Category Archives: Amazing Stories

Exposing Myself

OK, as promised, a bit of elaboration on the press releases of earlier.  Sooper Seekrit Project #1 was my signing on with Amazing Stories (TM) as a blogger.  I wasn’t allowed to say anything publicly until the formal announcement, although I’ve contacted one or two individuals to set up interviews.  There are 50+ bloggers participating, and all of them bring their own specialties and areas of expertise.  They range from people who are relatively unknown in the field to figures who are almost legendary.  I mean, I’m part of a blog team that includes Barry Malzberg.  How cool is that?

Each individual will bring something to Amazing Stories(TM), and I really hope you’ll check out some of the links provided in the first press release.  I’m sure there will be plenty of things you’ll find of interest.

Now, how all this applies to me:

My posts there will focus on indie and small press publications.  It will be a weekly column.  I’m not sure which day of the week it will run at this point.  I’ll give you a heads-up before it does.  The first two columns will set the tone and parameters of what I will and won’t look at and define what I mean when I use certain terms (which may vary from what others mean).  After that I’ll be reviewing indie and small press publications.  Once a week is a pretty fast schedule, especially since I’m not giving up either this blog or Futures Past and Present.  I’ll look more at short novels, novellas, and collections than long epic works.  I’ll also interview authors and publishers, presenting as great a variety of individuals as possible.  And from time to time I’ll share my ever humble opinions.

I’ve emphasized indie published works here for the last year or so.  That will continue but not to the extent it has.  I’m going to broaden the emphasis of Adventures Fantastic.  Rather than focusing on sword and sorcery and historical adventure (something that’s arguable if look at some of the topics I’ve blogged about), I’m going to expand what I cover to include pulp in general.  That means in addition to fantasy and historical adventure, I’ll include noir, detective fiction, superheroes, and things related to classic pulp.  About the only thing I won’t cover here will be science fiction.  That will stay at Futures Past and Present.

Does that mean I won’t be reading much sword and sorcery?  Not at all.  This brings us to Sooper Seekrit Project #2…I can’t talk about Sooper Seekrit Project #2 yet.  I can’t even say for sure it will happen.  But if it does, it will involve sword and sorcery.  And it will be glorious.  Trust me.

All of this is part of my master plan.  I also write fiction.  Well, I try to.  I’m still trying to master that time management thing.  I intend to do better this year.  Now that we’ve moved and I’m almost settled into my new office, I should get some more fiction finished.  I started this blog for two purposes.  The first was to have fun, and I am having a blast with it.  The second was to create a platform that would give me a way to publicize my own fiction when I started publishing.  I’ve got a couple of stories that have been accepted, although I don’t know when they’ll be available.  I intend to pursue both traditional and indie publication for my short fiction, which is what I’m mostly writing these days.

Part of my motivation in blogging for Amazing Stories (TM) is to increase traffic here and to build my potential audience.  Hence the title of this post.  In other words, it’s all part of my plan for world domination. You may begin referring to me as Future Potentate of the Solar System.

Enough soliloquizing.  I’m starting to sound like a supervillain.  I’m also blogging for Amazing Stories (TM) because it’s going to be a heck of a lot of fun.

Which brings us back to the reviews.  I’ve agreed to review some indie published books that I haven’t gotten to yet.  My intention is to review some or most of those at Amazing Stories (TM).  The traffic there will be much greater than here, I’m sure, and thus these works will  have greater exposure to potential readers.  With only one post a week, it may take some time to get to all of them.  If we’ve corresponded about a review, and you have a preference where the review should appear, please let me know.  If you don’t care, or if I don’t hear from you, I’ll probably post the review there.

Finally, I’ve got enough of a backlog at the moment that I’m not going to be accepting any more books for review.  I’ll announce here as well as at Amazing Stories (TM) and Futures Past and Present when I open up for requests again.  I need to think through some guidelines about how to do that on a larger scale.  In the past, I’ve simply said Yes or No to the requests I’ve gotten.  With the broader exposure, I want to have a little more structure so as not to cause any offense.

And that’s the story behind my new blogging gig.

I’m Now Blogging for Amazing Stories (TM)


As promised earlier, here is the individual press release that accompanies the general press release in the previous post.   I’ll have more to say about what this means for me and this blog later in my next post.
Amazing Stories, the world’s first science fiction magazine, opens for Beta Testing of Phase 1 on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013.
Fifty+ Writers Sign On to provide genre-related content!
Experimenter Publishing Company
Hillsboro, NH
December 20, 2012
On Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013, I will be joined by more than 50 other writers from around the blogosphere to help launch the Beta Test of Phase 1 of the return of Amazing Stories.
Amazing Stories was the world’s first science fiction magazine.  Published by Hugo Gernsback, the Father of Science Fiction, the magazine created the genre’s first home and was instrumental in helping to establish science fiction fandom the fandom from which all other fandoms have evolved.
The magazine itself ceased publication in 2005; in 2008 the new publisher, Steve Davidson, discovered that the trademarks had lapsed and applied for them.  The marks were finally granted in 2011.
Phase 1 introduces the social networking aspects of the site and the Blog Team, more than 50 authors, artists, collectors, editors, pod casters, designers and bloggers who will address 14 different subjects on a regular basis SF, Fantasy & Horror literature, anime, gaming, film, television, the visual arts, audio works, the pulps, comics, fandom, science and publishing.  
Those wishing to participate in the Beta Test should request an invite by emailing the publisher, Steve Davidson.

Amazing Stories (TM) is Back!


Amazing Stories, the world’s first science fiction magazine, opens for Beta Testing of Phase 1 on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013.
Fifty+ Writers Sign On to provide genre-related content!
Experimenter Publishing Company
Hillsboro, NH
December 20, 2012
The Experimenter Publishing Company is pleased to announce the  reintroduction of the world’s most recognizable science fiction magazine – AMAZING STORIES!
Set to relaunch with a Beta Test of its new Social Magazine Platform, Amazing Stories will feature content from 50+ bloggers, covering an enormous array of subjects of interest to genre fans.
“We’ve got authors and agents, bloggers and editors, pod casters and broadcasters; we’ve got gamers and game designers; artists and art collectors; pulpsters and indie authors; we’ve got Hugo winners, John W. Campbell Memorial Award winners, John W. Campbell Best New Writer winners, Nebula and Hugo Award winners and nominees and winners and nominees of many other awards;  people who review films, people who make films; we’ve got fanboys and fangirls; we’ve got former editors of Amazing Stories, writers who’ve become synonymous with the field and writers who are just getting started; comic artists, book reviewers; traditionally published authors, self-pubbed authors and authors who’ve done it all.  The response to my request for participation was phenomenal – it couldn’t be more perfect if I had set out with a list of must-haves!” said Steve Davidson, publisher. 
Amazing Stories’ Social Magazine platform is designed to create an interactive environment that will be familiar to fans with blog content designed to encourage discussion  and take things beyond the usual user-generated content model for social networks.
The Amazing Stories Blog Team will cover (for now – more coming!) fourteen popular topics – Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, (lit), Film, Television, Gaming, Comics and Graphic Works,  the Visual Arts, the Pulps, Audio Works,  Anime, the Business of Publishing, Science and Fandom itself. 
At this year’s Worldcon (Chicon 7 the 70HYPERLINK “http://chicon.org/” thHYPERLINK “http://chicon.org/”  Worldcon, Chicago), Toastmaster John Scalzi talked about what it was to be a fan and concluded by saying

We are diverse – and we are all in this together.”
We are diverse – and we are all in this together, a sentiment that captures the very heart and soul of what it means to be a fan.  Amazing Stories aims to be a vehicle through which the diversity of fandom can come together. 
Amazing Stories’ relaunch will take place in two phases.  Those interested in participating in the Beta Test of Phase 1 should contact the publisher at steve.davidson33@comcast.net.  Participants will receive full access to the site with Member status and will receive on-site benefits as the project moves forward.
Phase 2 will introduce additional interactivity and user-customization to the site.  Following the completion and testing of Phase 2, the magazine, featuring both new and reprint fiction, essays, photo galleries, reviews and more will begin publication.  Readers who are interested in what the magazine will look like can read two Relaunch Prelaunch issues on line, or download them from the Amazing Stories store.  (Additional Amazing Stories themed product is also available here.)
Experimenter Publishing is pleased to introduce the  Amazing Stories Blog Team:
Cenobyte, Mike Brotherton, Ricky L. Brown, Michael A. Burstein,

Catherine Coker, Johne Cook, Paul Cook, Gary Dalkin, Jane Frank,

Jim Freund, Adam Gaffen, Chris Garcia, Chris Gerwel, Tommy Hancock, Liz Henderson, Samantha Henry, M. D. Jackson, Monique Jacob, Geoffrey James, J. J. Jones, Peggy Kolm, Justin Landon, Andrew Liptak, Melissa Lowery, Barry Malzberg, C. E. Martin, Farrell J. McGovern, Steve Miller, Matt Mitrovich, Aidan Moher, Kevin Murray, Ken Neth, Astrid Nielsch, D. Nicklin-Dunbar, John Purcell, James Rogers, Diane Severson, Doug Smith, Lesley Smith, Bill Spangler, Duane Spurlock, Michael J. Sullivan, G. W. Thomas, Erin Underwood, Stephan Van Velzen, Cynthia Ward, Michael Webb, Keith West, John M. Whalen, Ann Wilkes,Karlo Yeager, Leah Zeldez
BACKGROUND:
Originally published in 1926 by the father of science fiction, Hugo Gernsback, Amazing Stories helped to launch both the science fiction genre and its most enduring feature, science fiction fandom.  The magazine is well known for its Frank R. Paul covers and for publishing the first stories by many iconic authors such as Isaac Asimov, Jack Williamson and Ursula Le Guin.  Published continuously from 1926 until 1995, followed by two brief resurrections from 1998 till 2000 and again from 2004 thru 2005.  In 2008 Hasbro, the then current owner, allowed the trademarks to lapse and publisher Steve Davidson applied for and eventually received them in 2011.
Additional history and background on Amazing Stories can be found at the Science Fiction Encyclopedia and Wikipedia.  A complete gallery of all 609 previous issues with publication history is also available.
The Experimenter Publishing Company was created in 2012 for the purpose of returning Amazing Stories magazine to regular publication.  The company  shares the name of the original magazine’s publisher as homage.  The trademarks for Amazing Stories were acquired by Steve Davidson in 2011,  the previous owners having allowed the marks to lapse in 2008, at which time application was made for a new incarnation of the same title.
CONTACT:
For more information regarding Amazing Stories, the Blog Team and the Beta Test of the new site, please contact Steve Davidson via email at steve.davidson33@comcast.net. 
To contact one of the Blog Team:
J. Jay Jones
Barry Malzberg
Farrell J. McGovern http://www.can-con.org
Lesley Smith
Bill Spangler
Michael J. Sullivan http://www.riyria.com
Erin Underwood http://www.underwords.com
Stephan Van Velzen http://www.rantingdragon.com
Karlo Yeager
A complete copy of this press release will appear on the Amazing Stories Blog on the date of release and can be found here.

Amazing Stories Trademark Bought

Steve Davidson (Crotchety Old Fan) has acquired the trademark to Amazing Stories.  He is looking at relaunching the magazine online with containing new and reprint stories with a strong social networking component.  You can read his press release here.  There are further updates here and here.  The website for the magazine is up and is http://amazingstoriesmag.com/  There’s not much there yet, but check back frequently.  I used to pick up Amazing Stories regularly and am thrilled it will be coming back.  Thanks, Steve, and best of luck.