Cover to Cover #282B: Small Presses Rule

Michael, Summer, and Michael continue the discussion from #282A about the niches that the small presses fill, how they're filling them successfully, and how they provide existing and prospective writers with a wider variety of potential venues for their stories.

Listener Recommendation: Mike L (Big 'N Tasty's Dad!) recommends the short story collections Myth Adventures and Myth Alliances by Robert Asprin.

Can you do a 3-minute audio book review? Here's what we're looking for:
* Book title, author, publisher, cost
* Must have been published within the past calendar year
* Why did you like the book?
* Why would you recommend this book to other potential readers?

Collaborative Project: "The Tick-Tock Hobbit" is underway! Have you written a story in the Tick-Tock Hobbit universe? Post it on your own website, and link to it here. Let's see how far we can take this world...


Promo: Fortress Draconis
Promo: Mistress of the Dragon, Dragon's Fire, Wizard's Flame


  1. Hey Michael, Summer, and Mike, et al:

    I was thinking... how can you really cover the world of writing by talking only to writers? Any chance of getting editors or agents around for interviews? I know they're busy people, but they could probably save themselves some time if they'd come forward to the public and share what they're looking for and what they're not. I'm sure they've got some great insights into the other side of the publishing industry.

    Anyway, cheers


  2. tim and darcy low says

    cool book review by his dad, I read these books they are way funny.


  3. We've talked to publishers, and tried to schedule more editors, but they are *very* busy people, as you could imagine. I've been after Jason and Jeremy for over 2 years to come on the show to talk about what they've done with Night Shade Books... nothing yet, but I keep trying!

    See C2C 266 with John Klima, editor of Electric Velocipede, and the collection "Logorrhea", C2C 252, with BenBella Books publisher Glenn Yeffeth, and maybe the interview with Kate Wilhelm from C2C 183 might interest you.

    In past shows, we've also talked to Ellen Datlow, too.

  4. tim and darcy low says

    That would be very had to get editors and publishers to sit down long enough to do a interview. Just look at all the books the gang get in the studio every week, And the holiday season is right around the corner, (gulp); so I imagine they are working overtime.

    I would like to hear more about these small press books. And also about book on demand and ebooks. Something I never tryed, but from what I been hearing might be our next step.

    Great choice for a book review Big and Tasty. I always love that series, and will go back to them again and again. Looks like i am not the only geek dad out there. Sounds liek I am in good company.

    Ellen Datlow was a great interview Summer, many thanks for the work on that.


  5. i think that out of the small presses, pyr will be the next big publisher to come out of them.

  6. Another book in that series was called M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link.

    Just for fun, go up to the counter at Barnes & Noble and try askign for it from the cashier. 😉

  7. I've noticed Mike talks a lot about Homo Floresiensis - which isn't surprising, because the idea of multiple human species is totally freakin' awesome. There's a great (and also HUGE) book I can recommend called The Human Past edited by Chris Scarre which has a few bits of info about the hobbits and lots of stuff about other human species - and covers pretty much the rest of prehistoric human history. Really amazing fodder for stories.

    Sam (Archaeology student at the university of Worcester, UK)