And poetry, too

And you know...we also publish poetry.

It's true. Our most current offering is Jay Walker's long-awaited second book, Where I'm Coming From, a collection of poems that express the Rhode Island experience through the poet's eyes and heart. But Where I'm Coming From is not just a love letter to Rhode Island; it’s a declaration of the status of his emotional journey to the ultimate destination of peace, love & nakedness for all. Walker writes about everything from world issues to the aspects and events of his own life and art.

On the horizon, we're happy to be introducing a new volume of poetry from Ben Ohmart, Albany: An Autobio In Poemtry.

Stay tuned for samples from each.

Cheers!

--John

Hellfire and Damnation - Now Available!

Gotta love it when new books come out.

Another of our latest releases is Hellfire & Damnation, a collection of startling stories by Connie Corcoran Wilson. Some of these tales are based on real events which makes them all the more chilling. We're very happy that this book has been getting some Stoker Award buzz (it's been placing fairly high on the recommendation lists) and it's now available for order from its new publisher--us--at this page for only $10.95. Order through us before February 15th and receive FREE domestic shipping and reduced international shipping. After that, the book should also be available through Amazon or your local bookseller.

Best yet, you can read a sample story, "Confessions of an Apotemnophile" absolute free!

For more information on this book, you can also visit the author's website at www.hellfireanddamnationthebook.com.

Cheers!

What we're looking for in 2011.

With two of our three most recently planned titles out (Hellfire and Damnation by Connie Corcoran Wilson and Who Killed Science Fiction? Compleat and Unexpurgated by Earl Kemp), we're considering what to do next. We have one non-fiction book planned for, hopefully, late spring, and I'm in negotiations for a Very Special Reprint of a classic in skiffy fandom. Too soon to make any official announcements.

And we're always looking for more. Here is our current, ideal, "wish list" which will also be put up o our Submissions Guidelines page soon. In all cases, reprints will be cheerfully considered. All queries can be sent to submissions[at]merryblacksmith[dot]com.

Non-fiction

We would love to see some writing how-to books, particular of a genre nature.

Collections of literary commentary, history, or criticism would interest us. Take a look at Bud Webster's Anthopology 101 book for an idea of what we mean. This was one of our most popular books this past year and we'd love to see more.

Collections of fannish writing. Are you a fan writer with a backlog of past works from fanzines you think people would like to see bound up all in one? Why not? Are you a fanzine editor who might like to put together a best-of collection? Anyone have anything on the subject of the history of fandom? Let us know.

Review or interview books. These can be a slightly harder sell unless you have a good, unique hook or strong central theme. If I can get the same information from IMDB or Wikipedia, we're not interested, but if you have soemthing new and interesting to offer, by all means let us know.

Poetry

We will consider all poetry collection submissions. Genre and non-genre alike. That's no guarantee, mind you. But if we like what we see, we'd love to talk with you.

Fiction

We will happily consider fiction submissions, but some will have a better chance than others.

If you have reprint rights for novels that have since gone out of print, but for which you think still have a potential audience, go and make your pitch. We may even consider publishing an omnibus edition

If you're continuing a series that was dropped by another publisher, we'd like to see your pitch.

If you're a short story writer who has published in some of the major fiction magazines and are looking to publish a collection, let us know.

We'll consider all genres, although we've had a real strong yen lately for some good old fashioned space opera. Still, we'll look at everything.

Comics and Graphic Novels

We'd love to see some of these show up in our submissions pile. Surprise us.

The Details

We have a very strong "don't screw the author" policy. Our contracts do not try to retain electronic rights--just the print rights, and on a renewable one-year contract. While we do not offer advances at this time, we offer a generous royalty rate and offer author copies at a greatly reduced cost. We're a small publisher, so while we do some small advertising here and there, authors who can self-promote will have the greatest success.

Queries or e-mail submissions can be sent to submissions[at]merryblacksmith[dot]com. Other questions can be directed to info[at]merryblacksmith[dot]com.

Who Killed Science Fiction?

Who indeed? Well one way to find out who done did it (if it was in fact did done) is to read the book.

I'm very happy to announce that copies of Earl Kemp's Hugo award-winning work WHO KILLED SCIENCE FICTION? is now available for order. This edition is "Compleat & Unexpurgated" and contains updates from 1980 and 2002. Among its nearly a hundred contributors are such folks as Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, John W. Campbell, Hugo Gernsback, Horace Gold, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Hannes Bok, Howard DeVore, Robert Silverberg, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Poul Anderson, and many more. This is one of the most significant and legendary works in the history of science fiction. Reading it, you feel like you're sitting in on a conversation among friends and family. There's serious discussion, and some not as serious.

As a fan and as someone with a strong interest in the history science fiction and fandom, this has always been one of the top books in my list of must-reads. I'm incredibly grateful to Earl for allowing me to come out with a print edition through the Merry Blacksmith Press. It's nice to be a small part of something as big as this.

In celebration of this release, I'm offering free domestic shipping and reduced international shipping from now through the end of February.

Also, a copy of this, along with Bud Webster's ANTHOPOLOGY 101, is being donated to the Corflu auction being held at Corflu 28 (February 11th through the 13th).

I won't be attending Corflu--this year, at least--although you might see me loitering around the Virtual ConSuite if they have it up this year. I will be hanging around Boskone on Saturday--mostly bothering dealers, but also checking out some of the programming. I'll probably have a copy in my hands, so feel free to ask to take a look.

I'll be the guy in the red fez.

Cheers!

--John

Starting a new blog. Welcome to it.

Howdy,

So another blog has entered the world. Smacked on the bottom and wailing out its existence, but if the delivery room is empty...does it make a noise?

It's too early in the morning for me to decide. I'll let it be my koan for the day.

In any case, this is the first entry to a blog dedicated to issues relating to The Merry Blacksmith Press, its books, events, authors and, occasionally, its publisher (that's me!).

I keep another occasional blog--a more personal one, but one oft ripe with news of work I'm doing in writing, editing and publishing in other venues. That can be found at JohnTeehan.com. At the writing of this, the site is in urgent need of an update, but I think I can manage to take care of that sometime within the next week or two. While here I'll be discussing some of the new titles we have coming out this year, over at the Other Blog I'll likely be doing a little of the same, but also talking about my work with the SFWA Bulletin, with a certain medical journal, a certain UK publisher, BearManor Fiction, and some other projects that I'm involved with.

But that's all Over There. HERE, it will be mostly Merry Blacksmith news, comments, discussions, and reviews.

So buckle in.