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Category Archive: Awards
Wednesday reviews, plus World Fantasy Award nominations
Posted by Paul Raven on August 25th, 2010 at 15:07
Things have been quiet on the reviews front these last few weeks; all that’s in the ol’ digital postbag is a review of Paul Di Filippo’s Roadside Bodhisattva at The Future Fire, which suggests it might be better seen as a YA title with fabulist undertones:
Roadside Bodhisattva has a simple direct narrative style of storytelling; it is an easy read, probably comfortable for a sixteen year-old readership, as suggested by the narrative voice. [...] It is a little slow in places and the plot is convenient in others, but as you’d expect from a fable it points to depth whilst focussing on daily life, apparent simplicity and surface appearances.
Part of the fun of reading (and writing) reviews, for me at least, is to see how different readers read the same text… but let’s skip a debate on the Barthesian death-of-the-author for now – that’s convention-bar discussion fodder, without a doubt! – in favour of looking at the nominations list for this year’s World Fantasy Awards, which features a very gratifying number of PS titles and creators:
Best Novella:
- Andy Duncan for The Night Cache
- Paul Witcover for “Everland”, in Everland and Other Stories
Best Short Story:
- Paul Park for “The Persistence of Memory; Or This Space for Sale”, in Postscripts 20/21: Edison’s Frankenstein
Best Collection:
- Paul Witcover for Everland and Other Stories
- Gene Wolfe for The Very Best Of Gene Wolfe
Special Award, Non-Professional:
- John Berlyne for Powers: Secret Histories
Special Award, Professional:
- Pete and Nicky Crowther
I think I can safely say on Pete and Nicky’s behalf that they’re very chuffed to be nominated; a more formal quote would have to wait for the good Mister Crowther to desist from turning cartwheels up and down the seafront of Hornsea!
But as always, congratulations to all the nominees, regardless of affiliation – the genre scene is still thriving, it seems, and we’re proud to be a part of it. :)
The Very Best of Gene Wolfe scoops Locus Award
Posted by Paul Raven on June 29th, 2010 at 13:54
It’s all there in the title, folks: this year’s Locus Magazine Award for Best Collection was given to The Very Best Of Gene Wolfe, our glorious doorstopper of a collection that rounds up the finest work of one of genre fiction’s most popular (and occasionally controversial) fabulists. Bravo, Mr Wolfe!
Copies of our lush limited editions of the book are still available, by the way, so click through and nab yourself a copy:
Many congratulations to the rest of the winners, too. I’m particularly pleased to see Paolo Bacigalupi’s first novel The Windup Girl snatching prizes left, right and center – it’s not a perfect novel, perhaps (though what novel is?), but it’s surely one of last years’s most powerful debuts, and a very timely story. Though I still don’t really understand how anyone who’s actually read it could call it steampunk… airships do not a subgenre make :-/
British Fantasy Awards shortlist 2010: many great titles, some of which are ours
Posted by Paul Raven on June 15th, 2010 at 10:10
The good people of the British Fantasy Society have revealed the shortlists for this year’s British Fantasy Awards, and we’re proud as punch to see some of our publications among the nominees.
You can see the whole list at their blog (and it’s well worth seeing – the BFS always picks an impressively diverse list of titles), but here’s the PS books that made the cut:
Best Novella
- Old Man Scratch by Rio Youers
- The Language of Dying by Sarah Pinborough
- The Witnesses are Gone by Joel Lane
Best Collection
- Just Behind You by Ramsey Campbell
Best Artist
- Vincent Chong, for work including cover for The Witnesses are Gone
And don’t forget that PS Publishing now sponsors the Best Small Press Award, which will see one of the following take home the gong… as well as a £250 cash prize from us!
- NEWCON PRESS (Ian Whates)
- SCREAMING DREAMS (Steve Upham)
- SUBTERRANEAN PRESS (William Schafer)
- TELOS PUBLISHING (David Howe)
- TTA PRESS (Andy Cox)
Best of luck to all the nominees, as always. :)
Sidewise nomination for Chris Roberson’s “Edison’s Frankenstein”
Posted by Paul Raven on June 8th, 2010 at 12:46
Just a quick heads-up to point out that among the final shortlist of short stories nominated for this year’s Sidewise Awards for Alternate History is none other than the title story of Edison’s Frankenstein: Postscripts #20/21, penned by by Chris Roberson.
Congrats, Chris! And good luck to the other writers mentioned: it looks like a strong set of contenders… in a rather stark comparison to the one-candidate shortlist for the novel-length category, it seems. Ho-hum!
Two PS books are 2010 Locus Awards finalists!
Posted by Paul Raven on April 26th, 2010 at 13:45
Well, some PR guy I am… somehow I managed to completely miss the fact that the 2010 Locus Magazine Awards finalists list has two PS Publishing titles in it!
The books in question are the enormous and gorgeous Very Best Of Gene Wolfe in the Collection category (which we kind of share with the mass-market edition from the good people of Tor), and John Berlyne’s utterly unique and ludicrously comprehensive one-of-a-kind bibliographical cornucopia Powers: Secret Histories in the Non-fiction/Art Book category.
It’s a great pleasure seeing a few of our titles in that list, given that the Locus readership skews somewhat heavily to the US market, and we’re over here on the other side of the pond… I guess people notice what we’re doing from time to time after all, eh? :)
Best of luck and congratulations to all the nominees!
PS Publishing titles in the 2009 Shirley Jackson Award shortlist
Posted by Paul Raven on April 17th, 2010 at 12:22
We’re pleased as punch to see a handful of our publications in the shortlist for this year’s iteration of the prestigious Shirley Jackson Awards, which were established three years ago in order to recognise “outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic”. You can see the whole list at the Shirley Jackson Awards website, but in the meantime here are the PS titles in the frame:
Novella:
- The Language of Dying by Sarah Pinborough
- The Witnesses Are Gone by Joel Lane
- Shrike by Quentin S Crisp
Novelette:
Single-author collection:
Congratulations are in order for all the nominees, regardless of publisher. As I always say, the many genre fiction awards (and the deabtes and discussions they inevitably spark) are a sure sign of a passion for great writing among the scene’s creators, editors, critics and readers – and regardless of who takes the gongs at the end, we all end up winning in the grand scheme of things. Bravo, all!
And the Stoker Award for Best Short Fiction goes to…
Posted by Paul Raven on March 29th, 2010 at 12:10
… “In The Porches Of My Ears” by Norman Prentiss, published in Postscripts #18 by this very publishing house. Congratulations, Norman! (You can read the story in PDF form if you click this link.)
The Stoker Awards were announced this past weekend at the World Horror Convention in Brighton; here’s the full listing, courtesy SF Awards Watch:
- Novel: Audrey’s Door, Sarah Langan (Harper)
- First Novel: Damnable, Hank Schwaeble (Jove)
- Long Fiction: The Lucid Dreaming, Lisa Morton (Bad Moon Books)
- Short Fiction: In The Porches Of My Ears, Norman Prentiss (PS Publishing)
- Anthology: He Is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson, Christopher Conlon (ed.) (Gauntlet Press)
- Collection: A Taste of Tenderloin, Gene O’Neill (Apex Book Company)
- Non-Fiction: Writers Workshop of Horror, Michael Knost (Woodland Press)
- Poetry: Chimeric Machines, Lucy A. Snyder (Creative Guy Publishing)
Congratulations to one and all, winners and nominees and publishers alike. Regardless of who wins, awards season is a reminder that the genre fiction scenes are alive and kicking, and full of people who care deeply about the written word… and the way I see it, that makes us all winners. :)
Song of Time shares the John W Campbell Award!
Posted by Paul Raven on June 30th, 2009 at 12:54
Wow – much as we believed it to be a great novel, we weren’t expecting Ian R Macleod‘s Song of Time to win the Arthur C Clarke Award earlier in the year.
We certainly weren’t expecting it to win the Clarke and tie for first place in the 2009 John W Campbell Award, but that’s exactly what has happened. So bravo, Ian – we’re as proud as can be! [news via Science Fiction Awards Watch]
Song of Time shares the top slot with Little Brother, the much-lauded young adult novel from sf-nal stalwart Cory Doctorow, so many congratulations to him – and to all the other nominees as well.
Both Doctorow and MacLeod will be appearing at the awards ceremony, held by the University of Kansas on 10th July. If you’re able to attend, please buy both the winners a drink on us! :)
British Fantasy Society Awards shortlist announced!
Posted by Paul Raven on June 9th, 2009 at 20:11
The BFS has announced the shortlist for this year’s BFS Awards, and we’re pleased as punch to see a number of PS titles in the running – you can go take a look over at the BFS website for the full list, but here are our candidates:
- Best Novel: Thieving Fear by Ramsey Campbell
- Best Collection: Glyphotech by Mark Samuels
- Best Novella: Gunpowder by Joe Hill
- Best Artist: Edward Miller (for Vault of Deeds), plus Les Edwards and Vinnie Chong (who both supply art to PS on a regular basis)
- Best Non Fiction: Basil Copper – A Life in Books by Stephen Jones
- Best Magazine: Postscripts
Also, this is the first year that we’re sponsoring the Best Small Press Award instead of contending for it, as mentioned last year. The publishers in the running for the £250 prize pot are:
- Elastic Press (Andrew Hook)
- Newcon Press (Ian Whates)
- Pendragon Press (Chris Teague)
- Screaming Dreams (Steve Upham)
- TTA Press (Andy Cox)
As always, congratulations to everyone on the shortlist, regardless of who published them; fan-voted genre awards are all about celebrating a diverse and lively scene, and we are but one proud component thereof.
And don’t forget to vote if you’re eligible – which includes not only BFS members but also signed-up attendees of FantasyCon 2008 and 2009. We promise not to be too embarassed if you vote for one of our titles… :)
McAuley Postscripts story shortlisted for Sidewise alternate history award
Posted by Paul Raven on May 9th, 2009 at 17:55
Well, there was me thinking we must have used up all our awards-based good fortune for at least a year… until what should appear but the shortlist for the Sidewise Awards, which honour the best alternate or parallel histories of the year.
And in the short-form shortlist is none other than Paul McAuley, for his story “A Brief Guide to Other Histories” that appeared in Postscripts #15 last year (and of which copies still remain). Here’s the complete line-up:
- Tobias Buckell – “The People’s Machine”
(appeared in Sideways in Crime: An Alternate Mystery Anthology (ed. Lou Anders), BL/Solaris 2008) - Albert E. Cowdrey – “Poison Victory”
(appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July 2008) - Paul McAuley – “A Brief Guide to Other Histories”
(appeared in Postscripts #15, September 2008) - T. L. Morganfield – “Night Bird Soaring”
(appeared in Greatest Uncommon Denominator #3, Autumn 2008) - Mary Rosenblum – “Sacrifice”
(appeared in Sideways in Crime: An Alternate Mystery Anthology (ed. Lou Anders), BL/Solaris 2008) - Kristine Kathryn Rusch – “G-Men”
(appeared in Sideways in Crime: An Alternate Mystery Anthology (ed. Lou Anders), BL/Solaris 2008)
That’s a pretty stellar roster from the short fiction field, I’m sure you’ll agree – so bravo to Paul and all the other nominees! You can check out “A Brief Guide to Other Histories” on Paul McAuley’s website, by the way.
Ian R MacLeod’s Song of Time takes home the Clarke Award!
Posted by Paul Raven on April 30th, 2009 at 13:03
Yes indeed – it was my great privilege to be at the Apollo Cinema by Piccadilly Circus last night for the 2009 Arthur C Clarke Award ceremony, and my great thrill to hear the winner announced as Ian R MacLeod for Song of Time.
And if it was a thrill for me, you can believe it was even more so for others – Ian himself seemed genuinely shocked and humbled to have won, and gave one of the briefest and most heartfelt acceptance speeches I think I’ve ever witnessed, while Pete spent the rest of the evening wandering around with the dazed but happy look of a man who isn’t sure whether or not he’s dreaming, but who has no wish to wake if he is.
So, on behalf of PS Publishing, I’d like to once again extend our congratulations to Ian, as well as to all the other authors and publishers nominated for the award – as was pointed out at the ceremony, the Arthur C Clarke Awards are primarily about celebrating great science fiction, and in that respect everyone was a winner, regardless of the name in the envelope.
Once Pete returns to PS HQ tomorrow, he should have some congratulatory words to share; so please consider this a placeholder sent ahead of a more erudite and qualified spokesman! But I know I’m safe in saying that Pete and all of the PS Publishing crew are about as proud as we could be right now. :)
PS Publishing titles nominated for Shirley Jackson Awards
Posted by Paul Raven on April 16th, 2009 at 14:39
The shortlist for the 2008 Shirley Jackson Awards has just been announced, and yet again we’re very pleased to see a couple of PS publications in the line-up.
Darrell Schweitzer‘s Living With the Dead is in the running for Best Novella, and Jeff VanderMeer‘s The Situation is up for Best Novelette; you can catch the entire list at the Shirley Jackson Awards website. There are some real heavy hitters in all the categories, and it promises to be a close contest – so bravo to all the nominees, and best of luck!
Award nominations for PS Publishing titles
Posted by Paul Raven on March 18th, 2009 at 11:45
We’re extraordinarily pleased to be able to announce that a PS Publishing book has made it through to the short list for this year’s Arthur C Clarke Award!
There were three of our titles in the long list; Matthew Hughes’ Template and Christopher Evans’ Omega fell by the wayside in the deliberations of the judges, but Ian R MacLeod’s Song of Time joins another five novels in what is sure to be a closely contested final line-up:
- Song of Time – Ian R. MacLeod [PS Publishing]
- The Quiet War – Paul McAuley [Gollancz]
- House of Suns – Alastair Reynolds [Gollancz]
- Anathem – Neal Stephenson [Atlantic]
- The Margarets – Sheri S. Tepper [Gollancz]
- Martin Martin’s on the Other Side – Mark Wernham [Jonathan Cape]
As always, I’d like to extend on behalf of everyone involved with PS Publishing our hearty congratulations to all the nominees, shortlisted or otherwise; the Clarke Award is a very prestigious institution for British science fiction, and it’s a great honour to be in the running. Here’s looking forward to the final decision in April!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, Douglas Smith’s Impossibilia collection is among the five titles shortlisted for the Long Form English category of the Prix Aurora Awards, the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association’s annual contest.
You can see all the nominees for all the categories at the Prix Aurora Awards website, but here’s the Long Form English category list in full:
- After the Fires – Ursula Pflug [Tightrope Books]
- Identity Theft And Other Stories – Robert J. Sawyer [Red Deer Press]
- Impossibilia – Douglas Smith [PS Publishing]
- Defining Diana – Hayden Trenholm [Bundoran Press]
- Marseguro – Edward Willett [DAW Books]
Again, congratulations are in order for one and all. Award nominations like these are a reminder that the faith we place in the works of our authors is vindicated by readers and critics alike – and that’s part of what makes working in publishing such a satisfying thing!
Life imitates art: Mengele and Jack Dann’s The Economy of Light
Posted by Paul Raven on January 24th, 2009 at 14:19
They say the truth is stranger than fiction, though we genre fans know better – they’re about equal! And here’s an example, with a news story out of Brazil that sounds like another thread to Jack Dann‘s recent PS novella, The Economy of Light:
For years scientists have failed to discover why as many as one in five pregnancies in a small Brazilian town have resulted in twins – most of them blond haired and blue eyed.
But residents of Candido Godoi now claim that [Nazi concentration camp scientist, a.k.a. 'The Angel of Death', Josef] Mengele made repeated visits there in the early 1960s, posing at first as a vet but then offering medical treatment to the women of the town.
Shuttling between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, he managed to evade justice before his death in 1979, but his dreams of a Nazi master race appeared unfulfilled.
The Economy of Light stars one of Mengele’s victims, called in to investigate the discovery of Mengele’s body by Brazilian police, deep in the jungle; copies are still available in the PS Webstore in plain, jacketed or slipcased hardcover.
Speaking of The Economy of Light, it seems it lost out on its nomination for an Aurealis Award… but I’m sure Jack Dann will bear the blow with equanimity, seeing as he picked up the Peter McNamara Convenors’ Award for Excellence instead!
Bravo, Jack! And congratulations from the whole PS team to all the other winners – some well-deserved gongs in the list, there.
[Mengele news story via the excellent BLDGBLOG]
Jack Dann’s The Economy of Light nominated for an Aurealis Award
Posted by Paul Raven on December 9th, 2008 at 9:00
In what must surely be the last awards-related genre fiction news of the year, we’re pleased to congratulate Jack Dann on his finalist nomination in the Aurealis Award ‘best horror novel’ category for his recent PS Publishing release, The Economy of Light.
Here’s the synopsis:
Stephen is a retired Nazi hunter, divorced yet living happily enough on his ranch on the fringe of the Amazon jungle. But when Brazilian police unearth the alleged remains of the detested Auschwitz camp doctor, Josef Mengele, Stephen’s life is immediately and traumatically transformed.
At the grave site, he falls suddenly ill, and the diagnosis is terminal cancer; a hideous skin disease adds to his woes; and the Indian couple working at the ranch soon hint that Stephen’s unresolved relationship with Mengele is the moral and spiritual core of a syndrome only superficially physical.
For Stephen as a boy was a prisoner at Auschwitz, a subject of Mengele’s horrifying medical experiments; his twin brother and his mother died there at Mengele’s hands; survivor’s guilt and mortal hatred remain unassuaged after the Doctor’s peaceful death in exile. Something must be done.
And so Stephen, accompanied by his strangely quiet and also afflicted Indian ranch foreman, Genaro, sets out to consult a rumoured miracle-working Doctor in a remote jungled region of Brazil.
The pilgrimage is arduous and hallucinatory at once; and Stephen must ready body and soul to confront his darkest, most persistent hopes and fears…
Psychological horror, Nazi experiments and Amazonian shamanism – a rare combination, I think you’ll agree. We’d be very happy to see Dann take the prize, of course, but on behalf of everyone at PS Publishing I’d like to congratulate all the nominated authors in all the categories.
Now, click through below to order a copy of The Economy of Light, and find out what all the fuss is about!
- The Economy of Light – slipcased hardcover (only 26 signed copies printed!) – [£50 / $75 approx.]
- The Economy of Light – jacketed hardcover – [£25 / $37.50 approx.]
- The Economy of Light – hardcover – [£10 / $15 approx.]
World Fantasy Awards – woo-hoo!
Posted by Paul Raven on November 3rd, 2008 at 11:00
Wow! Hot on the tail of the International Horror Guild Awards announcements come the World Fantasy Awards, and we’re again very pleased (read as: “pretty damned ecstatic and incoherent”) to have had PS Publishing turn up in the winners list once again.
Best Novella went to Elizabeth Hand‘s haunting Illyria, against what can only be described as some of the toughest competition in the genre in the form of Lucius Shepard and Ian R MacLeod – both of whom PS has published at one time or another, incidentally!
Joe Sherry was reviewing the candidates for the award last month, and he’ll doubtless be pleased to see that the actual results concurred with his own choice; describing Illyria, he says:
… writing about Illyria is difficult. I could tell you that the story is about Madeline Tierney, a young woman in love with her cousin Rogan, a scion (Madeline) of a once famous theatre family which has since abandoned the theatre as if it were unclean. I could tell you that the story is about the relationship between Madeline and Rogan as they grow, about the influence of the their and Madeline’s Aunt Kate. I could tell you all this, and more, but it would not serve to get across the quiet grace of Illyria, the still-small voice that gets under the skin and whispers to the reader.
It obviously got under some other people’s skin, too! Congratulations, Elizabeth – and to all the other winners and nominees, also, including Edward Miller (Best Artist) who has done a great deal of work for PS in recent times.
And I’ll just wave a flag for the head honcho in his absence – Pete works damned hard to make PS the best publishing house he can, and I know he’ll be tremendously pleased to have had that recognised by his peers. Bravo, Mr Crowther; I’m proud to be a part of your team. :)
PS Publishing gets a few gongs at the International Horror Guild Awards
Posted by Paul Raven on November 1st, 2008 at 19:05
The results of the International Horror Guild Awards have been announced, and we’re very pleased to see some of them have gone to work that we published here at PS:
- Fiction Collection: Dagger Key and Other Stories by Lucius Shepard
- Mid-Length Fiction: “Closet Dreams” by Lisa Tuttle (in Postscripts #10)
- Periodical: Postscripts, Peter Crowther & Nick Gevers, editors
The full list – including all the short-list nominees – can be found at the IHG site. Congratulations are in order for all concerned, I think, especially the authors… after all, without them, we’d have nothing to publish and you’d have nothing to read!
Speaking of which, there are a last few copies of Dagger Key available in the PS Publishing webstore (jacketed hardcover and slipcased special).
Postscripts #10 is all sold out, but there’s plenty of other issues to try – and don’t forget that Postscripts the magazine is shortly to become Postscripts the periodical anthology, so consider getting yourself a subscription sorted!
PS Publishing triumphant at British Fantasy Awards!
Posted by Paul Raven on September 21st, 2008 at 11:47
I may be many miles away from FantasyCon, but thanks to the magic powers of the internet news has arrived at my publicist’s garret that PS Publishing made a very strong showing in this year’s British Fantasy Awards!
The full results can be seen over on the BFS blog, but I’m sure you’ll forgive me for cherrypicking our moments of glory from the set:
- Best Novella: Conrad Williams for The Scalding Rooms [last few hardcover editions left in stock!]
- Best Novel: ‘The August Derleth Fantasy Award’: Ramsey Campbell for The Grin of The Dark [last few slipcased editions left in stock!]
But the jewel in the crown – from where I’m sitting, at least – is this one:
- Best Small Press: Peter Crowther, PS Publishing
I’m positive Pete must be over the moon at being recognised for his hard work, and as someone with an inkling of just how much hard work goes into running PS, I can assure you it’s well deserved.
But it’s not all about us! It’s great to see that small presses and independent operators have made their presence felt in the final results, and on behalf of the whole PS Publishing team I’d like to congratulate everyone, winners and nominees in all categories alike.
After all, we’re all working toward the same goal in the end: producing great books for people to enjoy. And – at the risk of sounding a little schmaltzy – that’s it’s own reward, in and of itself.
PS Publishing titles nominated for British Fantasy Awards
Posted by Paul Raven on August 8th, 2008 at 8:37
Crikey – we’d hardly stopped patting ourselves on the back over yesterday’s World Fantasy Award nominations when the British Fantasy Awards shortlist hit my inbox, including some more nods to PS Publishing.
You can check out the full shortlist at the British Fantasy Awards website, but here are the PS nominations with links to the relevant books:
Best Novel: [The August Derleth Award]
- Ramsey Campbell – THE GRIN OF THE DARK [slipcased hadcover - £50/$100 approx]
Best Novella
- Eric Brown – STARSHIP SUMMER [hardcover - £10/$20; jacketed hardcover - £25/$50; slipcased hardcover £50/$100]
- Conrad Williams – THE SCALDING ROOMS [hardcover - £10/$20; jacketed hardcover - £25/$50; last few of each format remaining!]
Best Short Fiction
- Joe Hill – “Thumbprint”, from Postscripts #10 [unsigned hardcover only - £12/$24]
- Tim Lebbon – “Discovering Ghosts”, also from Postscripts #10
Small Press
- Peter Crowther, PS Publishing
- Peter Crowther, Postscripts
Insert your preferred spin on the “it’s an honour just to be nominated” line here – because as well-worn a phrase as that is, it’s absolutely true. It’s super to see that people like PS Publishing titles enough to not just buy them for themselves but to commend them to other people as well – it makes all the hard work worthwhile!
Hearty congratulations to all the other nominees – and it’s great to see lots of other small press titles in the running for the various awards, too. A thriving scene is a benefit to everyone: readers, writers and publishers alike.
PS Publishing nominations for World Fantasy Awards
Posted by Paul Raven on August 7th, 2008 at 8:36
Awards season rolls ever onwards in the world of genre… which is fine by me, because it distracts me from getting too jealous of all the people currently having a ball at WorldCon!
But here’s some news that more than compensates for being stuck in the UK – PS Publishing makes some appearances in the list of nominees for this year’s World Fantasy Awards. The full list is up at SF Signal, so I’ll just snip out the ones from the home team:
BEST NOVELLA
- The Mermaids by Robert Edric [ hardcover - £10/$20 approx.; jacketed hardcover - £25/$50 approx. ]
- Illyria by Elizabeth Hand [ paperback - £10/$20 approx.; hardcover - £25/$50 approx. ]
BEST COLLECTION
- Dagger Key and Other Stories by Lucius Shepard [ jacketed hardcover - £25/$50 approx. ]
SPECIAL AWARD–PROFESSIONAL
- Peter Crowther for PS Publishing
On behalf of PS Publishing as an outfit, I’d like to say we’re very pleased to receive these nominations – not just for ourselves but for the authors, without whom there would be no publishing houses, awards or conventions in the first place.
And on behalf of myself, I’d like to congratulate Peter – as our customers, you get to see the quality of product he insists on, but since joining the team a few months ago I’ve been able to see the almost inhuman amount of work that he and the rest of the PS Publishing crew put in to make it happen. I’m half-convinced that Peter doesn’t actually sleep like normal people…
As the links indicate, we still have some copies of the nominated works available to purchase, so click on through to snare one – we’re finding that nominations for awards tend to provoke an uptick in sales, so you may want to move fast to avoid being disappointed!
(The Lucius Shepard collection comes with my personal recommendation, for what that’s worth – I don’t usually read dark fantasy, but I absolutely loved these stories.)
PS Publishing titles in the running for International Horror Guild awards
Posted by Paul Raven on July 13th, 2008 at 15:21
The nominations for the International Horror Guild Awards have emerged, and we’re pleased as punch to see some PS Publishing titles in the running. The full list can be found over on the International Horror Guild website, but here are the ones from our own stable:
Best Novel:
- Grin of the Dark by Ramsey Campbell [slipcased hardcover £50 / $100; hardcover sold out!]
Best Fiction Collection:
- Dagger Key and Other Stories by Lucius Shepard [jacketed hardcover £25 / $50; slipcased hardcover sold out!]
Best Long Fiction:
- The Scalding Rooms by Conrad Williams [jacketed hardcover £25 / $50; hardcover £10 / $20 - low stock on both editions]
Best Mid-length Fiction:
- “Closet Dreams” by Lisa Tuttle [from Postscripts #10 - unsigned hardcover £12 / $24]
Best Periodical:
- Postscripts [current issue #14: paperback £6 / $12; hardcover £25 / $50; subscriptions]
A pretty good showing, I think you’ll agree! On behalf of the whole PS Publishing team, I’d like to pass on our very hearty congratulations to the nominated authors — without whom we’d never be nominated for anything, and who make it all worthwhile.
If you’ve not already sampled any of these acclaimed works, click through on the links next to the titles and bag yourself a copy before the rush – some of them are pretty close to sold out already!
PS Publishing’s Peter Crowther in the interview hotseat
Posted by Paul Raven on June 19th, 2008 at 10:22
If you’ve been wanting an insight into the mastermind behind PS Publishing, you should hop on over to the Shirley Jackson Awards blog, where Charles Tan puts our very own head honcho Peter Crowther to the question about the raison d’etre of PS Publishing.
Here’s a snippet of Peter explaining why he loves publishing novellas:
“The novella (20,000 to 40,000 words) is, for me, the perfect length with which to develop characters. It’s not as brief as the short story but it can still be read easily in one sitting. [...] I still consider the novella to be our ‘bread-and-butter’ work.”
You can pop back to a previous post to see the flatteringly lengthy list of PS Publishing titles in the running for a Shirley Jackson Award – more news as we have it!
British Fantasy Society Awards 2008 long-list
Posted by Paul Raven on June 10th, 2008 at 8:47
The long-lists of nominees for this year’s British Fantasy Society Awards have been published in full at the BFS website – and we’re very pleased to see PS Publishing titles, writers, artists and editors all making a good showing in the lists!
Here are the relevant nominations; as usual, PS Publishing titles have a dominating presence in the novella category, but we’re spread around the board quite nicely:
Novel
- The Grin Of The Dark – Ramsey Campbell
Novella
- Starship Summer – Eric Brown
- The Mermaids – Robert Edric
- The Lees of Laughter’s End – Steven Erickson
- The City Beyond Play – Philip Jose Farmer and Danny Adams
- Dead Earth: The Green Dawn – Mark Justice and David T Wilbanks
- Hereafter and After – Richard Parks
- The Scalding Rooms – Conrad Williams
- Twelve Collections and the Teashop – Zoran Zivkovic
Short Fiction
- “The Familial” by Gary Fry in Sanity and Other Delusions
- “Thumbprint” by Joe Hill in Postscripts # 10
- “Discovering Ghosts” by Tim Lebbon in Postscripts # 10
- “Loki” by Matthew Rossi in Postscripts # 11
Best Artist
- Vincent Chong and Les Edwards (for multiple covers, including some PS titles)
- John Picacio for cover art, Postscripts # 10
- J.K Potter for cover art, PS Showcase # 1 – Sanity and Other Delusions
- Tomislav Tikulin for cover art, Starship Summer by Eric Brown
Best Small Press
- Postscripts, [Eds] Peter Crowther & Nick Gevers
- PS Publishing, [Ed] Peter Crowther
We’re naturally pleased and flattered to be nominated so many times, but it’s the hard work of the writers and artists that really makes it possible – so congratulations to all of them from PS Publishing, and to all the other nominees as well.
Click through on the links above to buy yourself a nominated title and discover what all the fuss is about – and feel free to vote for us if you’re a BFS member!
Additional edit: To my shame, I didn’t notice it on my initial pass through the list, but Darren Turpin (my esteemed predecessor in this very job) polled a much-deserved nomination for the currently-on-hiatus UKSF Book News website in the Best Non-fiction category. Way to go, Darren!
Multiple PS Publishing titles nominated for Shirley Jackson Awards
Posted by Paul Raven on May 3rd, 2008 at 10:17
The category shortlists for this year’s Shirley Jackson Awards have been released, and we’re immensely proud to see PS Publishing titles making a good showing in the nominations.
The Shirley Jackson Awards were set up to recognise “outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic“, and are voted for by a jury of academics, writers, editors and other industry professionals – so they are very prestigious prizes indeed.
While we at PS Publishing aren’t averse to patting ourselves on the back for our part, it’s the authors themselves who deserve the greatest acclaim, for without their stories the books would be blank and the awards pointless – so many congratulations to everyone nominated.
You can catch the whole list of finalists at the Shirley Jackson Awards blog, but here are the PS Publishing titles that made the cut:
Novella:
- 12 Collections, Zoran Zivkovic [hardcover, jacketed hardcover]
- Illyria, Elizabeth Hand [hardcover, paperback]
- The Mermaids, Robert Edric [hardcover, jacketed hardcover]
- The Scalding Rooms, Conrad Williams [hardcover, jacketed hardcover]
Novelette:
- “Thumbprint”, Joe Hill (from Postscripts #10) [hardcover]
Congratulations, one and all! Click through on the links above to purchase copies of these acclaimed works at the PS Publishing Webstore.
Jack Dann’s ‘Rings Around the Moon’ shortlisted for 2008 Darrell Award
Posted by Darren on March 12th, 2008 at 10:26
The Darrell Awards are given annually by the Mid-South Science Fiction & Fantasy Association (MSSFFA) for the Best Midsouth SF/F/H fiction in Short Story, Novella, Novel and Other Media categories.
This year, Jack Dann has been shortlisted in the Best novella category for Rings Around the Moon, which we published last year in our Promised Land collection.
This year’s winners will be presented at Midsouthcon on Saturday, March 29, 2008. Good luck, Jack!