Semiprozines & the 2009 Aurealis Awards

The winners of the 2009 Aurealis Awards* were announced at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Brisbane on January 24th, 2010. Semiprozines were well-represented among the winners:

Best Science Fiction Short Story

Best Fantasy Short Story (joint winners)

* The Aurealis Awards are for works of speculative fiction by authors, editors and illustrators, who are Australian citizens or permanent residents.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies Celebrates First Anniversary

Beneath Ceaseless Skies recently celebrated its first anniversary with an Anniversary Double-Issue containing four stories, including ones by Yoon Ha Lee and Ian McHugh.

With this issue, #27, BCS is now also available in two downloadable file formats for ebook readers: PDF and MobiPocket PRC.

To read our fiction, or download our ebook files or podcasts, visit our website at beneath-ceaseless-skies.com.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies #20

Issue #20 of  Beneath Ceaseless Skies is now available:

The Land of Empty Shells by

The rest of the birthing was hard work, but painless. Dziko and Terra sprinkled water over the clay to soften it and kneaded the flesh together until there was no way to separate his riverbed brown from her sunset orange. Then they divided the babyflesh into two equal pieces, soon to be their children.

The Bone House

I like to carve. I like to sculpt. But the ironwood trees in the forest shatter even the finest blades. Father says that the war has changed them, that the magic of the battlemages has infected the land, and I have no cause to doubt him—he has been my educator and my window on the world. Bone is easier to shape.

Who are some of the best new writers appearing in semiprozines?

It is said by some that semiprozines are publishing some of the best new writers. Who are the authors people should be on the lookout for?

Robert Neilson, Albedo One

The Albedo One authors who have impressed me most in recent times are Philip Raines & Harvey Welles, Colin Harvey, Nina Allan, Julian West, Will McIntosh and David D. Levine (his story in Albedo One is far better than his Hugo winner). I have also been mightily impressed with Dutch author Teis Teng but unfortunately most of his work is in Dutch. You can find some of his work in English in a collection from Babel Books called Systems of Romance (he wrote half the stories). Modesty forbids mention of my editorial colleagues.

Beth Wodzinski, Shimmer

A year or so ago I would have called out Aliette de Bodard — but she’s already well on her way, and is a Campbell nominee this year. I think she’s right at the beginning of a great career.

I’ve got my eye on Angela Slatter and Shweta Narayan; they seem to me to be poised for really broad success, and are terrific. Also terrific: Becca De La Rosa, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Vylar Kaftan, Caitlin Paxson, Alex Wilson, Josh Storey, Claude LaLumiere, and Amal El Mohtar. Well, I think everyone we’ve published is terrific.

If I can call out a few artists, too: Chrissy Ellsworth, Sandro Castelli, Aunia Kahn, and Carrie Ann Baade are amazing.

Hildy Silverman, Space & Time

There are some great ones out there. Maurice Broaddus is a terrific writer who I don’t think the Big Three have published yet, but are bound to discover at some point. Aliette de Bodard is popping up in a lot of places, and has been nominated for the 2009 Campbell award. Oh, and keep an eye on multiple-workshop grad Larry Hodges, who is finally getting around to sending out more of his work.

Sean Wallace, Fantasy Magazine

Where to start? Fantasy Magazine has a lot of new, exciting talent, between what was published last year and this year, or soon to be published: Camille Alexa, Erik Amundsen, Stephanie Campisi, Becca De La Rosa, Willow Fagan, Berrien Henderson, Darja Malcolm-Clarke, Gord Sellar, Rachel Swirsky, Genevieve Valentine, and many more. However, the field is full of new authors being published all over, and the zines listed on this website are a great start for a reader to dive right into!

Scott Andrews, Beneath Ceaseless Skies

I think there are lots of very good neo-pro short story writers being published these days in semiprozines.  Beneath Ceaseless Skies has published a number of up-and-coming writers who’ve been Finalists or Winners of the Writers of the Future award, including Tina Connolly, Sarah L. Edwards, and Erin Cashier.  Our stories from other newcomers such as Matthew David Surridge and Grace Seybold have also received strong reviews.  And we’ve published two authors who are nominees for this year’s Campbell Award for Best New Writer–Tony Pi and Aliette de Bodard.

Starting Your Own Semiprozine (2 of a series)

I asked a few of our semiprozine editors and publishers if they had any advice for someone considering starting a semiprozine of their own. I was originally going to run these all at once, but it turns out their answers are best served separately. This installment is by Scott Andrews from Beneath Ceaseless Skies:

Have a vision for what you can bring to the field, and make sure you understand the commitment involved in running a ‘zine.

I think the best ‘zines are like the best stories.  Great short stories come from a burning need the author has to tell that specific story, some insight they have into that character or that theme or that world.  Great ‘zines come from an editor or editors who are passionate about a certain kind of fiction and therefore are dedicated to promoting it.

I love “literary adventure fantasy”–fantasy with cool worlds and exciting plots like the great fantasy of past decades, but written with modern literary flair.  The whole reason I started Beneath Ceaseless Skies was to create a home for that type of fantasy short fiction.  It helped that there was no existing magazine dedicated to fantasy of that type, so our specialization has given BCS a unique identity.  And because I’m passionate about that kind of fiction, running the magazine is a labor of love.

But even a labor of love can be a ton of work.  Anyone starting a ‘zine should give serious consideration to whether they can handle the work load.  Some amateur ‘zines have gone under after only a few issues because the editor(s) had no idea how much work it is.  ‘Zines can get over 200 submissions a month, and behind each one of those submissions is an author who is counting on you, the editor, to send them a prompt reply.  If you get in over your head, you will end up leaving a lot of writers annoyed that you didn’t live up to your commitment.  So make sure you understand and accept that commitment before you start a ‘zine.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Established: October 2008bcs
Editor-In-Chief: Scott H. Andrews

Overview:
Beneath Ceaseless Skies publishes “literary adventure fantasy”–short fiction with traditional fantasy elements, such as secondary-world settings, but written with modern literary flair. We pay SFWA pro rate for short stories and novelettes of all lengths. We publish two stories online every two weeks.

Our authors include established writers such as Marie Brennan, Yoon Ha Lee, S.C. Butler, and Richard Parks, as well as new writers including five winners of Writers of the Future contest. Authors appearing in BCS have elsewhere won the Hugo Award (David D. Levine) and have been nominated for Nebula Awards (Charles Coleman Finlay), World Fantasy Awards (Holly Phillips), and the 2009 Campbell Award (Aliette de Bodard, Tony Pi).

Other Items of Interest:
BCS also publishes selected stories as audio fiction podcasts,
with a new episode every two weeks.

Website:
beneath-ceaseless-skies.com

Information provided by Scott H. Andrews.