. . . for a shameless plug. I’ve received my copies of The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, and the book is stunning. In the middle of a busy, busy week, I burned a day reading.
If you’re interested in a perspective on science fiction and fantasy that doesn’t come from the big 3 magazines, or if you’re interested in stories that are more long-view than current crisis, it’s well worth your $11 at Amazon (or Powells, or your local bookstore) to have this in your collection.
Plus, it has one of my stories in it.
If you hate my work, well, think of it as, “Well, less than 10% of the book is Stoddard.” If you like my stuff, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at range of other work in there as well.
Obligatory links to Amazon and Powells here.
And yeah, I know, I’ve been a little quiet on the blog front. Buried at work; more unpopular opinions to come this week.
May 4th, 2008 / No Comments »
Okay, it’s time for the big things. These things aren’t going to be accomplished without investment of time and/or money. They may require reorganizations. Or new organizations. Or new investment. That’s why these are hard.
And now, a disclaimer. Especially in the light of the furore over the last post. I don’t know all the answers. This ain’t the be-all end-all definitive guide on how to make everything right for science fiction. This is one dood’s guess. If you have other ideas, please feel free to share!
Ready? Take a deep breath.
5. Define your messages. In marketing, we start establishing a brand by defining key messages. These are things that only you can say, and are most likely to interest someone. Science fiction publishers and organizations, by and large, have done a poor job with this– especially when seen from the eyes of a newb.
Let’s put ourselves in the position of, say, a kid who has a taste for Star Wars and The Matrix and other sci-fi films, and starts looking for other science fiction online. Assuming he finds a publisher or magazine at all (see #4), what’s going to keep him at the site?
One thing: Instant, clear communication as to why he wants to be there.
Content alone won’t do it, because (a) if whatever you’re highlighting at the moment ain’t in his taste spectrum, you’re toast, and (b) it takes a long, long time to stroll thru the archives. And this assumes that content is there in the first place.
But if he saw things like:
“Read ideas that are a decade in advance of what you see in movies.”
“Love new technology and ideas? Find out what the world will be like in a few years–or a thousand.”
“What if we had invented computing technology in the Victorian era? If cheap technology meant everyone was a mind-reader? If advances in biology meant you could grow your house? Explore what-ifs right here, right now.”
“Discover why scientists, internet visionaries, technology leaders, and other people who are changing the world read science fiction.”
“Join a group of people not just looking forward, but leading us forward.”
Not all of these at once, of course . . . but you get the idea.
Now, someone might say, “Well, hell, coming up with these key messages doesn’t seem so hard.” Now, sit in a room with 12 people and see if you can get them to agree. Then remember that you really should test multiple key messages with random display on your home page tied to analytics to determine which are the most effective. And then you need to be able to accept, really accept, that your favorite message may not be the best one for your organization. It ain’t easy.
4. Get visible–on all levels. SFWA appears in the first page of Google search results, but beyond that, it’s a wash. No publications or publishers show up until page 5. Where’s the SEO? How about PPC? How about doing your own page in Wikipedia? If people are looking for science fiction, we need to get in front of them.
But visibility can go well beyond keywords. Where are the science fiction widgets that announce new titles? Where are the widgets you could, say, share to unlock content? Hell, where are the wallpapers and ringtones? Where is the share-around media campaign raising awareness about the movers and shakers who read science fiction? With 6 of the top 10 global websites being social sites, we need to have an integrated social media strategy and presence that goes beyond our own captive social network (yes, there is a place for both).
Or how about defining your own social media liaisons–people who are available to talk about your authors’ works, but who do not push themselves on anyone?
And, just when you’ve thought I’ve gone way off the deep end, consider this wacky “visibility” idea. Why don’t we have an industry liaison to Hollywood, delivering our key messages like, “Hey guys, remember where you get your ideas–want to see some new ones?” Visibility can go as far as budgets allow.
And yes, visibility takes investment. But there are large publishers out there. Once they lose the stranglehold of their big ad agency (and the trap of their Comscore metrics box), there’s money to invest. And, beyond that, I’d suspect that there are more than a few closet science fiction fans in the Google/Facebook/Web 2.0 universe who might be interested in helping out. Remember, Google is sponsoring a Moon prize.
3. Create fans–and benefits. Remember that I called for a science fiction social network? Here’s why: it’s a path to real engagement. It may even be a path to monetization, if you provide relevant services. Here’s what you do:
Define fan levels. Let’s say, just for instance, we have a Silver Fan, a Gold Fan, and a Diamond Fan (choose your own fan levels, but don’t start with something embarrassing like “basic.”) These people are giving you their time and information. This is worth a lot.
Define some real benefits for your Silver fan. Even at the base level, remember: people are giving you their time and information. Make it worth their while. For publishers, maybe you give them a free ebook every year. Or, if you’re already giving out free ebooks, let them join a network where they get a free book for every 10 friends they invite. If you’re an organization, let them share in some of the info reserved for published authors.
Make at least two of the levels paid. Oh, here’s where the howling starts. But, with the right incentive, you can make the paid levels pay off–both for the fans and for you. Let’s say that, at the Gold level, there’s a standard quantified discount on every book you buy, you get a free book every year, and you get and you’ll get invited to events in your local area. And let’s say the Diamond level gets you into private meet-and-greets with the authors? Or, for organizations, why can’t the Gold or Diamond levels have access to events or functions, or even (gasp) be allowed to vote on a people’s choice award? No matter how many fans you invite in, there will still be a distinction between a published author and a fan.
Again, this ain’t the universal prescription. The details may be very different. But defining a loyalty program with some real teeth would pay off, big time, for publishers and organizations.
2. Create your own worlds. And yes, this is one I’ve yammered on about before, as well. But there’s no reason why science fiction should not own the alternate reality game (ARG).
An ARG is a way to let people keep coming back to your authors’ worlds, time and time again, to build interest in future releases. It’s a way to impress fiction on the real world. It could lead to additional sales of everything from picture books to t-shirts to comic books to short video and music. Really, it’s an art form in and of itself, and it is firmly grounded in the science fiction sphere.
And yes, building an ARG (or merely an alternate reality continuum, where we simply treat the places and people of our worlds as real) is not an inconsiderable amount of work. But what if developing and curating a tiny piece of the ARG was what bought your fan his Diamond status? Or a level above Diamond? ARGs do not have to be built by a single individual or organization. They can be crowdsourced.
Skeptical? Yeah, that’s cool. Just know that new variants of the ARG are emerging. Pretty soon, we will have people interacting with worlds and stories that never existed in real life as they surf the web (PMOG), or even as they walk around in the real world (MARG).
There is no reason science fiction should not own this space–and if we let it slip by, we have only ourselves to blame.
1. Fund a big idea or two. Did you know that Google is sponsoring a $30MM prize for the first privately funded team to send a robot to the moon? Did you know that Progressive Insurance is sponsoring a $10MM prize to inspire a new generation of super-efficient vehicles? Did you know that Archon is funding a $10MM prize for the first team to sequence 100 human genomes in 10 days? All of these are part of the X-Prize Foundation, an organization designed to spur innovation through, well, big fat cash prizes. You may remember them from the original X-Prize, which was won by Scaled Composites.
“Ohhh-kay, now we know Stoddard has gone off track, because, first, there ain’t nobody out there with a pile of cash like that, and, well, what the heck would we apply this to?” you may be asking.
Well, first, the pile of cash may be a lot smaller than you think. X-Prizes are funded by insurance companies. As in, the insurance companies bet against anyone winning the prize in a stated amount of time. This is what allows your local Lions club to have a $1MM hole-in-one competition–the chance of anyone winning the prize is relatively low. Your Lions probably paid $2000 to have that $1MM prize. So the investment is really a lot lower that you expect.
(And yes, I know–this sounds like something out of Heinlein’s The Man Who Sold the Moon. But, I assure you, this is real. We have run insurance-backed contests at my day job.)
Second, I can think of several things to apply this kind of prize to. Here are a couple.
Monetization. On a subject near and dear to every publisher’s heart, how about monetization? What is a working model for profitable monetization in a market where content can be distributed nearly free? Or, to take it up a notch, how do we ensure people receive a fair return on their intellectual property? (Note: “fair” may be well below what organizations like the RIAA and MPAA believe “fair” to be.) Heck, maybe do this in conjunction with the EFF. Throw a million-plus dollars at this challenge, and you’re going to have a lot of people devoting a lot of time to testing and proving real, workable solutions.
The current crisis. Worried about climate change or energy independence or another current crisis? Then let’s pick one and sponsor a prize for helping to figure out this problem. This will raise science fiction’s profile tremendously–and it may result in some real answers. Of course, this may be something so big that we tackle with other organizations, in order to provide a prize of the magnitude needed to spur real research and testing. But even if it’s done in conjunction with other entities, it sends a powerful message: we’re not just forward-looking, we’re actively trying to do something about it.
And, of course, there may be other prizes. And other things we can do. Like I said, this ain’t the definitive guide. This is speculation. Your results may vary. Not intended to be used as a personal grooming device. And all those other disclaimers.
But if it points a few people in the right direction, then I’m happy. And I’ll do what I can to help!
April 18th, 2008 / 10 Comments »
Yes, small things. As in, “There ain’t no reason not to do this.” As in, “This costs nothing, or next to nothing.” As in, you don’t need to reinvent the industry or discover the magical monetization model or invent the free ebook reader that convinces everyone to give up their iPhone.
Of course, we’ll be following this with 5 big ideas. Hence this countdown starting at 10. But those are for another post.
10. Divorce yourself from bad design. Why do so many science fiction sites look like they were created in 1995? Sorry, guys, but if we’re going to be the leading edge, we can’t make people laugh uproariously at the first click. This is not an example of a forward-looking site. This is better. And, before you drag out the, “I ain’t got no money” excuse, download Wordpress for free, then take a click over to 99Designs and run a design contest for a template, pay a freelancer for some Flash work, and you’ll soon have yourself a site that would have cost $1MM or more to make during the web 1.0 revolution for less than 4 figures.
9. Bring us together. So how come no science fiction organization or publisher hasn’t clicked on the “create social network” button at Ning? Or any similar site? In a few minutes, they could have their own social network, complete with all the friending/group creation/user management tools of Facebook. Free. Wait. Let me repeat that. Free. As in FREE. Are you reading me? A social network for science fiction writers, pubs, and fans would be infinitely better than the forums and whatnot they have now. And infinitely better than waiting for some half-baked, committee-ized, overthought, too-late, internally-created system.
8. Stop devaluing yourself. If I see one more author or publication wring their hands over the possibility of success, I’m going to scream. You don’t need to apologize for wanting to make money. You don’t need to apologize for wanting to make *lots* of money. No other profession does. If we want to bring this field forward, we need to be able to make a living as writers and publishers. A good living. And yes, I know we’re still figuring out the new models for monetization. I just want us to shoot for a model that provides more than break-even accounting.
7. Embrace reality. Sorry, but if SF is the most popular movie genre in the world, then it’s time to go there. Especially since the trend appears to be accelerating to cover the entire entertainment space. How many science fiction- or fantasy-based shows are there right now? Yes, most of them are light entertainment. Yes, most of them are filled with rubber science. That’s fine. Use them as a gateway drug to lure people to real science. Or offer your own alternatives. A few months back, I was amazed to find an anime series that depicts a mature augmented reality environment, and fully explores SF tropes as sophisticated as those in Theodore Sturgeon’s “Microcosmic God”–and it is aimed at a tween/teen audience!
6. Lose the negativity. Yeah, I’ve harped on this before, but it bears repeating. If we want to lead, we need to be the people with answers. We need to have vision. We need to look beyond the current crisis of the world (and the world has been in a current crisis, since, say, Sumerian times) and imagine positive futures. And no, this does not mean happy-sappy tales where everyone goes skipping through a field of flowers. I’m talking work that embraces the full scope of human aspiration, anger, benevolence, greed, kindness, sadness. I’m talking about work that may be disturbing, and that may come out in a place where things are profoundly different–but it does come out, and we are still human, and still moving forward, in the end.
Stay tuned for the big things.
April 11th, 2008 / 35 Comments »
Last year, I compared the web traffic and related sites for BoingBoing and science fiction publications. Not surprisingly, science fiction magazines like Asimov’s, Analog, and F&SF trailed BoingBoing in terms of overall traffic. But even more interesting were the stats on what Alexa calls “related sites.” Related sites are sites that are also popular with the people visiting the site under analysis.
In light of the emergence of the i09 blog, I decided to rerun the Alexa stats this year and see where we are. i09 occupies a space similar to BoingBoing–a space I call “popular metascience.” For the old farts here, think Omni for the 00s, minus the fiction. i09 has a more specific focus on science fiction, which for them translates to more scifi movie reporting, more scifi ephemera, and more general scifi links than BoingBoing.
The results are interesting. First off, let’s take a look at the chart. Yeah, popular metascience still kills science fiction. But again, the related sites make it interesting. Consider the related sites for each of these presences:
BoingBoing
i09
Analog
Strange Horizons
Once again, there’s no overlap. What’s interesting, to me, are two things.
One: I wonder who the visitors to i09 really are. Or if they are. They certainly don’t show much interest in science fiction, nor do they show much interest in other Gawker blogs. The numbers may look very impressive (they started up officially in January 08), but the related sites are truly a grab-bag of unrelated stuff.
Edit: Charlie Jane Anders explains io9’s bizarre results in comments. Apparently the domain was a linkfarm for many years. It’ll be interesting to see what the traffic looks like in a few months.
Two: From the amount of related magazines, online pubs, review sites, and market sites like Ralans, it is increasingly evident who the primary audience for short SF is today: other writers. This is true for both Analog and Strange Horizons.
So why did I do this, you ask? Well, it’s partially just native curiosity. I find sites like BoingBoing and i09 interesting–and I am also a science fiction reader and writer. So I want to know what popular sites are doing, and how that can be applied to science fiction in general.
It’s also partially because I really want to help. I’d like to see the science fiction magazines succeed. I’d like to see science fiction become more relevant. I’d like to see it come back to genre that is actively leading us forward, instead of telling us “there’s no use, we’re all going to die anyway.” Unfortunately, there’s little I can do to help the publications directly, so maybe this, in some small manner, will help point the way.
After all, BoingBoing grew organically. It didn’t take millions of dollars in advertising or the combined might of a television network to launch. It occupies a space where science fiction could be.
i09 is different, being part of the massive Gawker blog network. But, as such, it sends its own powerful message: these new media conglomerates are eying our space with intellects “vast and cool and dispassionate,” to paraphrase. And they’re moving in. What does that mean for the future?
April 4th, 2008 / 9 Comments »
My friends know that I write science fiction. Some of them treat this fact like a terminal illness–something unfortunate and never to be talked about. Some of them try to be helpful.
This is about one who tried to be helpful. He brought by a whole mess of vintage science fiction magazines and anthologies he’d found in his favorite thrift store. We’re talking obscure stuff here, from Other Worlds of the 50s to Galaxy of the 70s, together with collections from Fantasy and Science Fiction (in hardback, no less) from the 60s.
“Cool!” I thought, flipping through the age-yellowed magazines. I figured I’d skim through them later, and see what massive talents had been lost in the march of time.
But it didn’t work out like that.
As other guests arrived for my little get-together, they immediately gravitated towards the brightly-colored covers of the old magazines. They’d pick them up, turn them over, leaf through a few pages, and put them down. Or they’d comment.
“Hey man, did your 6-year-old paint this cover?” someone asked.
I explained that these magazines came from a different era, when they literally had to jump off the shelf. But, you know, some of the art was pretty amateurish. I wondered how big of an art budget they had, even in the “golden age.” Probably not very large.
And then they started reading. That’s where the fun truly began. “Ha, he just put a tape in his stereo,” one guest said. “And the story is set in 2010!”
“Yeah, and this one has a computer the size of a 150-story building–underground!”
“And we’re still fighting the commies in 2080 here.”
“That’s all right, we had a nuclear war in this one.”
“Wow, what’s a teletype?” (This in a story set in 1996.)
“That computer has tubes? Tubes?!!”
I pointed them at the Fantasy and Science Fiction anthologies, telling them that this was a more serious magazine, and those collections were supposed to represent their best work.
But the howlers continued. Tapes, records, shortwave, teletype, building-sized computers with tubes, commies, nuclear war–they were all there.
Or, in other words, the things top of mind became top of story. By and large, what we saw before us, we wrote. Oh, yeah, we made things smaller and sleeker and faster, but we didn’t invent wholly new things. I haven’t gone through all the stories in all the magazines yet, but the gist is clear: there ain’t a whole lot of visionary going on here!
And I have to wonder if it isn’t the same today. Will we look back on the vast majority of stories today as quaint and small-minded and not very visionary? Probably. Because it’s always easiest to take a single trend and extrapolate it. It’s simplest to write about what is top of mind, right now. It’s really, really hard to weave multiple trends together into a believable whole. Or imagine a wholly new technology that changes everything.
Maybe this is why the current mode of science fiction is dark. We hear about terrible things happening in the world, and we write about them. We see our place on the world stage being supplanted, and our anxiety about this ends up on the page. Wrap it up in a more-advanced, pervasive internet, and we have a modern, sellable story.
But this isn’t the future we’ll be living in.
March 19th, 2008 / 5 Comments »
Following the release of Far Horizon, I realized that I have another trunk novel that explores the world of Winfinity, a couple of hundred years into their regime.
It’s called Eternal Franchise, and (at least I think) it’s a fun romp. It’s also probably the last thing I really want to write in the Winfinity universe, since modern times are catching up with the world, sending us veering down another timeline entirely.
So: should I release this one for free, like I did with Winning Mars last year?
Your call. Let me know via comment.
March 16th, 2008 / 4 Comments »
I don’t often cross-post things from work, since by day I’m an evil marketing wonk. But when the world crosses a threshold like we just did, it’s worth talking about here as well.
Future historians will look back on March 6, 2008 and say, “This is the day the PC really, officially died,” and “this is the day we began make technology part of ourselves.”
I’m talking, of course, about the opening of the iPhone platform to developers, with the accompanying application marketing channel and venture fund behind it.
Let’s start with this new platform, fully 3d-game-capable and full of more accelerometers and sensors than you can shake a Wiimote at. We’re playing with the SDK already, and it’s stunningly easy to use. Combine this with a distribution channel (iTunes) and a competitor to keep things rolling (Android), and you now have a whole new way to reach 10MM leading-edge, fashion-conscious, free-spending users. Do you think marketers are gonna be stampeding in? Well, like, duh.
But it’s a lot bigger than that. In fact, it changes everything.
Think of how you use your computer today. You sit down, shake the mouse, open the web browser and go to YouTube. Or, if you have a laptop, you drag it out of your messenger bag, plug it into the wall, open the lid and wait for it to find the wireless connection, then do your YouTube/Facebook/Office/Final Cut/Flash/whatever. But, in either case, you separate yourself from the computer when you’re done.
In a mobile-centric world, your computer is in your pocket, it’s always a half-second away from being turned on, and it has many different ways to alert you to its presence. The computer becomes part of you. And when you add highly capable apps for productivity and games, as well as higher-speed data, you now have a constantly-connected, intelligent, extremely high-functioning link to, well, damn near anything in the world.
It’s now trivial to look up information on Google, play games with friends, communicate with voice and photos and video, add metainformation to the growing geographic and regional databases, respond to email, create new spreadsheets–half a million things are now seamlessly integrated with your life, rather than being a car trip or a laptop-startup away.
Let’s extrapolate this out. iPhone-esque technology becomes smaller, faster, ubiquitous. At the same time, future display technology allows us to project data into our eyes, creating overlays on the real world. And, at this point, the distinctions between our own capabilities and those of the network begin to blur. We’re constantly connected. There’s no reason not to use your Google Ambient account. And, in fact, unless you turn it off, it’ll probably work constantly and helpfully in the background, instantly recognizing objects and classes of objects (like cars, faces, friends, and more) to let you know what’s going on with them.
“Wow, that’s a lot of information,” the dinosaurs here say. “And I can see the potential for spam and abuse.”
Yeah, and welcome to the early 21st century. Yes, assimilating augmented reality overlays may represent an order of magnitude increase in the amount of information we have to process. But that’s what today’s millennials have been training themselves for. Watching TV while doing homework, listening to music, and talking to 3 friends via IM is a great start on managing information overload. They’ll treat these augmented realities as part of themselves in very short order.
And that’s something to think about. People tend to guard their personal environment with much greater care than, say, a web page. Google AdSense ads won’t be tolerated when they’re in your field of vision, or even if they’re flittering around the corner of your eye. 3D overlays of fantasy-lands to explore in real space (a la Vinge and Stross) may be a better marketing venue.
But no matter how you look at it, we have turned a corner. As of March 6th, we’ve taken the first step to making computing part of ourselves.
And that changes everything.
March 10th, 2008 / 8 Comments »
Here’s what Publishers Weekly has to say about the upcoming antho I’m in:
The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Sixteen Original Works by Speculative Fiction’s Finest Voices.
Edited by Ellen Datlow. Del Rey, $16 paper (416p) ISBN 978-0-345-49632-4
Declaring that short stories are the “heart and soul of fantastical fiction,” prolific and venerable editor Datlow collects 16 impressive original stories in this unthemed anthology. Standout selections include Margo Lanagan ’s deeply disturbing “The Goosle,” which eloquently corrupts the Hansel and Gretel fable with bubonic plague, sexual slavery and mass murder; Jason Stoddard ’s “The Elephant Ironclads,” which describes an emergent 20th-century Navajo nation struggling to become a world power while staying true to its culture; Elizabeth Bear’s “Sonny Liston Takes the Fall,” a poignant tale about the life, death and sad legacy of the troubled heavyweight fighter; and Pat Cadigan ’s “Jimmy,” a strange and supernatural coming-of-age story set in the moments just after John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The thematic diversity and consistently high quality of narrative throughout make for a solid and enjoyable anthology. (Apr.)
You can make my day and buy it here.
March 8th, 2008 / 2 Comments »
Crap, now I wish I published this one earlier, rather than sitting on this since December. Here’s why:
Wired Article: Free is the Future of Business
Let’s get this out in the open: Chris’ argument is not entirely convincing. But it’s a pretty scary summation for industries like software, music, movies, and writing, which rely on revenue multiplication through distribution of low-cost or nearly-free end-products.
And yes, I just said writing.
“But books is expensive!” the dinosaur writer says. “They ain’t no cheap end-product.”
Yes. But books really shouldn’t be looked at as the end-product of writing. If you look at it one way, words are the end-product of writing. And there ain’t nothing cheaper than moving a bunch of words around online. Over a hundred million blogs prove that point plenty-good-fine, thanks.
In this new freeconomy, some bands have adapted by giving away music and making money on concerts. And some software developers give away software (open source) and charge for service and customization.
So here’s the question for authors: what is our concert?
“Huh?” dinosaur writer says. “What do you mean?”
I mean this: what can we, as writers, offer beyond the words? A book? That’s not a mass media play, especially in the age of the $30 hardcover and $20 trade paperback. An ebook? Wake me when the magic free ebook reader that saves the market arrives. Hint: ain’t happening. We’re gonna end up mobile-centric, and if longform text isn’t well-served on that platform, well, there you go. A reading? Oh, that’s funny. By and large, we’re writers, not performance artists. Service and customization? Well, I hope not. I can’t really imagine how that would translate, beyond hokey “I’ll write your kid into a book for $XXX” ploys.
There is, however, one thing we do have beyond words: ideas. Buried in all those words are great characters who people want to meet and stunning new worlds that people want to explore. And, when you look at it, the leading-edge ideas come first through writers. Science fiction films don’t break new ground–they follow the paths led by writers ten, twenty, fifty, or even a hundred years ago. Games aren’t the place you find original, stunningly new concepts, either. They’re typically rehashing tropes of decades past.
And this is what we have. We, as writers, create the ideas. We set the path.
And that means we may be better off than any other creative group. Because we don’t have a single monetizable output–we potentially have many. We can weave our ideas into dozens of different forms, and create entirely new mythologies that are embedded in the world. Writing’s revenue stream doesn’t have to start and end with the printed book. Potentially, we’re looking at residuals, tie-in sales, ad revenue sharing, licensing, and new models we haven’t even imagined yet.
Musicians have concerts. We have worlds.
Let’s go create!
February 28th, 2008 / No Comments »
Wanted: Professional writers who can deliver high quality work within a stated deadline. Flexibility regarding final content form (novel, graphic novel, screen, interactive, or life experience) is expected.
Also must have experience in writing screen and online script derivatives, mobisodes, and promotional spots from the original storyline.
Also requires experience in extending the storyline via alternate reality sites, video, audio or photo tie-ins, or games.
Please provide proof of your ability to work effectively with a content extension team.
High profile on social networks a plus, with demonstrable ability to engage a significant subset of the target audience with relevant tie-in content. Candidates with less than 500 friends or 2,000 daily unique visits on their aggregate web presence will not be considered.
Experience in public speaking or sales also a plus. Please direct us to video where available.
Please contact us via IM, Skype, or email, in that order.
February 25th, 2008 / 3 Comments »
Okay, so after getting mentioned on Velcro City, Futurismic, WorldChanging and picked up on io9, let’s pre-empt the next New New Marketing article for a follow-up.
A lot of people have said, “Happy doesn’t make for good fiction,” or expressed disbelief that “strange and happy” can, in any way, describe what is happening today–or in the future.
So let’s look at some examples of strange and happy today. And then let’s take a look at what I really mean by this.
First case in point. If you had told me, say, in 1990, that Microsoft’s most serious competition for control of the single world-spanning network came from a bunch of guys pitching together to create, maintain, and extend a completely open software base they shared everyone else, I’d tell you that you were nuts, pure and simple. “Communism” defeating Microsoft? No way. Won’t happen. But it’s not communism, it’s open source. And it’s one of the reasons I’ll be writing the next New New Marketing article.
Or let’s look at Google. A giant company giving things away for free to improve the world, supported entirely by advertising revenue. Benign ads. Ads that are widely accepted. Ads that some people make their living on. Nope, nutty, would never happen.
Or how about the ability to put your video in front of the largest television network on the planet, unvetted and uncensored? Did you know that the most popular videomakers on YouTube now have Hollywood agents?
Or let’s talk about all the stunning opportunities that the internet has brought us in toto. There has never been a time in history where is was so easy to make stuff, sell stuff, write stuff (and have it read), communicate via text and sound and video, set up new companies that offer groundbreaking services or technologies or products, ad infinitum. If I’d had this opportunity when I was a teen, I wonder what I would have made of it (rather than my actual reality, spent browsing Recyclers rather than eBay and writing HP-71 code for a handful of geeks rather than PHP for hundreds of millions of potential users.)
That’s strange. And that’s happy.
And–let me stress again–strange and happy does not mean looking forward to the boundless and perfect frontiers of a science-saturated future. It can easily encompass cynicism, hard realities, difficult sacrifices, ugly worlds, and many other hard, gritty scenarios. Consider Winning Mars. A group of (largely) unlikeable people who care only for themselves come together to do something born solely from the desire for fame and profit. People die. Corporations do their normal self-centered corporate maneuvering and machinations. The contest does not end in the way any sane person would like to see.
And yet, because of this, something wonderful happens. Because, even as we stumble forward along largely self-centered paths, there is the potential for greatness. And that makes me happy.
February 20th, 2008 / 4 Comments »
Aha, you’re probably thinking: He’s really bought it this time. After railing about how writing is the 21st century equivalent of opera, how can he pull this out of his butt?
Well, it’s simple. I haven’t changed at all. I’ll reiterate: writing stories and novels is the 21st century equivalent of opera. Yep. Sorry about that. Steve Jobs is right. People don’t read anymore. It’s not a fundamental part of the entertainment landscape of today.
But the future for writing is not only bright, it’s potentially staggering.
If writers are willing to work in forms that people want to consume, the future is brilliant, stunning, supernova-like. Writers will be necessary for a much wider array of content than we ever imagined. Writers working in both genre and non-genre fields.
“Okay. He’s talking about movies and games. Move along, nothing to see here, same old same old about how we should be writing scripts.”
Yeah. But that’s only a small part of it.
Do I have your attention now? Good. First, let me apply the two-by-four to your forehead. If you aren’t looking at writing for the screen, you’re seriously hurting yourself. I’ll start by reminding you of the insane amounts of money Hollywood writers can make. Yes, it’s going to be really, really hard to reach that level. But is it easier than writing a bestselling novel? Yeah. I thought so.
And look at all the screens! Even if you don’t make it in Hollywood A-list stuff, there’s independent movies and films and mobisodes and direct-to-video and tie-ins and branded entertainment and serious games and casual games and and and–the list goes on and on.
And, as our consumption of entertainment increases, there’s going to be an increasing need for people who can bring compelling stories to mobile phones, to Flash games you play on your lunchbreak, maybe even to gas pumps with video screens on them. And with that content will come an increasing need for advertising to feed it. Which means more writers, writing more 30s and 15s and Flash banners and such, if you can stomach the work. As these new forms of entertainment become commoditized, good writing will become even more critical for separating the good from the bad.
But this is only the start. Let’s take a look at another phenomenon: alternate reality games and websites. When it comes to compelling stories, people don’t want them to end. They want to continue to explore and play in worlds they love. Which is why ABC’s Lost has created dozens of websites for companies that never existed, and buried content for dedicated fans to find. It’s why Nine Inch Nails created hundreds of online experiences and games for people to decode to promote its Year Zero album. It’s why even the new Sarah Connor Chronicles has a fake website with the canard of a camera that can take pictures of the future, with videos of the scientists and and ongoing story behind it. All of this has to be written.
And this alternate reality phenomenon ties into a central truth that bodes well for writers: Want is much more powerful than must. Things we want to do pre-empt things we must do, because that’s how we’re wired. We’ll figure out ingenious ways to do what we want. We’ll figure out equally ingenious ways to avoid doing what we must. And diving into alternate realities is definitely on the want side.
Are you a writer? Are you interested in writing new kinds of content? If so, smile. The future is stunning.
February 18th, 2008 / 3 Comments »
Okay. It seems like a lot of us are getting the new marketing religion. Science fiction writers are blogging, getting on the social networks, putting stuff up on YouTube and Flickr. There’s even been some acceleration in the “popular metascience” space, with the introduction of the io9 blog.
But where do we take it from here?
Well, there are lots of things you can do. Here, we’re going to look at one of the most difficult, rewarding, frustrating, time-consuming, breakthrough-inducing things you can do. Specifically, fleshing out your writing by treating it as an alternate reality—and building things that help make it real.
I’m talking about producing alternate reality sites and artifacts.
What do I mean? Consider the sites for Oceanic Airlines and the Hanso Foundation for ABC’s Lost. Consider the site for Enitech Labs. Consider my own Manoa sim in Second Life (darn those time-traveling, cross-worlding Winfinity bastards), or Talisman Bay, the creepy California coastal town that a lot of my wife’s work takes place in.
Wait a minute! You’re probably saying. Build sites for fictitious organizations and companies and towns and such? That’s a whole trailer-full of work!
Maybe. And maybe not. You can make alternate realities as big or as small as you want. A password-protected site containing a character’s secret diaries. A link to a newsclipping. A simple site showing the results of some questionable research.
Yeah, and you’re still crazy. I’d rather be writing.
What do you think this is? This is 100% writing–and this is some of the most powerful writing you can do. Instead of blogging about your dogs and your vacation schedule or how the world is going to hell to create a post every day, turn some of that energy towards this!
You’ll quickly find that creating an alternate reality site for your little town makes you really think about how the town works. Who’s the mayor? When was it founded? What are its newspapers? Who are its local characters? What are the local businesses? Suddenly, your work becomes more three-dimensional, because you’re forced to really, truly understand your location. Or consider the example of a character’s secret diaries. By writing these, you get into the mind of the character on a much deeper level–and you create the backstory that makes your writing have even more realism and resonance. Or that newspaper clipping? Well, not only will you learn who wrote it (and have an opportunity to create another character), you’ll know more about how your world has seen your newsworthy incident.
And it does more than sharpen your work. Consider this: What’s the worst thing about a great story or novel? The fact that it has to end.
Of course, as a writer, you know it has to end. There’s no choice. That’s the way writing works. But for your fan, waiting breathlessly for your years-away next novel, it’s a big letdown. Alternate realities allow them to explore the world in greater detail. It helps keep up the momentum while you work.
And it gives them a reason to come back, again and again and again.
February 14th, 2008 / 5 Comments »
Happy? You might ask. What is there to be happy about? The stock market is in the crapper. The planet itself may be going to hell. So why am I bullish on the future?
Well, in general I’m a pretty positive guy. I really, really think things will work out. Some of today’s writing is so dark that it makes me want to slit my wrists and slip into a warm tub. It might be technically excellent, and the characters may be fully rendered and real, but man oh man, it’s not what I want to read.
So take a look at the new tagline on this site: Strange and Happy. Consider this my new personal emblem, and a challenge to not only writers everywhere, but to the world in general.
(Oh boy, Stoddard has gone off the deep end, hasn’t he? you’re probably thinking.)
But think about it. The world is changing at an increasingly rapid pace. Just in the last few weeks, I’ve read about active corneal overlays for augmented reality and Russian chatbots good enough to pass simple Turing tests (and immediately being used for sex chat.) Where we live is getting strange. But this doesn’t mean it’s a dystopia, or that we’ll be bowing to evil corporate overlords whose only mission statement is to rape the planet, or that we’ll have mind control installed against our will, or that we’ll all die because of climate change or slowing economic growth or whatever the cause du jour is. So why can’t we be strange–and happy?
Because I think that is the common thread. Humans will always be happy. And sad. And angry. And scheming. And power-mad. And altruistic. And loving. And kind. Mix these ingredients with strange new capabilities, and you still end up with humans in the end. And I have to think that what we consider “good” and “true” will win out. Even if it’s a crooked and cynical road to get there.
I have to believe that we won’t wipe ourselves out entirely, or change our minds and form so radically that we become fundamentally nonhuman in a homogeneous manner. Because there will always be holdouts. There will always be throwbacks. There will always be humans.
If this is golden, so be it. That’s perfectly fine. If you can read Winning Mars and call it golden, or Softly Shining in the Forbidden Dark, or Panacea, or The Elephant Ironclads and do the same, that’s fine. I’ll take that mantle. Because I think it’s time for a change.
I think it’s time to be strange . . . and happy.
February 9th, 2008 / 3 Comments »
Okay, it’s time to pitch this one. And not for a 4-column Wordpress let’s-bore-everyone-with-every-stat-in-the-planet-on-my-writing-career behemoth, but for something that’s a result of me asking the old, old design question of “what’s the minimum we need for effective communication?”
Don’t worry. It’s not like I’m quitting the blog game, or abandoning Wordpress. It’s just that I’ve grown a little tired of excessive links, useless stats, endless lists of top commenters, incomprehensible thumbnails, and sites in general which look like the front page of the Wall Street Journal.
Oh, and you can look forward to at least one or two new entries in the New New Marketing series. The world has moved on since last year, so it’s time to look at a couple of exciting new things we can do!
Oh, and yes, this also means you’re going to be hearing a whole lot more from me in 2008!
February 3rd, 2008 / 1 Comment »
Okay, for Colin Harvey and those of you who enjoyed “Far Horizon” in Interzone 214, here’s a chance to get a glimpse of Winfinity in the later days of its regime.
You see, despite our best efforts, Winfinity retains tight control over the Centric region in Second Life. Unfortunately, that’s one of the problems with evil corporations that have grown into de facto governments: it’s awfully hard to get rid of them. So Winfinity continues to build its outpost on an alien world known as Manoa. Not necessarily my Manoa–there seems to be some timeline slip going on–but they do have singing, well, things.
Drop in when you’re in-world and explore a bit. Or sign up for an account here and it’ll take you straight into the region, and give you a brief orientation on operating your proxy body.
Or, if you want, you can just browse a collection of photos here.
January 31st, 2008 / 1 Comment »
Sometimes you write about something so long you take it for granted. So you get to thinking, “Yeah, that’s right, in a few short years we’ll all be wearing HUDs and living in augmented realities like in Rainbow’s End and Halting State. And we’ll all have ubiquitous computing and AIs and we’ll be able to upload ourselves into a computronium matrix and we’ll all live forever in simulation.”
Unless it doesn’t happen, that is.
After all, there were a lot of flying cars and household robots (running tubes, natch) in Golden Age science fiction. And there were a lot of giant-IBM-computer-takes-over-and-runs-the-world stories from the 70s. And there were a lot of “Dow 40,000″ predictions bandied about in 1999. And we all know where that went.
So, a simple question: what are we missing? What technological holocaust might prevent us from having our HUDs and eternal lives? What advancements on the biotech or nanotech side might make the infotech revolution of the last few decades seem, well, kinda outdated?
I ask, because in the process of working on a new story, I came up against a scenario that made a lot of sense if it was set a couple of generations out from ours, but only if the tech was substantially less advanced than what we’d expect. So I put the story on hold. It just didn’t work with the future we seem to be heading towards.
But I kept coming back to it, because it was a compelling scenario. And, after a while, I started thinking about scenarios that could substantially slow down the development and uptake of technology. And I was surprised to come up with a very, very long list. In the end I had the answer I needed–think about the internet group Anonymous taking on the US government and losing, combined with a garage-plague scenario that resulted in us having to rebuild an interstate because one of the cities it went through simply didn’t exist anymore–and I was able to get started on the real business of writing.
So: what are we missing? No need to go all apocalyptic like I did, since we can miss upsides as well as downsides. No need to respond at all; just something to think about. Maybe something to help you in your own writing endeavors.
January 25th, 2008 / 3 Comments »
More writing news for the new year: my novella “Monetized” has been accepted by Interzone for future publication.
I’m extremely excited about this one. It’s my best extrapolation of what the world might really look like in 16 years–focusing on multiple areas of advancement in information technology, materials science, and biotech, and wrapping it in an entirely new (or very old, depending on who you ask) economic model. An early draft of the story scared the crap out of my writing group.
Look for it, coming up in Interzone! Oh, and if you haven’t subscribed yet, very affordable e-subs just became available at Fictionwise.
January 15th, 2008 / No Comments »
Well, not really spam, or I’d be sending it to your inbox. But we interrupt this stream of pontification to bring you writing news. Good news for people who like my stuff, bad news for people who don’t.
First, Interzone subscribers will be treated to my novella Far Horizon. You can see the cool cover illustration and see what people have to say about it here, you can buy a dead tree subscription to Interzone here, or you can get it as pixels here.
Second, you can look forward to a new tale, The Elephant Ironclads, which opens Ellen Datlow’s Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy. This is a new anthology of original works, and here’s the whole cast:
The Elephant Ironclads, Jason Stoddard
Ardent Clouds, Lucy Sussex
Gather, Christopher Rowe
Sonny Liston Takes the Fall, Elizabeth Bear
North American Lake Monsters, Nathan Ballingrud
All Washed Up While Looking for a Better World, Carol Emshwiller
Special Economics, Maureen McHugh
Aka Saint Marks Place, Richard Bowes
The Goosle, Margo Lanagan
Shira, Lavie Tidhar
The Passion of Azazel, Barry N. Malzberg
The Lagerstätte, Laird Barron
Gladiolus Exposed, Anna Tambour
Daltharee, Jeffrey Ford
Jimmy, Pat Cadigan
Prisoners of the Action, Paul McAuley and Kim Newman
You can pre-order the book now here or find out more about it here.
January 10th, 2008 / 4 Comments »
Okay, enough screwing around. Adam has spoken:
http://www.giro.org/2007/11/24/the-big-scary-idea/
Cliff’s notes: a 9-point outline (to which I have added a 10th in the comments) for a monetized model for science fiction publishing that might, just might, have a chance to change the way we think about the genre.
And now, for more atomic goodness, the business plan:
http://www.giro.org/2007/11/26/the-big-scary-idea-the-big-scary-business-plan/
Paul Allen, can you spare a mil?
November 24th, 2007 / 1 Comment »
First of all, thanks to everyone who commented on “what you hate most.” There’s a lot of great commentary there (except, perhaps, for an editor saying, “what I hate most are armchair quarterbacks like Jason Stoddard, who should try running a magazine for a while.”)
But what if we took it a step farther, and went to a popular forum to ask what they thought of short science fiction? The forum I had in mind was SomethingAwful, a pay-for-play, well-moderated and highly trafficked general interest forum that skews towards a college and young professional audience. Exactly the audience we’re missing out on.
I didn’t have quite enough dare-the-wrath-of-the-moderators in me to put it in their general forum, so I put it in the Book Barn:
The responses are interesting:
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2687073Â
And yeah, I know, this ain’t everyone on the internet, this ain’t everyone in the world, this ain’t nothin but a small and specific audience, but, as they say, “some conditions apply, past performance is no indicator of future results,” and other assorted disclaimers.
November 20th, 2007 / 3 Comments »
Okay, let’s stir the pot a bit.
Back in my audio days, we used to ask our dealers and our customers a simple question: “What do you hate most about your gear?” And, based on the answers to this question, we’d frequently create products that drove stunning business growth.
Because it really isn’t important what they’re thrilled with. What matters is what they hate. Hate is a red-hot emotion that drives change.
So, let’s extend this to science fiction.
Let’s all answer the question: “What do you hate most about short science fiction?”
I’ll start.
I hate that so many stories are so damned small. It’s like there’s an unwritten rule: “We want to be respected by the literary establishment, so we should stick to small characters, doing small things, in small ways. And, since these characters can’t really affect the outcome of their world, let keep the ideas small, and the overall scenario somewhat hopeless.”
And yes, I know there are exceptions to the rule. And yes, I know that lots of people don’t really care for Big Characters doing Big Things with lots of Big Ideas flying around. And no, I’m not saying we should base our next Sci Fiction off of this sole idea.
But what I’d like to hear is your answer. What do you hate most about short science fiction? Let me know. Pass this along to your friends. Have them pass it along to their friends.
And maybe we’ll start getting some of the answers we need.
November 10th, 2007 / 32 Comments »
Okay, so I’ve noticed that my series of blogposts from earlier in the year (New Marketing for Science Fiction Publications and Writers, Parts 1-3), has been joined by recommendations from Cory Doctorow and Paolo Baciagalupi. Great marketing suggestions all around, from both the Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 perspectives.
But.
It’s a well-known fact that a great marketing program won’t save a product that people don’t want. It’s also true that people actively seek out what they really want–and find it, and buy it, and talk about it with their friends–in the absence of marketing.
So, that begs the question: are the magazines reflecting what people truly want? Especially in the case of young techies (who should be natural science fiction fans?)
From my point of view, the answer is, well . . . no.
“Ah, you are a pile of sour grapes, Mr. Stoddard!” the esteemed editor crows. “I’m afraid we have to discount your assertion, unless you can bring much more compelling evidence.”
Well, okay. If we look at what people seek out, come back to, and spend money on in science fiction, I think we have a good read on what the market wants.
And no, I’m not talking huge media properties with $200MM marketing budgets. I’m taking about what people look for in social media and virtual worlds. These are leading-edge people, early adopters, forward thinkers, techies–the perfect audience for science fiction.
Let’s take a look at what they want, by looking at what they’ve created for themselves.
First, lets take a look for science fiction on Facebook and MySpace groups. You’ll quickly find the groups are sparse, and rather thin on the ground. The largest Facebook group doesn’t crack 1,000 people, and MySpace’s biggest is stuck under 5,500. Compare this to results the results we got from a single direct-to-video title–the Superman: Doomsday animated movie which effortlessly amassed over 13,000 friends. Searching on specific subgenres, such as cyberpunk, gives more interesting results: a different set of groups, some almost as large as the general “science fiction” category–and almost all of them have ties to music or another pop culture reference.
This suggests that the actual audience for science fiction could be much larger–and could be tied into additional media which would deepen the experience and increase the audience!
It gets even more interesting as you go into virtual worlds.
In Second Life, several robust science fiction-themed communities have emerged. The most prominent is Caledon, a steampunk-themed area of almost 30 Second Life sims (or about 480 acres). When you consider land costs, the means that residents willingly pay, in aggregate, almost $20,000 per month for the privilege of living in a steampunk community.
Let’s repeat this: this small community, in this tiny corner of the emerging metaverse, is paying $20,000 per month to maintain their steampunk village.
And it has grown from 64 acres last year to 480 this year . . .
And steampunk has very, very few large media references, and is clearly dead in the hearts and minds of mainstream science fiction.
Or let’s take a look at The Wastelands, another popular and growing science fiction community. This one is post-apocalyptic themed. This one has grown from 16 acres to 64 acres over the course of a year, and is one of the best-assembled, best-attended, and most consistent experiences in Second Life. There is at least one writer working on a backstory to the region. Warren Ellis makes his home there.
And again, where are the big media referents? Mad Max passed through public consciousness many years ago. But clearly there is interest in, and a need for, this type of content.
And don’t get me started on cyberpunk. There are so many references to cyberpunk in Second Life–from Toxian City, to Midian, to Gibson, to Saijo City–that you would think it’s the reigning king of science fiction subgenres, rather than quaint and forgotten and somewhat disreputable.
All of these communities sprang up organically, and are kept alive (and growing) by the people inside of them.
What does this mean to science fiction magazines, and science fiction as a whole?
We need to take a long, hard look at this. And maybe (gasp) get our own avatars (even if this means buying a new $500 PC) and do some ad hoc research. What do these people think about mainstream science fiction? Magazines? Do they think about them at all? What can a magazine do to be relevant?
Hell, what does it mean that two of the most popular MMORPGs are science fiction themed, with a population of over 2 million users? Has anyone from the magazines been in Entropia or EVE and talked to these people?
“So you’re saying we should all publish steampunk, cyberpunk, and post-apocalyptic stuff,” says the esteemed editor now.
No. Of course not.
What I’m saying is that if the magazines want be something that is desirable, sought out, purchased, and talked up, then they need to understand what their prospective audiences want. Diving into social networks, virtual worlds, and MMORPGs and asking questions is one way to get that understanding, without spending $250K on market research.
Otherwise, we can continue down the same old path.
November 3rd, 2007 / 6 Comments »
I am far far far far far too busy. Until today, I totally spaced the fact that my story “Making Payments” is up on Strange Horizons for all to see.
So, all please run, don’t walk, to SH and let me know what you think.
Fair warning, this isn’t another Winning Mars–it’s more in the vein of . . . well, you’ll see. Unlike most of my crap, this one’s only 4000 words long, so you can read it in one sitting.
October 17th, 2007 / No Comments »
As I struggle to get back on a more regular blogging schedule (up to Portland for a few days now, to speak on the subject of virtual worlds at Inverge 2007), I thought I’d pass along some comments from readers of Winning Mars who were kind enough to both read–and review–the novel.
From Dave Klecha:
“The book takes place in about the same time frame as the first third of Charlie Stross’s Accelerando, and may owe a bit to it given the ubiquitously networked nature of society, though Winning Mars probably benefits from coming after the rise of YouTube and what Stoddard calls “Found Media†(perhaps not originally, I dunno). The novel also reminded me a bit of Scalzi’s own debut, Agent to the Stars for the Insider-ish feel, with the difference being Winning Mars’s focus on television, versus movies in Agent to the Stars. Though, I think Stoddard’s story is rather more than just a mash-up of the two works noted. Worth reading, I think.”
From Justin Picard:
“‘Winning Mars’ is really quite something. Enough to keep me awake until half four this morning, and occupied for the vast bulk of today, at any rate.
A glorious switchback of a plot, a little rough around the edges, perhaps, but some stunning characterization and a real sense of momentum.”
Again, I welcome any comments, good or bad.
And, hmm, Justin mentions machinima . . . I’ve toyed with the idea of turning one of our regions into a virtual Mars, but we don’t yet have control of gravity or avatar mass in Second Life. Maybe in Multiverse . . .
September 5th, 2007 / 1 Comment »
Yes. That’s right. Winning Mars, the novel. Free. And yes, I said “novel.”
“But wait,” you might be saying. “Wasn’t Winning Mars the story you had in Interzone 196? The one you got in Rich Horton’s Virtual Best of the Year 2005? The one that Gardner Dozois gave an Honorable Mention to in YBSF of the same vintage?”
Yes to all of those.
“So why the hell aren’t you getting this thing published, man?” would be the next logical question. “Why don’t you get an agent, shop this bad boy, and get it into that wonderful world of physical print? What could possibly cause you to consider giving up your ability to publish this book, forever, by giving it away online under a Creative Commons license?”
Well, a number of reasons. First and foremost, Winning Mars is a work of near-future fiction. It’s entirely possible that by the time it crawls through the 2-year process of conventional publishing, it will be irrelevant–or at least extremely dated. Second, I like writing. I want people to read my stuff. If the gigantic advance (LOL) that I’m going to get from a conventional publisher is getting in the way of people reading my stuff, then I’d rather just have people read my stuff. Third, I write a lot. I have a lot of trunk novels–think, like, 4 of them–that I really need to clear out so I can work on new stuff.
So, here you go. Winning Mars. Free.
Read it, give it to your friends, wallpaper your room, use it to mop up spilled coffee–it’s all cool. If you like it, the original story is available in a collection called Dangerous Games, edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann. And, whether you like it or hate it, let me know.
August 18th, 2007 / 11 Comments »
. . . and not for my stuff, either.
Let’s open a quick little window into my life. My wife, variously known as Rina Slayter, Toolwench, and Ashleigh Raine (when writing with her partner Jen), is a multitalented lady. She works on cars. She edits video for Wineass. She test drives for Roush. She’s a background actor you can catch fleeting glimpses of in movies and television shows like Starsky and Hutch, Angel, Spider-Man II, Desperate Housewives (or see her face, like, floor-to-ceiling screen sized in Domino–fast forward to the Recovering Nymphomaniacs scene.) And, as she is proud to say, she has danced the Can Can while dressed as Leeloo from the Fifth Element at the last Worldcon.
Hey, did you expect anything less?
And she writes. Quite a bit more than me, in fact. You could say her day job is writing. As Ashleigh Raine, she has had three novels and several novellas published. As Rina Slayter, she has her first book out as well. So I’m here to point you at a cornucopia of books you may have some interest in. Or may not. Either is fine.
As Rina Slayter, she has Otherness:Rift out, a fantasy novel which is getting 4- and 5-star reviews.
As Ashleigh Raine, she has Driven to Distraction out, a sexy Hollywood romance with cars.
And, for those of you who want a laugh, and who aren’t offended by wireless, programmable, networkable sex toys, she’s serializing her trunk novel Blue Root for free consumption online. Yeah, I said trunk. I also said free. You know how it goes.
So, if you’d like, check out her stuff. It ain’t exactly super-dense uber-extrapolative science fiction, but then again, maybe you aren’t in the mood for that right now.
Me? Stay tuned. I’ll have something up for you shortly.
August 17th, 2007 / 1 Comment »
Damnit, I can’t help getting the feeling I’m a publication killer.
Oh, wait, you thought I meant pub, as in “cool place English blokes get drunk?” Well, no, I’m in California, land of the franchise and home of the plastic-coated, genetically-engineered, user-rated, efficiency-expert-streamlined “casual dining experience (with adult beverages).” Yark.
Anyway, back to the publications. First there was Fiction Inferno. One of the last stories there was mine. Second, there was Fortean Bureau. Last issue, and I finally crack that market. Then there was Sci Fiction. A couple of months before that one, at least.
Now, it’s Darker Matter–one of the most promising new online publications out there. Yeah. One of my stories is in the last issue.
So toddle on over to Darker Matter, and check out “True History.” Both Jay Lake and Mary Anne Mohanraj had kind things to say about it when we went through the Strange Horizons workshop, and it’s a look at a much farther future than I usually write about, farther out than “Softly Shining,” “Kinship,” or even the forthcoming “At the Edge of Experience.”
I hope you enjoy. And I really hope I stop being a pub killer.
August 7th, 2007 / 6 Comments »
Okay, I got slammed from various sides about wonky science when I posited mechanical compression spacesuits (squeezesuits) in Winning Mars (Interzone 196). Well, it looks like I might not have been so far off after all:
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/biosuit-0716.html
Put a Cessna logo on the bum and a Kia logo over the chest, and that’s your squeezesuit right there, buddy.
July 16th, 2007 / No Comments »
Yeah, I know, I’ve been scarce these past few months. I’ve been busy in my business, building up a whole new category of marketing–metaverse development. We’re getting so much action on that front, typically in the worlds of Second Life and HiPiHi, that I have to be careful not to let it eat the entire company. It’s funny having to reassure clients that “yeah, we do ‘traditional’ online stuff like site development and advertising, as well as the emerging social media and wacky metaverse stuff.”
But, think about that. My day job, more and more, is as a metaverse developer.
A metaverse developer.
A concept that wasn’t even around until Neal Stephenson invented it in the early 90s. A dream that wasn’t reality until a fan of his book turned it into a world called Second Life.
And not only that, an international metaverse developer. If you’d told me in 1994 that I’d one day have offices in Tokyo and Shanghai, I would have laughed at you. But it’s very normal for us to Skype in for a business meeting at 7AM with a client in London, then drop into Second Life for a meeting with a client in Hong Kong at 6:30PM. Preferably not on the same day, but hey, whatever.
And it’s very normal to pick up my iPhone (a device, by the way, substantially more powerful than the ‘handheld computers’ I marveled at in The Mote in God’s Eye) and look at traffic before blasting down to see a client in Los Angeles, to use it to surf while I’m waiting for meetings, to send email, to keep every episode of Wineass on, to have tons of music on, to look at YouTube, to connect to our Google Calendar, to Telekinesis into my main computer for a quick IM into Second Life.
And I know that things will only change faster. Handheld devices are only beginning to make an impact on the way we’re entertained. Faster data, everywhere, is just around the corner. Facial and gestural mapping onto avatars is close to reality. Immersive interfaces are coming.
We’re living in the early days of the singularity, right now.
So what does this mean, in terms of fiction? Sometimes I think Eric Rice is on the right track with his Saijo City project. In fact, if you want to see some of the more interesting experiments in interactive fiction, transmedia fiction, or whatever you’d like to call it, it may be worth your while to drop onto SL. Here are some SLURLs to get you started:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saijo%20City/128/128/0
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon/128/128/0
http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Wastelands/128/128/0
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Midian%20City/128/128/0
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gibson/200/156/54
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Centric/234/27/54
Does this mean I’ll give up writing? No. Does it mean I’ll experiment with other forms of storytelling, interactive or otherwise? Yes.
July 15th, 2007 / 2 Comments »
Thanks, Ben, for accepting another of my tales–this one very different than Terms Of Service, which appeared there earlier. I’m looking forward to seeing it up at the site!
Oh, and for those of you who haven’t taken a look at Darker Matter, teleport . . . er, I mean, click on over to the site and see what you’re missing. Some of the best new fiction is showing up on this great site.
July 15th, 2007 / No Comments »
Another short note: the short (yes, a short, as in less than 8K, surprise surprise, no, I am not on a campaign to singlehandedly take every page of Interzone, or to deplete the UK of ink and fine paper supplies, despite the, ahem . . . length of previous acceptances), er, the short “Best of Your Life” has been accepted by Interzone for future publication.
In other notes, blogging on non-Jason-related subjects (you know, like online marketing and future economic models and stuff like that) will resume shortly, as I am finally heading back to LA and a more sane schedule after a month and a half of speaking on things like social media and virtual worlds.
Thanks for tuning in . . .
May 12th, 2007 / No Comments »
Just a quick note: my short story “Making Payments,” a techno-fantasy piece that absolutely does NOT explain what happened to the Mini Jesuses (Mini Jesi?), has been accepted by Strange Horizons for tentative October 2007 publication. Look for it then.
April 23rd, 2007 / 4 Comments »
Well, besides Science Fiction World magazine’s 500K circulation, and 10X that number of claimed readers. Yes, you’re reading that right. A science fiction magazine with a readership of 5 million people.
Science fiction is hot right now in China, and you owe it to yourself to make your summer trip a little bit longer and go to Chengdu for the 2007 International SF/F Conference before Worldcon.
Oh, and I probably mentioned this before, but Chengdu is also the first science fiction conference to have a virtual presence in Second Life.
I’ll see you in China!
Details follow:
The “Science Fiction Year in Asia” is expanding, with another meeting in China, prior to the World Science Fiction Convention in Yokohama.Â
Prof. Yan Wu has announced a one-day academic conference on “the recent development of science fiction in China and the world” to be held August 21 at Beijing Normal University. U.S. attendees will include Worldcon guest of honor David Brin, Prof. Janice Bogstad and others, along with Chinese writers, scholars and representatives of the burgeoning Chinese film industry.
The event will offer an opportunity for foreign guests to visit the Forbidden City and Great Wall along with other sites, while learning more about the world’s largest market for SF. Those interested should write to yan_wu98@yahoo.com in order to be put on a mailing list as travel and hotel arrangements are set up.
Following that one-day meeting in Beijing, there will be the much larger three-day gathering — the “2007 International SF/Fantasy Conference” in China’s great inland city of Chengdu, August 24-27. Sponsored by SF World, the top Chinese science fiction magazine and the SF publication with by far the planet’s largest circulation. Chengdu is noted for history, pandas and renowned Sichuan cuisine.
A web site: www.chengdu2007.com is partly completed. Anyone tentatively interested can log into the website’s FORUM in order to ask questions and be put on a notification list.
Under discussion: a journey by train, from Beijing to Chengdu, stopping for a day at the historic city of Xian - home of the famed “terracotta soldiers” and the tomb of the First Emperor.
After the SF World conference, there appears to be a convenient flight from Chengdu to Tokyo (via Shanghai), for those heading on to the Yokohama Worldcon (www.nippon2007.org).
(People with experience helping to organize trips like this one are invited to help! Either by joining the forum discussion at www.chengdu2007.com or by writing to kenbrady@gmail.com or davidbrin@sbcglobal.net.)
This may be a great opportunity to spread contact between occidental SF communities and the largest, fastest growing market of science fiction literature and media, as well as participating in a unique and historic milestone in our field.
April 16th, 2007 / 2 Comments »
Like many metaverse developers and marketers, my company has a dedicated region in Second Life. This isn’t surprising. You build an office, a conference center, and make it look pretty, so you can show off how cool you are and have meetings and stuff.
But a funny thing happened on the way to our office.
We dropped into the region one day and found ourselves on an alien planet. A strange company called Winfinity had taken over our region! Big signs at the entrance said that the development of the world, Manoa, had been cancelled due to cost overruns. But Winfinity is offering a L$100,000 reward for “independent data” on the reasons for the cost overruns. Data in the form of text, photo, video, or audio records.
Has some future reality intersected with ours? Is this some elaborate publicity stunt? We don’t know, but we’ll play along. In fact, we’ll even work with Winfinity to make sure their Discover Manoa site is accessible on this timeline.
In fact, we’ll pass along the invitation to those people who are best equipped to decipher the mystery of what happened on Manoa. So if you’re a science fiction writer, aspiring writer, fan, or publication, drop in to Second Life, do a search for Centric or Manoa, and see what you can find. Fair warning, though, Manoa is a dangerous place, and we can’t be responsible for anything that might happen to you there.
Have fun, and good luck!
March 31st, 2007 / 6 Comments »
Okay, seeing how Tobias Buckell is looking for science fiction writers in Second Life and I decried the state of science fiction in Second Life a couple of months ago, and I just happen to run a company that builds Second Life presences for Fortune 500 companies (one of which recently selected us BECAUSE we’re science fiction writers), it’s time for this offer:
Science fiction publishers and writers: pay for an island or a region, and your build is free.
Yes, that’s right. Pay Linden Lab for the cost of a mainland region or an island, and we’ll do your build free. Not only that, we’ll help walk you through the whys and wherefores of Second Life, and give you lots of advice on marketing yourself in-world.
I mean, hey, we already did the first build in Second Life for a science fiction convention. And no, it’s not Worldcon. In fact, it’s the 2007 Chengdu Science Fiction and Fantasy Conference. Yes, that’s right, the first science fiction convention in Second Life is Chinese.
So, let’s get a group together (or are there any big publishers out there who want in) and let’s build in Second Life. This is an environment we should not only be in–we should dominate it.
IM me in-world: Fallon Winnfield.
March 21st, 2007 / 5 Comments »
Okay, the normal disclaimer: if you missed Session 1 and Session 2, you may want to start with those. Otherwise, this one may not make a whole lot of sense. And yeah, I know, this is a heck of a lot of work. Welcome to marketing.
Session 3: Outreach
In Session 2, we talked about building the foundation for your online marketing. Neat stuff, and necessary, but it’s mainly passive. You’re putting your stuff out there, and you’re hoping people will find it. This time, we’ll talk about ways you can reach out actively to create awareness and compel action.
Free Outreach
Tactic 1: Engage Your Groups. If you’ve built a strong foundation, you have groups on social networks and on forums who know you. You probably also have a reasonable number of people stopping by your site to read your frequently-updated blog. Now, it’s time to engage.
Engage by friending. Let’s start on the social media side. How many friends do you have on the social networks? How many are available in sci-fi oriented groups? And I’m not just talking science fiction readers–how about groups of movie and anime fans? How about friend lists from popular sci-fi movies and television shows? Yeah, the number of your friends starts looking kinda low now, doesn’t it? You can increase the number of friends you have by being active on the boards of large groups, or you can get a friending program like FriendAdder so you can search on keywords, search through groups, and send lots of friend requests. And yes, that’s kinda spammy. Hey, it’s marketing. You decide where you want to stop.
Engage by bulletin-ing. Staying on the social network side. Once you have friends, you can send bulletins to them. And yes, this sounds a little spammy too, but it depends on how you use it. If you’re going to send bulletins every day to every person, yeah, that’s pretty irritating. If you let only your friends in Los Angeles know about a reading or signing you’re doing, that’s a different story. If you have a book or story that extends tropes in a popular sci-fi movie, why wouldn’t you let the fan-friends you have know about it? This is a powerful tool, as long as it’s not overused.
Engage by posting. Let’s run on over to the forum side. Did you know that the SomethingAwful forums have an active area that’s all about books? Well, now you know. It’s perfectly appropriate to post when you have a new book out, a new publication out, or a new story accepted. Also, for the more ballsy, it’s perfectly appropriate to show up in the General Bullshit forums in “I’m a resource” mode–as in, “ask me about being a writer,” or “ask me about publishing a science fiction magazine.” Or, if you want to go all-out, why not consider writing a story for the forums, or publishing a new work that’s written for forum consumption there?
Engage by offering. Let’s move to your blogsite. What are you giving your visitors for stopping by? Your towering wisdom, encapsulated in biting blogposts? Links to your stuff available online? Well, you should have more. You need to give people reasons for being on your list. How about a pitch to subscribe to your RSS feed or sign up for periodic news? I mean, hey, if people like your stuff, they want to know when there’s more of it available. Got a trunk novel? Put it up there. Got back issues? Put them up, too. Magazines with long histories have an incredible opportunity here. With the current interest
