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Two announcements today. First, the e-book of Tales of Old Earth, my quite splendid collection of short fiction, goes on sale tomorrow, Saturday, the 24th of June, for $1.99 (US and Canada only). So if you like e-books, don't already have this one, and would like to get a taste of my short fiction... well, there you are.
Second, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association is having a silent auction. Among the many items and opportunities on offer is a pair of Dragonstairs Press chapbooks, written by Yours Truly and published by Marianne Porter.
Here's the official description:
Two Dragonstairs Press limited edition chapbooks, each signed and numbered: THE ONCE AND FUTURE RYE by Michael Swanwick, a history of "the whiskey that was America," and THE LONELY AND THE RUM, a conversation between Swanwick and Greer Gilman exploring the virtues and dissimilarities of the works of P. L. Travers, Stella Benson, Tove Jansson, and Sylvia Townsend Warner, among others. (Note: the ONCE AND FUTURE RYE chapbook is the last one available anywhere.)
I might add that the small item, bottom right, is Marianne's official business card. It takes the form of a very small chapbook, hand-sewn in wrappers.
You can find the auction here. Or you can go direct to the chapbooks here. But, really, it's more fun to just poke around and see what's on offer.
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3 comments:
Being Australian, I often get worked up about things for sale in North America only, especially when they’re intangible goods like ebooks. Is this sort of thing a consequence of the rights to a book having originally been sold for a geographical zone, and electronic rights being bundled up as part of this?
Believe it or not, these restrictions are meant to protect non-American publishers. The rationale is that if everyone in the world is able to access American publications (or, here, e-publications) easily and cheaply, then Australian publishers or German or Swiss or Finnish or French or etc. publishers will go out of business. And the world will consume only American literature. Canada has a series of laws restricting US publications and so they have a vibrant literary community. Chinese corporations pay for translations of Chinese SF in part for the prestige of Western publication. This stuff gets complicated early.
Having taught at Clarion South, I am aware of how important it is to Aussie SF writers to create a specifically Australian literature. I applaud this. Alas, paying more for US/CA fiction is the price of having a vibrant SF community near where you live.
Thanks for that. This makes me think of New Zealand rock music, which went through a stage of high weirdness and wonder, helped by government grants to make a mark in a pretty small country.
I do feel restrictions on ebooks are a bit strange though. I can buy paper copies of your books from US bookshops, as long as I’m note scared off by the shipping charges, but for the electronic versions I’m out of luck.
Ah well - I guess I’ll get back to gnashing my teeth.
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