3 ms·

Hi, I'm the editor, I chose the stories. I read 391 short science fiction stories published last year (all the stories in the big science fiction magazines and

by mojoe 11mo ago

Hi, I'm the editor, I chose the stories. I read 391 short science fiction stories published last year (all the stories in the big science fiction magazines and a few smaller ones), and selected these sixteen. None of the authors I reached out to refused to sell me reprint rights, so there was no bottleneck there. I'm a software engineer who enjoys near-future concept-driven science fiction, so if that's not your thing then you might not agree with my choices. The stories I look for are the ones where I think "wow, this contains ideas that reflect something interesting about reality".

micheles 11mo ago
I like far-future concept-driven science fiction, is there something for me too?
- adaml_623 11mo ago
  That would be in, "The Year 3000's Best SciFi Ideas"
- mojoe 11mo ago
  There are only two stories in the collection that feel a little further out: "Best Practices for Safe Asteroid Handling" by David W. Goodman feels like a smart, polished successor to golden age space opera, it's set in a future where the solar system is colonized, but not thousands of years out. Grant Collier's "The Best Version of Yourself" is also not set very far into the future, but it's a kind of post-human future so it might have far-future vibes for you. This specific story is actually available free online, so you don't have to purchase the anthology to read it: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/collier_07_24/ https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/collier_07_24/
babelfish 11mo ago
Out of curiosity, how do reprint rights work? I assume you give each author some percentage of the proceeds of the book? I purchased the DRM-free epub :-)
- mojoe 11mo ago
  Thanks! I pay a fixed rate up-front for reprint rights, which is a one-time deal. This is mostly because pro rata royalties on an anthology are a pain (I've done this before, it involves sending out lots of tiny single-digit-dollar checks), but also because it's unlikely for me to make back the money I spend on anthology creation (science fiction short stories are a tiny market). This is a hobby project for me, I'm obsessed with trying to get more people to read science fiction short stories. I spent about $6k creating the anthology (to pay for cover art, reprint rights, proof prints, etc), and I'll probably recoup about half of what I spent? We'll see, I'm currently testing various marketing strategies.
  - atlasunshrugged 11mo ago
    This is really amazing, thank you for taking the time and spending the resources to share these stories!
  - KingFelix 11mo ago
    This is really amazing, I was daydreaming recently and thought how cool it would be to create something like that. I am glad that you've taken the initiative to get it going. Looks awesome will check it out, love Greg Bear too, just recommended Blood Music to a good friend.
  - robocat 11mo ago
    Do you have a link to how we can donate to you or a project you are part of? I likely won't get the book (space issues).
    - mojoe 11mo ago
      Thank you for offering, but I don't have any channel for donations -- I'm grateful that my software work enables me do projects like this without worrying too much about the funding part.
  - crooked-v 11mo ago
    I don't meant to be insulting about it, but I'm a little surprised you would pay for new cover art, but not for a more professional design for the cover in general. The current design seems very obviously 'amateur' to me in a way that I automatically associate with vanity press or other low-quality works, and I think it would have been more beneficial to pay more attention to the layout and typography even if that meant just using stock art.

by mojoe 11mo ago

micheles 11mo ago

I like far-future concept-driven science fiction, is there something for me too?

adaml_623 11mo ago
That would be in, "The Year 3000's Best SciFi Ideas"
mojoe 11mo ago
There are only two stories in the collection that feel a little further out: "Best Practices for Safe Asteroid Handling" by David W. Goodman feels like a smart, polished successor to golden age space opera, it's set in a future where the solar system is colonized, but not thousands of years out. Grant Collier's "The Best Version of Yourself" is also not set very far into the future, but it's a kind of post-human future so it might have far-future vibes for you. This specific story is actually available free online, so you don't have to purchase the anthology to read it: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/collier_07_24/ https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/collier_07_24/

babelfish 11mo ago

Out of curiosity, how do reprint rights work? I assume you give each author some percentage of the proceeds of the book? I purchased the DRM-free epub :-)

mojoe 11mo ago
Thanks! I pay a fixed rate up-front for reprint rights, which is a one-time deal. This is mostly because pro rata royalties on an anthology are a pain (I've done this before, it involves sending out lots of tiny single-digit-dollar checks), but also because it's unlikely for me to make back the money I spend on anthology creation (science fiction short stories are a tiny market). This is a hobby project for me, I'm obsessed with trying to get more people to read science fiction short stories. I spent about $6k creating the anthology (to pay for cover art, reprint rights, proof prints, etc), and I'll probably recoup about half of what I spent? We'll see, I'm currently testing various marketing strategies.
- atlasunshrugged 11mo ago
  This is really amazing, thank you for taking the time and spending the resources to share these stories!
- KingFelix 11mo ago
  This is really amazing, I was daydreaming recently and thought how cool it would be to create something like that. I am glad that you've taken the initiative to get it going. Looks awesome will check it out, love Greg Bear too, just recommended Blood Music to a good friend.
- robocat 11mo ago
  Do you have a link to how we can donate to you or a project you are part of? I likely won't get the book (space issues).
  - mojoe 11mo ago
    Thank you for offering, but I don't have any channel for donations -- I'm grateful that my software work enables me do projects like this without worrying too much about the funding part.
- crooked-v 11mo ago
  I don't meant to be insulting about it, but I'm a little surprised you would pay for new cover art, but not for a more professional design for the cover in general. The current design seems very obviously 'amateur' to me in a way that I automatically associate with vanity press or other low-quality works, and I think it would have been more beneficial to pay more attention to the layout and typography even if that meant just using stock art.