story of a 1960s teenager whose mother is slowly dying. He keeps himself sane by spinning a story in which he duels with the embodiments of death, unravels the mysteries of time and existence, and becomes lover to the most desirable girl he can imagine, all in a world in which nothing happens that is not conspiracy. Eventually, the boy descends into the nether-world and emerges transformed. Much of the UFO content in the book is based on factual lore.”And David is polishing up another book as well, so there’s lots to talk about. He’s going to be available Thursday (1-2p, 4-6p), Friday (11a-1p, 2-3p), and Saturday (2-4p), so there’s plenty of opportunities to fit him into your schedule, and to ask him how much of the UFO journal is autobiographical…
Posted in announcements, happenings, reconstruction
Two days until the issue #2 party at Quail Ridge Books! (New Flyer.)
Posted on 2010-08-02 at 16:03 by montsamu
There’s a new new flyer to post around if folks are up for it. Just two days until the issue #2 party at Quail Ridge Books on Wednesday and there’s a few places I haven’t been able to get to:
Raleigh:
- NCSU campus
- Hillsborough Street (done: Nice Price Books to Schoolkids Records) (need: Schoolkids down to the Morgan split)
- Glenwood South
- Moore Square
- City Market
- Cameron Village
- Five Points
- Downtown
- Downtown
- Brightleaf Square
- Done: Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd (Guglhupf to University Drive)
- Duke East Campus
- Done: 9th Street (and Whole Foods, Mad Hatter)
- Broad Street Cafe
- Duke West Campus
- Erwin Road
- S Elliott Road
- Caffe Driade
- UNC campus
- Franklin Street (done: Carolina Brewing Company to Columbia) (need: Columbia up to Planetarium)
- Done: Maple View Farms
- Historic Downtown
- Historic Downtown
- Historic Downtown
Posted in help
The ReConStruction/NASFiC programming schedule is out!
Posted on 2010-07-30 at 01:09 by montsamu
There is some great programming, from steampunk to podcasting and all manner of things between. Behold! The ReConStruction/NASFiC program schedule is out! And paired with the daily membership rates, those folks who have waited to get their plans (and memberships) together can start to figure things out.
(And don’t forget, if you’re either already in town or coming into town a day early, Wednesday August 4th, come to the 7:30 Bull Spec #2 party at Quail Ridge Books!)
And there’s some fun things to talk about, dealer-room wise… next week! Guests; books; signings; meet and greets; magazines; free smells; …
Posted in announcements
Expanding the territory.
Posted on 2010-07-28 at 14:40 by montsamu
Well, issue #2 has a new store carrying Bull Spec, Barnes & Noble’s Durham “New Hope Commons” location. (For all locations, click here!) It’s way back and the bottom in the newsstand, to the left of “The Paris Review” and to the right of “F&SF”. And I’m making another pitch to Greenville and Burlington this week. Wish me luck!
Posted in store-announcements
Another UK shipping sale!
Posted on 2010-07-27 at 21:05 by montsamu
Well, putting together a UK shipment with a local reshipper, and this time I’m going to give folks a bit more time to get in on things. Until Monday morning EST (Update: extended to Wednesday, August 4th!), UK folks can order Bull Spec #1 and/or Bull Spec #2 and select “US Shipping”. I’m not ready to commit to better subscription shipping rates yet, but I think I’m getting closer. (Sorry Australia, I haven’t strong armed a friend/acquaintance into being a reshipper there, yet.)
Also: shipping is marginally less expensive for issue #2 than issue #1 (fewer pages) but I haven’t been able to update what passes for the order system to figure that out. If that matters to you, when ordering issue #2 in print: US folks, take $0.15 off of what you might think is a good gratuity; Canada take $0.35; World take $0.85.
-Sam
Posted in announcements
Truth in submissions; getting help; making progress; more stores.
Posted on 2010-07-27 at 00:34 by montsamu
OK. I do have some stories as old as November that I’ve been holding onto; I’m going to grow up “real soon now” and let those folks know one way or the other. Back when I opened, I expected a few submissions, and to publish one story a quarter, and threw out a guesstimate of responding within 30 days. I’m far, far from doing that; 60 days is probably closer to the median, 90 days not incredibly uncommon before I drop all the other things I need to do and keep things from rolling over to 100 for too many stories.
It’s a problem. It’s a problem because (among other more easily guessed reasons) one of the reasons I opened Bull Spec is because I wanted a market which treated writers like I wanted to be treated. And this is not at all what I had in mind.
So I’ve started accepting help. I’m not ready yet to get help on the submissions inbox (working on that) but I’ve got a shiny new reviews editor and the more I think about how great it’s going to be to “let go” of that side of things, the more I’m sure about the following: (after the break…)
Bull Spec is looking for a poetry editor. A speculative poetry editor. You’ll be given a budget in pages (2) and words (1000) and other than that, hopefully pretty free reign, layout included if you like. (Other than: (1) guidance against going too graphic in content, which, though I’ve gotten some very cool stories on that edge, is not for Bull Spec — This is a magazine I send to my parents, and which some of my friends read with their teenagers; (2) guidance in hopefully finding some balance where responsible in finding local poetry.) If there’s something special which pushes beyond those pages and/or words, we can probably work it out. I don’t think I can pay you other than a contributor’s copy of each issue for which you edit poetry. So yes, this is a volunteer position. I wish it weren’t. I could probably come up with something token, say $10 or $20 per issue, if that somehow made a difference.
Preference for this is someone local to the Raleigh-Durham area; so for now please only “apply” if that applies to you. If a week goes by and a candidate hasn’t bludgeoned me, I’ll expand that to Greenville-Greensboro, then Wilmington-Asheville, then … well, you get the idea.
I haven’t accepted any poetry for issue #3; as soon as this “position” is filled the poetry I have in my inbox goes to you. Issue #3’s poetry needs to be ready to print on 1 September.
To apply: send an e-mail to sam at bullspec dot com (that’s me!) with some examples of poetry you like, some examples of poetry you don’t like, and why.
(On that note: I need more poetry submissions. Please send some speculative poetry to poetry-submissions@bullspec.com — thanks! Short and sweet: $0.05/word for unpublished poetry, $5 minimum; contributor copy is free to US, $1 to elsewhere in North America, $5 elsewhere worldwide. Right now I have no guidance in terms of “don’t rhyme” or line limits; I’ll leave that to this future poetry editor to work out.)
OK. Let’s end this with fun, because I like fun. I finally made it to Foundation’s Edge today, so Bull Spec #2 should be on the shelves there tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, and of deliveries, I will be dropping some copies by the Barnes & Noble “New Hope” location in Durham tomorrow morning as well. Hopefully soon: Greenville and Burlington! Keep your fingers crossed…
And yes, there’s more! ReConStruction is nearly upon us! Oh me, oh my! Since I’m going to be chained to the dealer’s room, I decided to make it as fun as possible. So I’ve got a good spread of local speculative fiction, a few bits from elsewhere: Panverse is sending some goodies, Tachyon’s sending something fun, …) and some signings and meeting and greeting fun. It’s hard to schedule most of that stuff just yet, so we’ll work it out around the official con schedule when that’s set. The membership page has daily “at the gate” rate information (hint: Thursday and Sunday are cheap!) so make your plans!
And, yeah, don’t forget, the Wednesday evening before ReConStruction is issue #2’s launch party at Quail Ridge books! Be there or be toroid! (Sounds much more painful than simply being square, doesn’t it?)
Posted in announcements, job-postings
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