Clarkesworld Magazine and Wyrm Publishing

The 2012 Hugo and Campbell Award for Best New Writer nominees have been announced! I'd like to single out a few of the nominees...

"The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees" (audio) by E. Lily Yu, from our April 2011 issue, has been nominated for Best Short Story. Lily has also been nominated for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer!

"Silently and Very Fast" (Part I, Part II, Part III) (audio:Part I, Part II, Part III) by Catherynne M. Valente, serialized in our October, November and December issues, has been nominated for Best Novella. I'm not sure why they haven't dual-credited us with WSFA Press (like Locus and the Nebulas), but I'm sure it's just a minor oversight. I'm also very pleased to see Catherynne receiving a nomination for her work over at Apex Magazine. Well done!

Dan Kimmel's Best Related Work nomination for Jar Jar Binks Must Die…and other Observations about Science Fiction Movies, includes two pieces that Dan originally published in Clarkesworld. Great news for Dan and I suggest that you check out his book.

On a more personal note, I'd like to thank everyone that nominated me for Best Editor (short form). I'm stunned. I never expected to be a nominee in this category and very flattered by the association with the other nominees. For the last few weeks, I've been convinced that I've been dreaming this one. Thank you!

The April 2012 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine is now available. You can get the issue:

• Online at www.clarkesworldmagazine.com (free)
• Via subscription at Amazon.com
• Via subscription at Weightless Books
• Via podcast subscription (free)
• or as a single issue ebook from B&N, Weightless, Wizard's Tower and direct from us at Wyrm Publishing

APRIL 2012 - ISSUE #67 FICTION * "Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes" by Tom Crosshill * "Draftyhouse" by Erik Amundsen * "The Womb Factory" by Peter M. Ferenczi NONFICTION * The Latest Apocalypse: Popular Music and the End of the World by Brian Francis Slattery * Passing Through Each Other: A Round-Table Discussion of Speculative Fiction and Academia by Jeremy L. C. Jones * Suitably Strange: A Round-Table Discussion of World-Building by Jeremy L. C. Jones * Another Word: Reading as Performance by Daniel Abraham PODCAST This month's stories will be released in audio form on the 1st, 14th and 21st. Read by Kate Baker. COVER ART Place to Ponder by Steve Goad

If you enjoy what we do, please consider supporting us by spreading the word about our subscription options on Facebook, Twitter or your blog. We're also looking for volunteers to put out postcards at SF conventions.

Lunacon is this weekend. On a good day, it's less than an hour from where I live, so I'll be commuting to the con. My schedule is:

What Are the Hugo Awards and Why You Should Care
Andrew Porter, Susan de Guardiola, Neil Clarke, Sharon Sbarsky, Arthur D. Hlavaty
Sat 10:00 - 11:00, Westchester Ballroom A3

Which eReader is Right for You?
Laura Anne Gilman, Dennis McCunney, Adam Reuter, Neil Clarke, Robert A. Rosenberg
Sat 13:00 - 14:00, Westchester Ballroom A2

DRM: Threat or Menace?
Rebecca Maines, Glenn Hauman, Dennis McCunney, Adam Reuter,Neil Clarke
Sat 16:00 - 17:00, Westchester Ballroom A2

The Art of Rejection
Hildy Silverman, Darrell Schweitzer, Neil Clarke, Laura Anne Gilman, Ian Randal Strock
Sat 18:00 - 19:00, Westchester Ballroom A1

The First One's Free
Sun 12:00 - 13:00, Westchester Ballroom A3

The March 2012 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine is now available. You can get the issue:

• Online at www.clarkesworldmagazine.com (free)
• Via subscription at Amazon.com
• Via subscription at Weightless Books
• Via podcast subscription (free)
• or as a single issue ebook from B&N, Weightless, Wizard's Tower and direct from us at Wyrm Publishing

MARCH 2012 - ISSUE #66 FICTION * "Sunlight Society" by Margaret Ronald * "The Bells of Subsidence" by Michael John Grist * "From Their Paws, We Shall Inherit" by Gary Kloster NONFICTION * The Romance of Ruins by E. C. Ambrose * The Biker Chick Who Rides Her Own Bike: A Conversation with Nathan Long by Jeremy L. C. Jones * Writing Is Magic: A Conversation with John R. Fultz by Jeremy L. C. Jones * And Now for a Few Short Words from our Editor by Neil Clarke PODCAST This month's stories will be released in audio form on the 1st, 14th and 21st. Read by Kate Baker. COVER ART Dead Space Girl by Sergio Diaz

If you enjoy what we do, please consider supporting us by spreading the word about our subscription options on Facebook, Twitter or your blog. We're also looking for volunteers to put out postcards at SF conventions.

My son turns twelve today. (Happy Birthday Aidan!) This is the card he received from his Uncle Will:

Last year, I published a serialized edition of SILENTLY AND VERY FAST by Catherynne M. Valente in Clarkesworld. Now you can pick up this fantastic novella as a standalone Wyrm Publishing ebook from:

• Amazon
• B&N
• Wyrm Publishing

To celebrate the publication of this ebook and SAVF's appearance on Locus Magazine's 2011 Recommended Reading List, we've reduced the price of our ebook edition of MYTHS OF ORIGIN, the book that collects four of Catherynne's early novels.

• Amazon
• B&N
• Wyrm Publishing

Boskone is coming up. Hope to see some of you there!

No table this year, but I'll be on the following panels:

Saturday, 10am, Harbor III: Survive and Thrive in the New World of Publishing
Alan F. Beck, Beth Bernobich, Joshua Bilmes (M), Jeffrey A. Carver, Neil Clarke
Traditional publishing is under siege from all sides as online publishing proliferates, cheap and easy self publishing is available, and readership in general declines. Can the rise of e-books, audiobooks, print-on-demand save the industry? What must you do to be successful today?

Saturday, Noon, Harbor II: How Not To Produce An E-Book
Neil Clarke, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Stephen Segal (M)
For prospective publishers (and authors who want to pub their own stuff in e-format), veteran designers offer tips for what to avoid -- and best practices for what to do right.

Saturday, 5pm, Lewis: Reading: Clarkesworld Magazine
Kate Baker, Neil Clarke (M), Catherynne M. Valente, Genevieve Valentine
To celebrate the fifth anniversary of this top-flight, Hugo-winning Clarkesworld Magazine contributors gather to read some of their best stuff.

Warning: Data Geekery Post

It's been a long time since I've posted any of the Clarkesworld slushpile statistics. A few people have been nudging me to share, so I thought it would be fun to give you a snapshot of January 2012, the first full month that I have genre and wordcount stats for.

OVERVIEW
In January 2012, we received 684 submissions from 628 different authors. This is reasonably close to normal monthly volume (600-800).

Of the 684 submissions:

• 73% from men, 27% from women, 72/28 counting by unique authors (this is down from a norm of 70/30)
• 37% science fiction, 26% fantasy, 14% horror, 9% fantasy/horror, 7% science fiction/fantasy, 4% science fiction/horror, 3% other (word of advice, "other" is a bad choice)
• 72% from United States, 6.3% from Canada, 5.9% from UK, 3.5% from Australia, 1.7% from Israel, 29 other countries with less than 1% (France, Ireland, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Finland, Serbia, Sweden, Cyprus, Slovenia, Kuwait, Greece, New Zealand, Iceland, Spain, Uzbekistan, Belgium, Estonia, Lithuania, Brazil, Germany, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Poland, China, Romania, Turkey, Czech Republic, India)
• Average wordcount of 3900, difference between men and women was negligible
• 296 from authors submitting to CW for the first time (72% men, 28% women)

SOME INTERESTING DETAILS

• Of men: 42% wrote science fiction, 21% fantasy, 15% horror, 9% fantasy/horror, 6% science fiction/fantasy, 4% science fiction/horror, 3% other
• Of women: 39% wrote fantasy, 22% science fiction, 11% horror, 10% fantasy/horror, 10% science fiction/fantasy, 5% science fiction/horror, 3% other
• By enforcing wordcount restrictions in the submission form, "failure to follow guidelines" rejections dropped to 1%. Previously this was close to 10%. Most of the 1% were people who lied about their wordcount. HINT: We're not stupid.
• 3% of all submissions are formatted incorrectly
• Roughly 6% received our near miss rejection letter. 59% Male, 41% Female. 69% United States. 53% Science Fiction (despite the huge gap in M/F subs in this category, it was nearly evenly split), 28% Fantasy, 12% Science Fiction/Fantasy, Horror only placed in SF or Fantasy blends.
• Accepted: Less than 1%, all women.

I'm going to refrain from comment right now. I have my own conclusions, but I'm more interested the perspective others will take from this data. Thoughts? Questions?

Note: Wordcount and genre supplied by authors. Country determined by IP address. Gender tediously researched and maintained in my database of over 10,000 authors.

The 2012 Hugo Award nomination period is now open. Eligibility details and a nomination form can be found here. Since the rules can be occasionally confusing (or require counting), we're providing the following information about work at Clarkesworld that is eligible for nomination:

BEST EDITOR SHORT FORM

• Neil Clarke - Fiction Editor
• Cheryl Morgan - Non-Fiction Editor

SHORT STORY (less than 7500 words)

• Tying Knots by Ken Liu
• Diving After the Moon by Rachel Swirsky
• Three Oranges by D. Elizabeth Wasden
• Perfect Lies by Gwendolyn Clare
• The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees by E. Lily Yu
• Matchmaker by Erin M. Hartshorn
• Whose Face This Is I Do Not Know by Cat Rambo
• The Architect of Heaven by Jason K. Chapman
• Semiramis by Genevieve Valentine
• Trois morceaux en forme de mechanika by Gord Sellar
• Frozen Voice by An Owomoyela
• Conservation of Shadows by Yoon Ha Lee
• The Fish of Lijiang by Chen Qiufan
• Pack by Robert Reed
• Signals in the Deep by Greg Mellor
• Staying Behind by Ken Liu
• Pony by Erik Amundsen
• The Smell of Orange Groves by Lavie Tidhar
• In Which Faster-Than-Light Travel Solves All of Our Problems by Chris Stabback
• Sirius by Ben Peek

NOVELETTE (between 7,500 and 17,500 words)

• Ghostweight by Yoon Ha Lee
• The Book of Phoenix (Excerpted from The Great Book) by Nnedi Okorafor
• Trickster by Mari Ness
• A Militant Peace by David Klecha and Tobias S. Buckell

NOVELLA (between 17,500 and 40,000 words)

• Silently and Very Fast (Parts 1, 2, 3) by Catherynne M. Valente

BEST SEMIPROZINE
Despite the fact that Clarkesworld is once again eligible for BEST SEMIPROZINE, we ask that you nominate someone who hasn't been a nominee before instead. If not nominating us this year bothers you, nominate one of our editors in short form or your favorite story in the appropriate category. We'll still feel the love. :)

NOTE: There is a Hugo rule change that may go into effect next year. We'd like to encourage you to nominate for Semiprozine as if it already happened. I'll be blogging in detail about this soon, but for now, a description of the effect of the proposal (it was modified slightly, but the effect is the same) is here.

BEST FAN WRITER

• The authors of any non-fiction we published in 2011.

BEST FAN ARTIST

• The artists that created any of the covers we used in 2011.

Happy New Year! To celebrate, we have posted the latest issue of Clarkesworld Magazine on our site. If you enjoy it, please consider supporting us by making a donation, buying one of our books, or subscribing on the Kindle or Kindle App for iPad/iPhone/Android.

FICTION Scattered Along the River of Heaven by Aliette de Bodard, as available as a podcast read by Kate Baker What Everyone Remembers by Rahul Kanakia, will be podcast on 1/14 All the Painted Stars by Gwendolyn Clare, will be podcast on 1/21 NON-FICTION The Future Sounds of Yesterday: A Sequence of Synthesizers in Science Fiction by Christopher Bahn Things You Will Never Understand: A Conversation with Robert Jackson Bennett by Jeremy L. C. Jones 2011 Reader's Poll by Neil Clarke ART Rockman by Arthur Wang