But with that said, two pieces of bad news came my way today. The first is that Ingram has decided to stop distributing small press books. Eep! If this had been true when my first book came out, I would have been in big trouble. For a much more detailed explanation of what this decision means, check out this article. Nervous-making for all authors, I think -- and for readers too, if they only knew.
I also just heard that Poul Anderson died last night. He provided me with much wonderful sf when I was growing up; he helped shape the field. He was also very friendly and sweet when I met him at Berkeley SFWA meetings at the Jupiter Cafe. His death is a great loss to the field.
5:30. Still working. Meant to post this earlier, but forgot. Apologies if you've seen it already elsewhere...
CALL FOR STRANGE HORIZONS STAFF
As we approach the start of our second year, Strange Horizons is making some changes. We're adding new departments and new positions, and adding more staff to some of our existing departments. If you enjoy the magazine, we hope you take some time to read through the following listings and see if any of them appeal to you.Please keep in mind that we are a non-profit organization, and that these are all *volunteer* positions. No one on our staff is paid. We find working on this magazine an immensely rewarding experience; perhaps you will too. Please do not apply unless you feel you can make a commitment of at least six months if accepted; it takes time for us to interview and train new staff.
Articles Editor
We're looking for a third editor for the Articles Department. Applicants should have a strong interest in speculative fiction, as well as good language and communication skills. Duties of this job include editing one or two articles a month and evaluating new submissions and queries in a timely fashion. Estimated workload: 5-10 hours a week. Current articles editors: David Horwich, Catherine Pellegrino. If interested, please contact: articles@strangehorizons.com.
Music Editors
We're looking for two editors for our new Music Department. Each month, this department will showcase a spec fic-related musician or group, with clips from their songs and brief comments from the musicians (similar to the presentation of artists in our Gallery). Applicants should have a love for music, a strong interest in speculative fiction, and an openness to many different musical forms (sf rock, folk and filk, space movie scores, etc). Ideal applicants will already be familiar with much of this music, although we do expect you to do some learning on the job. Applicants should also be familiar with the various ways of presenting music on the web, and be comfortable working in those forms (or willing and eager to learn). Applicants should also have a basic knowledge of HTML. Duties include contacting potential musicians, assisting musicians in getting their music to a net-ready state, putting together the music gallery pages, and evaluating queries in a timely fashion. Estimated workload: 10-20 hours/month. If interested, please contact: editor@strangehorizons.com.
Newsletter Editor
We're looking for a second Newsletter Editor. Applicants should love our magazine, and be willing and able to read it faithfully each and every Sunday night. Ideally, the newsletter goes out Monday with a brief review of the current week's material, as well as occasional other notes of interest to our readers (calls for subs, sf-related events, jokes, etc.) The two editors would likely be alternating weeks and providing backup for each other. Estimated workload: 3-5 hours/week. Current newsletter editor: Jeremy Adams. If interested, please contact: editor@strangehorizons.com.
Bookstore Managers (2)
The bookstore is a vital element in our revenue model; affiliate sales can bring a magazine a significant amount of money. An ideal bookstore manager would read our galleys every Sunday, note what titles are being reviewed, mentioned in articles, mentioned in bios, etc., and add those titles (with annotations) to the bookstore. We're sadly a bit behind in this, so there may be some catch-up work at the start. Applicants should have a basic knowledge of HTML. Estimated workload: 2 hours/week, plus some additional start-up time. If interested, please contact: editor@strangehorizons.com.
Development / PR
The ideal candidate for this non-paying position would be someone who has worked in fund-raising in the past -- but really, anyone with enthusiasm, energy and free time will do, especially if you're willing to help write letters to total strangers asking for money. Time commitment is very flexible, but we ask for an average of two hours/week and a six month commitment. You would be working with our editor-in-chief pursuing government/literary grants and individual contributions. You may also be involved in press kits and other advertising activities. A fun job for a flexible individual who wants to learn about the wild world of non-profit funding. If interested, please contact: editor@strangehorizons.com.