Tag: Leech Run

Baker’s Dozen – coming soon to Kindle

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

On the advice of…well, at least 13 people, I have compiled 13 of my stories into a self-published ebook and have formatted it for the Kindle.

Why 13?  Well, that makes a Baker’s Dozen.  It was a title suggested by my friend Greg and I couldn’t resist the pun.  Guilty as charged.

Why self-pub?  I can’t see shopping this thing around for forever just to wind up self-pubbing it anyway. I am a long way away from giving up on traditional publishing (novels and magazines), but I’m convinced this is the way to go for a single-author collection.

Why just Kindle?  Okay, it’s not just Kindle.  By the time I release the thing, it may well be ready for Smashwords and Nook, too.  But I’m new at this and there’s a learning curve.

What’s in it?  Oh, I’m so glad you asked!  There’s quite a variety, but stories mostly fit into one of four categories:

  • Space opera like my Writers of the Future winner “Poison Inside the Walls” and my fan favorite “Leech Run”
  • Urban fantasy including my middle grades story “Faerie Belches” and the full version of the Uncle John’s Flush Fiction story “Excuse Me”
  • Near future science fiction like my flash piece “How Quickly We Forget” and the unpublished dystopian tale “Secondhand Rush”
  • Zombie fun like the sports riff “ZFL” and my play on the Pied Piper, “Not Rats”
  • and five others!  (I sound like a Time Life Music infomercial.)

Includes 9 of my greatest hits as well as 4 never before published stories; well over 40,000 words of fiction.  Tiny little flash stories to the top end of the short story scale; dark and gritty to farcically hilarious; hard science to impractical frivolity.  There is something in this collection for absolutely every reader of short speculative fiction, all for the low price of…

Okay, I confess, I’m still waffling on the price point.  When I see individual short stories from writers at similar places in their career selling on Kindle for 99 cents, a fairly high number isn’t hard to envision.  But then I consider the role that low price point plays in getting a reader to try a new writer and something bargain basement makes more sense.  I’m considering splitting the difference (high basement?) and also maybe releasing some of the longer stories for $.99 as single stories plus a teaser for another story in the book.  That’s my best impression of a marketing strategy, folks.

Anyway, I don’t quite have the release date set.  I’ll post it as soon as I do.  I’ll also Tweet it, Facebook it, and do whatever else I can think of to get the word out.

I’m pretty excited about this, excited enough to pull four very solid and promising stories out of my submission cycle to make sure my readers get value for their money.  It sure isn’t everything I’ve ever written or even sold, but this is a sample of my best.  If you’ve ever wondered how good I actually am at this writing stuff, here comes your chance to find out.

Check back soon for the latest.

How do I miss these things?

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

I guess I hadn’t sufficiently Googled myself in a while, but a search of “leech run” baker turned up some interesting things. This one is an analysis of the theme of “Leech Run” as it relates to identity. Profound? Not really, but it was never designed to be a profound story. Then there’s this Science Futures article inspired by “Leech Run” and published through Escape Pod. Neither of these are new; I need to Google myself more often.

Speaking of Escape Pod, they have just offered to buy another story.  “Chasers” was originally in Triangulation 2004 back in…well, in 2004.  It has a similar narrative style to “Leech Run” so I thought they might like it.  Apparently I was right.  No clue when it comes out; watch here for details.

A Writerly Update

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

Distracted as I am by the countdown and launch of the school year, I find myself pushing writing to the background. Even good news is being tossed to the wind (Twitter, Facebook, whatnot) and left to drift without much attention. So here’s an update.

*****

Poop. Technical difficulties truncated my multi-paragraph post to near nothing.  And I had links all through it.  Not happy.  Let’s try again.

The big news is that Daily Science Fiction just accepted a flash piece called “Ten Seconds”.  Happy.  DSF is a market I’ve wanted to break into for a while now.

“Leech Run” has received mostly positive comments at Escape Pod.  There is some debate over the quality of the read (which I am fond of) and a few folks that were less than fond of Titan’s character, but most people seemed to enjoy the story for the thrilling blockbuster it was meant to be.  (That’s right, blockbuster.  You Hollywood types listening?)

“Not Rats” is still scheduled to be in the Untied Shoelaces of the Mind Anthology, which was pushed back but should be out within a month or so.  Both those stories came from the Codex Weekend Warrior flash fiction contest.  Clearly worth doing again.

Another flash piece that I wrote during the Weekend Warrior contest but was not an entry got a rewrite request from Every Day Fiction, a little flash zine I am friendly with.  I rewrote the one little bit that (understandably) bothered them and now I suspect the rewrite will be accepted.  Small money, but a fun zine.

I have a few others out there: a steampunk story to an invitation-based antho that has fewer openings than previously anticipated, a zombie story that’s been lost in an editor’s shuffle, an old sale hoping for new life as an audio reprint, a zany story at a new and mysterious market.  They all have chances; none will stagger me if rejected.

All in all, a lot of good going on in my writing world.  I need to push more stories out of the stable so even more good can happen.  My cover letters are getting more impressive: WotF, Escape Pod, DSF.  I’m starting to feel like a real writer; makes me want to get back to that novel I’m supposed to be working on.  Where did I leave that thing?

Story up at Escape Pod

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 5 Comments

If you don’t listen to the Escape Pod podcast, you should.  I love audio fiction, and audio short fiction has the feel of a television episode on the radio.  They used to do that, back when radio was a thing people sat around and listened to in their homes.

So why am I advocating Escape Pod today?  Because my story “Leech Run” is their latest audio offering!  Go have a listen.  It runs about half an hour.

Alasdair Stuart reads it and does a great job.  I love the accent.  It’s my first story to get the audio treatment and I’m psyched at how it turned out.

“Leech Run” first appeared in Pill Hill Press‘s anthology Zero Gravity: Adventures in Deep Space.  If you like the story, buy a copy.  Lots of good space adventure between those covers.

Preditors and Editors

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 6 Comments

Not sure how well known the Preditors and Editors Reader’s Poll is.  It’s a small award whose prize is a lovely animated gif to post on your website.  This year’s poll (for last year’s stories) is open for voting through TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT (not sure which time zone).

Why do I mention this so late?  Mostly because it was just brought to my attention that “Leech Run” is on the poll for Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Story!  I didn’t put it there, but I’m thrilled.  Similarly, the anthology in which it ran, Zero Gravity, is also up for Best Anthology.  Very cool.

Anyone can vote and voters are selected at random to win prizes, too.  It’s probably tacky to tell you to go vote for me, so just go vote.  If it’s for me, so much the better.  🙂

Odd success and other Horrible things

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

I’ve been going about this short story submission thing all wrong.  As it turns out, the only sale I’ve made in the past six months is one I withdrew (details to follow).  So maybe I just need to go pull all my stories out of slush so they’ll get bought.  Or perhaps I should take this anomaly for what it is and move on.

I am selling “Leech Run” to Escape Pod podcast/ezine as a reprint, my first reprint sale.  More excitingly, it’s my first audio sale!  It’s just as exciting as having “Poison Inside the Walls” illustrated.  Having another artist/performer interpret my work is very exciting to me.

The Escape Pod sale was not without hitches.  I won’t bore you with the details beyond the fact that the fine people at Pill Hill Press — the editors of the anthology Zero Gravity: Adventures in Deep Space where “Leech Run” originally appeared — have been fantastic in their help to allow things to progress naturally.  (You should go buy Zero Gravity on Kindle.  Five bucks for thirteen awesome stories in deep space.  Or buy it in paperback.  Or special edition hard cover if it’s still available…but I think that was just through the end of 2010.  Or buy all three!)

This reprint sale has me wondering how many people would enjoy “Leech Run.”  Would it translate well?  There is money to be made in foreign sales, even for short fiction.  Other stories might also do well translated.  Or in audio.  “Excuse Me” would probably be better performed.  Maybe I could do an audio recording for this site?  It could be fun.  Surely I can find a student actor or two willing to read some lines.  Hmm… [sticks idea on shelf to revisit later]

Now on to my latest obsession: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog!!  It’s a short film done by Joss Whedon (and family, it seems) starring Neil Patrick Harris as the eponymous villain-on-the-rise (was that Horrible or Howser?), Nathan Fillion as his heroic but egotistical nemesis Captain Hammer (or was that Reynolds?).  Funny, dark, and musical.  The cleverness and musicality of the songs hearkens to the South Park movie.  Afterall, NPH is a Broadway guy.  I love it in all its cheesiness.  I’ve been listening to the soundtrack on my iPod nonstop for two days.  If you have not seen this 42-minute marvel, find a way.  I’ll likely bring my copy to ChattaCon for a potential (small) viewing party/sing-along.  Consider the love shared.  If you too love it, I have done my duty.  If not, well, you may want to have your funny checked.  (You should do that every ten thousand miles anyway.)

When I get details regarding Escape Pod, I’ll let you know.  Until then, read Zero Gravity, watch Dr. Horrible, and eat Mezzetta Garlic-Stuffed Olives.

Hey, that’s my story they’re talking about.

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

Found another little blurb on a blog about Zero Gravity.  One story seemed to get more word space than others.  Guess whose.  😀

The stories that stood out for me were ‘Leech Run’ by Scott W Baker. Leeches are people that can suck the power from any source so are particularly dangerous on a spaceship. Although illegal to transport leeches anywhere Captain Titan is unscrupulous enough to do it at a high price. But of course things go wrong as one of the leeches escape from the hold. I liked the idea of ‘leeches’ as if they were a new kind of vampire and the mystery of how one could disappear from a sealed hold to reappear again was intriguing. There was a nice little twist at the end too.

The whole review can be found at Jacqueline Kirk’s blog.

When it rains, it pours

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

After a response drought I end up with two in my inbox in two days.  This one (S.H.) was a rejection from IGMS.  It never even made it to Ed the editor (nice guy, met him at ConCarolinas).  Too bad.  Now I need to select another market.  I may try Daily Science Fiction; other Codexians seem to be scoring there.  If not, their response time is only a notch or two slower than Lightspeed or Clarkesworld.

On a bigger note, I have received confirmation that Zero Gravity will be out later this summer.  A quick turnaround is an advantage of a small press, I guess.  It’ll be a trade paperback (size of a hardcover just without the hard cover).  It looks like it will sell at around $15 from Amazon based on Pill Hill Press’s previous anthologies.  I’ll link to it when it’s available.

At long last, a home for “Leech Run”

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment


A sale!

How long ago was I complaining about not hearing any responses, two hours?  I ran out to get a movie (more on that in a minute) and come home to find that the anthology Zero Gravity has accepted my story “Leech Run”!  They’ve had it on hold for a little while.  Submissions closed today and I guess no one managed to bump me.

“Leech Run” has been seeking a home for a long time.  It’s the story that got me waitlisted for Clarion West last year.  Honestly Zero Gravity seems about the perfect fit.  It’s a Pill Hill Press anthology, due out late next summer (I’m finding conflicting dates, so it may be soon and it may be 2011); more waiting before “Leech Run” sees the light of day.  But a sale’s a sale, 25 bucks I didn’t have before.  A credential I didn’t have before.  Being read by people (eventually) that hadn’t heard of me before.

As for the movie rental, I went to a RedBox for the first time.  Efficient, affordable, the way of the future.  I went specifically to get…*cough*…New Moon.  I know, I know.  Not my choice.  The wife needed to see it again before she drags me to Eclipse on Friday.  Two in the same week.  I’m going to have to read some Moby Dick to balance it out.