Vylar Kaftan ([info]vylar_kaftan) wrote,
@ 2008-07-09 18:16:00
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Nebula nominations

Originally published at Vylar Kaftan. You can comment here or there.

Last December, SFWA put out a call to all active members to nominate some works for the Nebula. There was a flurry of activity.

Since stories lose eligibility after a certain period of time, I thought it made sense to read some stories now at mid-year and see what I want to nominate. I’d like to encourage other active members to do the same.

So! Anyone who has a short story or novelette that you want me to read and consider for nomination, I’ll do it. Just post here. I will read 1-2 works per person. If it’s not available online, you can email it to me. Or tell me it’s available from the Nebula site, where I can go find it.

If anyone wants to read my work, I suggest either Break the Vessel or Kill Me, both from Helix.

ETA: Yesterday I did hear about the drama surrounding Helix’s editor, as detailed here and here. I knew none of this when I submitted my story and signed the contract. I am greatly distressed by the incident. But I take contracts very seriously, and have one signed with Helix. Therefore, I am continuing to promote my stories as I normally would, and I hope my readers understand that.

If anyone prefers not to visit Helix, drop me a line and I’ll send you a copy myself.


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[info]nihilistic_kid
2008-07-10 02:21 am UTC (link)
Psst, bad timing!

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[info]vylar_kaftan
2008-07-10 02:24 am UTC (link)
Hmm? Why?

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[info]nihilistic_kid
2008-07-10 02:27 am UTC (link)
Helix editor called Muslims worm-brained sheetheads the other day. The Internets are abuzz.

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[info]jenwrites
2008-07-10 02:47 am UTC (link)
And yet, there's no reason Helix-pubbed authors should hide their stories.

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[info]nihilistic_kid
2008-07-10 02:49 am UTC (link)
Way to miss the point.

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[info]jenwrites
2008-07-10 02:54 am UTC (link)
So why don't you explain the point to me since I'm clearly missing it?

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[info]nihilistic_kid
2008-07-10 03:10 am UTC (link)
Imagine a film that was a hit or something.

Then imagine the film's director doing something public and untoward, like telling a well-liked First Lady to stick a dick in her cocksuck for once.

Then imagine the ruckus over this.

Then imagine the "For Your Consideration" ads for the film's lead roles being timed exactly for the moment when the ruckus reaches its height.

At any rate, Vylar just exhibited poor timing because she didn't know what was going on. You conflating not campaigning for the Nebs on the same exact day everyone blogged about Sheetheadgate with "hiding" a story is another very personal problem that you seem to be experiencing altogether. 'Fraid I can't be of much help in that department, but I think that the above analogy should suffice WRT why this post was poorly timed.

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[info]jenwrites
2008-07-10 03:17 am UTC (link)
Thanks for the explanation. And no, I'm not suffering a personal problem other than feeling a deep need to sit on my hands while this rages across the internet. I have tendinitis, and sitting on my hands is bad for my wrists.

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[info]vylar_kaftan
2008-07-10 03:21 am UTC (link)
I should have paid more attention, at least. My bad. But the second half of my post is still true.

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[info]nihilistic_kid
2008-07-10 03:24 am UTC (link)
Eh, you have no obligation to Keep Track of Everything. Poor timing isn't a moral failure, it's just poor timing.

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[info]jenwrites
2008-07-10 02:48 am UTC (link)
Once the next NAR comes out, I'll have the rest of "Brushstrokes" on the SFWA web site for reading :)

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[info]vylar_kaftan
2008-07-10 03:19 am UTC (link)
I shall read it!

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[info]qorinda
2008-07-10 03:15 am UTC (link)
Hey, btw, Happy Birthday! I meant to write yesterday but with all my other stuff, I didn't get to it. I remembered this morning. Doh!

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[info]vylar_kaftan
2008-07-10 03:17 am UTC (link)
Thanks. :)

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[info]csinman
2008-07-10 10:05 am UTC (link)
I don't think a few extra visits to read your story are going to be anything compared to the page hits they've gotten from the drama itself. ;)

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[info]vylar_kaftan
2008-07-10 02:52 pm UTC (link)
Heh. Well, true.

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[info]evilstorm
2008-07-15 12:29 pm UTC (link)
Arr, that is bad luck on the timing. Sorry to hear about that.

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[info]vylar_kaftan
2008-07-15 02:05 pm UTC (link)
Yeah... I am not happy about it. :(

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[info]evilstorm
2008-07-15 03:32 pm UTC (link)
I can imagine. Shit, I think people will sympathise with you, if you make it clear that you're distancing yourself from Sanders and just honouring contract. It's the best you can do, really, and anyone should be able to see that.

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[info]vylar_kaftan
2008-07-15 03:36 pm UTC (link)
Thank you.

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[info]pendamuse
2008-07-30 09:58 pm UTC (link)
Late to the party, but I'll add this:

Yes, there are contracts, and honorable ones should always be upheld. Where in the contract does it say that you have to stand by as the Editor flaunts his mis-guided philosophies?

I get it - credits are important. So is integrity.

That story is copyrighted to YOU, the author. It's your story, contract or not. You have every right to ask your story be taked down in light of recent events. Think of it as sponsors who pull out of advertising television shows or movies because of subject matter or things actors have said off-camera. They had contacts too but their actions spoke volumnes: We won't stand by and allow these things to be said with our names attached.

Being published in Helix does not define you, but it could make a future Sci-fi/Spec/Fantasy Editor think twice about publishing you if your story remains (yep, there's the other side).

However, if you could see what the Editor is doing to those who ask to be removed, I could see how you'd want to think twice. Plus he's charging $40.00 for the priviledge. He's showing his true colors as a "professional" which looks like the equvilant to an eight-year old throwing a tantrum.

Then there's what he said to fellow writer Yoon Ha Lee.

We all take our contracts seriously, but we do so because we believe in the magazine we're being published in. I don't submit anywhere lightly. I read what's been published previously, I read about the editors, I become invested. We also do it to become noticed by other magazines and fans. Helix isn't a magagize I'd want to be noticed in or associated with. Not anymore.

It's your piece and your choice and there are consequences to both sides. Good luck with future endeavors.

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[info]vylar_kaftan
2008-07-31 04:41 am UTC (link)
Thanks for the comments. I hope you'll check back on my blog in the next day or two, for reasons which will become clear.

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[info]pendamuse
2008-07-31 01:20 pm UTC (link)
Absolutely. I've liked what I've read so far.

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[info]rachel_swirsky
2008-07-31 07:22 am UTC (link)
" but it could make a future Sci-fi/Spec/Fantasy Editor think twice about publishing you if your story remains"

e.g.?

I mean, I'm a liberal and an activist and an editor, and I can't think of anyone who would ban a writer for having a story on a magazine they don't like.

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[info]pendamuse
2008-07-31 01:26 pm UTC (link)
Before this week I couldn't have imagined an editor banning people from ever submitting to his magazine again for requesting removal of copyrighted material, but there you go.

Clearly, what editors do when not directly dealing with authors and the public can be vastly different from what people would consider the professional norm.

Think of it like an employer who Google potential employee and comes across a blog or a posting that is questionable in taste and content. The job seeker may never know it, but it can affect future prospects.

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[info]rachel_swirsky
2008-07-31 01:51 pm UTC (link)
Okay, I'll rephrase that -- I can't think of anyone worth working with who would ban Vylar, or anyone else, for having a story up in Helix.

Now, having an association with Helix may affect Vylar's (or mine, or anyone else's) reputation in a more nebulous way, but that's been true since she (or I, or anyone else) decided to publish with the magazine, given Sanders' history. (Which I believe Vylar was unaware of, but nevertheless.)

"Clearly, what editors do when not directly dealing with authors and the public can be vastly different from what people would consider the professional norm."

Sure. But I know, or am somewhat familiar with, most of the editors currently working in this field -- particularly those who are passionate and vocal about social justice activisim. And I can't think of any of them, not even the most vocal, who would do what you're describing over this particular issue. A loss of respect? Perhaps, particularly during the early days of the controversy. Under-the-table banning? Extremely unlikely.

There's a large overlap between the community of writers who were publishing in Helix, and writers whose work is sometimes politically centered on social justice issues. That was one of the strange bedfellows that emerged out of Sanders' interest in publishing shocking material. These aren't separate spheres of people you're talking about; the community of editors who care about social justice, and the community of writers who are publishing in Helix, are more like a ven diagram than a group A that can be threatened with the actions of group B.

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[info]vylar_kaftan
2008-07-31 01:58 pm UTC (link)
It's true that I didn't know any of the background. My attitude is that a decision I made in innocence is one I can't blame myself for, but that future decisions will certainly take that information into account.

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[info]pendamuse
2008-07-31 04:12 pm UTC (link)
You make excellent points. It's tantamount to a feminist getting an article published in Hustler, knowing Flynt's history and social leanings.

"Yeah, we know he's vermin, but he's brilliant vermin who's also Hugo-nominated."

However from this point on choosing to submit to Helix, especially given that contract (wow, really? perpetuity?), can you still look at yourself in the morning and feel good knowing that your hard work is, in essence, validating his claims. "Sure he's an ass - but look at his body of work and the excellent writers on Helix." He's going to point to that website and its archives to make his point that he did nothing wrong.

Further, what he said to Yoon Ha Lee, that he published her story because he was pressured to be more PC even though the piece didn't make any sense? Frankly it taints any story published because you don't for a fact that it was accepted on the merits of being a great story or because he had to make a quota. Yes, there are great pieces on there, but are they there because they're great or because he was trying to find some sort of off-kilter balance?

I would be hurt, not because I though my piece wasn't worthy, but because I was a number to him, not a writer.

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[info]rachel_swirsky
2008-07-31 05:01 pm UTC (link)
There's a fairly substantial difference between submitting to Helix again, and insisting on having a piece removed from its archives.

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[info]pendamuse
2008-07-31 05:36 pm UTC (link)
To you, perhaps, but obviously to some they are closely linked.

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[info]vylar_kaftan
2008-08-01 12:51 am UTC (link)
Yes. This is the difference I see too.

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