[Shameless plug] Part 2 of my interview on Mike Duran's deCOMPOSE blog today

http://mikeduran.com/?p=13172

> Interview w/ Johne Cook of Raygun Revival — Pt. 2
>
> by Mike Duran · 3 comments <http://mikeduran.com/?p=13172#comments>
>
> You can find Part One of my interview with writer and editor Johne Cook
> HERE <http://mikeduran.com/?p=13102>.
>
> * * *
>
> *MIKE: From my perspective, there seems to be a lot of illusions about
> independent presses, the types of quality they will
> <http://mikeduran.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/RGR_18.jpg>“tolerate,”
> and the insular, perhaps “cliquish,” nature of their business. Johne, what
> are some of the most common myths or misunderstandings about independent
> presses?*
>
> JOHNE: Whenever you peer into a scene from the outside, it’s not unusual to
> draw inaccurate impressions or conclusions about the nature of the scene or
> the people who populate it. Honestly, from my perspective, there’s a bit of
> truth to the myths and misunderstandings.
>
> For example, let’s talk about payment rates versus the quality of
> submissions. Perhaps I won’t astonish you with this observation — the more
> you can pay, the better the submissions. We put the best face on it, but
> there it is.
>
> When RGR started, we were aware of the bias in the minds of some (many?)
> authors against submitting to a strictly 4theluv outfit, so we started by
> paying a nominal $10 rate for stories, and ramped all the way up to $15
> (whee!) for awhile after that. Despite being nearly nothing, there was an
> observable uptick in attention by paying something rather than nothing, even
> though the end result was nearly equal.
>
> Now that we’re paying semi-pro rates (thanks to our gracious hosts at Every
> Day Publishing), we’re seeing much bigger names in the slushpile. SF legend
> Mike Resnick even wrote a new Catastrophe Baker story just for RGR, based in
> his career-spanning Birthright Universe of stories! We’re working on landing
> a story from Kevin J. Anderson.
>
> As an idealist, we really loved working with first-time authors, mentoring
> them as writers and showing them the ropes of our favorite genre. As a
> pragmatist, I can tell you that the signal-to-noise ratio is much better
> among established writers.
>
> *MIKE: There was a time when digital publications were viewed as second
> tier. Having a story published in an ezine did not carry the clout that a
> hard mag did. Is that still true? Or have digital imprints gained more
> respect in the industry?*
>
> JOHNE: Yes, but times are changing as we speak. The once-venerable dead
> tree publishers are the ones who are now backpedaling and trying to adapt.
> The big three didn’t used to accept online submissions, but that’s started
> to change. They still carry the panache, but the buzz is clearly with
> writers selling their works in the digital or audio arena. Writers who
> started in ‘zines are starting to win some of the really big awards. The
> ‘zines strike me as venerable farm clubs for big league ball teams. People
> in the know perk up if you say you’ve been published in some of my favorite
> ‘zines. For instance, John Scalzi cut his sci-fi teeth at *Strange
> Horizons*<http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/08/14/strange-horizons-friday-im-matching-donations/>.
> *Clarkesworld Magazine <http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/>* has risen from
> obscurity to Hugo award winning zine in a few short years. There’s a
> definite trend toward respectability for some of the digital publications,
> however, it’s like anything else. Some outfits will keep doing what they do
> with no apparent change, some will follow the trends, and a smaller
> percentage will elevate themselves from the herd. As you might expect, who
> earns respect and who doesn’t is a healthy mix of hard work, good timing,
> and simple hard work. Not everybody will make it to the next level.
>
> *MIKE: As you know, a lot of writers who frequent my site are Christians,
> but are unhappy with the current content being labeled “Christian fiction.”
> They love speculative fiction, but want “faith” elements in their stories
> without the ultra conservative strictures or preachiness. Does Raygun
> Revival publish books and stories with “spiritual / religious” themes and,
> if so, what advice would you give to writers of such a genre?*
>
> JOHNE: RGR does not publish Christian fiction. With that said, space opera
> is very much about embracing stories with a strong moral discussion, with
> discernable good guys (or aliens) and bad guys (or
> <http://mikeduran.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/RGR_48a.jpg>aliens).
> That’s one of the things I most liked about Star Wars – there was no doubt
> who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. In *Firefly*, Joss
> Whedon, a self-professed Atheist, was able to talk about religion without
> being brandished as Christian fiction. He simply wrote a story that allowed
> for a myriad of characters with a multitude of perspectives, and one of
> them, Shepherd Derrial Book, was a devout Christian with a dangerous past
> who served as the spiritual guide and conscience for Captain Mal Reynolds.
>
> That’s what we look for at RGR, adventure stories that sometimes feature a
> character of belief, who can talk about the success and failure (or benefits
> or dangers) of religion from the outside, where most sci-fans live. Timothy
> Zahn gave us my favorite example of doing this right back in the day with
> his novel *Deadman Switch
> <http://www.amazon.com/Deadman-Switch-Timothy-Zahn/dp/0671697846>(1988,
> Baen)*, which featured a first person story narrated by Gilead Raca
> Benedar, a Watcher with a hyper-keen eye for detail (not unlike Sherlock
> Holmes) who is practically telepathic. He’s highly respected, and also a
> devout Christian. (There are relatively few Christians at that time because
> of a purge at some point in our history.) The story focuses on the science
> fiction side of things while using religious differences to help drive the
> conflict. It was, first and foremost, a rigorous science fiction story that
> happened to feature a character of Christian persuasion as part of the
> largely story, not in place of the larger story.
>
> At RGR, that’s as far as we go. We love stories that have moral elements,
> moral conflict, but stay away from stories that explicitly exist for the
> purpose of proselytizing. We prefer discussions of the numinous to be
> organic rather than strident or didactic.
>
> *MIKE: What are some of the indie presses that you most admire and believe
> are putting out some of the best stuff?*
>
> JOHNE: From a sci-fi perspective, in no particular order, I like *Clarkesworld
> Magazine <http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/>*, *Strange Horizons<http://www.strangehorizons.com/>
> *, *Electric Velocipede <http://www.electricvelocipede.com/>*, *Andromeda
> Spaceways Inflight Magazine <http://www.andromedaspaceways.com/>*, *Orson
> Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show<http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com/>
> *, the now defunct *Jim Baen’s Universe <http://www.baens-universe.com/>*,
> Nate Lilly’s *Spacewesterns <http://www.spacewesterns.com/>*, and the
> stories published online from
> <http://mikeduran.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/RGR_29.jpg>Tor.com<http://www.tor.com/>
> .
>
> From the side that talks about sci-fi from a Christian perspective, Jeff
> Gerke’s Marcher Lord Press <http://www.marcherlordpress.com/> is doing
> some really exciting stuff. Chila Woychik’s Port Yonder Press<http://portyonderpress.com/default.aspx>is looking intriguing and promising. I love
> *Relief Journal <http://www.reliefjournal.com/>* and *The Midnight Diner<http://www.themidnightdiner.com/>
> *. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Grace Bridge’s Splashdown Books<http://www.splashdownbooks.com/>,
> Lyn Perry’s *Residential Aliens <http://www.resaliens.com/>* and *Digital
> Dragon <http://www.digitaldragonmagazine.net/>* magazine from Tim Ambrose
> and Randy Streu.
>
> *MIKE: Finally, what advice would you give to someone who wants to start a
> indie operation? Aside from the money — no small thing indeed — what factors
> should the entrepreneurial small presser consider before diving in?*
>
> * *
>
> JOHNE: In no particular order, here’s what I’m thinking of right off the
> top of my head:
>
>    - *Vision* – Honestly, from our perspective, the money isn’t nearly as
>    important as a fierce clarity of vision. Clarify your vision as soon as
>    possible. We started without any funds at all but we had a unified vision
>    right out of the gate, and that bore us through a host of weird times and
>    hard knocks.
>    - *Network* – Rub shoulders with other operators doing roughly what you
>    want to do. Get help as soon as you can. Tim Ambrose asked me for five
>    minutes and I chatted with him about the failures and successes we saw
>    trying to launch RGR on and off for three weeks. Lyn Perry bent my ear when
>    he was thinking about his publication. We learned from those who went before
>    us, and love to share what we’ve learned with others who are up-and-coming.
>    - *Community* – Engage your community, pull yourself up by your
>    bootstraps. We put up forums for RGR six months before the magazine went
>    live, and by the time the first issue hit, we had a core of rabid, engaged
>    fans.
>    - *Unique *– Find one or two things that make your outfit unique and
>    play it up. At RGR, we are known for phenomenal cover art, a fun pulp
>    adventure fiction genre, and the faux arrogance of the Overlords and our Big
>    Red Button.™ Finding some things that make you different will give you a
>    sense of identity and help set you apart from other similar groups.* *
>    - *Fun *– By all that’s holy, enjoy what you’re doing. If the project’s
>    not fun, I’d seriously question if you should be undertaking such a mammoth
>    undertaking.
>
> * * *
>
> If you haven’t yet, please check out RayGun Revival<http://www.raygunrevival.com/>.
> And if you’d like to find out more about Johne Cook, you can hook up with
> him through both Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/johne.cook> and Twitter<http://twitter.com/#%21/theskypirate>.
> Terrific stuff, Johne! Thanks so much for visiting.
>


Johne Cook
| http://raygunrevival.com | http://authorculture.blogspot.com |*
*
-- 
dadl-ot mailing list
http://mail.thehood.us/mailman/listinfo/dadl-ot_thehood.us
http://news.gmane.org/gmane.music.dadl.ot