Long List Anthology Kickstarter

David Steffen

David Steffen

David Steffen’s Long List Anthology, designed to celebrate more of the fiction loved by the Hugo Award voting audience, will go as far as Kickstarter donors want to take it — which may be all the way, because the appeal has already achieved its initial $1,250 goal and is now at work on making its first stretch goal.

The works on the final ballot receive a great deal of attention every year, between copies of stories distributed to voters and discussions about voting on various forums. Every year at WorldCon the Hugo Award administrators publish a list of the top fifteen nominees in each category including those that were on the Hugo ballot. But the works on the long list, also greatly loved by the group of fans voting for the Hugo, tend to not get very much attention. For this anthology I am soliciting the works from this long list to bring more attention to these works, and provide a place to discuss them.

Steffen is known for running the Submission Grinder, a webtool to help writers track their submissions and find markets. The Submission Grinder is an extension of his efforts at Diabolical Plots, which has been publishing genre content since 2008, and earlier this year began publishing original short fiction paid at professional rates.

The basic goal of the Long List Anthology includes purchasing reprint rights for the 9-10 available short stories.

  • “Covenant” by Elizabeth Bear
  • “This Chance Planet” by Elizabeth Bear
  • “Goodnight Stars” by Annie Bellet
  • “The Breath of War” by Aliette de Bodard
  • “When It Ends, He Catches Her” by Eugie Foster
  • “A Kiss With Teeth” by Max Gladstone
  • “Makeisha in Time” by Rachael K. Jones
  • “The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family” by Usman T. Malik
  • “Toad Words” by Ursula Vernon
  • (and up to 1 other)

The stretch goals are —

$2500 Novelette Level

Purchasing reprint rights for the 7-9 available novelettes

  • “The Magician and LaPlace’s Demon” by Tom Crosshill
  • “The Litany of Earth” by Ruthanna Emrys
  • “A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai’i” by Alaya Dawn Johnson
  • “The Bonedrake’s Penance” by Yoon Ha Lee
  • “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane” by Scott Lynch
  • “The Husband Stitch” by Carmen Maria Machado
  • “We are the Cloud” by Sam J. Miller

(and up to 2 others)

$3000 Selected Novella Level

Purchasing reprints rights for 2 novellas (determined available at the time of campaign launch):

  • “The Regular” by Ken Liu
  • “Grand Jeté (The Great Leap)” by Rachel Swirsky

(up to 4 other novellas if rights can be acquired)

$4600 Novella Level (If Reprint Rights are Available)

Purchasing reprint rights for up to 4 other novellas if reprint rights can be acquired.

And Steffen has addressed how he will deal with “Hugo” being a service mark:

I’ve asked the Hugo administrators what is acceptable use, and they said that it’s fine to make mention of “Hugo” as long as I don’t use it in the title or claim that the Hugos endorse the project.  There will be an entry on the copyright pages of the anthology saying who owns the “Hugo” service mark, etc.

45 thoughts on “Long List Anthology Kickstarter

  1. This is relevant to my interests: for most of my life, I’ve relied on the Hugo winners/Hugo nominees/ Hugo longlist to provide me with reading recommendations.

    It’s too bad that a bunch of assholes filled this year’s ballot with so much garbage; and it’s nice that somebody is attempting to bring out an anthology of actual readable SFF from this’s year’s Hugos.

  2. Backed. And I’d also be interested if he wanted to do this for previous years, there is a lot of good stuff that doesn’t quite make it.

  3. Heather Rose Jones: I really need to start keeping an eye on my kickstarter habit.

    No kidding! I clicked on “Profile” and discovered that this is my Ninth (9th! Holy shit!) Kickstarter. Plus 3 Indiegogos and 5 GoFundMes.

    Just get me a nametag that says “Soft Touch”.

  4. redheadedfemme: I also backed this. I’d have loved to have been discussing some of these stories for the final ballot instead of the nonsense we actually got.

    There’s no reason we couldn’t have a “Hugo Longlist Thread Discussion” on File770 (*cough* hint, hint, Mike *cough*). I think almost all of the short stories and novelettes are available to read online for free.

  5. Backed! (I really need to start keeping an eye on my kickstarter habit.)

    Good to see people backing this. Glad I stumbled upon it & mentioned it before going offline last night. Thanks for posting Mike.

    My habit got totally out of hand. I’ve backed over 1,200 projects.

  6. I’ve been doing a silent mental happydance in response to this: I get to support boosting the awareness of all this great fiction? And (since I pledged at $50 early enough to get in on the “animal job sketch” reward level) I get to take care of my winter holiday present for my spouse, a tiki bartender whose nickname has been “Monkey” for years? Oh HECK yes!!!

  7. Lexica: my spouse, a tiki bartender whose nickname has been “Monkey” for years

    I’m pretty sure that you are having a far more fun and interesting time at your house than is to be had at a lot of others, including mine.

  8. Closing in on the Novelettes stretch goal, and “The Truth About Owls” by Amal El-Mohtar is now in the short story section.

  9. Backed. It’s nice to see projects like this. At least one part of fandom is trying to be productive…

  10. Revengethology

    If you hadn’t said it, I would have…

    Heard about this brainstorm some time ago; glad to see David is going through with it. Yay and congrats and thank you, David (if you’re reading)!

  11. Novelettes have now been funded, and only $123 to go to fund the first 2 Novellas! Yay!

    If you haven’t already, consider sharing this on your Facebook or Twitter feed. It’d be really nice to fund all the Novellas which are available for reprint.

  12. The first 2 Novellas have now been funded!

    There are 3 weeks remaining to rustle up an additional $1600 to fund up to 4 other Novellas. It would be great to see that stretch goal achieved, and the anthology a true representation of the Hugo Fiction Longlist.

  13. If they’d RTFA, they would know it will contain works in the longlist that didn’t make the final ballot. I mean, the story titles are listed and everything…

  14. Donations are up to $3,132, which means the Long List Anthology has unlocked its $3000 Selected Novella Level

    This stretch goal includes purchasing reprints rights for 2 novellas (the two that I have been able to determine are available at the time of campaign launch): “Grand Jeté (The Great Leap)” by Rachel Swirsky and “The Regular” by Ken Liu.

  15. Backed! I backed his earlier attempt (cancelled for Good Reasons), so I’m so happy this is happening now. 😀 And this is a great idea for future years, too – yes, special reasons this year (and maybe next), but regardless, I think the whole concept is good in general, even in a post-puppy world.

  16. I was wondering what the possible extra Novellas were. The Swirsky and Liu are already confirmed, leaving the following from the longlist:

    The Slow Regard of Silent Things Patrick Rothfuss
    (Confirmed) The Regular Ken Liu
    Yesterday’s Kin Nancy Kress
    (Confirmed) Grand Jete (The Great Leap) Rachel Swirsky
    The Mothers of Voorhisville Mary Rickert
    We Are All Completely Fine Daryl Gregor
    Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden’s Syndrome John Scalzi
    Dream Houses Genevieve Valentine
    Where the Trains Turn Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen
    Legion: Skin Deep Brandon Sanderson

    Quite a lot of those are still selling at a substantial price, so I can’t see them getting released, but I think Where the Trains Turn and The Mothers of Voorhisville are likely contenders as they are up on Tor.com right now.

  17. Mark: I think Where the Trains Turn and The Mothers of Voorhisville are likely contenders as they are up on Tor.com right now.

    As is Unlocked, so it may be available, too.

    I loved Genevieve Valentine’s Dream Houses. I’d really like to see that get a larger audience.

  18. @JJ

    As is Unlocked, so it may be available, too.

    Excellent, did not know that. Damn, do I read that or Slow Bullets first?

  19. Just over $800 needed now to make the final Novella stretch goal!

    Please consider promoting this to your SFF friends, if you haven’t already.

  20. Kickstarters tend to a U shape in funding, so I’m pretty confident we’ll see the full set (but promote the hell out of it anyway!). The last update mentioned thinking about new stretch goals. It’d be nice to draw in from the other categories, so perhaps he could include some writing from the Fan Writers, or ask them for story intros or something?

  21. Mark: The last update mentioned thinking about new stretch goals. It’d be nice to draw in from the other categories, so perhaps he could include some writing from the Fan Writers, or ask them for story intros or something?

    That’s a great idea. From the last update, it sounds as though 2 Novellas may be all he can get, rights-wise. It would be nice for the Fan Writers on the Longlist, including Surridge, to be able to have pieces included.

  22. Now that the Novella stretch goal has been achieved, Steffen is working on setting up stretch goals for an audiobook: first, of Short Stories, then of Novelettes, and finally Novellas.

  23. [deleted]

    Edited: I see JJ let the news out. David told me he was keeping it quiet until he had permission and stuff. But maybe he just meant quiet on Kickstarter.

  24. UPDATED STRETCH GOALS:

    $2500 – Novelette Level
    This stretch goal includes purchasing reprint rights for the 9 available novelettes

    $3000 – Selected Novella Level
    This stretch goal includes purchasing reprints rights for 2 novellas (the two that I have been able to determine are available at the time of campaign launch): “Grand Jeté (The Great Leap)” by Rachel Swirsky and “The Regular” by Ken Liu.

    $3400 – Novella Level (If Reprint Rights are Available)
    This stretch goal includes purchasing reprint rights for up to 1 other novella if reprint rights can be acquired.

    $6900 – Short Story Audiobook
    This stretch goal will fund audio production by professional audiobook publisher Skyboat Media who you might know from their audiobook publications or from their production of the Lightspeed and Nightmare magazine fiction podcasts. This goal will fund the short story level of the audiobook, of those works from the print and ebook anthology whose audio rights could be acquired.
    This will include:
    • “Covenant” by Elizabeth Bear
    • “This Chance Planet” by Elizabeth Bear
    • “The Truth About Owls” by Amal El-Mohtar
    • “When It Ends, He Catches Her” by Eugie Foster
    • “Makeisha in Time” by Rachael K. Jones
    • “Toad Words” by T. Kingfisher
    • “The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family” by Usman T. Malik
    • Up to 2 others

    The audiobooks will be available on Audible, iTunes, Downpour, Amazon, and other retailers. Authors of the stories in the audiobook at this and higher levels will receive an additional advance, plus royalties of audiobook sales.

    $12,000 – Novelettes Added to Audiobook
    This stretch goal will add to the Skyboat Media audiobook production the novelettes for which audiobook rights can be acquired.
    This will include:
    • “The Litany of Earth” by Ruthanna Emrys
    • “The Bonedrake’s Penance” by Yoon Ha Lee
    • “Spring Festival: Happiness, Anger, Love, Sorrow, Joy” by Xia Jia, translated by Ken Liu
    • “The Husband Stitch” by Carmen Maria Machado
    • Up to 3 others

    $14,600 – Novellas Added to Audiobook
    This stretch goal will add to the Skyboat Media audiobook production the novellas for which audiobook rights can be acquired.
    This will include:
    • “The Regular” by Ken Liu
    • “Grand Jeté (The Great Leap)” by Rachel Swirsky

  25. You know the comments you and he made about audiobooks are visible on the campaign page, right?

    ROTFL forgot we’d discussed it their. Hit by a truck memory damage. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 😉

    In addition to the new goals their are new rewards available. Are you an author considering adding audiobooks? Check out the new rewards.

    Also if your a fan of Women Destroy Science Fiction – audiobooks reward available.

    Only a few hundred away from the first audiobook goal. Sharing and pledging just $1 can really help a Kickstarter due to their algorithms.

  26. Oy… given that Lightspeed’s Hugos have been for Best Semiprozine and not for Best Fancast, it’s more than a bit of a stretch for Skyboat Media to be claiming that they are a “two-time Hugo Winner”. I wonder what Kevin Standlee’s opinion on that would be.

  27. Oy… given that Lightspeed’s Hugos have been for Best Semiprozine and not for Best Fancast, it’s more than a bit of a stretch for Skyboat Media to be claiming that they are a “two-time Hugo Winner”. I wonder what Kevin Standlee’s opinion on that would be.

    They were handed trophies on the stage during the Hugo ceremony as part of Lightspeed’s win, and they got their time at the microphone, acceptance speech and all. I doubt Kevin Standlee would object (though one would have to ask him to be sure).

    According to the WSFS rules, a magazine can’t be eligible for both the Fancast and Semiprozine categories, it has to be one or the other. Since Lightspeed is eligible for semiprozine, and since the Lightspeed podcast is just one arm of the Lightspeed magazine that publishes the same stories in a different medium, it could not be eligible for the Fancast category.

  28. David Steffen: They were handed trophies on the stage during the Hugo ceremony as part of Lightspeed’s win, and they got their time at the microphone, acceptance speech and all.

    Ah, thanks for the clarification. I was about 30 rows back in the audience and so did not catch who all the people collecting trophies were that night, though I knew who a lot of them were by sight from Facebook and fandom. I withdraw my comment.

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