Locus, July 2014
Page 5
Other nominees for the Campbell were: Lexicon, Max Barry (Penguin); Proxima, Stephen Baxter (Gollancz); The Circle, Dave Eggers (Knopf); We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler (Marian Wood/Putnam); Hild, Nicola Griffith (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); The Cusanus Game, Wolfgang Jeschke (Tor); Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie (Orbit); The Disestablishment of Paradise, Phillip Mann (Gollancz); Evening’s Empires, Paul McAuley (Gollancz); The Red: First Light, Linda Nagata (Mythic Island Press); The Adjacent, Christopher Priest (Gollancz); On the Steel Breeze, Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz); Shaman, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit); and Neptune’s Brood, Charles Stross (Ace).
Sarah Pinsker with her award
Other finalists for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award were: ‘‘Bloom’’, Gregory Norman Bossert (Asimov’s 12/13); ‘‘The Weight of the Sunrise’’, Vylar Kaftan (Asimov’s 02/13); ‘‘They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass’’, Alaya Dawn Johnson (Asimov’s 01/13); ‘‘Over There’’, Will McIntosh (Asimov’s 01/13); ‘‘The Wildfires of Antarctica’’, Alan DeNiro (Asimov’s 10 & 11/13); ‘‘The Irish Astronaut’’, Val Nolan (Electric Velocipede 05/13); ‘‘Mystic Falls’’, Robert Reed (Clarkesworld 11/13); ‘‘Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer’’, Kenneth Schneyer (Clockwork Phoenix 4); and ‘‘The Urashima Effect’’, E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld 06/13).
The Campbell Award was founded in 1973 to honor the best SF novel of the year. Award nominees are submitted by publishers, with winners selected by a committee chaired by James E. Gunn. This year’s committee included Gregory Benford, Paul Di Filippo, Sheila Finch, James Gunn, Elizabeth Anne Hull, Paul Kincaid, Christopher McKitterick, Pamela Sargent, and T.A. Shippey.
The Sturgeon award is given for short fiction and was established by Gunn and Sturgeon’s heirs in 1987. Nominees are submitted by a committee of reviewers and editors in the field, chaired by Chris McKitterick with the assistance of Noël Sturgeon, Theodore Sturgeon’s daughter, and the winner was chosen by judges Elizabeth Bear, Andy Duncan, James Gunn, Kij Johnson, and Noël Sturgeon, Trustee of the Theodore Sturgeon Literary Estate.
For more information about the Campbell Conference and the awards, visit
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POMERICO JOINS HARPER VOYAGER
David Pomerico (2008)
David Pomerico will be executive editor at Harper Voyager beginning May 28, 2014, reporting to senior vice president, executive editor, and director of editorial development Jennifer Brehl. He will oversee the day-to-day editorial operations of Harper Voyager US.
Pomerico got his start at Random House, worked for Bantam Spectra and Del Rey, and most recently spent two years as an acquiring editor at Amazon Publishing’s SF imprint 47North. Pomerico replaces Diana Gill (who recently moved to Ace/Roc).
SOURCE INTERLINK FOLDS
Periodical distributor Source Interlink informed its customers on May 30, 2014 that it will cease all business operations ‘‘in the near future,’’ and asked magazines to stop sending shipments immediately. Group manager of circulation Ashlee Riggle explained, ‘‘Over the course of the last five months, Source Interlink Distribution Company has been vigorously engaged in discussions with publishers and national distributors… in an effort to correct the inefficiencies and unnecessary redundant costs that currently plague the wholesale distribution channel.’’
They decided to close after the loss of ‘‘one of our largest suppliers’’, which ‘‘recently decided to cease supply and move in a different direction.’’ Numerous news outlets report that Time, Inc., publisher of Time, People, Entertainment Weekly, and many other magazines, recently ended their relationship with Source Interlink.
Source Interlink distributed over 700 magazines, including Locus.
AMAZON AND HACHETTE BATTLE CONTINUES
Amazon and Hachette continue their contract negotiations, with both sides attempting to exert pressure on the other via tough business tactics and attempts to sway public opinion. In addition to delaying shipment and eliminating discounts on some Hachette titles, Amazon began removing pre-order buttons for print and Kindle editions of many Hachette books, including the next novel by J.K. Rowling’s pseudonym Robert Galbraith. There is also evidence that Amazon is tweaking search results to make it harder to find Hachette titles.
Though Amazon does not generally comment on negotiations, the Amazon Book Team posted a note on their online forum about the issue at the end of May. After pointing out that Hachette is ‘‘part of a $10 billion media conglomerate,’’ presumably to counteract public opinion painting this as a David vs. Goliath situation, they say, ‘‘Unfortunately, despite much work from both sides, we have been unable to reach mutually acceptable agreement on terms. Hachette has operated in good faith and we admire the company and its executives. Nevertheless, the two companies have so far failed to find a solution. Even more unfortunate, though we remain hopeful and are working hard to come to a resolution as soon as possible, we are not optimistic that this will be resolved soon.’’
Hachette senior vice president Sophie Cottrell said, ‘‘We are determined to protect the value of our authors’ books and our own work in editing, distributing, and marketing them. We hope this difficult situation will not last a long time, but we are sparing no effort and exploring all options.’’
The Authors Guild general counsel Jan Constantine thinks Amazon is violating antitrust laws: ‘‘Amazon clearly has substantial market power and is abusing that market power to maintain and increase its dominance, which likely violates Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act.’’
Author James Patterson, a longtime advocate of independent booksellers who has upcoming books that cannot currently be pre-ordered on Amazon, spoke about the fight in a Facebook post: ‘‘Bookstores, libraries, authors, and books themselves are caught in the crossfire of an economic war. If this is the new American way, then maybe it has to be changed – by law, if necessary – immediately, if not sooner.’’
Other retailers have been happy to take advantage of the situation. Books-A-Million created an online Hachette Book Group shop at
The Wall Street Journal reported in early June that ‘‘the Justice Department has gone back to the publishers asking about any recent pricing discussions they may have had with others in the industry, say people familiar with the situation…. The significance of the Justice Department’s latest move isn’t clear. The inquiries don’t necessarily mean any legal action is imminent, or even likely, a person familiar with the situation said.’’ Some industry commentators have speculated that the DoJ’s renewed interest could be an intimidation tactic on behalf of Amazon.
Amazon is also in a dispute with German publisher Bonnier, and has used many of the same tactics against them that they’ve used in this Hachette dispute.
Return to In This Issue listing.
PEOPLE AND PUBLISHING
MILESTONES
TOBIAS BUCKELL has been invited by the Bermuda Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs to join their Writer-in-Residence Programme this fall. From September 27 - October 19, 2014 he will run genre-focused workshops on the island.
Tobias Buckell (2013)
MARY ANNE MOHANRAJ is now represented by Russell Galen of Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency.
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nbsp; KIMBERLEY LONG-EWING is now represented by Scribe Agency.
JULIETTE WADE is now represented by Scribe Agency.
AWARDS
JANE YOLEN won the New England Public Radio Award for the Arts and Humanities, given annually to an individual and two groups for the past six years. She is the first writer to be so honored.
HILARY MANTEL was named a Dame of the British Empire on the Queen’s Birthday Honors list.
Hilary Mantel (2000s)
Hodder & Stoughton editor ANNE PERRY won the 2014 Kim Scott Walwyn Prize, given to recognize the professional achievements of women working in UK publishing, which includes a £1,000 prize.
DANNY DANGER OZ received the A. Bertram Chandler Award for Lifetime Service to Australian SF, given by the Australian SF Foundation.
DAVID WITTENBERG’s Time Travel: The Popular Philosophy of Narrative (Fordham University Press) won the UC Riverside Science Fiction and Technoculture Studies Book Prize, honoring an outstanding scholarly monograph that explores the intersections between popular culture, particularly science fiction, and the discourses and cultures of technoscience.
BOOKS SOLD
NANCY KRESS sold The Best of Nancy Kress to Yanni Kuznia at Subterranean Press via Eleanor Wood of Spectrum Literary Agency.
SEANAN McGUIRE, writing as MIRA GRANT, sold the final book in the Parasitology series, and a new novel and four novellas set in her Newsflesh universe, to Will Hinton at Orbit.
A. LEE MARTINEZ sold The Last Adventure of Constance Verity and two more books in the trilogy to Joe Monti at Saga Press via Sally Harding of the Cooke Agency.
W.P. KINSELLA sold The Very Best of W.P. Kinsella to Jacob Weisman at Tachyon via Carolyn Swayze of the Carolyn Swayze Literary Agency.
E.C TUBB’s posthumous collections Talk Not at All and The Devil’s Dictionary sold to Wildside Press via Phil Harbottle on behalf of the Tubb estate.
GAIE SEBOLD sold Sparrow Falling, a sequel to steampunk novel Shanghai Sparrow, to Jonathan Oliver at Solaris via John Jarrold.
KARINA SUMNER-SMITH sold Defiant and Towers Fall, second and third in her Towers trilogy, to Jason Katzman and Kelsie Besaw at Skyhorse via Sara Megibow of Nelson Literary Agency.
DAN VYLETA’s alternate history fantasy Smoke, Soot & Ash, described as ‘‘The Secret History meets Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell,’’ sold to Bill Thomas at Doubleday in a pre-empt and to Jennifer Lambert at Harper Canada via Simon Lipskar at Writers House.
ARIEL WINTER sold futuristic literary novel Barren Cove and a second book to Megan Reid at Emily Bestler Books via Chelsea Lindman of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.
DEBORAH INSTALL sold A Robot in the Garden to Jane Lawson at Transworld via Jenny Savill of Andrew Nurnberg Associates International.
ISAAC MARION sold The New Hunger and The Living, the first a prequel and the second a sequel to Warm Bodies, to Emily Bestler at Emily Bestler Books via Markus Hoffmann of Regal Literary.
Seanan McGuire (2011)
CHRISTI WHITNEY sold fantasy Grey and two more books to Natasha Bardon at Voyager via Jill Corcoran of Jill Corcoran Literary Agency.
MIKE ALLEN’s debut collection Unseaming sold to Antimatter Press.
M.R. MONTGOMERY’s Wind Cave trilogy sold to Michael Wilson of Permuted Press via Gloria Koehler and Donna Eastman of Parkeast Literary.
GALLAGHER LAWSON sold The Papermade Man to Olivia Taylor Smith at Unnamed Press via Dara Hyde of the Frederick Hill Bonnie Nadell Agency.
ANDY LEWTER’s Gifted went to Stephanie Taylor at Astraea Press.
D. MARTIN sold A Navigator’s Tale: The Arcane Map of West to Misty Williams at Fiery Seas.
BONITA VEAR & ALETHIA FRASER sold Gamenian to Vinspire.
TONYA KAPPES sold paranormal cozy mystery A Ghostly Undertaking and three more books in her series to Lucia Macro at Harper via Steve Kasdin of Curtis Brown.
BISHOP O’CONNELL’s The Stolen and The Forgotten went to Rebecca Lucash at Avon Impulse via Margaret Bail of Inklings Literary Agency.
BRIAN TAYLOR sold Between Shadows and Darkness and a second paranormal novel to Michael Wilson at Permuted Press via Gina Panettieri of Talcott Notch Literary Services.
SARAH NICOLAS sold Dragons Are People, Too to Terese Ramin at Entangled via Rebecca Podos of Rees Literary Agency.
A.J. CATTAPAN sold paranormal romance Angelhood to Vinspire.
EDITA PETRICK’s The Heirloom went to Vinspire.
E.C. MYERS sold YA technothriller The Silence of Six to Perrin Chiles at Adaptive via Eddie Schneider of JABberwocky Literary Agency.
ARI MARMELL sold Covenants End, the fourth and last YA about the thief Widdershins, to Lou Anders at Pyr.
KIM LIGGETT sold The Last Harvest – ‘‘Friday Night Lights meets Rosemary’s Baby’’ –and a second book to Melissa Frain at Tor Children’s at auction via Josh Adams of Adams Literary.
DANIEL JOSE OLDER sold Shadowshaper to Cheryl Klein at Arthur A. Levine Books via Eddie Schneider of JABberwocky Literary Agency.
AARON THIER’s Mr. Eternity went to Rachel Mannheimer at Bloomsbury via Cynthia Cannell of Cynthia Cannell Literary Agency.
ROSAMUND HODGE sold a two-book YA fantasy series, described as ‘‘Romeo and Juliet meets Sabriel,’’ to Kristin Rens at Balzer + Bray via Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates.
MIKAELA EVERETT sold The Unquiet, about a teen who murders alternate versions of herself in parallel worlds, and a second book to Martha Mihalick at Greenwillow in a pre-empt via Alison Fargis at Stonesong.
Greg Bear (2011)
KIERSTEN WHITE sold Daughter of the Dragon, first in the Conquerors series, and two more books to Wendy Loggia at Delacorte and Annie Eaton and Ruth Knowles at Random House UK Children’s in a pre-empt via Michelle Wolfson of Wolfson Literary Agency.
HELEN FALCONER sold Hawthorn, Changeling, and Shoeg, about a teen changeling, to Kelly Hurst at Puffin via Marianne Gunn O’Connor.
KRISTINA McBRIDE’s A Million Times Goodnight, described as ‘‘John Hughes meets Sliding Doors,’’ went to Alison Weiss at Egmont via Alyssa Eisner Henkin of Trident Media Group.
PAULA STOKES sold Vicarious and a second book to Melissa Frain at Tor Children’s at auction via Jennifer Laughran of Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
WENDY HIGGINS sold the Great Hunt duology, a retelling of Grimm Brothers’ fairytale ‘‘The Singing Bone’’, to Alyson Day at Harper Children’s in a pre-empt via Jill Corcoran of Jill Corcoran Literary Agency.
MARGARET DILLOWAY’s middle grade Momotaro and a second book sold to Stephanie Lurie at Disney-Hyperion in a pre-empt via Daniel Lazar at Writers House.
LINDSAY EAGAR sold middle-grade fantasy Hour of the Bees and a second title to Kaylan Adair at Candlewick at auction via Sarah Davies of the Greenhouse Literary Agency.
ALAN CUMYN’s Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend, a YA novel about exactly what it sounds like it’s about, sold to Caitlyn Dlouhy of Atheneum at auction via Ellen Levine of Trident Media Group.
TARAN MATHARU sold Summoner and two more YA fantasies to Liz Szabla at Feiwel and Friends at auction via Juliet Mushens of the Agency Group. UK rights for three books sold to Naomi Greenwood and Nick Coveney of Hodder Children’s at auction via Mushens.
ERIKA MAILMAN, writing as LYNN CARTHAGE, sold Arnaud Legacy: Haunted and two more books to Michaela Hamilton at Kensington Children’s via Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff & Associates.
CINDY PON sold Serpentine and a second book to Georgia McBride of Month9Books via Bill Contardi of Brandt & Hochman.
JULIETTE CROSS’s Forged In Fire, first in the Vessel trilogy, and two more new adult books went to Linda Ingmanson at Samhain Publishing via Brittany Booker of Booker Albert Agency. Her Soulfire and two more YA fantasies sold to Renee Rocco at Lyrical Press via Booker.
JULIE ANNE LINDSEY’s YA fantasies Prophecy and Goddess went to Renee Rocco at Lyrical Press via Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency.
STEVE ALTEN sold SF Sharkman to
Taylor via Melissa McComas of Tsunami Worldwide Media.
LESLEY DOWNIE sold Tunnels to Stephanie Taylor at Astraea Press via Brittany Booker of Booker Albert Agency.
First novelist SIMON P. CLARK’s YA fantasy Eren sold to Sophie Brewer at Constable & Robinson and Kate Hibbert at Little, Brown Children’s UK, and resold to Sylvan Creekmore at St. Martin’s via Brewer and Hibbert.
New writer ELIZABETH HALL’s historical fantasy Miramont’s Ghost sold to Danielle Marshall of Lake Union Publishing via Alison Fargis of Stonesong.
J.C. NELSON sold novella Soul Ink in the Grimm Agency series to Leis Pederson at Ace via Pam van Hylckama Vlieg of Foreword Literary.
GREG BEAR will edit Nebula Awards Showcase 2015 for Lou Anders at Pyr via Eleanor Wood of Spectrum Literary Agency for SFWA.
ANN & JEFF VANDERMEER sold The Big Book of Science Fiction, ‘‘an oversized, 800-page time capsule of the last hundred years of the sci-fi canon,’’ to Tim O’Connell at Vintage via Sally Harding of the Cooke Agency.
JOHN STEADMAN sold nonfiction book H.P. Lovecraft and the Black Magickal Tradition to Amber Guetebier of Red Wheel/Weiser/Conari.
BOOKS RESOLD
HENRY KUTTNER’s The Best of Henry Kuttner, Robots Have No Tails, Ahead of Time, Earth’s Last Citadel, Mask of Circe, Man Drowning, Murder of a Mistress, Murder of a Wife, and Murder of Ann Avery resold to Laura Duane of Diversion Books via Cristina Concepcion of Don Congdon Associates.
NNEDI OKORAFOR resold Lagoon to Joe Monti at Saga Press via Jason Bartholomew of UK publisher Hodder & Stoughton.
DENNIS ETCHISON sold corrected, definitive e-book versions of The Dark Country, Red Dreams, The Blood Kiss, and The Death Artist to David Niall Wilson at Crossroad Press.
JOHN RUSSELL FEARN sold e-book rights to 57 backlist SF novels to Orion for their SF Gateway series via Phil Harbottle.