Blog – Page 23 – John Joseph Adams

Codex Q&A: What are your favorite stories that you’ve published?

In July 2013, I served as the “editor-in-residence” for the Codex Writing Group, which meant basically I was asking a month-long AMA (“Ask Me Anything”) interview. With Codex’s permission, I’m re-posting the Q&As here on my blog. The questions were all provided by members of Codex.

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What are your favorite stories that you’ve published? Perhaps, particularly, ones you feel didn’t get accolades/weren’t widely read?

Oh man, that’s almost impossible to answer! Restricting myself to say Lightspeed in 2012 (not counting anything published this year, since any accolades for that stuff is still potentially TK), off the top of my head I’d just say I was surprised that the following stories didn’t get more attention:

“Her Words Like Hunting Vixens Spring,” by Brooke Bolander

“How Many Miles to Babylon?” by Megan Arkenberg

“Family Teeth (Part 6): St. Polycarp’s Home for Happy Wanderers,” by Sarah Langan

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From October 1 – October 31, I’ll be running a Kickstarter campaign for a new project called HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!!, an anthology of improbable, futuristic, magical, & alternate-world crowdfunding projects. Please check it out, consider backing it, and, if you’re so inclined, spread the word!

Codex Q&A: What do you consider to be the most unusual story (or stories) you’ve published, and what made them successful?

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What do you consider to be the most unusual story (or stories) you’ve published –either in terms of character, plot, execution, or structure, and why do you feel it was successful?

“Arvies” by Adam-Troy Castro probably meets all of your criteria, and I think a large part of the reason it was so successful was that it was so unconventional and unlike anything I had ever read, and yet despite all that was a gripping story.

Another unconventional story that comes to mind are Jake Kerr’s “Biographical Fragments of the Life of Julian Prince,” which I think is successful largely because of how the world he built feels SO LARGE, even though the story is under 5000 words long. Another story of Jake’s–“Requiem in the Key of Prose”–is also very unconventional structure-wise, in a very different way.

Otherwise, Kat Howard’s “Choose Your Own Adventure” (Fantasy Magazine) and Vylar Kaftan’s “Civilization” (Brave New Worlds) both use the tropes of the choose-your-own-adventure narrative to great effect. (And Vylar’s story has one of the best last lines I can think of. Out of context it won’t sound like anything special, but in the context of the story it’s perfect.)

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Codex Q&A: What do you value most in a story above all else?

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What do you value most in a story above all else–either in ones submitted to the magazines, or ones you’re just reading for personal pleasure? That thing that makes a story truly stand out to you and stick in your mind long after.

That’s a hard question to answer in general. When I’m first reading a story, what usually grabs me first is the voice or the style. I think looking back on things that stand out in my mind long after…in most cases it’s the concept the makes them most memorable to me, or maybe a great character (or some heartbreaking/tragic/amazing thing the character does). A great last line tends to really stick in my mind as well. (Like the last line of 1984–oh man!).

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Codex Q&A: What is the process of selling an anthology to a publisher?

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What is the process of selling an anthology to a publisher? I understand how it works with novels, but how does the pitch process work? Do you have some of the authors on board already? Your agent takes your idea and approaches multiple publishers at once?

You’ve basically got it. You put together a proposal, then you recruit authors. Once you have a good number of established authors on board, your agent will shop the anthology to multiple publishers at once.

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Codex Q&A: What are some of the biggest challenges running your magazines?

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You’re known for keeping your magazines running like clockwork. What are some of the biggest challenges in doing that?

I guess the biggest challenge is the fact that I have to rely on so many other people. To keep things on track, I have to do a lot of wrangling. There’s a lot of moving pieces putting together something like Lightspeed every month, and it takes a big team to manage it all. I guess, ultimately, the biggest challenge is finding the right people to rely on to do what they say they will do. I’ve had very good luck in recruiting devoted people who excel at what they do.

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Codex Q&A: Why did you decide to start your own SF/F/H magazine?

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Why did you decide to start your own SF/F/H magazine?

I was approached about the possibility by Sean Wallace of Prime Books. He was already publishing Fantasy Magazine, but he was interested in launching a science fiction magazine as well, and asked if I might be interested in editing it. Sean had published a couple of my anthologies at that point, so he was familiar with my taste. Once I agreed, Sean and I worked together to develop and shape what Lightspeed would be.

But more to the point: The reason I left F&SF to edit my own magazine is because once I started working in editorial, I almost immediately knew that I wanted to do it as a career and that one day I’d want to sit in the big chair (i.e., be the one making the final editorial decisions). I was able to do that with the anthologies I was editing, but it’s not quite the same has the pure editorial experience of editing a magazine–something that’s ongoing, with no theme (other than genre). I couldn’t just stay at F&SF and hope that the editor would get fired or retire. He couldn’t be fired because the editor and publisher was the same person (Gordon Van Gelder), and I couldn’t wait around for him to retire since he was only 10 years older than me. So editing my own magazine was pretty much my only option if I wanted to be the one calling the shots at a magazine.

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Help Fund HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!!

In the October 2013 issue of Lightspeed, you’ll find a story written in the form of a fictional Kickstarter pitch by Keffy R.M. Kehrli called “HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!!” My first thought when I read the story was: This story is really funny. My second thought was: I should build an anthology around it. My third thought was: Obviously the anthology should be launched via Kickstarter.

So that’s what I’m doing. I’m running Keffy’s story in Lightspeed as an original, and simultaneously launching a Kickstarter for HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!! & Other Improbable Kickstarters, an anthology of futuristic, magical, alternate-world, and entirely fictional crowdfunding projects.

In addition to the anthology itself, there are lots of great prizes available, like subscriptions to Lightspeed and Nightmare, and signed copies of my anthologies. So, if you enjoy Keffy’s story and would like to read more stories like it, please do check out the Kickstarter and consider backing it. In addition to Keffy’s story (which will be the lone reprint in the anthology), the book will include works by folks such as Seanan McGuire, Daniel H. Wilson, Tim Pratt, Tobias S. Buckell, and Mary Robinette Kowal—along with works by Kickstarter phenoms such as Monte Cook (Numenera), David Malki (Machine of Death: The Game of Creative Assassination), Michael J. Sullivan (Hollow World), and Matt Forbeck (12 for ’12)—and more! The Kickstarter ends October 31, so don’t delay!

Selling of My Comics Collection

I recently sold off my book collection, and now I just need to do the same with my comics.

I’m selling my old house back in New Jersey, and that means I need to find a new home for all the comics I left behind, which have been in storage the last couple of years. It worked out well when I posted about selling my books, so I thought I’d also just post this note as well, in the hopes that these can find a good home.

Note: You’d have to make arrangements to pick them up yourself; I can’t ship them anywhere unless you want to pay a ton of postage costs! The comics are located in Perth Amboy, NJ (which is just across the bridge from Staten Island).

The collection:

1. Looks like long boxes typically have between 200-225 bagged/boarded comics. I have 6 full long boxes available, which means there’s about 1300 comics. Plus there’s a 7th box that is about 1/3 full.

2. These are mostly from 1990 – 1996 or so.

3. The vast majority of the books have been bagged and boarded and read with care, but they have all been read, and though they were read carefully they were not handled with gloves or anything, so I would say they’re probably in “good” condition for the most part, though some may be better (or worse) than that.

4. It’s entirely possible there’s some rare valuable gem in the mix. I don’t really remember what all is in there.

5. You can see what comics are in there more or less by looking at these photos my mom took for me: http://www.flickr.com/photos/slushgod/sets/72157635689757444 (Apologies for the quality.) FWIW, the title cards are BEHIND the comics, so if you see a title card that says HULK, all of the comics in FRONT of the title card are HULK books. There’s also a few books I had not bagged or in boxes that are photographed individually in the set.

I’m looking for $100 for the lot. If you’re interested–and remember, you’d need to go pick them up in Perth Amboy, NJ–please email me.

Worldcon: Programming Item Added

I posted my Worldcon schedule the other day, but here’s an additional item which will not be found on the official program:

Autographing: Epic: Legends of Fantasy
Saturday 11:30 – 12:30
John Joseph Adams, Robin Hobb, Carrie Vaughn, Mary Robinette Kowal
Tachyon Publications table in the Dealer’s Room

Selling Off My SF/F Novel Collection

Working in publishing, and as an interviewer and book reviewer, over the years I’ve amassed a large number of books, as you might imagine. When I moved to California a couple years ago, I only took what I considered essential books with me–namely, my anthologies and collections, since I need those for work, plus some selected novels that were important to me, etc.

I’m now selling my old house back in New Jersey, however, and that means I need to find a new home for all the books I left behind, which have been in storage the last couple of years. So: I’ve reached out to some booksellers to see if there’s any interest there, but I thought I’d also just post this note publicly as well, in the hopes that these can find a good home.

Note: You’d have to make arrangements to pick them up yourself; I can’t ship them anywhere unless you want to pay a ton of postage costs! The books are located in Perth Amboy, NJ (which is just across the bridge from Staten Island).

The collection:

I’d estimate it’s somewhere between 1000-1500 books.
It’s almost entirely science fiction/fantasy novels. There’s likely a small percentage of mystery novels, and probably with a few random non-genre novels mixed in, and maybe some nonfiction books about science, science fiction, or writing. The vast majority of the collection is SF/F novels, though.
It’s a mix of paperback and hardcover. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s close to 50/50, with the paperbacks being split about 50/50 between mass markets and trade paperbacks.
Since I was a reviewer, and a lot of the books I got were new titles, it’s largely comprised of books published from 2001 – 2010. I would guess it’s about 60% from that period, with the other 40% being older books, mostly bought used.
If you’re a fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, note that I believe the collection contains most of the books mentioned in the “Further Reading” list I included in my anthology, Wastelands.
It’s entirely possible there’s some rare valuable gem in the mix. I don’t really remember what all is in there.
Most of the books in the collection should be in at least “Very Good” condition; I always treated my books very carefully and never cracked the spines of paperbacks. However, I certainly acquired my share of used books over the years that won’t be as in good condition.

I’m looking for $500 for the lot, which boils down to 50 cents per book. Or if it ends up being closer to 1500 rather than 1000 books, then you’d be getting an even better deal.

If you’re interested–and remember, you’d need to go pick them up in Perth Amboy, NJ–please email me.

ETA: Buyer found!

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