Activity at the Alchemy Press

It’s about time I added another post to this blog. Trouble is, even though I am officially retired I seem to be busier than ever. That’s a good thing though, isn’t it? After all, it should help keep the mental processes ticking over nicely. Anyway, I should mention some of the Alchemy Press stuff I’ve been up to of late. In no particular order...

This autumn (or fall, if you prefer) The Alchemy Press is launching three anthologies at The World Fantasy Convention, held in Brighton over the Halloween weekend. These are:

Astrologica: Storiesof the Zodiac edited by Allen Ashley

The Alchemy Press Bookof Pulp Heroes 2 edited by Mike Chinn (a follow up to last year’s volume)

The Alchemy Press Bookof Urban Mythic edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber (a ‘sort of’ follow up to 2012’s Ancient Wonders)

The editors have now selected their stories – for details check out the links.

The Alchemy Press has published another e-novella: “In the Broken Birdcage of Kathleen Fair” by Cate Gardner. As soon as I read this novella I knew we had to publish it. If, like me, you prefer your fiction to touch on the weird, the strange, this should be right up your street. Available for the Kindle and other e-readers.

And we’ve announced a new anthology to be published in July 2014: Kneeling in the Silver Light – Stories of the Great War. This book will commemorate the outbreak of the First World War; editor Dean M. Drinkle will open the submission window later this year.

There are a few more items in the pipeline. I don’t believe in jinxes and the like but ... well, I rather not say too much right now.

In the Broken Birdcage...

As you may know, I wear the publisher’s / editor-in-chief’s hat for The Alchemy Press. And if you didn’t know before, you do now.

The Alchemy Press began in the late 1990s, was active for a few years, and then went into hibernation. We started publishing again in 2011 with Rumours of the Marvellous by Peter Atkins. 2013 saw two anthologies and a novel. Our first item for 2013 is a brand new novella, initially only available as an ebook. Once we’ve published a number of these we’ll collate them into a print anthology.

In the Broken Birdcage of Kathleen Fair by Cate Gardner

When the mirror released Kathleen into the unknown, for the briefest of moments she giggled and realised that she’d never laughed before. She had been a blank canvas, sitting and waiting in a room and occasionally bouncing from wall to wall desperate for freedom - and now she was out. White walls no longer surrounded her. In this new place, a thousand mirrors spun reflecting worlds.

Available in Kindle format via Amazon. Only £1.35

For the ePub version contact The Alchemy Press

alchemypress [at] gmail.com

Networking

Last Saturday I was on the panel at a Writers’ Networking meeting, run by Writing West Midlands. I was accompanied by Kate Long (The Bad Mother’s Handbook) and Jan Edwards (The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders).

Kate talked about her writing career – how she became a successful published author. It was an interesting tale, one that involved all the usual: perseverance, thick skin, talent, and luck, etc. I then discussed the small press – focussing on The Alchemy Press, obviously – and mainly in the SF, fantasy and horror field. Jan then had to finish off and made a lot of valuable points about submitting one’s work to an anthology (most important of which was ‘read the guidelines’). Judging by the feedback after the formal part of the meeting, our words were well received.

I was glad to see that several members of our writers’ group – Renegade Writers – turned up. Fortunately they didn’t heckle, as they had promised to do so. Thanks, guys.

Alchemy Novellas

The submission details for the new Alchemy Novellas line are available here.

New novella line

Last Saturday we decided to start a new novella line, Alchemy Novellas. So today, I've been writing and tweaking guidelines. Here they are, in brief:

The Alchemy Press intends to start a new line, Alchemy Novellas. In the first instance, we will publish four novellas a year as eBooks. Then the novellas will be collected together and published as a print book – so readers have the best of both worlds.

Our proposed publication schedule for the eBooks is February, May, August and November.

We are looking for original, unpublished novellas that touch on almost all areas of Fantasy & Horror. There will be a payment for both eBook and print publication. If you are interested and want to learn more please send a query email to alchemypress [@] gmail.com.

Keep an eye on the Alchemy Press blog and Facebook sites for status updates.

New Alchemy Press anthologies

My Alchemy Press has announced three new anthologies, to be published in 2013. The submission guidelines can be found by visiting the books' individual pages:

The Alchemy Press Book of Astrologica

The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes volume 2

The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic

These are open markets, albeit with nominal payment. But if you want your best work showcased in fine-looking books, send us your best stories.

Book fair...

Some of the visitors that, er, visited The Alchemy Press table at last Sunday's Book Fair in Birmingham. There's another photo here. The big tin of chocolates was another attraction -- obviously.

Out of print!

Two Alchemy Press books are now out of print (although I think some dealers still have copies): The Paladin Mandates by Mike Chinn and Shadows of Light and Dark by Jo Fletcher. Thanks to everyone who bought a copy of either, or both. If you don't have a copy of The Paladin Mandates, a Kindle version is available (which includes an extra story) -- follow the links from the Alchemy Press website.

Advance copies...

Today, advance copies of The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders and The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes arrived. Yippee, just in time for Sunday's Book Fair in Birmingham. And of course, more copies will be here in time for the official launch at FantasyCon later this month. Learn more on these books here and here.

Designing, designing, designing...

So just what have I been up to of late? Book designing, that's what. The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders has now been submitted to the printers. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the cover: I had to re-adjust the CMYK profile because, essentially, the black was too back! But I did all the alterations and the PDFs are now in the printer's hands...

And The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes is almost ready for the printers, too. Editor Mike Chinn is giving the PDF a final once-over, to ensure I've not mucked up anything.

In addition, I am formatting the many articles for Mike Barrett's Doors to Elsewhere -- essays on writers such as Lord Dunsany, Ernest Bramah, Greye La Spina, Fritz Leiber and many others. I'm very much enjoying reading these essays.

The Alchemy Press will be launching the first two books at FantasyCon 2012. I've just created the above ad for the programme booklet. If you're attending the convention come along and say hello.

Independent Press Book Fair

On Sunday 9th September, Writing West Midlands is holding an Independent Publishers’ Book Fair in Birmingham as part of ArtsFest 2012. They say:

 “Browse, buy and discover new books, many of which are not available on the high street. This day-long event will feature independent publishers from the West Midlands and beyond, offering you the chance to buy books directly from the publishers, who will be on hand to answer questions and introduce you to new writing. From poetry pamphlets to prose fiction, graphic novels to science fiction and fantasy, a wide range of forms and genres will be represented. The fair is free and all are welcome!”

The venue is Rooms 3 & 4, Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BB, from 11.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.

My imprint, The Alchemy Press, will be there with a range of titles, including Rumours of the Marvellous, Where the Bodies are Buried, Beneath the Ground, Sex, Lies & Family Ties and Swords Against the Millennium. We also hope to have pre-view copies of The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes and The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders. More details of these can be found on the Alchemy Press website. Please drop by and say hello.

Sex, Lies & Family Ties now available

I am pleased to report that Sex, Lies and Family Ties, by Sarah J Graham (published by my Alchemy Press) is now available to buy as an eBook via Smashwords.

Too many things to do...

I seem to have far too many things to do, to keep on top of -- which means I end up doing a bit of this, a bit of that and not finishing projects quickly enough. At least, though, it keeps my brain active, which can't be a bad thing.

Anyway, this brings me to another ongoing project: Sex, Lies and Family Ties by Sarah J Graham. This is a coming of age novel, set at the end of the 1960s. It's very moving -- and excellently written. I'm not sure exactly when it's due out from my Alchemy Press: soon, I hope. The cover artwork is by the wonderful Steve Upham of Screaming Dreams fame.

Alchemy Press: new covers

I have now designed the front covers for the two forthcoming anthologies from The Alchemy Press: Ancient Wonders, edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber, and Pulp Heroes, edited by Mike Chinn. The artists are Dominic Harman and Bob Covington respectively.

Name calling...

In case you don't know, I publish the Alchemy Press imprint; we have two anthologies in the pipeline, still open to submissions. Check out here and here for details. And those who've been paying attention will know that the editor of Pulp Heroes, Mike Chinn, has catastrophic email problems: he has no email at all (oh, the joys of upgrading to a better, faster package!). So I've been receiving subs on Mike's behalf. 

If you read the submissions page for Pulp Heroes you will see that Mike's name is mentioned in the guidelines. So why on Earth would writers address him as "Dear Sir or Madam" or "To Whom it May Concern"? "Dear Editor" is acceptable, but -- come on! -- if the name is there, use it.

 

Great news for The Alchemy Press

I have already mentioned this on The Alchemy Press website but I want to sing the news on here, too. The Peter Atkins story "Dancing Like We're Dumb" from Rumours of the Marvellous (published by The Alchemy Press in 2011) has been selected for the upcoming Year's Best Horror volume 23, edited by Stephen Jones. This is fantastic news for Pete and The Press. 

Read more on the Peter Atkins blog.

Being professional

Yup, this is going to sound like a whinge. Maybe it is. But I believe that my points are valid and warrant saying. I could simply ignore the issue but in this case my sense of fair play won’t let me.

On and off, for a number of years I edited the news content for the British Fantasy Society, both online and in the Newsletter (in the pre-Prism, pre-Journal days). Amongst all the information about mainstream books that I covered, I did my utmost to champion the UK small/independent press. Most publishers sent me press releases to ensure coverage of their titles; frequently I heard a snippet of news, which meant Googling for further details. I did it because I believed in giving fantasy and horror publications as much publicity as possible.

I am also a publisher of small press items – check out my Alchemy Press website for details. In 2011, after an interregnum of many years, I resurrected the press, launching a signed, limited edition of Peter Atkins short stories, Rumours of the Marvellous. So far this year I have three projects on the go.

Rumours was an expensive book to produce and hence its relatively high cover price. Nevertheless, I sent off review copies to several fantasy/horror-related websites and magazines. I sincerely thank all those who mentioned the book and especially those who also reviewed it. I am less than impressed by the total lack of acknowledgment I’ve received from some others.

I appreciate that the book may not be reviewed. As much as I would wish for a review, I never expected one. And after all, when I was book reviews editor for the BFS, many publications were never reviewed – it’s impossible to do so for every title received. My point is this: I think that for websites and magazines that purport to promote the genre, it is professional to at least mention a new book when received, and thereby support colleagues who are in this game.

© Peter Coleborn

The standard manuscript format

I may not send off many submissions to magazines and anthologies -- I am not a fast writer -- but I always ensure that the manuscript is correctly formatted. As editor/publisher I have received lots of submissions. I remain amazed at how many do not meet simple formatting rules. These are there to make it easier for the editor to read the submission. And if the editor is able to read it without developing a headache, the writer already stands a better chance of receiving a fair reading.

To this end I have written some basic "rules", posted on The Alchemy Press site. I think these are very reasonable. I have seen some guidelines that are incredibly specific, as if the editor is getting the writer to do the layouts so that she/he -- the editor -- only has to collate the manuscripts together. This is taking it too far, if you ask me (not to mention resulting in some lazy-looking publications).

Alchemy Press Editorial Services

The Alchemy Press' new Editorial Service is aimed for writers of fiction – both new and established writers – who require help with their manuscripts, be it a general edit for sense, pace, etc; or for the final line edit/proofread and layout before it is submitted to an editor for possible publication. We cater for writers of fantasy, horror, science fiction, supernatural, noir crime, etc, from the age of twelve years and up.

We also offer a book designing service. People familiar with Alchemy Press titles will know how important it is to produce attractive publications, books that will not look out of place on the bookshelf. Click here for further details.

Alchemy Press books

So then, that's two new Alchemy Press anthologies lined up for 2012. There will be a third Alchemy Press book, but this will be a collection of essays -- details to follow. Why this sudden surge in activity? Because if the world does end sometime this year, I hope that whoever, or whatever, follows in the new universe will want something alchemical to read. And if the world doesn't end -- well then, there will be three more good books out there for all you eager readers.