Locus, July 2014
Page 6
JOHN BURKE’s estate sold e-book rights to Deep Freeze, The Echoing Worlds, Hotel Cosmos, Pattern of Shadows, Pursuit Through Time, Revolt of the Humans, and Twilight of Reason to Orion for their SF Gateway series via Phil Harbottle.
BRIAN BALL sold e-book rights to Sundog, Timepiece, Timepivot, Timepit, The Probability Man, Planet Probability, and Singularity Station to Orion for their SF Gateway series via Phil Harbottle.
JOHN GLASBY’s estate sold e-book rights to 23 early SF novels to Orion for their SF Gateway series via Phil Harbottle.
BOOKS DELIVERED
JOHN CLUTE delivered reviews, fiction, and nonfiction collection Stay, which includes a reprint of The Darkening Garden, to Roger Robinson at Beccon Publications.
John Clute (2009)
MEDIA
TV rights to ROBERT J. SAWYER’s Wake, Watch, and Wonder were optioned by Fresh TV of Toronto, with Sawyer to write the pilot and executive produce.
TV rights to CHUCK WENDIG’s Blackbirds were optioned by Starz with John Shiban to adapt and executive produce with David Knoeller via Josie Freedman of ICM, on behalf of Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
DEAN KOONTZ has three graphic novel series coming out from Dynamite Comics based on his work: Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein, Dean Koontz’s Christopher Snow, and Dean Koontz’s Nevermore, each with at least three volumes planned.
PATRICIA BRIGGS wrote the story for new Mercy Thompson graphic novel Hopcross Jilly, with RIK HOSKINS writing the script and TOM GARCIA doing the artwork, for Dynamite Comics.
BRANDON SANDERSON’s graphic novel project White Sand, set in a new fantasy world, sold to Dynamite Comics, which plans at least three volumes.
TIM PRATT delivered Pathfinder Tales novel Liar’s Island to James Sutter at Paizo.
DAVE GROSS turned in Pathfinder Tales novel Lord of Runes to James Sutter at Paizo.
SAWYER RECEIVED HONORARY DOCTOROATE
ROBERT J. SAWYER was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree by the University of Winnipeg on June 12, 2014. He was nominated for the degree jointly by the Dean of Science and the Dean of Theology ‘‘in part in recognition of the thoughtful treatment of the science-and-religion dialogue in Sawyer’s work.’’
Robert J. Sawyer with his degree.
Return to In This Issue listing.
THE DATA FILE
New Imprint: Tor.com • Apple Antitrust Case News • Hathi Trust Decision Upheld • 2014 Ditmar Awards Winners • New Penguin Random House Logo • Bookstore News • Martin Kills Fans for Fundraiser • Rowling Against Scottish Independence • Announcements • World Conventions News • Publishing News • 2014 Legend Awards Winners • 2014 Seiun Awards Nominees • 2014 Mythopoeic Awards Finalists • Awards News • Finanacial News • International Rights • Other Rights • Audiobooks Received • Publications Received • Catalogs Received
NEW IMPRINT: TOR.COM
Tor.com will now be an imprint of Tor Books, devoted to novellas, short novels, and serializations, to be published as e-books, print-on-demand volumes, and audiobooks. Unlike the free short fiction on Tor.com, these works will be available for purchase only. Authors will be offered the choice of being paid a traditional advance against net earnings, or no advance and higher royalty rates. Tor.com will also continue to publish free fiction, nonfiction, and news, as before.
Fritz Foy and Irene Gallo will be publisher and associate publisher respectively, with Carl Engle-Laird joining as editorial assistant. The imprint currently has positions open for a senior editor, publicity manager, marketing manager, and designer.
APPLE ANTITRUST CASE NEWS
Apple has agreed to settle with the state attorneys general and the consumer class action suit over the former’s antitrust violations, filing a sealed agreement with judge Denise Cote on June 16, 2014. The terms have not yet been released, but will likely be made public in mid-July, and will certainly involve Apple paying millions in damages to consumers who purchased e-books at various retailers during the period in which price-fixing was deemed to take place.
The parties involved have asked the judge to hold off on the damages trial scheduled for August 25, to ‘‘allow the parties to focus their resources on expeditiously presenting the final agreement to the court for preliminary approval.’’
The judge has been notably unsympathetic to Apple, expressing her opinion that Apple should face civil penalties from the states in addition to being forced to make substantial monetary payments: ‘‘It is fundamental to our republic that both the states and the federal government are empowered to punish those who violate their laws, even when both violations arise out of the same contract.’’ The 33 states involved in the suit are asking for $9 million in damages, while the Department of Justice wants $750 million. Judge Cote calls those numbers ‘‘entirely reasonable in light of those for which any comparable antitrust violator would be liable.’’ She believes ‘‘the ‘reprehensibility’ of Apple’s participation in the price fixing conspiracy is proportional to the penalties sought,’’ and complains that ‘‘Apple has expressed no recognition that its conduct was wrongful, suggesting a lack of remorse and supporting further measures to deter future wrongdoing of a like type.’’
Apple has appealed Judge Cote’s ruling, which found them guilty of price-fixing and other antitrust violations, and any payments Apple agrees to make in this settlement could be impacted by the outcome of that appeal.
The Department of Justice responded to Apple’s appeal by arguing that, ‘‘Apple fails to establish clear error in the district court’s finding that Apple conspired with the Publisher-Defendants to fix e-book prices,’’ and say Judge Cote ‘‘properly determined that Apple had participated in a horizontal conspiracy among competing publishers to fix e-book prices, which was per se illegal… Apple’s efforts to dismember the conspiracy by attacking a few isolated pieces of evidence leave only the definite and firm conviction that no mistake was made; Apple ‘was a knowing and active member of [the] conspiracy.’… Apple orchestrated such an agreement and is liable for it.’’
HATHI TRUST DECISION UPHELD
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals largely upheld a 2012 lower court ruling that Hathi Trust Digital Libraries’ scanning project and searchable database of books was legal under copyright law. Hathi Trust provides e-books to library users, offering complete out-of-copyright works and excerpts and bibliographic details for copyrighted works, and plaintiffs including the Authors Guild sued to prevent them from using ‘‘unauthorized scans of an estimated seven million copyright-protected books.’’ (It’s more like ten million books now.) The court specifically ruled that full-text searches of the database were legal, and that ‘‘verified print-disabled patrons’’ associated with institutions partnering with Hathi Trust could have access to the full text. They didn’t definitively rule on whether Hathi Trust could let member libraries create ‘‘replacement copies’’ of books if the originals are lost, destroyed, or stolen and replacement copies are ‘‘unobtainable at a fair price.’’ The court isn’t convinced the plaintiffs had standing to challenge that part of Hathi Trust’s business anyway. The court further ruled that the Authors Guild, Australian Society of Authors Limited, and Writer’s Union of Canada don’t have standing to sue on behalf of their members, as the law ‘‘does not permit copyright holders to choose third parties to bring suits on their behalf.’’ Four other author associations – from countries that let organizations sue on behalf of their members – are allowed to proceed with the claim. The court declined to rule on Hathi Trust and the University of Michigan’s Orphan Works Project, which was created to offer full-text access to works where the copyright holder couldn’t be located, because the project was suspended in 2011 after the Authors Guild and others pointed out problems with the vetting process, saying the issue was ‘‘not ripe for adjudication because the project has been abandoned and the record contained no information about whether the program will be revived and, if so,
what it would look like or whom it would affect.’’ They acknowledge that if it is revived, the plaintiffs can file suit then.
2014 DITMAR AWARDS WINNERS
The winners of the 2014 Ditmar Awards, for Australian SF, have been announced.
Best Novel: Fragments of a Broken Land: Valarl Undead, Robert Hood (Wildside). Best Novella or Novelette: ‘‘The Home for Broken Dolls’’, Kirstyn McDermott (Caution: Contains Small Parts). Best Short Story: ‘‘Scarp’’, Cat Sparks (The Bride Price). Best Collected Work: The Bride Price, Cat Sparks (Ticonderoga). Best Artwork: Rules of Summer, Shaun Tan (Hachette Australia). Best Fan Writer: Sean Wright, for body of work, including reviews in Adventures of a Bookonaut. Best Fan Artist: Kathleen Jennings, for body of work, including ‘‘Illustration Friday’’. Best Fan Publication in Any Medium: Galactic Chat Podcast, Sean Wright, Alex Pierce, Helen Stubbs, David McDonald & Mark Webb. Best New Talent: Zena Shapter. William Atheling Jr. Award for Criticism or Review (tie): The Reviewing New Who series, David McDonald, Tansy Rayner Roberts & Tehani Wessely; Galactic Suburbia Episode 87: Saga Spoilerific Book Club, Alisa Krasnostein, Alex Pierce & Tansy Rayner Roberts. Peter McNamara Award: Garth Nix. Norma K Hemming Award: Rupetta, N.A. Sulway (Tartarus UK).
Voting for the Ditmar Awards was conducted in accordance with the rules, and was open to members of Continuum 10 and members and supporting members of Conflux 9.
NEW PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE LOGO
The recently merged Penguin Random House has released a new logo, or ‘‘corporate wordmark,’’ that eschews both the old Penguin penguin and the Random House house, and dashes any hopes for a logo involving a penguin with windows for eyes, a penguin leaping into flight from a rooftop, or other inventive combinations of the venerable imagery of the publishers.
CEO Markus Dohle explained, in an internal video that accompanied the ‘‘brand launch’’: ‘‘When I saw the wordmark for the first time, I thought to myself, that’s very subtle. It’s humble. It’s sort of modest. But is that enough, for all our constituents? Is it enough for our employees? Is it enough for our authors and agents? And the more I thought about it the more I realized that, it’s really fitting because we, as Penguin Random House, we are the merchants of words.’’
BOOKSTORE NEWS
California specialty bookstore Mysterious Galaxy closed their Redondo Beach location on June 15, 2014, though they will keep their warehouse, and will continue to host events at venues in the area. They announced plans to expand their San Diego store, including a move to a new, larger location in the near future.
MARTIN KILLS FANS FOR FUNDRAISER
George R.R. Martin is running a fundraiser to help both a wolf sanctuary and a food bank in Santa Fe NM, with various prizes offered at different donation levels. There were two slots at the $20,000 (or ‘‘Martyr’’) level, both already taken, and those generous fans will see characters with their names ‘‘meet a grisly death’’ in future volumes of Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire sequence.
Other prizes (some already gone) include t-shirts, signed maps, signed scripts of the Game of Thrones TV show, tickets to the Season 5 premiere, and breakfast with Martin. Everyone who gives, at any level, will be entered for a chance to win a helicopter tour of the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary with Martin.
The fundraiser runs until July 19, 2014. For details, or to donate:
ROWLING AGAINST SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE
J.K. Rowling has donated a million pounds to the Better Together campaign, which opposes Scottish independence. Scottish voters will vote on September 18, 2014 on whether to remain part of the UK or become independent. Rowling says, ‘‘My hesitance at embracing independence has nothing to do with lack of belief in Scotland’s remarkable people or its achievements….The simple truth is that Scotland is subject to the same 21st-century pressures as the rest of the world. It must compete in the same global markets, defend itself from the same threats and navigate what still feels like a fragile economic recovery,’’ adding, ‘‘the more I listen to the Yes campaign, the more I worry about its minimisation and even denial of risks.’’ For her complete statement, see
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Museum of Science Fiction, planned to open in Washington DC, has announced a partnership with OMBI Reboot, ‘‘an online project advancing the classic science and sciencefiction magazine, for a shared relationship of curated content, events and promotion.’’ For details:
Westercon67/CONduit 24 will be held July 3-6, 2014 in concert with FantasyCon at the Salt Lake City Marriott City Creek Hotel in Salt Lake City UT. Guests include Larry Correia, Cory Doctorow, Chris Garcia, Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson, William Stout, Howard Tayler, Bradley Voytek, and Dan Wells. Members of Westercon will received admission to FantasyCon as well. For more
WORLD CONVENTIONS NEWS
Loncon 3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention, to be held August 14-18, 2014 at ExCel, London Docklands, published Media Release #23, announcing the launch of the Hugo Awards voter packet, containing some of the nominated material in electronic form. Media Release #24 announced the music program, including a full symphony orchestra performance. Media Release #25 announced the opening of online voting for the Hugo Awards at
Amazing Stories is offering a free one-year subscription to attending, supporting, and special members of Loncon3 and Detcon1. For more:
PUBLISHING NEWS
Impulse, the digital-first imprint of Voyager, is expanding, with 31 titles scheduled from July 2014 through winter 2015.
Hachette Book Group reportedly laid off about 28 employees on June 5, 2014, with cuts coming throughout the company, including at editorial and executive levels. A company statement reads in part, ‘‘We had to make some difficult changes at HBG as part of a cost-savings initiative that will improve our company’s resilience to a changing marketplace and position HBG for future growth. Unfortunately, these changes mean that some of our colleagues will be leaving the company.’’
About 1,500 English-language Tor titles are being made available for the German e-book subscription site Skoobe. Skoobe has a library of about 40,000 titles from 900 publishers, with readers paying between EURO10 and EURO20 a month to read as much as they wish.
JABberwocky Literary Agency will now represent foreign and audio rights contracts for Tachyon Publications.
2014 LEGEND AWARDS WINNERS
The 2014 David Gemmell Legend Awards winners have been announced.
The Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel: Emperor of Thorns, Mark Lawrence (Harper Collins UK).
The Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer: Promise of Blood, Brian McLellan (Orbit).
The Ravenheart Award for Best Fantasy Cover Art: Jason Chan for the cover of Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (Harper Collins UK).
The winners were announced June 13, 2014 in a ceremony at the Magic Circle in London.
2014 SEIUN AWARDS NOMINEES
The 2014 Seiun Award nominees (the Japanese equivalent to the Hugo Awards), honoring the best original and translated works published last year in Japan, have been announced.
Best Translated Novel: Incandescence, Greg Egan, translated by Makoto Yamagishi (Hayakawa); Serpent’s Egg, R.A. Lafferty, translated by Hisashi Inoue (Seishinsha); Embassytown, China Miéville, translated by Masayuki Uchida (Hayakawa); Kraken, China Miévill
e, translated by Masamichi Higurashi (Hayakawa); The Islanders, Christopher Priest, translated by Yoshimichi Furusawa (Hayakawa); Blindsight, Peter Watts, translated by Yoichi Shimada (Tokyo Sogensha); Blackout/All Clear, Connie Willis, translated by Nozomi Ohmori (Hayakawa).
Best Translated Story: ‘‘Final Exam’’, Megan Akenberg, translated by Jun Suzuki (Hayakawa SF 9/13); ‘‘Vacuum Lad’’, Stephen Baxter, translated by Satoru Yaguchi (Hayakawa SF 9/13); ‘‘Christopher Raven’’, Theodora Goss, translated by Jun Suzuki (Hayakawa SF 12/12); ‘‘The Man Who Bridged the Mist’’, Kij Johnson, translated by Kazuyo Misumi (Hayakawa SF 1/13); ‘‘The Paper Menagerie’’, Ken Liu, translated by Yoshimichi Furusawa (Hayakawa 1/13); ‘‘Palimpsest’’, Charles Stross, translated by Hiroshi Kaneko (Hayakawa SF 9/13).
There are also nominees in Japanese Novel, Japanese Story, Film, Comics, Art, and NonFiction categories. For the complete list of nominees (in Japanese), see:
Winners will be announced at Nutscon, the 53rd Japanese National SF convention, held July 19-20, 2014 in Tsukuba Japan. Thanks to Juan Sanmiguel and Wataru Ishigame for translation assistance.
2014 MYTHOPOEIC AWARDS FINALISTS
The Mythopoeic Society has announced the 2014 Mythopoeic Awards finalists. Winners will be announced at Mythcon 45, August 8-11, 2014, at Wheaton College in Norton MA.
Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature: The Ghost Bride, Yangsze Choo (Morrow); The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman (Morrow); Three Parts Dead, Max Gladstone (Tor); Sleepless Knights, Mark H. Williams (Atomic Fez); The Golem and the Jinni, Helene Wecker (Harper).