Back in August, The Guardian posted a column by Liz Bury entitled "Why is self-publishing still scorned by literary awards?" The article doesn't exactly make an argument about the apparent snubbing of SPed books in the literary awards circuit, but Bury does essentially imply in the body of the article that the inability of these awards to address the widespread consumption of SPed books will not work on their favor. I'm not sure that's true either, to be honest. These same literary awards are just as relevant as they were before SPing became normal (lots of relevance or no relevance whatsoever -- depends on your view).
I, however, have a different perspective on this problem. As a podcaster (The Skiffy and Fanty Show) and blogger, I get a lot of requests for reviews, interviews, guest posts, and so on. On the
blog, I'm a little more lenient when it comes to everything but reviews. But the podcast is an entirely different matter. Throughout the year, we have maybe 25-26 slots for proper interviews, and perhaps another 25-26 slots for discussion episodes. With the addition of a steady blog for the podcast, that jumps the number from 50ish slots to about 100. One hundred slots for tens of thousands of SF/F authors.
Understandably, we're extremely selective on the show. We have to be. There aren't enough slots for everyone, so we have to think hard about who we want to interview, what we want to talk about on the show, and so on and so forth. Inevitably, that means we tend to avoid self-published books; for me, it's for the same reason as always: how exactly are we to wade through the drivel to find those good SPed books?
This is a similar problem, I imagine, for the literary awards circuit. Granted, there may be a bigger agenda in place there, but they must be aware of the impossibly large field of published works out there, and so they make the decision, like us at The Skiffy and Fanty Show, to cut that field down to a more stable pool. There's crap in traditional publishing, too, but my experience has always been that it's much easier to find good things in traditional publishing, whereas the inverse is still true in the self-publishing world.
There's also another question here: cost. On the podcast, it costs us nothing (mostly) to interview or host authors of any sort. Even when there are costs, they are astronomically low and infrequent (a couple bucks here or there). But the literary award circuit has to hire judges, whom they sometimes (or usually) pay. Even if they're not paying those judges, the request for their time is high, since they have to read dozens of books or short stories, etc. If you open the field further, you can imagine how much time (or money) would be lost just on going through the onslaught of TPed and SPed books sent their way.
Let's also assume that there might be a way to get around that by narrowing the field with various new criteria. In the end, those criteria will be flawed and, in some cases, controversial. They're not going to base things on sales, since popularity is never an indicator of quality anyway. Personally, I can't imagine any valid criteria that would weed out the trash from the legitimately quality books. In the end, it just makes more sense to cut the field in half. In a game of numbers, the easiest criteria is the one that makes the job a lot easier.
But there's also one more question I have: why would SPed authors want to win these awards anyway? The field is large enough that they could easily create equally valid awards just for SPed books. And if they did that, it might make the task of including SPed books easier, since you could use those other awards as a mandatory criterion for the selection process: if your book was nominated for X award, it is eligible for Y award. It may not be the best criteria, but it's a start.
In any case, the point is this: it's a numbers game. It's a logistical problem. There are just too many damned books out there just in the traditional publishing world alone. Expecting these awards to toss out their arbitrary standards to include another massive pool of literature seems counter-productive to me. You won't end up with a better awards system, but an overburdened one. And you may end up doing more damage than would happen if one were to leave it alone.
That's my two cents. What about you?
Self-Published Books vs. Literary Awards: A Logistical Problem?
Comments(0)
Speculation Station: Worlds Without Gunpowder
Liz Bourke foisted this question upon me on Twitter using her profound ability of psychic suggestion and the promise of free alcohol.[1] The question is this: what would the world look like if gunpowder had never been discovered?
First, a few caveats:
- I'm only going to consider worlds like our own in which the materials for gunpowder exist. I feel inadequate to the task of arguing the science involved in imagining the absence of gunpowder materials.
- I'm only going to consider worlds like our own in which the inhabitants didn't discover gunpowder until much later -- up to about when the early modern period began. I find it unlikely that gunpowder would go undiscovered indefinitely.
- Due to my limited knowledge of other gunpowder-using cultures, most of what I will say below will come from a largely Western perspective. It will likely be somewhat reductive primarily because I can't write a 200-page book about the subject and expect anyone to read it. However, if you can shine some light on how the above question might have affected different cultures before (or after?) colonization or contact w/ other cultures, please write a post in response. I don't have that expertise, and so I will refrain from making too many assumptions.
My understanding of gunpowder is that it was discovered by the Chinese sometime between the 9th and 11th centuries (the Tang and Song Dynasties, respectively). Its explosive potential, however, wasn't fully realized until many centuries later -- somewhere around the 13th century in China. The rest of the world more less caught on after the powder's discovery, using it eventually to make weapons at roughly the same time as the Chinese.[2] Between the 15th and 17th centuries, the formula was perfected and put to use in weaponry on a wide scale.[3]
But if a world were to exist where gunpowder did not get discovered by the Chinese (or anyone) in the 9th/11th century and did not change the course of history until some centuries after the 200 year period mentioned above, wouldn't the world we know now be a drastically different place? Obviously. For one, the course of warfare would have to change considerably to meet the demands of battle. More advanced form of crossbows would likely fill the gap as medieval technicians created better ways to load and fire bolts. I suspect we'd see widespread use of ballistas and crossbows with the ability to fire multiple shots before the need for reloading. Some of these weapons already existed in the day, but they were inefficient and were eventually supplanted by better forms of weaponry (the musket, cannons, etc.). The Chinese, for example, had a repeater crossbow as early as the 4th century BC, and the Greeks had designed a repeating ballista in the century afterwards. These devices were certainly difficult to create and expensive, but without the explosive power of gunpowder, the need for more accurate, efficient, and speedy forms of these devices would become necessary.[6] Over time, the adaptations of warfare would include changes in armor, greater use of castle defenses, and perhaps the development of other forms of explosives or flammable liquids for use in catapults and other siege machines. Personally, I like the idea of Greek fire becoming a common tool used in warfare, though this would eventually become less useful over time as everyone began to prep their defenses against such things.
The more interesting part, for me, is the impact all of this would have on the colonization of the Americas.[7] Because muskets and cannons were such a strategic advantage for the Europeans who eventually took the Americas for themselves, it is curious to think about the ability of the Native Americans to actually combat the invasion. Though Native American weapons would have to adapt to the needs of warfare, there wouldn't be as large a difference in terms of the technology between European projectiles and Native American ones. The Europeans could certainly outmatch Native American warriors in terms of firing range and speed, but I wonder if they would still have the advantage in hand to hand combat or in dealing with guerrilla tactics, particularly with reduced ability to deploy explosives at long distances (cannons, etc.). In particular, I imagine the Europeans would have kept to their armor-based marching style, which might work in a frontal assault, but against a non-traditional fighting force, such as that deployed by Native Americans at various stages of the conflict in our own world, I don't think it would help in the long term.
Unfortunately, I still think the Europeans would come out on top, but that's largely because the inevitable bio-warfare would become a center piece. There's nothing to be done about the introduction of smallpox and other diseases into the Americans that the Native Americans simply hadn't survived yet. And I imagine the Europeans would eventually figure out, as they did in our own world, that one could infect the natives with diseases that would kill a lot of them off. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that the movement West (after the formation of America in our world, but perhaps without that expansion in this imaginary one for this post), would have been halted or at least severely delayed due to the weaker advantage on the part of the Europeans.
But all of this is loose, strange speculation on a topic about which I know considerably little. On that note, I'll end with a question: What are some short stories or novels which imagine a world without gunpowder (or a world where someone else discovered gunpowder and Europe didn't become a super power)?
------------------------------------------
[1]: Most of this sentence is not true.
[2]: I'm not a historian, so a lot of the dates I have given here are loose.
[3]: Gunpowder had been used in explosives and other forms of weapons after its discovery, but it didn't completely alter warfare, as I understand it, until that 200 year period. I'm getting much of this loose information from the source list on this Wikipedia page (many of which come from a fellow by the name of John Merton Patrick, who wrote an essay for a University of Michigan academic journal). So, yes, I'm using Wikipedia, but only as a nice pointer for better sources.
[6]: I also imagine a world where assassinations are more frequent as a method for avoiding physical conflict.
[7]: I hope readers will forgive me for the somewhat reductive view of the Native Americans here. Most of what I've written is fairly reductive, so my focus is less on the particularities of these real world conflicts than on basic concerns as they relate to the topic. If one were to actually use the idea of a gunpowder-free society to create an alternate history, they would have to do far more research than I have done here. This is a scratching-the-surface type thing.
Top 10 Science Fiction and Fantasy Anime Movies
I've been sitting on this list for months because I didn't think I'd seen enough anime movies to warrant the creation of a list. Turns out I was wrong. When I did a bit of searching, I discovered I'd seen quite a lot of anime films, many of them viewed at 1 AM on some random satellite station my grandma had a decade ago. I still don't know which station played anime at 1 AM, nor do I remember all of the films I saw (Black Magic M-66, which does not appear on the list below because it's not that great, is one for which I am particularly nostalgic).
So here I am with a list of 10. Don't hesitate to tell me what you think in the comments (or share your own lists). Here goes (in no particular order):
Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (Yutaka Fujioka)
The Place Promised in Our Lonely Days (Makoto Shinkai)
And I'm presenting a paper on it at the 2014 International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in Orlando! *dances*
Howl's Moving Castle (Hayao Miyazaki)
Princess Mononoke (Hayao Miyazaki)
The Cat Returns (Hayao Miyazaki)
Oh, and the English-dubbed edition, which is surprisingly good, features Cary Elwes, Anne Hathaway, Kristen Bell, Rene Auberjonois (from DS9!), Peter Boyle, Elliot Gould, and many more. That's one hell of a cast, no?
Akira (Katsuhiro Otomo)
Ghost in the Shell (Mamoru Oshii)
Ghost in the Shell 2 (Mamoru Oshii)
Macross Plus (Shoji Kawamori & Shinichiro Watanabe)
Patlabor (Mamoru Oshii)
-----------------------------------------------------
P.S.: I really wanted to include the OVAs for Samurai X in this list, but they are technically episodic in format, rather than proper films like the ones listed above. That means I'm going to have to write a whole new list about my favorite SF/F anime series!
Infographic: Space Travel, Then and Now
I haven't checked the validity of the claims in the image (which I got here), but it's interesting nonetheless.
Enjoy:
Video Found: Bohemian Rhapsody, Star Wars Style
The best part: Emperor Palpatine busting out a guitar solo using force lightning.
My Hopes and Anticipations for Science Fiction and Fantasy in 2014
2014 is almost upon us, and I'm already thinking about what is to come. What will 2014 be like? Will it be awesome? Will someone release a stunning science fiction novel or an exciting YA fantasy or an *epic* epic fantasy? The only way to find out is to live long enough to see it, I suppose (that's my early New Year's resolution). But I do have my hopes for next year. Big, juicy hopes. And they are as follows:
If you don't already know, my SF/F podcast, The Skiffy and Fanty Show, is hosting a massive World SF Tour throughout 2014. We've already lined up a lot of great folks from all over the world, and that's just for the first couple months. This thing has barely begun.
Since the World SF blog has ended, I'm hoping this special season of the show will help fill the gap a bit. More importantly, I really hope we'll open further dialogue between (and within) the western SF/F spheres and the equally valuable spheres from elsewhere. We should be talking to each other, and this whole Internet thing is a great way to make that possible. So I really hope we'll spark a bit of a discussion in the community. That would be a great thing indeed.
No Kerfluffles
I know this dream will never come true, but I'm putting it here anyway. I would really like to see a year in the SF/F world that doesn't include fiascos and people saying racist, sexist, or downright douchey things. Just for one year. Please.
Please?
Here are all the authors whose work I'm looking forward to in 2014 (assuming they're releasing anything)
- Myke Cole (Breach Zone comes out in a month, and I get to interview him with my bestie. So, basically, my life is awesome right now.)
- Stina Leicht (I don't think she'll have anything out next year, but I hear she's working on something that's super cool beans -- I may have the inside scoop.)
- China Mieville (It better be clever. Oh, hell, who am I kidding? Of course it will be clever!)
- Lauren Beukes (Will she ever stop writing awesome books? No. Never. EVER!)
- Ann Leckie (I quite liked Ancillary Justice and am eagerly anticipating the sequel. I'm told it'll be an even stronger book.)
- Nick Mamatas writing noir crime fiction (because that should be very interesting indeed)
- Nalo Hopkinson (Sister Mine was fantastic, so if she releases anything next year, I'll be happy)
- Tobias S. Buckell (more Xenowealth stuff, please!)
- Yoon Ha Lee (I have dreams that she'll release a novel and that it will be the most amazing thing since the invention of air.)
- Christopher Barzak (two things: 1) I demand more writing in any form imaginable, and 2) I cannot wait to see the film adaptation of One For Sorrow)
- Karen Lord (she could release a story on a restaurant napkin and I'd probably still read it enthusiastically)
- Brian Francis Slattery (Lost Everything was genius, so another novel would be amazing)
That's not an exhaustive list, obviously. They're names that came up when I started thinking about this whole thing. I'd also love to see something new from Alden Bell, Jane Rogers, and even some translated works from China and the surrounding nations (Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, etc.).
I'd also love to see some groundbreaking SF/F next year. I haven't the foggiest what that would look like, but I do think we're overdue for a year that really throws us SF/F folks for a loop.
Dialogue Reboot
This is somewhat related to the kerfluffle thing above. Basically, I think it would be lovely if we could actually have a dialogue about things like sexual harassment at cons, sexism in SF/F, racism in SF/F, and so on. A discussion. A talk. Not two groups screaming at each other or self-segregating out of convenience. I realize this is a tall order, in part because disparate groups simply don't agree about things, but I think we could get a lot more done if these issues were discussed more openly without the need to simply reject every claim.
This is also a completely absurd request.
Movies
I anticipate that the following will be true in 2014:
This is also a completely absurd request.
I anticipate that the following will be true in 2014:
- Marvel will continue to dominate in film. With X-Men: Days of Future Past, Captain America: the Winter Soldier, and Guardians of the Galaxy coming our way, it's hard to imagine Marvel won't be king for another year.
- Science fiction will dominate. With Edge of Tomorrow, Interstellar, the Marvel films, Hunger Games 3, The Giver, and Jupiter Ascending expected to hit theaters next year, I strongly suspect SF will be all the rage (as it was this year, really). Robocop will probably be a lot of fun, but I expect it to bomb. I couldn't care less about Transformers 1132424 or The Maze Runner (it will bomb). But I expect those other films to do quite well.
- Science fiction will not receive any major award nominations in categories people remember (namely, best director, actor/actress (lead or supporting), or best picture), and at least one of the films released this year will have deserved to have been on those lists.
- Hunger Games 3 will be the knockout of the year. If Hunger Games 2 is any indicator of this franchise's success, you can expect the (supposedly two part) finale to rock the box office.
- Fantasy will mostly suck in 2014. There are a couple of decent movies coming, and I have no doubt the genre will make a pretty penny, but I really don't think there will be anything of serious note from the fantasy genre next year.
The Hugos (and Other Awards)
When the awards season rolls around, I suspect a lot of people will be annoyed and pissed off again. I look forward to a thoughtful discussion about the merits of these awards that leads to something worthwhile (like changes or new, viable awards). Or we'll just have another pissing match. I'm getting quite good at pissing...
A Happy Year
If things go my way, the following things will have happened by Dec. 31st, 2014:
- Attend a convention with all (or most) of the Skiffy and Fanty crew (Convergence, anyone?)
- Have most of my dissertation written
- Finish a research trip through the UK and elsewhere for my PhD
- Record some of the best interviews and discussions EVER
- Finish writing a novel and submit it
- Get a pro-rate publication in short fiction
- Publish an academic article that isn't a review (possible the one on steampunk OR the one on Cloud Atlas OR the one on Edgar Mittelholzer's A Morning at the Office OR the one on Tobias S. Buckell's Xenowealth Saga OR the one on Makoto Shinkai's The Place Promises in Our Early Days...you get the picture)
- Read a lot of great books
- Watch a lot of great movies
And I think that's a good place to stop.
What are you looking forward to in 2014?
Top 10 Blog Posts for November 2013
November was obviously a fairly light week in terms of new posts, so this list is a reflection of all the stuff people were still reading from the months prior. And if you missed any of this stuff, you'll have to catch up...
Here it is:
10. Conventions: the Simple, Step-by-Step Approach for Handling Disability at Cons
9. Draft Post Bingo Winners: What I'll Be Finishing Next (some of these have been finished!)
8. Crowdfunding Links of the Week: Kaleidoscope (a Diverse YA Antho) & War Stories (a MilSF Antho)
7. The Rubric of Apologies: Demanded Apologies
6. Link of the Week: "Conventions and Authors" by Tobias S. Buckell
5. Draft Post Bingo: What should I finish? You Decide!
4. Top 10 Blog Posts for August 2013 (this is a hilarious one...)
3. Oh, John Ringo and Your Silly Fantasies About People (or, I Now Like Redshirts)
2. Star Trek: a Worf TV Show? (Some Thoughts)
1. Movie Review: Riddick (2013)(or, I'm Going to Mega Rant Now)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)