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Author: John ONeill

Bill Ward reviews Black Gate 13

Bill Ward reviews Black Gate 13

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Welcome back Bill!

We’ve missed Bill during his sabbatical from the BG blog. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been busy. On Sunday he posted another in his regular series of Black Gate magazine reviews. Here’s what he said about our latest issue, in part:

One look at Black Gate and you understand what makes it the leader in this field. Gorgeous cover and interior art, a huge amount of content including short stories and novellas, non-fiction, and an extensive reviews section that takes on both gaming and current fiction offerings, makes Black Gate a magazine that delivers on all cylinders…

Fans of John C. Hocking’s story in Lords of the Swords, ‘Vali’s Wound,’ will be excited to see the precursor story to that tale of vikings, ‘The Face in the Sea.’ Peadar Ó Guilín returns to Black Gate with another weird tale, ‘The Evil Eater,’ a contemporary fantasy in which a forbidden food leads to an underworld of horror. And John R. Fultz offers another strong fantasy, one of the best in the issue, with a tale of wizards and rebels in a most compellingly drawn setting in ‘Return of the Quill.’

You can find the full review here .

Black Gate now open to Fiction Submissions

Black Gate now open to Fiction Submissions

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Black Gate magazine is open to fiction submissions until June 30.

Black Gate publishes epic fantasy at all lengths, including novel excerpts. We’re looking for adventure-oriented fantasy fiction suitable for all ages, as long as it is well written and original.

Please look over our Submission Guidelines before sending us anything. If you have any questions, drop me a note at john@blackgate.com.

It’s worth mentioning that we accept both electronic and physical submissions, and will consider simultaneous submissions. Our response time is about two months.

Our submission address is:

New Epoch Press
Attn: Submissions Dept
815 Oak Street
St. Charles, IL 60174

submissions@blackgate.com

Physical Submissions must contain a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) or an e-mail address. Please send us only disposable manuscripts. If you need your manuscript returned, please so indicate (clearly) on your cover letter, and make sure you have sufficient postage on your return envelope.

If you are submitting via e-mail, please ensure the e-mail address you use is the one you wish us to reply to. In the event your e-mail address changes, be sure to drop us a note.

Electronic submissions must be sent as plain text pasted into the body of an e-mail message, not as an attachment or separate file (which are more prone to carrying viruses). Special formatting (such as italics or bold) should be indicated _like so_. To safeguard our computer systems, submissions sent as attachments will be deleted unread.

And good luck!  We’re looking forward to seeing something from you.

New Review of Black Gate 13

New Review of Black Gate 13

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Long time reader Matthew Wuertz has posted a splendid review of Black Gate 13 on his blog.  Here’s what he said about “Bones in the Desert, Stones in the Sea” by Amy Tibbetts:

Aleem’s sister was alienated from the rest of her village after conceiving a half-breed child from one of the uttuk pillagers because she sought to carry it to full term. Aleem arrives after her death that occurred during childbirth, and he must deal with the tragic loss of his sister as well as figure out the most merciful way to kill her offspring.

I felt like this was the heart of the issue. A brother torn by the loss of a sister he’d had little contact with once they became adults, forced to confront his duties of honoring her wishes to have a child that she conceived out of rape. This was a really moving piece that seemed to go beyond just the story itself, one that I’d like to see up for an award.

And “The Merchant of Loss” by Justin Stanchfield and Mikal Trimm:

Galen brings a wagon of strange wares into the Bitter Hills, an assorted collection of “effluvia of daily life.” He encounters a secretive woman who seeks a trade between the breath of her name and a locked box from Galen’s wagon.

This was my favorite story of the issue. Haunting, captivating and engaging. The story grabbed me and pulled me through to the end.

You can find the full review at matthewwuertz.blogspot.com/2009/04/black-gate-issue-13.html.

Thanks Matthew! Glad you enjoyed the issue.

Write your own review, and let us know about it, and we’ll post it here for others to enjoy.

A Letter from the Publisher

A Letter from the Publisher

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If you’ve been paying attention to the field’s short fiction markets, you’ve seen a lot of bad news recently. Some of the biggest magazines in the industry are changing owners, cutting frequency, or closing entirely. Ominous trends indeed for those of us who love short fantasy fiction.

I want to make it clear that Black Gate isn’t going anywhere. We made the decision years ago to grow slowly, publish when we could afford to, and invest to make the magazine the best it could be. It’s sometimes been a bumpy ride, but the result is that we’re completely debt free, in solid financial shape – and growing nicely.

Our new website, designed by Leo Grin and executed and ably managed by Howard Andrew Jones & Dave Munger, has brought in new readers from around the world. The magazine has more subscribers than at any time in our history. Best of all, we’re now selling PDF versions online, and gradually making our complete back issue catalog available in PDF format for just $4.95 each. Try them out if you’re interested in getting some fantastic reading at a great price.

As we recently announced in Black Gate 13, our official publication frequency is now twice a year, in the Spring and Fall.  What’s coming in our next few issues?  A great deal – including a new tale of Giliead and Ilias from Martha Wells, the return of Morlock the Maker by James Enge, a novella of Lovecraftian horror from Michael Shea, and terrific new fiction from Nina Kiriki Hoffman, E.E. Knight, Chris Willrich, James Stoddard, Darrell Schweitzer, Frederic S. Durbin, John C. Hocking, Harry Connolly, David B. Coe, Howard Andrew Jones, Todd McAulty, John Fultz, Peadar Ó Guilín, and many more.

I want to take a minute to thank you for your support. We’re proud to be thriving in an economy that has resulted in so many magazine causalities, but the truth is we wouldn’t have survived this long without you. Your letters and support mean a lot. We deeply appreciate it.

John O’Neill
Editor & Publisher
Black Gate