Over the last year I’ve become a huge fan of Kickstarter. Probably too much of a fan really, but that’s for me and my budget to have a long talk about. What I want to talk to you about are four projects I’m backing that you might be interested in.: Raygun Chronicles, Glitter & Madness, Roberts versus Slime Monsters and Fireside Magazine. All four of these projects revolve around short stories, though each is a slightly different way.
Raygun Chronicles is being put together by anthologist Bryan Thomas Schmidt (@BryanThomasS). It’s going to be all space opera. It’ll be a combination of stories from the Ray Gun Revival ezine and new stories as well. The e-book will run you $10 and they have plenty of other tiers as well. Checkout the kickstarter’s updates for interviews with contributors to the anthology. Oh and those contributors? Check out the list: Mike Resnick, A.C. Crispin, Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Sarah A. Hoyt, Robin Wayne Bailey, Brenda Cooper, Allen Steele, Seanan McGuire, Peter J. Wacks, Keanan Brand, Milo James Fowler, Michael S. Roberts, Michael Merriam, T.M. Hunter, Robert Mancebo, Alice M. Roelke, Lou Antonelli, Paula R. Stiles, Jenny Schwartz, A.M. Stickel, Shaun Farrell, Jennifer Campbell-Hicks
Glitter & Madness is coming to you from Apex Publishing. All the stories will be based on the prompt: Roller Derby, nightclubs, glam aliens, (literal) party monsters, drugs, sex, glitter, debauchery, etc. The author list for this looks great: Seanan McGuire, Alan DeNiro, Amal El-Mohtar, Daryl Gregory, Damien Walters Grintalis, Maria Dahvana Headley, Kat Howard, Jennifer Pelland, Tim Pratt, Cat Rambo, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Diana Rowland, Sofia Samatar, David J. Schwartz, William Shunn, and Rachel Swirsky. Even better, at least from the perspective of a new writer like myself, they are going to have an open reading period as well. $10 for the e-book here too, with lots of great higher-tiers. They’ve only got 4 days to go at the time of this post and really need a big boost. Now is the time to jump on this one.
Robots versus Slime Monsters is a bit different from the other three projects on this list because it’s all coming from one writer. A. Lee Martinez has 9 books out there with a 10th on the way. They are zany, pulpy fun with titles like Gil’s all Fright Diner, In the Company of Ogres and (possibly my favorite audiobook listen of last year) Emperor Mollusk versus The Sinister Brain. For this collection he is going to write one short story using setting and characters from each of his books. Once again backing for $10 gets the e-book of the anthology. At $100 and $500 you even get to pick the character one of the stories focuses on (though these awards are limited and may be gone already).
The final project I’d like to highlight is Fireside Magazine: Year Two. I backed all three issues of Fireside that were put out last year and I was very glad I did. There was some truly great fiction in those issues. Now editor-publisher Brain White is changing things up a little a trying to fund an entire year’s worth of monthly issues. He already has some great authors committed to providing a story, including the fantastic Ken Liu. Chuck Wendig will be offering up a twelve part piece of serialized fiction! Also, and this is huge for my fellow flash fiction writers – Fireside is also going to be publishing 2 flash pieces a month. Also, along with trying to put out great stories Fireside is trying to pay its writers well. The 12.5 cents a word they’re offering is more than double what is currently considered pro rate. $24 gets you the full year, but they also have lower tier options for single issue and quarterly packages. Some of the higher tier options are really worth checking out as well.