So I guess it’s about time for me to report the December acquisitions. This month, we have a new story from Carrie Richerson, about a very unusual construction project with a very demanding client; two new “Billy” stories from Terry Bisson (and the promise of more); a ghost story from Albert E. Cowdrey; a new Kedrigern yarn from John Morressy; a complex and adventuresome tale from R. Garcia y Robertson; and a new story from former slush survivor Jeremy Minton, which is just as good as, if not better than, the story he broke into print with.

Read More

Baen’s Universe is now accepting subscription orders for the new magazine, which is due to debut in June 2006. However, included with every subscription plan is a variety of free bonus items, and every plan includes:

* The first six issues of Jim Baen’s Universe.
* An electronic edition of THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
* ANY ONE of many e-book packages: (Some choices available for a limited time.)
* other offers may include optional gifts, author access, tuckerization rights, webscriptions, e-arcs and more.

The e-book packages are grouped by series or author; for instance, one package includes a bunch of classic Keith Laumer titles; another includes a bunch of David Weber stuff. It’s an interesting set of options, and I like the idea of giving away this classic stuff as a way to entice people to subscribe. It’s a win-win for everyone involved, seems like.

In addition to the regular plans, they’ve also got some big-spender fancy-pants plans with names like Saturn and Titan memberships. You spend more, you get more stuff. A little too rich for my blood, but I’m sure some people will be delighted to plunk down their hard-earned cash for all those extras.

The subscription extras really make it seem like a very good value to subscribe; the anthology they’re giving away with each plan, THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN, looks like a really interesting book, and with the wealth of options in the e-book packages, pretty much anyone who would be interested in Baen’s Universe should be able to find something of interest.

Read More

I checked my snail mail yesterday only to discover an envelope from Holtzbrinck Publishers (which owns Tor, among others). It was a small #10 envelope, and felt like there was more than just paper inside. Curious what the hell they’d be sending me other than a review book, I tore it open post-haste.

Turned out to be a note from the Online Marketing Department along with some bookmarks. It seems that Holtzbrinck now has its very own blog which is ran by a committe of bloggers. You can find it at www.holtzbrinckonline.com.

But what sounds really cool is that next year they’re going to be offering a website that will send readers the first chapter of all their new titles via RSS feeds. That sounds like it could be a great way to market books online. Eager readers subscribe to the feed and check it out once and a while. Not every one will be a hit, but I’m sure a few people will read a first chapter and get hooked–people that might not have picked up the book and read the first chapter otherwise. Kudos to them; I hope it works.

Read More

A computer geek friend of mine, who never sends out false alarms, sent me an advisory today about a new kind of internet worm, which can attack you via your instant messenging programs. His explanation is kind of long, so you’ll find it in the extended entry below.
(more…)

Read More