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James Frenkel Leaves Tor

James Frenkel Leaves Tor

James FrenkelLong-time editor James Frenkel has left Tor Books.

Frenkel was one of the most accomplished editors at Tor — indeed, in the entire industry. I first came across his name in the mid-80s, when he was publisher of Bluejay books, a science fiction imprint that produced trade paperback editions of K.W. Jeter, Theodore Sturgeon, Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison, Connie Willis, and many others. Among many other accomplishments, Bluejay Books first began publishing Gardner Dozois’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction anthologies.

Frenkel joined Tor after the collapse of Bluejay in the late 80s, where he edited some of the biggest names in the industry, including Vernor Vinge, Joan D. Vinge, Frederik Pohl, Andre Norton, Dan Simmons, Jack Williamson, Timothy Zahn, Greg Bear, and many others.

Frenkel’s departure from Tor comes following accusations of sexual harassment, stemming from an incident at Wiscon reported by Elise Matthesen:

Two editors I knew were throwing a book release party on Friday night at the convention. I was there, standing around with a drink talking about Babylon 5, the work of China Mieville, and Marxist theories of labor (like you do) when an editor from a different house joined the conversation briefly and decided to do the thing that I reported. A minute or two after he left, one of the hosts came over to check on me… So I reported it to the convention. Somewhere in there they asked, “Shall we use your name?” I thought for a millisecond and said, “Oh, hell yes.”

While Matthesen did not immediately identify the editor in question, he was famously ID’d by Mary Robinette Kowal in her June 18 blog post “Why am I afraid to name the editor?” Yesterday Tor senior editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden made the announcement via Twitter that James Frenkel was no longer associated with Tor Books.

Frenkel currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with his wife, Joan D. Vinge. He has not yet made any public announcement regarding the issue.

Apple Found Guilty of Ebook Price Fixing

Apple Found Guilty of Ebook Price Fixing

Steve JobsApple’s long-running legal battle to prove that it did not mastermind a conspiracy to price-fix digital books ended yesterday with a guilty verdict.

In April of last year, the US Department of Justice filed suit against Apple and the largest book publishers in the United States: Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Group, and Simon & Schuster. All the publishers settled, and only Apple chose to fight the battle in court. Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote sided with the DOJ, saying that Apple played a “central role” in the conspiracy and that Apple and the publishers conspired to eliminate price competition in the emerging digital books market.

The legal battle and the discovery phase leading up to it, have been very much in the public eye. One of the most fascinating aspects (at least for people like me, whose eyes glaze over at 80-page legal documents) was the publication of behind-the scenes e-mails between Steve Jobs and publishers as they hammered out the details of the scheme. The Atlantic reprinted several of Jobs’s e-mails from January 2010, including an exchange with James Murdoch at News Corp, negotiating on behalf of HarperCollins:

Jobs wasn’t willing to compromise. He sent this reply to Murdoch the same day, arguing that Amazon’s pricing wasn’t sustainable and would train people to think that ebooks were cheap. Jobs also reminded Murdoch of Apple’s vast reach–“over 120 million customers with credit cards on file.” You need us more than we need you, he seemed to be saying.

Hatred of Amazon’s discounted ebook pricing strategy seemed to be the engine of the entire conspiracy and Judge Cote made specific mention of it in her ruling:

Before Apple even met with the first Publisher Defendant in mid-December 2009, it knew that the “Big Six” of United States publishing… wanted to raise e-book prices, in particular above the $9.99 prevailing price charge by Amazon for many e-book versions of New York Times bestselling books and other newly released hardcover books. Apple also knew that Publisher Defendants were already acting collectively to place pressure on Amazon to abandon its pricing strategy… The Publishers conveyed to Apple their abhorrence of Amazon’s pricing, and Apple assured the Publishers it was willing to work with them to raise those prices.

Apple contends that it has done nothing wrong, and plans to appeal the verdict.

Check Out the Humble ebook Bundle: Pay What You Want for 6 Great Books

Check Out the Humble ebook Bundle: Pay What You Want for 6 Great Books

boneshaker3I had a look at the Humble ebook Bundle today, and was very impressed.

I’ve heard rumblings about this Humble thing for a while, but to be honest I never looked into it. They sold video game and music bundles, or something, on a “pay-what-you-want” basis, raising over $13.5 million for charity. That’s cool. You go, humble peeps.

But now they’re offering four great SF and fantasy titles, at a price you set yourself, for the next nine days. Suddenly I’m at lot more interested. The titles are:

Little Brother, Cory Doctorow
Boneshaker, Cherie Priest
Spin, Robert Charles Wilson
Shards of Honor, Lois McMaster Bujold

Yes, you get to decide what price you’re willing to pay for this awesome book bundle. Even if it’s only 1 cent, you cheap bastard. The titles are DRM-free, and available in multiple formats for most e-readers, including Kindle and iPad. You even get to choose where your money goes, allocating a portion (or all) of your payment the Electric Frontier Foundation, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, or Child’s Play Charity.

This is the second book promotion these Humble geniuses have strung together. As of press time, over 35,000 bundles have been sold, which is pretty darned amazing. The site tracks the average donation amount ($9.55 last time I checked), which lets you know just how cheap you really are — and also makes it possible to offer a special premium of two additional titles for those willing to pay more that. Those titles are:

The Last Unicorn: Deluxe Edition by Peter Beagle
Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton

Yeah, that’s six great titles for less than ten bucks. That’s a steal. Check it out here.

EN World Announces the 9 Most Anticipated RPGs of 2013

EN World Announces the 9 Most Anticipated RPGs of 2013

The folks at role-playing game news and reviews site EN World have published the results of their survey on the Top 9 Most Anticipated RPGs of 2013.

The survey was conducted on EN World, Twitter, Facebook, and elsewhere. Only full tabletop roleplaying games — not adventures, settings, or other supplements — with a 2013 release date made it to the list. The results were published on June 27 and summarized in the nifty YouTube video below.

Some of the impending RPG releases for the year include Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition from Chaosium, Robin D. Laws’s Iron Age drama Hillfolk (Pelgrane Press), Shadowrun 5th Edition (Catalyst Game Lab), the highly anticipated Star Wars: Edge of the Empire from Fantasy Flight, Monte Cook’s Kickstarter phenomenon Numenera, the new Firefly RPG from Margaret Weis Productions, and the massive 13th Age by D&D designers Jonathan Tweet and Rob Heinsoo. That’s enough hints; now here’s the video with all nine winners.

Goth Chick News: They’re Heeeerrrreee… Again

Goth Chick News: They’re Heeeerrrreee… Again

image002At the end of June, MGM and Twentieth Century Fox announced they will co-finance and distribute a remake of the 1982 horror classic, Poltergeist, causing fans all over the globe to let out a howl of collective agony.

Any movie that can send practically an entire generation into therapy over a stuffed clown and television static should be left entirely alone.

Seriously.

But of course Hollywood cannot seem to keep its hands to itself.

Gil Kenan (Monster House) is set to direct from a screenplay by writer David Lindsay-Abaire (Oz: The Great and Powerful) and the film is being produced by Sam Raimi (Evil Dead) and Rob Tapert (The Posession) via Ghost House Pictures.

Okay, the credentials had made us feel only slightly better before the synopsis sent us right back into a tailspin.

A family man called Eric Bowen (rather than Steve Freeling – GC) moves his wife and kids to a new town in the hopes of a fresh start, a plan which goes horribly wrong when his daughter, Madeleine, is abducted by evil forces.

Wow… original.

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Get Four E-books from Orbit for Just $2.99 Each

Get Four E-books from Orbit for Just $2.99 Each

Blood RightsEvery month, Orbit Books offers one of their top-selling science fiction and fantasy titles in e-book format for just $2.99. This month, they break with tradition and offer you no less than four terrific titles:

Blood Rights — Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle’s body bears the telltale marks of a comarrae — a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world…

Germline — War is Oscar Wendell’s ticket to greatness. A reporter for The Stars and Stripes, he has the only one way pass to the front lines of a brutal war over natural resources buried underneath the icy, mineral rich mountains of Kazakhstan. Heavily armored soldiers battle genetically engineered troops hundreds of meters below the surface. The genetics — the germline soldiers — are the key to winning this war, but some technologies can’t be put back in the box.

Tempest Rising — Living in small town Rockabill, Maine, Jane True always knew she didn’t quite fit in with so-called normal society. During her nightly, clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean, a grisly find leads Jane to startling revelations about her heritage: she is only half-human. Now, Jane must enter a world filled with supernatural creatures alternatively terrifying, beautiful, and deadly.

Feed — The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.

Support one of the best genre paperback publishers out there, and grab some terrific book bargains in the process. Get all the details at The Orbital Drop.

James Enge’s Wrath-Bearing Tree Coming in August

James Enge’s Wrath-Bearing Tree Coming in August

Wrath Bearing TreeWoo hoo! Our Bothan spies report that the second novel in James Enge’s epic new fantasy trilogy, A Tournament of Shadows, will be released by Pyr on August 13, 2013.

Many Bothans died to bring us this information. But lordy, it was worth it.

The book continues the origin story of Morlock Ambrosius, which began in A Guile of Dragons (Pyr, August 2012). Have I ever mentioned that Morlock’s first appearance was in Black Gate 8, in James Enge’s first published work of fiction, “Turn Up This Crooked Way?” True story. Morlock was in virtually every issue of Black Gate for the next five years. Morlock and Black Gate, best buds. I could tell you some stories.

Of course, he’s a big shot now. The first Morlock novel, Blood of Ambrose, was nominated for the World Fantasy Award; after that came his rapid ascent to fame and a decadent west-coast lifestyle, and he stopped taking our calls. We still get Christmas cards, with a sloppy signature forged by his agent. We treasure them.

Into the Unguarded Lands . . .

The masked powers of Fate and Chaos are killing gods in the land of Kaen, facing the Wardlands across the Narrow Sea. Vocates Aloe Oaij and Morlock Ambrosius go into the Unguarded Lands, on a mission to find the reasons for the godslaying, and to avert any threat to the lands the Graith of Guardians has sworn to protect.

After crash-landing on the hostile coast of Kaen, they will face vengeful frightened gods, a calmly murderous dragon, a demon called Andhrakhar, and a bitter old necromancer named Merlin Ambrosius.

Amid these dangers they will find that they can trust no one but themselves — and each other.

“A calmly murderous dragon.” Doesn’t that sound like a Morlock story? He’s so cool. Can’t wait.

Wrath-Bearing Tree will be published by Pyr Books on August 2013. It is 320 pages in trade paperback, priced at $18.00; $11.99 for the digital edition. Cover art by Steve Stone. See more details at the Pyr website.

The 2013 Locus Award Winners

The 2013 Locus Award Winners

The Apocalypse Codex Charles StrossYesterday the Locus Science Fiction Foundation announced the winners of the 2013 Locus Awards at the Locus Awards Weekend in Seattle. The winners are:

FANTASY NOVEL

  • The Apocalypse Codex, Charles Stross (Ace)

SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

  • Redshirts, John Scalzi (Tor)

FIRST NOVEL

  • Throne of the Crescent Moon, Saladin Ahmed (DAW)

YOUNG ADULT BOOK

  • Railsea, China Miéville (Del Rey)

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Goth Chick News: New Music from Our Orchestral Crushes

Goth Chick News: New Music from Our Orchestral Crushes

image001Did you really think a Goth Chick would have a thing for One Direction or NKOTB? Okay, forget I even know who they are in the first place; there are some things you just cannot escape when you spend all your free time studying pop culture.

Nope, instead it is imperative that as purveyors of the dark and disturbing we crush on the equally dark and disturbing musicians who write and play tunes that worry people older than us and align with our own personal, parent-scaring idioms.

Which is precisely why I am Midnight Syndicate’s devoted Chicago-area groupie.

Whether they like it or not.

For almost two decades, composers Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka have been known as Midnight Syndicate, creating symphonic soundtracks for the secret dimensions of our minds’ eye (cue lightning and thunder clap).

To many of their fans, they are Gothic music pioneers, brewing a signature blend of orchestral horror music and movie-style sound effects. To others, they remain the first “haunted house band” that forever changed the Halloween music genre and became a staple of the October holiday season.

And still others know them as the duo that teamed up with Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast to produce the first official soundtrack to the legendary Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, or the lucky devils who created the ear candy for Hugh Hefner’s Playboy mansion Halloween bashes.

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Barnes and Noble to Stop Manufacturing Nook Tablets

Barnes and Noble to Stop Manufacturing Nook Tablets

Nook-ColorToday wasn’t a very good day for Barnes & Noble and its Nook e-reader business.

Yesterday, the nation’s top brick and mortar bookseller announced earnings for fiscal 2013 and they weren’t pretty. Sales plummeted in the last quarter, and the company’s net loss for the year more than doubled to $475 million.

Nook sales, which were tooted as the company’s salvation as recently as last year, fell to just 1 million units in the fourth quarter, down from 1.4 million in the same period last year. At the same time, sales of Kindle e-readers have kept growing at a robust clip. As part of its earnings statement, B&N announced it would discontinue tablet manufacturing in an effort to stop the red ink.

The headlines have been ugly. AllThingsD reported “Barnes & Noble Gets the Nook Ready for Its Dirt Nap,” BusinessWeek said “Barnes & Noble’s Nook Business Sees Fifty Shades of Red,” The Wall Street Journal announced “Barnes & Noble Throws in the Towel on Tablets,” and Motley Fool‘s read simply “Barnes & Noble Finally Gives Up.” Today the stock took it on the chin, dropping 17 percent to $15.61.

I finally bought my Nook HD tablet a few weeks ago. I know, I know. The very moment everyone else is fleeing the Nook, I figure it’s a good time to get around to that new tablet purchase. Maybe not the best timing. But hey, the price was great, and I wanted to support a quality digital reader while I still could. Reminds me of all those dumb hardware purchases I made in the late 90s, trying to single-handedly keep the Amiga alive.

B&N is not exiting the hardware business entirely. It will continue to produce the black-and-white versions of the Nook and look for a partner to take on the production of the high-end color tablets. Speculation is swirling around Microsoft as a possible white knight, but it’s all simply rumors at this point.

In the meantime, I’m enjoying my new $149 tablet. It really is a great little Internet appliance and a handy way to watch movies and read books. I have no idea how long they’ll be available at that price, so if you’re interested you might want to move quickly.