What news?

As the Merry Blacksmith Press nears its first anniversary, I'm honestly amazed at how great a year it's been. We've put out some very fine books, and they've all received great reviews. At this point in time, there are still a couple of days left to get Hugo nominations in. We think that Bud Webster's ANTHOPOLOGY 101 would make a fine addition to the Best-Related nominations list, and that Tim Pratt's very successful fourth Marla Mason novel, BROKEN MIRRORS, would likewise look great sitting there on the BEST NOVEL nominations list.

Just putting that little bug in your ear.

Earl Kemp will be appearing at the Los Angeles Paperback Show next week and he'll have copies of WHO KILLED SCIENCE FICTION on hand to autograph and sell. If drop by, don't forget to grab a flyer showcasing some of our other titles.

Back to awards for a sec...Merry Blacksmith author Connie Corcoran Wilson brings in two from eLit Awards with a Silver for IT CAME FROM THE '70s and a Gold for HELLFIRE & DAMNATION. Way to go! Connie will be appearing at the Wizard World Con in Austin, and at the New York Book Expo.

As far as new release go, don't forget that for the entire month of March, Bradley H. Sinor's incredible collection of fantasy stories, WHERE THE SHADOWS BEGAN & OTHER STORIES comes with FREE domestic shipping and greatly reduced international shipping.

As for upcoming titles, look for Ben Ohmart's ALBANY: An Autobio in Poemtry coming very soon.

And we have much more coming up over the next few months. Stay tuned for details including a special release planned for Renovation and one or two for next year's Chicon.

Yeah...it's a fun ride. It doesn't end here. We'll have more news on our other great titles coming up.

Cheers!

Boskone and Corflu and fanac and fantasy

Heading off to Boskone this morning for a daytrip. In addition to dropping off some goodies at the freebie table, I'll be visiting some dealers with copies of Merry Blacksmith Press books and some flyers promoting our titles. It's been too long since I've visited a con, even for a day, so I'm very glad I was able to shoehorn this daytrip in.

I'm already making plans for more cons this year.

In other news, I'm happy to report that Earl Kemp's Who Killed Science Fiction? has been getting some great responses. The book debuted at this year's fanzine fan convention, Corflu, in Sunnyvale, California. Apparently most of the copies were sold within half an hour after opening the box on Friday night, and the rest were gone by morning, and orders taking advantage of the February free or reduced shipping have been nicely brisk. I donated a copy of WKSF and Anthopology 101 to the fan auction. The video feed cut before I could find out how much they went for, alas. Still, if they brought in their cover price, I'm more than satisfied. Every little bit helps to promote healthy fanac.

And speaking of fanac, stay tuned for new on a special fan anthology project coming soon.

And speaking of staying tuned...by the end of the month, Bradley H. Sinor's excellent fantasy short story collection, Where the Shadows Began, will become available. As usual, there will be special deals available when it's released into the wild.

Cheers!

Anthopology 101 on the LOCUS 2010 Recommended Reading List

I gotta say, I had a very pleasant bit of news this morning when Bud Webster e-mailed me to tell me that his book, ANTHOPOLOGY 101: Reflections, Inspections and Dissections of SF Anthologies, appears in the Non-fiction category of the 2010 LOCUS Recommended Reading List. That's pretty cool for Bud whose work on the Anthopology 101 column over the years has gotten him quite the reputation as a scholar, but also for our little press here.

So congratulations to Bud! And thanks for offering me your book to publish.

And in case you were not aware, you can read the Preface at our website.

And while I'm pointing out Merry Blacksmith titles on awards list...don't forget that Connie Wilson's Hellfire & Damnation is on the preliminary ballot for the Stoker Award. Granted, the ballot still lists the original publisher, Sam's Dot, but that's only fair because the Merry Blacksmith edition didn't come out until January of this year. That Connie selected The Merry Blacksmith Press when the Sam's Dot agreement ran out is very nice, and congrats to her for making the ballot.

You can read "Confessions of an Apotemnophile" for free.

So, yeah...it's a great first year.

Cheers!

--John

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