Have a cracking Christmas folks! I'm off for the week now so I'll see you all in '06!

More Mag Stuff

Right chaps, I must be having a good day today because it's now official - we're open for fiction submissions again! (Runs away in abject terror...)

The all new rules - just so you folks don't waste away in joint boredom and frustration while you're waiting for a response... we're implementing a reading period on fiction submissions. December to May is when I want to see your stories please. I'm reading for issues 9 - 12 (which, at the new bi-annually schedule takes us right up to the beginning of 2008. Of course, if sales pick up (and, hence, income, then we'll slide back to quarterly...) And if we get those four issues filled, then we'll close to fiction again, natch!
We really prefer email subs - see the guidelines on the website for details...

Oh, and faction and art subs are still open all year round.

Also, if you haven't subscribed, please do. If you're up for resubscription, please please do! (I will beg and plead until my knees wear out - I have absolutely no pride! )

BFS bits

Well, that was quick! Further to the new Prism editor details I gave a little while ago, Nicki has now decided she doesn't want to do any more issues past the Jan/Feb one - so for the time being, Prism will be co-edited by mum and, er, me. (She gets the hard work stuff, I get the fun stuff - great split!)

And on a BFS/H&N double hatted moment... send me your news please! For Prism, and for the new news page in H&N. Both the personal stuff - ie. been signed by agent/publisher, having a book coming out, having the next issue of your own magazine coming out, submission gls for any projects you're organising; and other genre news - details about conventions, launch parties/piss-ups, genre/writing course details, tv/film gossip, comic & RPG stuff...

You get the picture. The Prism [at] BFS email should be changed shortly to come over to us, but in the meantime, I've set up a gremlin[at]bradanpress email (or just send it to one of my other ones!)

Shocklines

So, apparently, Issue 5/6 is sold out at Shocklines! Wahey! This explains why they just ordered double the amount for Issue 7. (Please pause while I do a happy dance...)

Oopsie.

Why do I not pick these things up in the proof stage, eh? Before you send emails to tell me, yes, I know, the contents page is totally cocked up - seems I forgot to alter it after adding a page in the middle of the mag... And there's box slippage... and Jamie Brindle gets called James.... (sigh!)

H&N

....daaaan-cing...... wooh! Ahem. Yes, happy chappies, #7 is finally back from the printers. (And, as usual, I will be incapable of rational thought for at least a week now - getting a mag back from the printers always has this weird effect on me...)

Will get it in the post to folks Fri/Sat so UK people should get theirs next week. Non-UK peeps will probably be getting theirs after Xmas, depending on what all the postal systems are up to.

Hurrah! Now to get the website updated, get Issue 8 started and get the new submission guidelines sorted out for when we (finally) open back up to fiction.

Funny....

Something to make you smile... apparently a columnist for a Norway newspaper has floated the idea that JK Rowling didn't really write the HP books all on her own... no, she's really the spokeswoman/actress front for an international conglomerate who employs a team of hack writers to do the books....
Uh huh.

Fun debate about it going on at Ex Isle too...

Even more Fcon stuff....

Guest no. 3 has just confirmed! Hurrah! Think I know just the chap to interview him too. (Mind you, this organising interviewers malarkey is always a delicate business, some people don't want to do print interviews so we've always got too many stage interviewers and not enough print ones... sigh! 'tis a challenge, so it is.....)

Guest no. 4 - his publishers won't contribute to airfare so we're frantically trying to find a way we can cover it - cos it would be exceptionally cool if we could get him over. Rumour has it, someone has a cunning plan...


More odd things

New entry to the Inventory Clerks' cache of urban legends - yesterday the old mother woman gets a call from a friend of hers (who she trained, and who has her own company down t' road in Bracknell...) ... anyhoo, this friend of hers had had a call from one of the Estate Agents she works for warning her that another one of their inventory clerks (are you keeping up...?!) had been in a house and had rubbed her fingers over a grubby patch to see if it came off (as we do...) .... then later in the day had stuck her fingers in mouth (or something..), then next day got rushed into hospital because she'd apparently caught Typhoid! Typhoid?! Good grief. Not something on the list of things to watch out for when checking over a house!