Apex Publications Is Having Big-Time Sale

The other day, I spotted a blog post saying that speculative fiction stalwart Apex Publications is "retiring" 42 titles and was offering a substantial discount until the end of January Given Apex's importance to the small-press scene and the business I've done with publisher Jason Sizemore, this was somewhat concerning, so I checked it out.

It turns out that Apex is reverting the rights to many of its older titles to their original authors, to "trunk" or republish as they see fit. Apparently they're not generating enough money to cover the administrative costs of maintaining them, paying the writers, etc.

From a business perspective, this makes sense. I've looked over the list (more on that below) and a lot of them seem to be short-story collections or shorter works. Collections are generally not strong sellers--on Amazon I've sold three copies of Flashing Steel, Flashing Fire in the last six-odd weeks in comparison to five sales of The Thing in the Woods and three sales of its sequel The Atlanta Incursion. And that's fairly unusual--Thing, TAI, and Battle for the Wastelands typically sell at least all right, while FSFF languishes. This is even more blatant at conventions, where I move lots of novel-length works but few copies of FSFF, my novella Little People, Big Guns, or, in recent years, The Best of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly Vol. 2. I put all of my shorter work (with the exception of Battle prequel "Son of Grendel") on Draft2Digital for wide release and only "Ten Davids Two Goliaths" and "Discovery and Flight" (both set in Lindsay Buroker's Fallen Empire universe) seem to sell.

Since I'm a one-man show without any authors to continue to pay or actual employees (the artists, designers, etc. are all contractors), keeping FSFF and the other shorter works available for purchase is no big deal. However, if for every sale I had to do the paperwork, royalty computation, etc. for multiple authors, that wouldn't be worth the minimal return I get. However, I do have to store my convention stock and the fewer boxes sitting around my apartment the better.

I took a look at the books on the Apex list and here are some that interest me. Appalachian Undead is a collection of zombie stories set in, well Appalachia. It leads with a story entitled "When Granny Comes Marchin’ Home Again," which is certainly attention-grabbing, and even has another story alluding to a John Denver song. Harlan County Horrors operates in a similar vein, with lots of ugly doings in coal country. Breaking The World is about what might happen if the apocalypse actually started during the siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco and certain sounds interesting. HebrewPunk is a group of short stories or novellas featuring characters based in Jewish tradition, culminating in all of them joining forces for a heist. Kentucky Kaiju is a Dungeons and Dragons-style monster manual for large creatures inhabiting Kentucky of all places. Severance is about the mishaps that can befall a generation ship bound for another star system. Stay Crazy has a pretty interesting concept--is this woman insane, or is there a being from another dimension recruiting her to fight another extradimensional being? Starve Better by Nick Mamatas is about the writing life; I already own it, but it's been awhile since I've read it. To Each Their Darkness and Yours to Tell also books about the craft of writing, and I'm seriously considering snagging that one while I still can.

My to-be-read pile (including several library books that might lead to fines) is pretty substantial as is, so I'm not sure which of these I'll actually purchase when all is said and done, but those all sound cool. However, if you're interested in helping out someone who's helped me, Sizemore has done a lot for my independent novelist career, including editing Battle back when I was still pitching it to publishers, connecting me with cover designer Mikio Murikami and laying out and assembling some very well-designed e-books.

BATTLE FOR THE WASTELANDS Is Going Indie (Here's First Phase of Cover)

Although The Thing in the Woods is my first published novel, it is not the first novel I've actually completed. Not counting my two lengthy Harry Potter fan-fics "Wrath of the Half-Blood Prince" and "Lord of the Werewolves" and my rewrite of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen so aptly titled "The Revenge of the Fallen Reboot," my first finished novel is actually Battle for the Wastelands, which can be described as "a post-apocalyptic steampunk military fantasy" or more concisely "Dark Tower meets Game of Thrones."

I completed the novel sometime in 2011-2012 and have been submitting it to different agents and publishers over the years, tinkering with it based on any personalized rejection or commentary I got. This prolonged process (plus an edit by Apex Publications boss Jason Sizemore, who offers extensive freelance services) resulted in a less wordier book--the current draft is 88.5K and the original was 101K. This was accomplished by cutting only words and phrases--not only did I not need to cut anything significant, but even I added a new scene to give the sole female POV character a more solid character arc (overcoming depression).

Unfortunately, the prolonged process meant that its window has likely passed. I was told by a fellow writer that unless one is Cherie Priest, Barnes and Noble isn't stocking steampunk books. This means publishers are not likely to buy them, since Barnes and Noble is the largest brick-and-mortar bookstore. Although Battle is more subtle steampunk--it's more of a military novel that happens to be set in a different world than "all airships all the time"--there's still airships, Babbage engines, etc. Furthermore, the steampunk fandom seems in decline--there're fewer steampunk costumes at conventions, steampunk-focused conventions are trying to expand their offerings, etc. Although one can market Battle without using the dreaded S-word, it has so many steampunk tropes and aspects that big presses are likely to turn up their noses.

Speaking of turnaround time, one publisher was reviewing the book for roughly two years (it made the second round of judging and I think there was some personnel turnover, so I'm not blaming them). Although patience is a virtue, especially if you're an author trying to get a book deal, there aren't a lot of book publishers who'd consider it left at this point. Furthermore, one of the remaining ones I was warned could take a similar amount of time. I finished this book (and a companion novella focused on the main villain's adult son) seven years ago. I'm getting a little tired.

Another big (possibly the biggest) issue with a professional sale is that it's not standalone. The book pretty obviously sets up more battles to come in a way that Thing and my forthcoming Little People, Big Guns do not. I don't have an established track record, so publishers aren't likely to take a chance on what's an obvious series starter. Many readers won't start a series unless it's already done, which a nasty catch-22 that leaves many series unfinished for lack of sales.

Finally, although Battle is a better book for years' worth of tightening, the more concise length also makes it less salable. I've spoken to many people who know what they're talking about who think a fantasy novel should be 100K words if not more. I'd considered adding stuff to pad it out, but that's the key phrase--"pad it out." It will be obvious that stuff was added to meet a word count and the quality would suffer.

So I hired Mr. Sizemore once more for proofreading--and he went above and beyond by answering a lot of my publishing questions--and I commissioned a cover from artist Matt Cowdery, whom I met at DragonCon this past Labor Day. The cover will be completed in stages--here's the first part, which in artist lingo is called a "comp."

The final product will look something like this or this in overall style and detail.

Independently publishing means I'll have to do everything myself, but I listen a lot of writing-related podcasts and know several independent authors in real life. I've got a lot of ideas on what to do, some of which I cite in the next chunk below.

Guest Post: The Thing – Lessons in Running a Small Press

The Thing: Lessons in Running a Small Press

By Jason Sizemore

A decade ago I started a small press named Apex Publications. Recently, I wrote a book titled For Exposure: The Life and Times of a Small Press Publisher where I lay bare the heartbreak, the insanity, and the fun that comes with the job. I’d like to add an addendum to the book, if I may, here on Matthew Quinn’s blog. I want to share the lessons any publisher/editor/writer can learn about real life in John Carpenter’s classic The Thing.

I had the good fortune of being introduced to The Thing at an early age. I was perhaps ten years old when my mom and I popped the videotape into the VCR and watched Kurt Russell do his thing. The movie scared the piss out of me. Some of you judgmental types might be frowning and thinking, “Parenting fail!” On that, I will have to disagree. It’s akin to throwing a child who doesn’t know how to swim into a pond. They’ll learn to swim, and swimming is a valuable life skill. The Thing may have scared me, but I’m a better business leader for it.

Here are the lessons The Thing will teach a prospective small press publisher.

Trust No One

In what I consider one of the greatest cinematic scenes in film history, MacReady (Kurt Russell) has tied everyone to adjoined chairs. MacReady has a problem. He doesn’t know who is infected with the alien parasite and who isn’t. He knows he’s not infected, and that the alien deplores fire/heat, so he devices a blood-based stress test. Take a sample of blood, apply a red hot wire to the blood, and if nothing happens, that blood is clean.

The tension mounts as MacReady tests each person. When he does encounter his first positive reaction, the shit hits the fan. The alien goes wild, flamethrowers malfunction, men panic.

MacReady survives because he was very selective of who he trusted. This will be an important aspect of running your publishing company. Keep your inner circle small and tight. There will be book disasters, there will be lies told about you, and there will be vocal critics. You’ll need your trustworthy circle to help you navigate through such obstacles to success.

Loneliness

The Thing is set at an isolated research outpost in Antarctica. On planet Earth, that’s about as isolated as it gets. When you’re a small press publisher, you’re going to be spending your nights under the lamplight in front of your computer burning the midnight oil. Your resources will be limited. There are only a handful of people you can count on. Sure, you’re doing important work, but you must find a way to stay mentally sharp.

Wilford Brimley

Everybody loves Wilford Brimley. Who doesn’t like a guy who has such passion for oatmeal? In The Thing, Brimley plays Dr. Blair. Blair gets infected by the alien parasite, which then sabotages the research outpost by destroying the radio equipment and helicopter. The research team locks the old fella in a story shed, where he starts to build a mother-trucking spaceship to escape! The Blair creature was going to find a way out or die trying.

There are two points to be taken from Wilford Brimley. First, you have to learn how to survive when somebody tries to sabotage you. It will inevitably, inexplicably happen. Second, you must be determined and single-minded in your goals. Success is to be the only option.

Know When to Blow the Whole Thing Up

MacReady spends two hours fighting the thing, but it is a losing battle. The alien can mimic any living host, including cute dogs. He decides that for the survival of humanity the best thing to do is to blow the whole base to smithereens in an attempt to kill all vestiges of the thing.

In the end, it is only him and Childs. In the dying embers of the camp, they share a bottle of whisky. Childs might be infected, but MacReady doesn’t care; he knows they’re both going to die in the cold.

MacReady knew when to cut his losses, no matter how painful it would be. You have to be ready to do the same thing as a publisher. In For Exposure, I shared the terrible parting of the ways with my old magazine, Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest. I loved that digest. Still do. But it had to die.

If you’re looking for an intense, well-acted, and scary sci-horror movie to watch, then check out The Thing. If you’re looking for a semi-true, funny (to me!), and intense written history of ten years of publishing, then check out For Exposure: The Life and Times of a Small Press Publisher! Although, the horror of the warm splatter that hit me in the dance club found in Chapter 10 of my book fairs comparably to the horrors of Carpenter’s masterpiece.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

For Exposure: The Life and Times of a Small Press Publisher
Apex Publications
182 pages
ISBN:  9781937009304

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Born the son of an unemployed coal miner in a tiny Kentucky Appalachian villa named Big Creek (population 400), Jason fought his way out of the hills to the big city of Lexington. He attended Transylvania University (a real school with its own vampire legend) and received a degree in computer science. Since 2005, he has owned and operated Apex Publications. He is the editor of five anthologies, author of Irredeemable, a three-time Hugo Award loser, an occasional writer, who can usually be found wandering the halls of hotel conventions