A Curious Statistical Anomaly

As those of you who read this blog regularly know, I’m the chairperson of Capclave 2010. Capclave is the Washington Science Fiction Association’s annual convention, held this year in Rockville, Maryland. Our guests of honor this year are Connie Willis, Ann VanderMeer, and Jeff VanderMeer. There will also be many other guests — writers, editors, publishers, and of course fans of speculative fiction in all its various designations.

One of the things that we’re very proud of this year is the number and quality of the workshops we’ll be offering to participants. If you are registered to attend Capclave, there is no extra charge for being in a workshop, but space is limited and some have requirements (homework that’s due at the time of the workshop or before you arrive in the case of the VanderMeer workshop).

If you are already a member of Capclave and wish to sign up for one or more of these workshops, send email to workshops at capclave dot org (you know how to parse that email address I’m sure). If you haven’t signed up for the convention yet, check out the website and sign up then send your email asking listing the workshop you wish to be in.

Here’s the full list of workshops:

Workshops at Capclave:
Capclave 2010 is pleased to once again host a number of interesting workshops. Space is still available. If you are interested, send an e-mail to our workshop coordinator.

Online Content Workshop
Putting your comics, music, video, and fiction online is easy. Making it pay is harder, but it can be done. Join webcomic creator and comedy musician Rob Balder as he talks about making a living with the free content model. Get practical advice (feel free to bring a laptop/tablet and samples of your stuff) and work out a specific strategy for growing and monetizing an audience around your work. Two hour workshop.

Plotting Workshop
What makes a story a story? How do you construct a viable plot from a bare (naked) idea? We’ll start at the beginning, and by the end, you should have everything you need to know to plot your story. Allen Wold will lead this 2 hour session.

Reviewer’s workshop
A good reviewer does more then read free books and say “I like that”. Peter Heck, a regular reviewer for Asimov’s Science Fiction will demonstrate the hallmarks of a good review and how to create one. Bring a at least 10 copies of a review you’ve written and are proud of.

Wordsmith’s Workshop
Danny Birt will guide you through looking at writing from the perspective of the single word, and then work up from there, making sure that every word counts. This 1.5 hour workshop is good for beginners to professionals and is limited to 16 participants.

Writer’s Workshop
Allen Wold will lead a panel of authors in a hands on workshop. Learn many skills as you work on a short story. Session will be for 2 hours on Sat. and for those interested, a 1 hour follow-up on Sunday. Number of Participants is limited to 12.

Writer’s Workshop
Jeff and Ann VanderMeer will critique short stories of 12 participants. Each participant must write and submit a story of no more than 7500 words at least 2 months before Capclave (by August 22nd) to the workshop email address (workshops at capclave dot org). The story will be shared with the VanderMeers and the other participants. This will be a 2 hour workshop.

Hope your as excited about these opportunities to learn as we are to be able to offer them to our convention attendees.

The Washington Science Fiction Association is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2010 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction (published in 2009)

“each thing i show you is a piece of my death” by Gemma Files and Stephen J. Barringer, published in Clockwork Phoenix 2, edited by Mike Allen, Norilana Books (July 2009).

“Images of Anna” by Nancy Kress, published in Fantasy Magazine, edited by Cat Rambo (September 2009).

“James and the Dark Grimoire” by Kevin Lauderdale, published in Cthulhu Unbound, edited by Thomas Brannan and John Sunseri, Permuted Press, (March 2009).

“Race to the Moon” by Kyell Gold, published in New Fables, Summer 2009,  edited by Tim Susman, Sofawolf Press  (July 2009).

“Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” by Eugie Foster, published in Interzone (January 2009) / Apex Magazine (August  2009), edited by Andy Cox (Interzone) / Catherynne M. Valente (Apex).

“Siren Beat” by Tansy Rayner Roberts, published in Twelfth Planet, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (October 2009).

“The Pirate Captain’s Daughter” by Yoon Ha Lee, published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Issue #27, 10/08/2009, edited Scott H. Andrews.

“The Very Difficult Diwali of Sub-Inspector Gurushankar Rajaram” by Jeff Soesbe, published in DayBreak Magazine, edited by Jetse de Vries (October 2009).

The award honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction. The award showcases the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year (2009). An unusual feature of the selection process is that all voting is done with the identity of the author (and publisher) hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story.

The winner is chosen by the members of the Washington Science Fiction Association (www.wsfa.org) and will be presented at their annual convention, Capclave (www.capclave.org), held this year on October 22-24th in Rockville, Maryland.

Today started early with setting up the Capclave table at about 9:30 am.  We were a bit late getting there at 9.45 a.m.  Once set up it was greeting people as the walked bay, explaining about our convention (Capclave), who the guest of honor were (Connie Willis, Ann VanderMeer, and Jeff VanderMeer) and what type of programming we will have. Of course we stressed our writers’ workshops, review workshop, and the WSFA Small Press Award Ceremony.

Hyperion used our Dodo puppet to good effect. He quipped with passers-by and kept up patter with those who talked to the Dodo. If this keeps up, he may even learn to do the dodo voice without moving his lips.

1:00 p.m. Ice Age. Panelists: Anthony Stevens (moderator), James Prego, Paul Melko, Peter Prellwitz, Gayle Surrette, and Paolo Bacigalupi.
Description: How would we handle it if the predictions of extreme cold conditions in our world, recently made by some scientists, were to come true? Would our technology be able to protect us from extreme cold? How would our bodies adjust? What would we eat? Would fat people have an advantage?
The panel and the audience had a bit of fun with this one. The concept was that something catastrophic happened and we found ourselves in a full-blown ice age within 10 years with the ice down to about the 45th parallel worldwide. How would we cope?
Since I was on the panel it’s a bit hard to be objective in reporting but basically we covered the issues of migration, political instability, social upheaval, transportation problems, food and food delivery/growing/availability, sanitation, energy, and die off of species, climate changes, ocean salinity, and so on. The premise allowed the panel to dismiss the chance of long range planning of solutions — but that didn’t stop us from a minor discussion of whether having time to plan would actually mean that we did plan.

Then it was back to the table and schilling for Capclave. Sitting at the Capclave table means that I’m missing chances to go to some great panels and science talks. Balticon, for me, is great for great for science programming and being able to listen to scientists from local centers talk about their areas of specialty. Q&A’s allow for clarifying the what ifs or to clarify concepts as they may apply to writing projects or ones own research.

I did take time today to walk through the art show. There were some outstanding pieces with prices way out of my range but at least by being in the art show, I got to view some really nice work from some very good artists.

Some of the art was humorous. Alan Beck does a series of masterpieces of art re-imagines with mice as the models. These are amazing reproductions of this iconic works and always make me smile.

Another artist had a piece called “Vincent’s Surprise” which from a short distance appeared to be Van Gogh’s Starry Night but if you stepped closer you’d see in the sky’s swirls alien attack vessels. (Unfortunately, I mislaid my note on whose work this was — if you know or are the artist let me know.)

The artist guest of honor is Howard Tayler of the online Space Opera, Schlock Mercenary. There were several panels of his art work. There was also a table in artist alley selling his books. Check out the link to his web comic if you’re not already familiar with it — you may find this comic just what you need for comic relief.

We also wandered through the Dealer’s Room. This area is where you can check for the latest books in the genre from independent booksellers or from the publishers. There are also clothing, games, and period specific sellers. I couldn’t resist purchasing a mechanical wind-up pocket watch from a dealer specializing in Steampunk accessories. While I admired the goggles, gas masks, top hats, and other items — I managed to step away.

The major problem with the dealer’s room is that there are always many difficult to find items available and one needs to prioritize what to purchase and hope that what you pass on this time isn’t sold out by the time you find the same dealer at another venue. Many of the items you find here are just not readily available especially if the specialty dealer doesn’t have a web presence.

9 p.m. Book Pushers. What’s mine should be yours. Party sponsored by: Laura Anne Gilman, Jeri Smith-Ready, Bejamin Tate, David J. Williams. These authors books were available for sale at the party and the authors were signing the purchased copies. There was checking of ids (if you wanted liquor) and soft drinks for those not of age. There was also an abundance of chocolate and interesting and varied conversations.

We had a great time and stayed later than we’d expected to. We took the Dodo and managed to get a number of people to have their photo taken with our Capclave Dodo. (They’ll be up in an online gallery soon — really, real soon now…). The authors, editors, agents, and fans were very gracious to hold a Dodo and pose for photos — some even had real fun with staging their photos.

Finished out the day at the Capclave table followed by a meal that was wonderful since breakfast had been a long, long time ago — or it seemed that way.

Tomorrow is another full day of Balticon goodness and Capclave table sitting with short interruptions to be on two panels.

Managed to get the car packed and on the road at a decent time.  Then drove back to pick up the box we forgot.  Had to stop at the post office and then Kinkos to get copies made of the Capclave Registration Flyer.  Finally, made it to the metro to pick up a friend also going to Balticon.

Everything went fine once we got here.  Found the Capclave table and set up.  We actually managed to get one person to sign up for the Capclave.  Sold one of the books left from last year’s convention, and pre-sold a book we’re publishing this year.  Yeah.  Talked to quite a few people and had some really nice conversations about books.

4:00 p.m. Getting Published 1010: (R to L) Joshua Bilmes, Ally E. Peltier, Gayle Surrette (me as moderator),  and Jonathan Maberry.

I think the panel went okay.  I asked some question of the panel to get things going to cover some of the topics that I thought people who were aspiring writers would want to know.  Then opened it to questions early and we got some interesting questions.  The panelists were very good at fielding on such topics as whether you can send a manuscript to an agent and a publisher at the same time (yes), whether you need to do short stories before you do a novel (no), the importance of having a presence on the web (mixed), and the importance of understanding the need to not only know how to tell a good story but the importance of language, grammar, spelling, and following the submission guidelines, as well as treating your writing as a business (all extremely important).

After the panel, I returned to the Capclave table and later we went out to dinner with friends.

8:00 p.m. Opening Ceremony. This went very quickly.  The Guests of Honor were introduced (Writer Guest of Honor: Tanya Huff, Artist Guest of Honor: Howard Tayler, Science Guest of Honor: Dr. Thomas Holtz Jr., Fan  Ghost of Honor: Hal Haag.  Then the 2009 Compton Crook Award Winner: Paul Melko announced the 2010 Compton Crook Award Winner — Paolo Bacigalupi for his novel Windup Girl.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about the book and it’s on my to be read pile. Windup Girl is also a nominee for the Hugo Award this year.

9:00 p.m. Hot fusion (Inertial Electrostatic); Tom Ligon. He did a presentation and showed us the model that he’d brought. The talk was very interesting and informative and it seems that this model’s a move in the right direction. He’ll have the talk on his website soon (tomligon.com) along with several links to more information and scientific papers on this and related subjects.

We then stopped in on a party and had some interesting conversations. Now it’s very late and we have an early day tomorrow.

Not that anyone but me cares, but I checked the online program for my schedule and this is where you can definitely find me at Balticon this weekend.  The descriptions of the panels will be in your program book.

Friday, May 28:

4PM. Getting Published 101 (Belmont Room) All your publishing questions answered; including how to find an agent, what you need to do before you submit.  (I’m moderating and so far the only one listed.  Hopefully the panel will be full of knowledgeable people by the time I get there.)

Saturday, May 29:

1 PM Ice Age (Salon B)  Basically, how would we cope if we had another ice age — global freezing instead of global warming.  I’m a panelist for this one and I’m really looking forward to hearing what the other panelist have to say.

Sunday, May 30:

11 AM Humor in paranormal romance? (Belmont Room) Does the lead chick really need to wise-crack? (I’m moderating)

7 PM Young Adult Fantasy: How to get adults to read it? (Salon B) Or, should it be kept a secret just for the young adults? Could it be that sharing these books can lead to the opening of all sorts of dialogues with your children (or your parents)?  (I’m moderating this one too.)

Otherwise, I’ll be spending a lot of time at the Capclave table.  We’ll be taking registrations and having some drawing for prizes if registrations reach some key levels for new memberships.  We’ll also have a duck pond (you pay your money, pick a duck and win a prize).

CORRECTION AND ADDITION:

We made a typo on last night’s post that needs to be corrected.  The price for last year’s Reincarnations is $28.00 including shipping and handling, rather than the $23 which was specified in that post.  We’ve also updated the previous post to avoid any additional confusion.

But in addition to the the offerings previously listed, we have added yet one more option.  This year for $60, you can pre-order a special bundle including all three books, which will also be delivered to you at Capclave.

Last year, WSFA Press was resurrected to help celebrate Capclave 2009′s Guest of Honor Harry Turtledove. The book Reincarnations premiered at Capclave and sold well. We have very few of the signed and numbered volumes left in stock.

This year, WSFA Press is publishing two books: Fire Watch by Connie Willis and The Three Quests of the Wizard Sarnod, by Jeff VanderMeer (with an afterwards by Ann VanderMeer–our 3rd Guest of Honor). Each book will be a limited signed and numbered edition of 500 copies, chosen to match the Capclave membership, which is being capped at 500 members. The books will be released at Capclave and only available to non-attendees after the convention.

WSFA Press Special Offer on Capclave Registration:
Included this year is the ability to pre-order WSFA Press’ two newest books, The Three Quests of the Wizard Sarnod, by Jeff VanderMeer–

The Wizard Sarnod has lived in isolation on an island in the middle of a lake for centuries. But one day, the Nose of Memory arrives to destroy his calm by dredging up the past, and he must send three of his familiars to the subterranean Underhinds on a quest to find two people, long banished: his brother and a former lover. In the Underhinds, they will encounter living dirigibles, fire dragons, the Bloat Toad, unimaginable perils, and long-buried secrets . . . Based on Jack Vance’s Dying Earth series, The Three Quests of the Wizard Sarnod is a longer and very different version of a story published in the Dozois-Martin edited Songs from the Dying Earth.

The Three Quests of the Wizard Sarnod will be published by WSFA Press in 2010, and released at WSFA’s annual Capclave convention as a special 500-copy limited and signed hardcover edition, with an introduction by Jeff VanderMeer and an afterward by Ann VanderMeer.Designed by John Coulthart, a well-known British graphic artist, illustrator, author and designer, the book will be signed by Ann VanderMeer, Jeff VanderMeer, and John Coulthart. (Capclave special price: $20).

and Fire Watch by Connie Willis:

Fire Watch is a science-fiction story written in 1982 by Connie Willis, involving a time-traveling historian who goes back to The Blitz in London, to participate in the fire watch at St. Paul’s Cathedral. This story is in the same universe as Willis’ newly released novel Blackout and the upcoming October release, All Clear.

Fire Watch will be published by WSFA Press in 2010, and released at WSFA’s annual Capclave convention as a special 500-copy limited and signed hardcover edition, with an introduction by James Patrick Kelly, designed by John Coulthart, a well-known British graphic artist, illustrator, author and designer, and signed by all Willis, Kelly, and Coulthart. (Capclave special price: $20).

Both of these volumes will be premiering at Capclave, and now is your chance to reserve a copy for yourself. In addition, we are again offering a special deal on last year’s WSFA Press special book, Reincarnations, by Harry Turtledove. There are only a small number of these signed and numbered, limited-edition copies remaining. The special Capclave price includes $3.00 for shipping and handling (Total: $28), and this volume will be mailed to you now.

For those now registering to attend Capclave, the option to pre-order the two new WSFA Press books or a copy of last year’s book is listed on the registration form.

If you have already registered for Capclave 2010 and wish to pre-order a book, send email to webmaster@capclave.org to receive information on how to pre-order.

Okay, I’ve posted here a few times about the fact that I’m chairperson for Capclave 2010 which is the annual convention for WSFA, the Washington Science Fiction Association.  This year’s guests of honor are Connie Willis, Ann VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer.  The convention is being held at the Rockville Hilton in Rockville, Maryland from October 22 to 24.

Well, we’re trying to get the word out about our convention and we’ve been throwing a lot of ideas around — but there’s not a whole lot of feedback to go on.  So, I need some feedback.

Flyers or Rack Cards?

In the past, we’ve had flyers at all the science fiction conventions that members of WSFA were attending.  The flyers are 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper with information on one or both sides. You can click on the Flyers or Rack Cards links to see what I’m talking about. (The photo to the right is a reduced image of the full color Rack Card.)

Flyers are usually black print on colored or white paper. The Rack Cards are full color front and back. I’ve only showed the front to give you the idea of what they’re like.

The question is which one would be more likely to get you to read the information and maybe even think about going to the convention?

Please leave a comment, I really want to know what catches people’s interest.

The Washington Science Fiction Association [http://www.wsfa.org] has created of a literary award to honor the work done by small presses in promoting and preserving science fiction. The WSFA Small Press Award will be given yearly for original short fiction works (17,500 words or fewer) of imaginative literature (e.g., science fiction, fantasy, horror, speculative fiction or like literature) published by a small press.

For the purposes of the award, a small press is defined as a hard copy print or web publication house releasing from 3 to 25 titles per year. Eligible periodicals are those with a paid circulation of fewer than 10,000 in the year that the story is published. Periodicals must have an must pay authors in cash as opposed to non-monetary items. Any story published in a periodical owned by a major publishing house or media producer is not eligible for this award. For complete rules check the website.

For this our 4th Annual WSFA Award, eligible works are those published for the first time in English in 2009. To help us identify worthy pieces, we are asking for small press publishers and authors to nominate stories. (The story does not have to be published by you, although we generally expect you to nominate works from your publications.) You may nominate up to three (3) stories as a publisher, one (1) story as an author.

FOR THIS YEAR THE DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS IS April 1st.

Nominated stories _must_ be submitted in electronic form, in any of the common formats (e.g. doc, rtf, pdf). Judging will be blind, that is the name of the author and publisher will be stripped from the story. Therefore, we ask that you either send the story in a format that allows us to edit the file to remove the author’s name, or strip the name yourself but be sure to include the name of the author in the accompanying email message.  Nominations should be sent to admin at wsfasmallpress dot org. The accompanying email should indicate the name of the person or entity that holds the copyright to the story and permission from that person or entity to circulate the story within WSFA for the purposes of judging. We also need to know the publication information (Publication name, issue date) The story WILL NOT be circulated beyond WSFA members and will be housed on a secure, password-protected website.

The award will be presented at the annual WSFA convention, Capclave, held each year in October in the Washington, DC, area. The award winner and the publisher will be notified prior to the convention.

Additional information about the award can be found at the website.