Locus, April 2013
Page 4
Superior Achievement in a YA Novel: The Diviners, Libba Bray (Little, Brown); I Hunt Killers, Barry Lyga (Little, Brown); Flesh & Bone, Jonathan Maberry (Simon & Schuster); I Kissed A Ghoul, Michael McCarty (Noble Romance); The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic); A Bad Day for Voodoo, Jeff Strand (Sourcebooks).
Superior Achievement Long Fiction: Thirty Miles South of Dry County, Kealan Patrick Burke (Delirium); I’m Not Sam, Jack Ketchum & Lucky McKee (Sinister Grin); Lost Girl of the Lake, Joe McKinney & Michael McCarty (Bad Moon); The Blue Heron, Gene O’Neill (Dark Regions); The Fleshless Man, Norman Prentiss (Delirium).
Superior Achievement in Short Fiction: ‘‘Surrounded by the Mutant Rain Forest’’, Bruce Boston (Daily Science Fiction 8/15/12); ‘‘Bury My Heart at Marvin Gardens’’, Joe McKinney (Best of Dark Moon Digest); ‘‘Righteous’’, Weston Ochse (Psychos); ‘‘Available Light’’, John Palisano (Lovecraft eZine 3/12); ‘‘Magdala Amygdala’’, Lucy Snyder (Dark Faith: Invocations).
Superior Achievement in an Anthology: Shadow Show, Mort Castle & Sam Weller, eds. (HarperCollins); Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations, Eric J. Guignard, ed. (Dark Moon); Hell Comes to Hollywood, Eric Miller, ed. (Big Time); Horror for Good: A Charitable Anthology, Mark C. Scioneaux, R.J. Cavender, & Robert S. Wilson, eds. (Cutting Block); Slices of Flesh, Stan Swanson, ed. (Dark Moon).
Superior Achievement in a Collection: The Woman Who Married a Cloud: Collected Stories, Jonathan Carroll (Subterranean); New Moon on the Water, Mort Castle (Dark Regions); Errantry: Strange Stories, Elizabeth Hand (Small Beer); The Janus Tree, Glen Hirshberg (Subterranean); Black Dahlia and White Rose: Stories, Joyce Carol Oates (Ecco).
Superior Achievement in NonFiction: Writing Darkness, Michael Collings (self-published); The Annotated Sandman, Volume 1, Les Klinger (Vertigo); Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween, Lisa Morton (Reaktion); The Undead and Theology, Kim Paffenroth & John W. Morehead (Pickwick); Dark Directions: Romero, Craven, Carpenter, and the Modern Horror Film, Kendall R. Phillips (Southern Illinois University Press).
Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection: Dark Duet, Linda Addison & Stephen M. Wilson (NECON eBooks); Notes from the Shadow City, Bruce Boston & Gary William Crawford (Dark Regions); A Verse to Horrors, Michael Collings (self-published); Vampires, Zombies & Wanton Souls, Marge Simon (Elektrik Milk Bath); Lovers & Killers, Mary A. Turzillo (Dark Regions).
Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel: The Sixth Gun Volume 3: Bound, Cullen Bunn (Oni Press); Rachel Rising Vol. 1: The Shadow of Death, Terry Moore (Abstract Studio); The Tale of Brin and Bent and Minno Marylebone, Ravi Thornton (Jonathan Cape); Behind These Eyes, Peter J. Wacks & Guy Anthony De Marco (Villainous Press); Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times, Rocky Wood & Lisa Morton (McFarland).
There were also nominees for superior achievement in a screenplay. Horror Writers Association members will vote to determine winners. The Bram Stoker Awards for the 2012 calendar year will be presented at the 26th annual Bram Stoker Awards Banquet, held during the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend 2013 incorporating the World Horror Convention in New Orleans LA on June 15, 2013. For more:
RIGGIO OFFERS TO BUY B&N
Len Riggio, chairman of the Barnes & Noble board, has ‘‘notified that board [that] he plans to propose to purchase all of the assets of the retail business,’’ which includes the stores and the BN.com site. This announcement comes in the wake of disappointing sales last year for the Nook e-reader, which have prompted the company to consider spinning off the Nook division and moving away from hardware in general. Riggio’s offer ‘‘is currently contemplated to be comprised primarily of cash consideration and the assumption of certain liabilities of the company,’’ presumably including the nearly $130 million B&N owes Riggio for their purchase of the Barnes & Noble College division four years ago, which is due to be paid by 2014. Riggio ‘‘would provide the equity financing for the transaction and undertake to arrange any debt financing required for the transaction.’’ The B&N board is forming a special committee to examine and consider the offer. Riggio currently owns about 38% of the company stock.
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THE DATA FILE
First Sale Doctrine Upheld • Hyperion Selling Backlist • Mythic Delirium Moves Online • Legal News • Awards News • World Conventions News • Contest News • Bookstore News • Publishing News • Announcements • Books Sold Continued • Financial News • International Rights • Other Rights • Audiobooks Received • Publications Received • Catalogs Received
FIRST SALE DOCTRINE UPHELD
The US Supreme court ruled 6-3 that the first-sale doctrine applies even to products produced outside the United States. This is good news for used booksellers and libraries, though perhaps less welcome for publishers. The lawsuit, John Wiley & Sons Inc. v. Supap Kirtsaeng, concerns a man studying in the US who had his family in Asia send him cheap copies of textbooks from Wiley Asia, which he resold in the US on eBay at a profit of $1.2 million. Wiley sought damages for this unauthorized importation, and two lower courts agreed with them.
Section 109(a) of the Copyright Act (Title 17), commonly known as the ‘‘first sale doctrine,’’ allows people who own a copy of something ‘‘lawfully made’’ to lend or sell that copy without seeking permission from the copyright holder – it’s essentially the entire legal basis for used bookstores and libraries. A lower court ruling on this case in 2009 determined that the first sale doctrine only applies to books manufactured in the US, and not to foreign editions. In August 2011 the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling, declaring that the phrase ‘‘lawfully made’’ included being physically produced in the US – an interpretation that would have made it impossible for used booksellers to sell, and libraries to lend, foreign editions of books. The Supreme Court has definitively struck down that interpretation, though in her dissent Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg warned that this ruling ‘‘shrinks to insignificance’’ a publisher’s ability to defend against unauthorized importation of foreign books.
HYPERION SELLING BACKLIST
According to the Wall Street Journal, Hyperion (which is owned by Disney) will be selling many of its backlist titles as it shifts focus to ‘‘books either linked to ABC television properties or that it believes can be extended to television or other corners of Walt Disney.’’ The publisher was founded in 1991 and has published literary and commercial fiction as well as media tie-ins. It has produced around 2,000 titles total, though many are likely out of print, and it’s unclear what number would be put up for sale.
MYTHIC DELIRIUM MOVES ONLINE
Long-running print SF poetry magazine Mythic Delirium, edited by Mike Allen, is transitioning to digital-only publication. A new version of Mythic Delirium, which will also include fiction, will launch online in July 2013 at a soon-to-be-renovated website
LEGAL NEWS
Warner Bros. is filing a countersuit against the Tolkien estate, seeking damages. About five months ago the estate and their British publisher Harper UK sued Warner Bros. (and New Line Cinema and the Saul Zaentz Company), alleging the filmmakers ‘‘have, with increasing boldness, engaged in a continuing and escalating pattern of usurping rights to which they are not entitled – rights which belong exclusively to plaintiffs.’’ The estate acknowledges that the filmmakers have the rights to create physical merchandise based on certain Tolkien properties, but the estate insists that doesn’t extend to purely digital or online offerings – like an online slot machine game, ringtones, and so on. Warner Bros. claims they worked out an agreement for such items in 20
10, and have been paying the estate royalties. They also say the lawsuit has already cost them millions and brought them bad publicity. Because of the estate’s ‘‘repudiation’’ of the online slot machine game, ‘‘Warner terminated its online gambling license agreement with Microgaming. This cost Warner millions of dollars in foregone license fees and also required that Warner repay a significant sum to Microgaming to cover a portion of its development and advertising costs.’’ The studio’s lawsuit claims the Tolkien estate is ‘‘simply attempting to extract additional huge sums of money for rights and/or take back rights that they had already granted.’’
AWARDS NEWS
The Lambda Literary Foundation has announced the shortlist for the 25th Annual Lambda Literary Awards, celebrating excellence in LGBT literature in a wide variety of categories, including SF. SF/Fantasy/Horror: Green Thumb, Tom Cardamone (Lethe); The Survivors, Sean Eads (Lethe); Night Shadows: Queer Horror, Greg Herren & J.M. Redmann, eds. (Bold Strokes); Chocolatiers of the High Winds: A Gay Steampunk Romance, H.B. Kurtzwilde (Clasp); Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction, Brit Mandelo, ed. (Lethe); In the Now, Kelly Sinclair (Blue Feather); Heiresses of Russ 2012: the Year’s Best Lesbian Speculative Fiction, Connie Wilkins & Steve Berman, eds. (Lethe). Titles of genre interest in other categories include Adaption by Malinda Lo (Little, Brown) and Every Day by David Levithan (Knopf) in LGBT Children’s/Young Adult; Dialectic of the Flesh by Roz Kaveney (A Midsummer Night’s Press) in Transgender Fiction; and Raising Hell: Demonic Gay Erotica edited by Todd Gregory (Bold Strokes) in Gay Erotica. The awards will be presented at the 25th Annual Lambda Literary Awards Ceremony on June 3, 2013, in New York City. For more:
The Los Angeles Times announced the finalists for their 33rd annual Book Prize. Fifty books in ten categories are in the running. Works of genre note, or by authors of interest, include Michael Chabon for Telegraph Avenue (HarperCollins) and Lydia Millet for Magnificence (W.W. Norton) in Fiction, Nick Harkaway for Angelmaker (Knopf) in Mystery/Thriller, and Paolo Bacigalupi for Drowned Cities (Little, Brown) in Young Adult Literature. Margaret Atwood will receive the Innovator’s Award for her efforts to push narrative form. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on April 19, 2013, immediately preceding the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, April 20-21, at USC’s Bovard Auditorium, Los Angeles CA. For more, and a complete list of nominees:
The Spectrum 20 Award finalists for the best in contemporary fantastic art have been announced. Advertising: Craig Elliott for ‘‘Forest Awakening’’; Michael C. Hayes for ‘‘Procession’’; Android Jones for ‘‘Ganeshatron’’; Greg Ruth for ‘‘Three Outlaw Samurai’’; Dan Dos Santos for ‘‘Dragon Empress’’. Book: Brom for ‘‘Wipi’’; William O’Connor for ‘‘Wargriffin’’; David Palumbo for ‘‘Fed’’; Shaun Tan for ‘‘Never Leave a Red Sock on the Clothesline’’; Charles Vess for ‘‘Tanglewood: I Didn’t Know She Was a Bottle Witch’’. Comics: Jennifer L. Meyer for Aesop’s Ark, Ch. 2, page #2 ; David Petersen for Mouse Guard Black Axe #4, Page 19; Paolo Rivera for Daredevil #10; Paolo Rivera for Captain America #1; João Ruas for Fables #121. Concept Art: Daniel Dociu for ‘‘Guild Wars 2, Norn Lodge’’; Theo Prins for ‘‘Southsun Cove’’; Paul Sullivan for ‘‘Franken-animal’’; Justin Sweet for ‘‘Marauders 2’’; Allen Willams for ‘‘Tree of Tales’’. Dimensional: Dan Chudzinski for ‘‘Turbulence’’; David Meng for ‘‘Sashimi’’; Virginie Ropars for ‘‘Mothra’’; Virginie Ropars for ‘‘Acanthopis III’’; Katya Tal for ‘‘Blanket Fairy’’. Editorial: Sam Bosma for ‘‘Stability’’; Chris Buzelli for ‘‘Book Monster’’; Sean Andrew Murray for ‘‘He’s Gone Full-Bird’’; Victo Ngai for ‘‘Best of the Best’’; Sam Weber for ‘‘Cancer Monster’’. Institutional: Ed Binkley for ‘‘A Cob of Chiseldon-Brimble’’; Lucas Graciano for ‘‘Dragon Swarm’’; Tyler Jacobson for ‘‘Ruric Thar, The Unbowed’’; Kekai Kotaki for ‘‘Stampede’’; David Palumbo for ‘‘Taken’’. Unpublished: Cory Godbey for ‘‘The Fish Master’’; Lucas Graciano for ‘‘Guardianship’’; Kekai Kotaki for ‘‘Ride’’; Andrew Mar for ‘‘Tell-Tale Heart’’; Tohru Patrick Awa for ‘‘Sudden Shower’’. Jury members Irene Gallo, Tim Kirk, Mark A. Nelson, and Michael R. Whelan chose the finalists from over 6,000 entries. Their selections will appear in Spectrum 20 (Underwood), October 2013. Gold and silver medal winners in each category will be announced at a ceremony during Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2, May 17-19, 2013, in Kansas City MO. For more:
WORLD CONVENTIONS NEWS
LoneStarCon 3, the 71st World Science Fiction Convention, August 29 - September 2, 2013 in San Antonio TX, has published Press Release #8, announcing the ‘‘Pulp-o-Mizer Competition’’ for the best pulp magazine-style cover promoting the convention using the free online Pulp-O-Mizer application, found at
The 2014 World Horror Convention will be held May 8-11, 2014 in Portland OR at the DoubleTree by Hilton Portland. The guests of honor are authors Nancy Holder, Jack Ketchum, and Norman Partridge; artist Greg Staples; editor Paula Guran; toastmaster Alan M. Clark; and ‘‘ghost of honor’’ Edward Gorey. The website is
CONTEST NEWS
The Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) announced their BSFS Amateur Writing Contest is open to entries through June 15, 2013. The contest is open to Maryland residents or students at Maryland colleges, and there is no entry fee. First place winner will receive $250, be published in BSFSFan (the Balticon convention guide), and will be invited to read at the con. There are also prizes for 2nd and 3rd place, as well as free Balticon memberships for the top five entries. For complete guidelines and more information, see the BSFS website:
BOOKSTORE NEWS
SF, mystery, and comics specialty store Between Books in Claymont DE has lost their lease, and will be closing after almost 34 years in business. For more:
PUBLISHING NEWS
Baen Books e-books are being distributed by Baker & Taylor, starting March 14, 2013. Baen has been selling DRM-free e-books via its own site for more than 13 years.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The theatrical re-release of The Last Unicorn film (based on Peter S. Beagle’s eponymous novel) will launch on April 20, 2013 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, followed by an evening reception at the Cartoon Art Museum to celebrate the film and the author’s 74th birthday. To buy tickets and for further details see
The Data File continues after ads.
BOOKS SOLD CONTINUED
Sophia McDougall’s Mars Evacuees YA and a second title sold to Sara Hughes at Egmont in the UK at auction via Catherine Clarke of Felicity Bryan Associates. The books also went to Lynne Missen at Penguin Canada in a pre-empt and to Phoebe Yeh and Alyson Day at Harper Children’s at auction, both via Zoe Pagnamenta of the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency on behalf of Clarke.
A.S. King’s Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future sold to Andrea Spoon
er at Little, Brown Children’s via Michael Bourret of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.
Shanna Swendson sold her first YA, a historical fantasy, to Margaret Ferguson at Margaret Ferguson Books via Kristin Nelson of Nelson Literary Agency.
Amalie Howard’s SF YA The Almost Girl and a second book sold to Amanda Rutter at Strange Chemistry via Liza Fleissig of the Liza Royce Agency.
Cat Clarke’s Undone went to Leah Hultenschmidt at Sourcebooks Fire via Barry Goldblatt of Barry Goldblatt Literary on behalf of Victoria Birkett of Miles Stott Literary Agency.
Adrianne Strickland sold two books in YA fantasy The Words Made Flesh series – Wordless and Lifeless – to Brian Farrey-Latz at Flux via Sandy Lu of L. Perkins Agency.
Kiki Sullivan sold The Dolls – ‘‘Pretty Little Liars meets True Blood’’ – and a second YA to Sara Sargent at Balzer & Bray via Holly Root of Waxman Leavell Literary Agency on behalf of the Story Foundation.
Greg Leitich Smith sold Pathfinder, sequel to Chronal Engine, to Jennifer Greene at Clarion via Ginger Knowlton of Curtis Brown.
Kiera Cass sold two books in a new YA romance SF series pitched as ‘‘Matched meets Never Let Me Go’’ to Erica Sussman at Harper Teen via Elana Roth at Red Tree Literary.
Jennifer L. Armentrout sold three books in a new YA series about a half-demon, half-gargoyle teen, to Margo Lipschultz of Harlequin Teen via Kevan Lyon of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.