Clearly, working with Shimmer, I’m a big believer in the power of small press magazines. So when I see Talebones, one of the most respected small press magazines put out a cry for help, I’m going to post about it. I saw this over at Nightshade Books.

Dear Family, Friends, Peers, Acquaintances:

Talebones has been a part of our lives for almost 11 years now. We have enjoyed every minute of putting all 33 issues together for our readers. It has truly been a labor of love. Most of the time that labor has cost us money, and now, because the amount of money we can put into the magazine has dwindled and, for whatever reason, subscriptions and renewals have not been as strong as we had hoped over the past year, we figure we may have to close down the magazine.

A couple of days ago, it was actually a final decision. “That’s it, there’s no way can we keep going.” There were tears. A few VIPs we mentioned it to asked us to reconsider. So we took a step back and decided: We will issue renewal notices as usual, but put an extra strong plea in there about this. And then we will send a more detailed email to everyone in our email address book who might have an interest. Based on what renewals come in over the next month, based on the response to this email, we will see if Talebones can continue on past 2006. Issue #33 is already in its final preparation stage. With our decision to make this final stab at keeping things going came the decision to at least have an issue #34, to be published in November of December. We will make a determination then if it is to be the last or not.

If you’ve subscribed to our magazine before, if you’ve never subscribed, but maybe sent us stories (or had stories published by us), or have wished us well with our little venture, we hope you’ll consider helping out. (We didn’t go through our files to know which of you are current subscribers and pull you off this email list, so forgive us if you’re already subscribers in good standing. If nothing else, we wanted you to know what was up.) At this point, even a single issue copy of our upcoming issue #33 will help. (We’ve put the order form/info up on our website early.) We have Paypal ready to go if you’d like to go that route. Or you can send money order or check payable to Talebones to our physical address at 5203 Quincy Ave SE; Auburn, WA 98092. (Rates on the website.) Or you can ignore this, delete this, or, do whatever you like. It won’t change the way we feel about ANY of you. We just thought we’d do something we’ve never done in over a decade of publishing the magazine: beg! J

That’s our sermon. Thanks for your support. Regardless of what happens to the magazine, never fear: Talebones and Fairwood Press will continue to have a presence in the SF world.

Patrick & Honna Swenson

I bought a copy and I live in Iceland. What about you?

I’m still working on The Bride Replete
First

On board, the ship’s crew ran about preparing the steamer to depart, their bellies flat and taut.

Last

Pimi’s red tunic glared like a beacon against the muted colors of Repp-Virja.

1027 words today, bringing me up to 1252.

Welcome to the newest bookstore to carry Shimmer, Bókabúðin Hlemmi (The Happy Bookstore) in Reykjavík, Iceland. Check out the placement. Isn’t that beautiful?

Thanks to John Scalzi for pointing out this post:The Art Department: In response to the old question, “What do I put in my Portfolio?”

SF/F BOOK COVER PORTFOLIO DOS AND DON’TS - excerpt
Figure drawing, figure drawing, figure drawing! The most important thing for a book publisher is figure drawing. You may get away with faking the rest (for a little while) but you need to have 100% solid figure drawing that does not look stiff and cartoonish. (“Poser” people tend to look weightless and artificial. Learn how to draw the figure.)

The article is very good and full of common sense.