Ebook Anthologies and the new Story Bundle

I'm developing quite a stack of books I've bought via special deals/kickstarters online, that I haven't had time to read yet.  But there are always more deals and more books to buy and (not) read.  :P

Here are a few you might find interesting:

1. Story Bundle has their new package up and it's packed full of science fiction.

The bundle includes:

• Hopscotch by Kevin J. Anderson
• In Hero Years...I'm Dead by Michael A. Stackpole
• On My Way to Paradise by David Farland
• Santiago by Mike Resnick
• Swarm by B. V. Larson
• The Disappeared by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

You can pay what you want for the books, but if you pay over $10 you get these as well:

• The Stars in Shroud by Gregory Benfore
• High-Opp by Frank Herbert

They're calling High-Opp "an edgy dystopia of class warfare", which not only forces me to buy this bundle, but to get the upgrade.  Definitely worth it!

2. Long Hidden, an anthology by Crossed Genres, had a successful kickstarter campaign.  They're leaving a paypal option up until the end of July if you didn't sign up before and are interested in getting it.  What's it about?  From their website:

Most written chronicles of history, and most speculative stories, put rulers, conquerors, and invaders front and center. People with less power, money, or status—enslaved people, indigenous people, people of color, queer people, laborers, women, people with disabilities, the very young and very old, and religious minorities, among others—are relegated to the margins. Today, mainstream history continues to perpetuate one-sided versions of the past while mistelling or erasing the stories of the rest of the world. 

There is a long and honorable legacy of literary resistance to erasure. This anthology partakes of that legacy. It will feature stories from the margins of speculative history, each taking place between 1400 and the early 1900s and putting a speculative twist—an element of science fiction, fantasy, horror, or the unclassifiably strange—on real past events.

There is a long and honorable legacy of literary resistance to erasure. This anthology partakes of that legacy. It will feature stories from the margins of speculative history, each taking place between 1400 and the early 1900s and putting a speculative twist—an element of science fiction, fantasy, horror, or the unclassifiably strange—on real past events.
- See more at: http://longhidden.com/#sthash.AhryUbze.dpuf

Most written chronicles of history, and most speculative stories, put rulers, conquerors, and invaders front and center. People with less power, money, or status—enslaved people, indigenous people, people of color, queer people, laborers, women, people with disabilities, the very young and very old, and religious minorities, among others—are relegated to the margins. Today, mainstream history continues to perpetuate one-sided versions of the past while mistelling or erasing the stories of the rest of the world.
There is a long and honorable legacy of literary resistance to erasure. This anthology partakes of that legacy. It will feature stories from the margins of speculative history, each taking place between 1400 and the early 1900s and putting a speculative twist—an element of science fiction, fantasy, horror, or the unclassifiably strange—on real past events.
- See more at: http://longhidden.com/#sthash.AhryUbze.dpuf

Most written chronicles of history, and most speculative stories, put rulers, conquerors, and invaders front and center. People with less power, money, or status—enslaved people, indigenous people, people of color, queer people, laborers, women, people with disabilities, the very young and very old, and religious minorities, among others—are relegated to the margins. Today, mainstream history continues to perpetuate one-sided versions of the past while mistelling or erasing the stories of the rest of the world.
There is a long and honorable legacy of literary resistance to erasure. This anthology partakes of that legacy. It will feature stories from the margins of speculative history, each taking place between 1400 and the early 1900s and putting a speculative twist—an element of science fiction, fantasy, horror, or the unclassifiably strange—on real past events.
- See more at: http://longhidden.com/#sthash.AhryUbze.dpuf

Most written chronicles of history, and most speculative stories, put rulers, conquerors, and invaders front and center. People with less power, money, or status—enslaved people, indigenous people, people of color, queer people, laborers, women, people with disabilities, the very young and very old, and religious minorities, among others—are relegated to the margins. Today, mainstream history continues to perpetuate one-sided versions of the past while mistelling or erasing the stories of the rest of the world.
There is a long and honorable legacy of literary resistance to erasure. This anthology partakes of that legacy. It will feature stories from the margins of speculative history, each taking place between 1400 and the early 1900s and putting a speculative twist—an element of science fiction, fantasy, horror, or the unclassifiably strange—on real past events.
- See more at: http://longhidden.com/#sthash.AhryUbze.dpuf

Most written chronicles of history, and most speculative stories, put rulers, conquerors, and invaders front and center. People with less power, money, or status—enslaved people, indigenous people, people of color, queer people, laborers, women, people with disabilities, the very young and very old, and religious minorities, among others—are relegated to the margins. Today, mainstream history continues to perpetuate one-sided versions of the past while mistelling or erasing the stories of the rest of the world.
There is a long and honorable legacy of literary resistance to erasure. This anthology partakes of that legacy. It will feature stories from the margins of speculative history, each taking place between 1400 and the early 1900s and putting a speculative twist—an element of science fiction, fantasy, horror, or the unclassifiably strange—on real past events.
- See more at: http://longhidden.com/#sthash.AhryUbze.

The ebook (in multiple formats) is $10, if you want the paperback as well it's $25 (for US), $32 (international). They're still accepting submissions for the anthology until the end of the month.

3. Finally there's Upgraded, "an original science fiction anthology for the cyborg age. Edited by a cyborg. Stronger. Better. Faster. We will rebuild you."

Edited by Hugo nominated Clarksworld Magazine editor Neil Clarke, the collection boasts stories by:

• Elizabeth Bear 
• Helena Bell 
• Tobias S. Buckell 
• Xia Jia 
• Yoon Ha Lee 
• Ken Liu 
• Chen Qiufan 
• Robert Reed 
• E. Catherine Tobler 
• Genevieve Valentine 
• Peter Watts 
• E. Lily Yu

This has already reached its funding goal, so it's going to be made.  But if you want in there are still a few days left on its kickstarter campaign.  Again, ebook copies start at $10.

Kickstarter: Cities in the Sky

I got an email from the director of the science fiction documentary kickstarter project, Cities in the Sky: Science Fiction's Forgotten Visionaries.  The project sounds interesting, with the production team "recreating little segments of the original sci-fi stories through art and animation" (quote from the email).  Here's the video explaining the project.



So far they've only named three of the authors they want to showcase: Lucian, Edward Page Mitchell, and Vladimir Odoevsky.

What do you think?  Sound interesting?

Singularity & Co. - Save the SciFI!

My husband pointed out a cool kickstarter project to me yesterday.  They've already reached their goal, but there's still time to help support them if you're interested.  Here are the details:

Our Big Idea is a simple one, but we think it’s pretty great. So do some beyond great scifi authors.

We love books.  A lot.  And we love sci-fi books, new and old.  But mostly old.

We’ve seen too many sci-fi books that are out of print, out of circulation, and, worst of all (given the subject matter) unavailable in any digital format. Meaning, as of now, these books may never be seen in the future imagined in their pages. That’s just not right.

So here’s what we’re going to do: Each month we’ll choose one great classic, obscure or otherwise fascinating sci-fi book that’s no longer in print and not available online, track down the copyright holder and/or author (if they’re still around), acquire or otherwise clear the copyright, and publish the title both online and as an e-book, for little or no cost. Our supporters and followers will help us choose which books will be digitally rescued from copyright and publishing limbo via a monthly poll on our website, and we'll share the story behind the story, including with each ebook what we learned about the book, the author and their history along the way.

And while Singularity & Co. promises to keep our mission alive, in perpetuity, throughout the universe, we need your support to get started. This Kickstarter campaign will allow us to rescue our first four neglected works by providing for the following:

* Acquiring and curating the treasures to be found  among many, many paper copies of old, out of print sci-fi books
* Expanding our current website to allow us to display and deliver our sci-fi library - physically as well as electronically - and support voting capabilities for fans to help decide the next titles to be rescued
* Building an open source book scanner (see http://www.diybookscanner.org/ for an example) to aid in turning forgotten paper books into e-books
* Covering costs associated with tracking down rightsholders, authors and/or their estates, as well as clearing or acquiring the electronic publishing rights to our orphaned books
* Spreading the word not only to established fans but also potential supporters who love great books and ideas (may include attending conventions, creating t-shirts, prints and anything else we can think of)
* Covering costs associated with legal work to be done by our attorneys, all of whom are generously contributing their time pro bono (we’re trying to keep our costs as low as possible)

This is part adventure, part detective story, and part story about the intersection of the past and the future.  So as we dig into a particular book, and pull on the various threads that we need to to make sure we can share it without taking something that isn't ours, we end uncovering the story of that book.  That means that as part of each release, we plan on sharing that story, telling you what we learn about the book, it's author, it's history, and the adventure we had bringing it to you.

Rescuing beloved, forgotten, fondly remembered, out-of-print and otherwise lost sci-fi books by bringing them into the digital domain is more than a labor of love - it’s our way of celebrating visions of futures past that shaped the way we live now.  And it’s all in a day’s work for your average, ordinary, time-traveling bookshop. Please help us bring the past and future together - Singularity loves company.