by Ken Liu
Your magazine pays professional rates. Is that the secret of having a profitable e-magazine?
Interesting that you should put those two together. I'm a firm believer in paying SFWA qualifying rate—I refuse to call it professional rate—and encourage all new publishers to consider that the minimum wage. I think it is important that publishers act and present themselves professionally. Think of it like going to an interview in anything less than a suit. You are selling yourself to authors and readers. You need to make a good first impression, attract the best talent, and treat them with the respect they deserve. What you do with that is an indicator of your skill, planning, and luck. (Seriously, luck is a huge factor.) Starting small and having a planned path ahead of you is very handy.
To make money online, you need to have multiple revenue streams and an audience that is willing to support you. Things like subscriptions or Patreon are the best kind of revenue because they are stable and recurring. Donations, ads, and single-issue ebook sales are great, but the income from those fluctuates too much. You shouldn't ignore them, but you need stability if you want to last.
Like any business, you need to be willing to invest in yourself. I generally start these conversations with "So, how much are you willing to lose?" because profitable e-magazines are few and far between. And knowing when to quit is just as important and knowing where to start.
What are the most valuable non-monetary rewards you get from running Clarkesworld? The Hugo/Nebula nominations, the increase in subscriptions, a friendly email from a reader? What makes it all worth it in the end?
All of it. A stranger walking up to you at a convention and thanking you. Someone emailing you about how a particular story has touched them. Watching one of your authors win an award for a story you published. Getting nominated or winning one yourself. Get well emails when you are in the hospital. The friends I've made while working on this. Simply knowing that there are tens of thousands of people reading what you publish each month… and they like it. All of it tells me that I'm not as alone in my enjoyment of this stuff as my teenage self once felt I was.
Neil, thank you very much for this interview, and we are looking forward for more amazing content from Clarkesworld!
Artist Spotlight: Jonathan Gragg
Jonathan Gragg is a self-taught 2D artist from Ohio, US. I met Jonathan through DeviantArt and I was impressed with his work, so I decided to use on of his pieces for the first issue. Here I talk with Jonathan about his artwork.
Iulian: Tell us a little bit about yourself: where did you grow up and how did your early life influence your future as an artist?
Jonathan: Well, I was born and raised in a dull and boring town called Frankfort in Ohio. I am the middle child out of three strange children. We were a poor family living in the middle of nowhere, and instead of playing with toys and friends, we really depended on our imaginations. Me and my older brother would join two pieces of paper and draw a line across both of them, then go to separate rooms and draw elaborate (as elaborate as an eight year old can get anyways) fortresses and armies. Then we would re-join the papers, and see who we thought would win. Of course my brother being four years older was the first to come up with force fields and nuclear missiles, which really over-powered my dragon-riding ninjas.
What are your favorite design tools and how did you get to learn them?
Of course my first tool was a pencil and paper. Honestly I've never even tried using any kind of traditional paint, or any form of color based art medium whatsoever. After graduating school I stopped drawing for about three years. I was really lost, and I didn't know what I wanted out of life. Then one day I was surfing through YouTube videos and came across Chris Scaff's 'Speed Painting a Dragon' video. Wow. I was blown away. I instantly knew what I wanted to do. The next day I ordered a Intuos4 tablet, and Painter 11. And it was not as easy as I thought it was going to be. Now, four years later, I am using a Cintiq 24 HD and Photoshop CS5. Still on the same mission of making digital illustration my full-time job.
Are there any other artists out there that you admire and whose work has helped shape your work?
Too many to count. The main ones would probably be fantasy artists like Frank Frazetta, Paul Bonner, and James Gourney.
Where do you find inspiration?
A lot of my inspiration comes from other fantasy artists. I spend a lot of time browsing art communities like Conceptart.org, Deviantart, and CGHub. But the real inspiration comes from the people who like what I create. I'm not a very well known person in the digital art field, but every once and a while I'll get that awesome comment from a fan that just makes me want to work harder. Even being asked to be a part of this magazine inspired me.
How would you break down your workflow in steps?
My first step is simply closing my eyes and diving into the world I'm thinking of creating. Once I have an idea of the mood I start sketching. I rarely use a pencil anymore, I use Photoshop from start to finish, only using three or four different brushes on each painting. After I'm satisfied with my sketch, I begin filling in with color on overlay and multiply layers. When the mood really starts to be visible, the composition feels good, and the colors are in harmony, I start over. Using the previous version as a guide I gather reference. I can't afford to pay a live model, so I'm stuck with forcing my family members to pose for me and snapping pictures of them with my phone—it gets pretty funny sometimes. Sometimes the end result is nothing like I previously imagined. Even the painting chosen to be the cover of this magazine started out a lot different.
Your work is very fantasy-driven. What drives you to that subject?
Reality bores me. Don't get me wrong, I love nature, animals, the ocean, and those perfect sunsets that no one can refuse to stare at. It's just the mechanical day to day life that most of us are stuck in that consumes freedom and creativity. I love to just forget about it all and get lost in another world where anything is possible.
If there was one piece of advice you could give other beginning artists, what would that be?
Don't give up. There WILL be times that you think you are not good enough, or you are not talented enough, or it takes too much time to learn. If you love what you do, do it, and the more you do it, the better you will get at it.
We selected one of your pieces for the cover of our magazine. Tell us a few words about how that piece came to be.
It was just one of those awesome accidents. I was just sketching one night and it came out of nowhere. If you look at the process in my gallery on Deviantart (the link is below) you can see that it changed a lot from beginning to end. Now that I look at it I can see a lot of things that could have been done to make it better, but only because I've learned a lot since then.
Where can we find you on the web?
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/#!/jonathan.gragg.12
Conceptart.org- http://www.conceptart.org/forums/member.php?u=230899
Deviantart- http://graggzter.deviantart.com/?rnrd=34488
CGHub- http://jongragg.cghub.com/
Jonathan, thank you very much for your contribution to our magazine!
Book Review: The Dreamblood (N.K. Jemisin)
Clare Deming
The Killing Moon
Book 1 of The Dreamblood
by N.K. Jemisin
Orbit (2012)
The Killing Moon begins another unique fantasy tale by one of my new favorite authors, N. K. Jemisin. Like her earlier work (The Inheritance Trilogy), The Killing Moon is set in a world alien to much of the fantasy genre that often clones a medievalesque society and a quest-driven plot. The cultures that Jemisin paints in The Dreamblood are unlike any others that I have experienced, and that is one of the reasons why The Killing Moon works so well.
In the city-state of Gujaareh, Hananja's law reigns over all aspects of life, organized through the central temple, the Hetawa. Hananja is the goddess of dreams, and peace is of utmost importance among her followers, with corruption punishable by deat
h. Ehiru, priest of the Hetawa, is many things. Foremost, he serves the goddess as a Gatherer by attending to the ill and elderly, ending their lives and guiding their souls into joyful dreams in Ina-Karekh. He gathers their dreamblood which is tithed to the Hetawa and used to bring peace to supplicants of Hananja. This same death also awaits those deemed corrupt, and outside of Gujaareh, Gatherers are heralded as gualoh - demons.
The narrative follows three characters - Ehiru, his apprentice Nijiri, and Sunandi, ambassador from the rival city-state of Kisua. When Ehiru completes a routine commission on a corrupt foreign merchant, the magic goes awry. The man's soul is ripped free and lost in nightmare. As Ehiru leaves, he glimpses another figure on the rooftops, but this other man radiates malevolence in the instant before he disappears from view.
Sunandi maneuvers the delicate political field in the aftermath of her mentor, Kinja's, suspicious death. Immediately after she discovers proof that Kinja was murdered, Ehiru and Nijiri ghost into her chambers. Sunandi has been judged corrupt by the Hetawa, and the Gatherers have arrived to bring her Hananja's eternal peace. But when the ambassador confronts her would-be killers, she is able to cast doubt upon the accusations. She believes that Gujaareh's Prince seeks an excuse for war, and the Gatherers desist because they cannot allow anyone to subvert the will of Hananja.
The story sprints between attempts to unravel the truth about the Prince, the Hetawa, and that evil figure spotted atop the city's homes. Rumors say that a Reaper has come to Gujaareh, an abomination of Hananja's dream magic, and a creature so powerful that its presence threatens all of the city's peace.
The Killing Moon is the first book in The Dreamblood duology, but is a stand-alone novel. All of the plot threads are tied up in the conclusion and you won't be left in the lurch if you don't have the second book on hand. I had minor difficulty orienting myself to the magic and how it worked. The way in which the Gatherers operated was spelled out clearly since they featured as two of the three main point-of-view characters. There were other aspects of dream magic which were fascinating, but as they had no direct role in this book's plot, it was tough to intuit much about them.
The Killing Moon was nominated for a 2012 Nebula Award.
The Shadowed Sun
Book 2 of The Dreamblood
by N.K. Jemisin
Orbit (2012)
In The Shadowed Sun, we are returned to the world of The Dreamblood, in which priests of the Hetawa practice the goddess Hananja's dream magic. This time, the city-state of Gujaareh is under Kisuati control, occupied and overseen by the opposing city-state after its former Prince's failed attempt at war. Since the primary tenet of Hananja's Law is peace, the people of Gujaareh have submitted to foreign rule with only silent outrage.
Not all the land is calm, however, and the desert barbarian tribes are becoming more daring in their raids, stealing trade goods from Gujaareh. When Apprentice Hanani heals a soldier injured in one of these attacks, she weaves his torn body back together using the various humors collected from dreams in an attempt to pass her Sharer-trial. Her healing efforts are successful, but in the aftermath, a terrible discovery is made. One of the acolytes who served her, along with the tithebearer providing the humors, has died horribly. No cause can be immediately ascertained, so Hanani is indirectly blamed and is forbidden from practicing any further narcomancy.
Wanahomen, son to the ousted Prince, and heir to the Sunset Lineage of Gujaareh has made a place for himself among those barbarian tribes, rising to a position of influence among the Banbarra. With his father's former general at his side, he struggles to convince the desert people to help him oust the Kisuati and regain his city.
The deaths laid at Hanani's feet were not the last, and a plague of dream-driven fatalities spreads through the city. Anyone who tries to investigate the nightmare of those afflicted also becomes trapped by it. As unrest and violence churn within Gujaareh, Hanani is cleared of fault in the mysterious deaths. Despite this, her skills are still in question by some among the Hetawa because she is the first woman ever admitted into training as a Sharer. A new trial is set, and Hanani and her mentor, Mhi-inh, are offered up to the Banbarra tribe by Gatherer Nijiri, a prominent character from the first book.
This is a more complicated and longer volume than the first (The Killing Moon), and I liked it better for those reasons. The dream magic used by the Hetawa is an intriguing concept, and I felt more familiar with its practice in this book. I suppose this second installment could be read without having first read The Killing Moon, but I think it would be more enjoyable read in the intended order. I don't know what the author has planned for her future work, but I would be eager to read more stories set in the Dreamblood world.
© by Clare Deming
Links:
N.K. Jemisin Website
Movie Review: The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki)
Mark R. Leeper
CAPSULE: Japanese cult animation director Hayao Miyazaki makes his final film before retiring, a fictionalized biography of the aircraft designer who gave Japan the Zero fighter plane. The story is okay, but not really compelling. What is more engaging is the view of life in Japan between the World Wars and Miyazaki's take on international politics. Rating: low +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10.
Hayao Miyazaki has made many animated fantasies in Japan, some classics like SPIRITED AWAY, and most seem to deal with flying in one way or another. His interest was sparked when his father ran an airplane rudder factory. Flying machines are a lifelong fascination for him. He now plans to retire and his exit film, animated as usual, is the fictionalized story of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane that was used effectively by the Japanese in World War II. This is a brave choice considering the importance of the American market and the film openly admiring the plane that killed many Americans.
Jiro is very much a Miyazaki sort of character. From the time he was a young child he has dreamed of climbing to the roof of his house and flying away. Soon he also is dreaming of meeting Giovanni Caproni, a famous Italian aircraft designer. Needing glasses, Jiro cannot be a pilot and chooses instead to become a designer himself. Jiro's fantasies are a big part of the story with unannounced segues from the real world into Jiro's world of fantasy. As he gets older he goes to work for an airplane manufacturer--I do not remember it being identified as Mitsubishi. They he works of a supervisor who is visualized as only coming up to waist-level on the young designer. At first the little supervisor gives Jiro a hard time, but eventually they become close friends. Jiro also meets a girl a little younger than himself who becomes his love interest.
The film steers away from Jiro's attitude about the Americans whom Japan will be at war with. More it emphasized is his relationship with Germans and the rest of Europe. He does seem to dislike the Germans who are supplying second-rate technology to his country and keeping the best for themselves. He is portrayed as really being more in conflict with them than with Americans who really are not portrayed in this film. In any case, this is the first time in my memory that a Miyazaki film involves itself with real world politics.
Visually the film is very nice, showing beautiful studies of natural settings and when away from nature showing amazing detail in his views of towns and of the aircraft factory. My wife pointed out how much detail there was on the slide rule that Jiro uses from time to time and how nicely Miyazaki animates airplane propellers accelerating. Going from having each blade visible to having it be a disk where you no longer see each blade is difficult to transition.
Toward the middle of the film the pace slackens but the time is not wasted. We see Japan ravaged by the Great Tokyo Earthquake albeit presented so we are not sure we are not just seeing another of Jiro's fantasies. We also see a country attacked by tuberculosis.
Is this a film that people will want to remember Miyazaki by? In my opinion he will be better remembered for SPIRITED AWAY and MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, but this film is well above his average. His ambivalence to war with the Unite
d States may strike some as off- putting, but that is Japan, not Miyazaki.
I rate THE WIND RISES a low +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10.
© 2014 by Mark R. Leeper
Film Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2013293/combined
What others are saying: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wind_rises/
Originally appeared on: http://leepers.us/windrise.htm
Official Trailer: http://youtu.be/imtdgdGOB6Q
