Phoenix Pick, Book Bale +

Phoenix Pick, for those of you who haven't heard of them, is an online bookstore for older, classic SF.  They do paperback and ebook editions of mostly (entirely?) out of print titles.  Their monthly newsletter always has a code for a free ebook.  This month's book is Halo by Paul Cook (yes, he of the controversial Amazing Stories "When Science Fiction is Not Science Fiction" post).

Regardless of his definition of 'real' science fiction, his book sounds pretty interesting.  So I may give it a try next year when the retail holiday season is over and my essential reading pile is gone.

The mysterious alien artifact called the Halo came quietly and mysteriously and then sowed the earth with seeds that threatened to destroy humanity by destroying their souls.

But the aliens had underestimated the human spirit and a band of Moon-based scientists survive to fight and take back what is rightfully ours.

A powerful, visionary and scary look into our future and a possible encounter with an alien species almost impossible to beat.

Phoenix Pick is also starting their own book bundle, pay what you want (minimum $2.99) program called Bookbale.  The first bundle will include books by Frank Herbert, Robert Heinlein, Joe Haldeman, Mercedes Lackey, Andre Norton, Kevin J. Anderson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Mike Resnick and Robert J. Sawyer.  It goes on sale November 1st.  I'm curious to see what titles have been chosen (they're not visible yet).  I think these kinds of things are great, even though I haven't had time to read the books from the other bundles I've bought.  Too many books...

Finally, if you like magazines, Issue 4 of Galaxy's Edge is up.  You can buy and download it for $3.99 or read it online for free.

Genre News

Got some more emails about things you may be interested in.

Phoenix Picks' free ebook for July is Joan Slonczewski's first Elysium Cycle novel, Daughter of Elysium.  According to my husband, she's a great hard SF author (one of the Elysium Cycle novels, Brain Plague, is sitting on a shelf near me waiting to be read).

The coupon code is 9991545 and will be good from July 2 through July 31. Links for downloading the book (as usual) from our online catalogue, http://www.PPickings.com

"The Pristine City of Elysium floats on the water world of Shora, inhabited by 'immortals' who have succeeded in unlocking the secrets of life.

Outsider Blackbear Windclan wants to share the secret of immortality with his own people, but can he, and the City of Elysium survive the corruption and decadence that immortality has bred into the ageless society?

And what of the consciousness of the self-aware nano-sentient servitors and their quest for vengeance?"

Sounds good, doesn't it?

July is Monster Movie Month at MonsterLibrarian.

July 1 will mark the beginning of Monster Movie Month at MonsterLibrarian.com. Monster Movie Month will celebrate the connections between books and movies in the horror genre. The site will offer lists of movies horror fiction lovers might enjoy, reviews, and suggestions for readers advisory and marketing horror in the library.  Our blog, Musings of the Monster Librarian, will cover related topics and offer guest posts, including a contribution from Becky Siegel Spratford, author of The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Horror Fiction.  Come visit to find out what the horror genre has to offer readers and libraries this July at MonsterLibrarian.com!

Visit the Monster Movie Month page at:
http://www.monsterlibrarian.com/monstermoviemonth.htm
and the Musings of the Monster Librarian blog:
http://www.monsterlibrarian.com/TheCirculationDesk/

If you're in the UK, this announcement by Angry Robot Books will be of interest to you:

As part of Independent Booksellers’ Week, award-winning SF & fantasy publisher Angry Robot have announced they are going to start giving away the digital version of each of their novels free with the physical paperback, in selected indie bookstores.

The Angry Robot Clonefiles, as they are whimsically calling them, will first be trialled with Mostly Books of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, starting Wednesday July 4th. Angry Robot will then be rolling out the scheme through other independent bookshops. Customers purchasing an Angry Robot novel will be emailed the digital version of the book in the format of their choice.

The Clonefiles programme was set up by Angry Robot’s UK Sales Manager Roland Briscoe and Mark Thornton of Mostly Books.

Independent bookshops wanting to join the Clonefiles promotion can contact Roland Briscoe at indie@angryrobotbooks.com.

Amazing Stories is doing a relaunch prelaunch issue, with several articles and a story becoming available as the month progresses.

You can find Volume 0, Number 1 here, and their facebook page here.  They'll be announcing the relaunch at  Comic Con in San Diego.

Speaking of which, if you're a US Citizen attending Comic Con and write fan fiction in one of the following settings: Star Wars®, The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini, Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, then Random House Audio has a contest you might be interested in.

At this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, CA, Random House Audio will be recreating an audiobook studio right on the convention floor--inviting authors of fan fiction to record a sample of their work for a chance to have their story recorded and released as a digital audiobook.

Aspiring authors (who must be legal residents of the U.S. and 18 years or older) can sign up for a time slot to record their five-minute sample during the convention, July 12-15 at the San Diego Convention Center. Random House Audio producers will listen to the entries (no mashups, please) and select one to be professionally recorded and mixed by Random House Audio for streaming at www.randomhouseaudio.com. The grand prize winner and five runner-ups will have clips from their stories featured on the Random House Audio weekly podcast.

Sessions will be available Thursday through Saturday, July 12-14, from 10am-12pm and 1pm to 4pm at the Random House Audio booth #1515. Registration for morning slots is open now through July 10 at www.randomhouseaudio.com, and afternoon slots will be available for same-day sign ups beginning at 9am the first day of the con on a first-come, first-served basis.

Don’t see your fandom included on the list above? Sunday, July 15 is Open Mic Day! Fans of other series will get their chance to record their stories as well from 11am to 3pm and enter to win a collection of audiobooks.

Even if you’re not a writer, be sure to stop by the Random House Audio booth (#1515) for exclusive Comic-Con giveaways, including buttons, posters, headphones and mini microphone recorders. 

Sail to Success

I heard about this a month ago, but as there still seem to be places available, I figured I'd mention it here.  Phoenix Pick, whose free ebook this month is The Big Jump by Leigh Brackett (use coupon code: 9991393) is sponsoring a cruise with publishing professionals.

Sail to Success.  

A SERIES OF SEMINARS FOR THE SERIOUS WRITER 

on board a luxury cruise liner visiting the Bahamas.  

They've got some great participants: Literary Agent Eleanor Wood, Baen Books publisher Toni Weisskopf, Jack Skillingstead, Mike Resnick, Rebecca Moesta, Nancy Kress, Paul Cook and Kevin Anderson.  I've seen several of these people speak before and they're fantastic.  It's an all-inclusive cruise in the Bahamas, and if I didn't have vacation plans already this year (and didn't work retail where taking vacation during the Christmas season is nigh on impossible) I'd be temped by this.  The cruise takes place from December 3-7 and leaves from Miami.  Full details available here.

Free Book + Sampler

Phoenix Pick has announced their August Free Book.  It's James P. Hogan's The Multiplex Man.  The coupon code for redemption is: 99922991.  Here's the plot synopsis for the book:

HE HAD A STRANGER'S FACE -- AND A DEAD MAN'S MEMORIES! 

Richard Jarrow was a mild and unassuming teacher who was sure that the government knew best, with its strong environmental controls on industry and its equally stringent control of education and the media. He knew that the countries of the former Eastern Bloc, who now claimed to have more freedom than the United States, as well as booming economies fueled by their exploitation of the resources of space, were only spreading ridiculous propaganda, and they either would soon collapse, starved by their diminishing natural resources and choked in their own pollution -- or else they would attempt to steal the resources of the rest of the world, and have to be destroyed. Didn't the government say that was so?

And then his world went mad...

They're also instituting a monthly giveaway for their email subscribers, starting September.  The first prize is a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate.  All you need to do to be included in their drawings is join the email list. 


The authors that run SF Novelists are giving away a sampler of their books.  The first chapters of 25 books are included. 

"The free sampler is available in epub, mobi, LRF, and various Smashwords formats.  The selections are:

• 7th Sigma by Steven Gould
• Bone Shop by T.A. Pratt
• Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner
• The Brahms Deception by Louise Marley
• Carousel Tides by Sharon Lee
• The Cloud Road by Martha Wells
• Dangerous Water by Juliet E. McKenna
• The Dread Hammer by Trey Shiels
• Flesh and Fire by Laura Anne Gilman
• Fright Court by Mindy Klasky
• The Heretic by Joseph Nassise
• House of the Star by Caitlin Brennan
• Indigo Springs by A.M. Dellamonica
• Jade Tiger by Jenn Reese
• Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis
• Medium Dead by Chris Dolley
• Midnight at Spanish Gardens by Alma Alexander
• Play Dead by John Levitt
• Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready
• The Snow Queen’s Shadow by Jim C. Hines
• Spellcast by Barbara Ashford
• The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg
• TruthSeeker by C.E. Murphy
• Up Against It by M.J. Locke
• With Fate Conspire by Marie Brennan"