[New Release] For Exposure: The Life and Times of a Small Press Publisher

For Exposure

Happy to announce that For Exposure: The Life and Times of a Small Press Publisher is now available!

With rebuttal essays from Maurice Broaddus, Monica Valentinelli, Lesley Conner, and more, For Exposure tells Jason’s story with insight from key players along his road to success. It is a comprehensive and frank look at what Apex and the genre publishing business is about. Take a shot with the publisher, dance the night away, and become a legend. And do it all For Exposure.

If you’re interested in a copy of For Exposure, please consider buying direct from Apex Book Company.

June 22, 2015
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The Idea of Limited Words

I have a few mentors that I touch base with from time to time. One of them recently said to me that I was smart to balance my workload based on free vs. paid and original vs. tie-in, because we only have so many words we will write.

The idea that a writer has a limited amount of words they’ll write in their lifetime is, quite frankly, horrifying to me. What happens on the days that I didn’t write? Should I feel guilty that I neglected to pour myself into a story?

Even though the idea of limited words has implications, I think those are worth exploring because writing on “borrowed time” raises several questions like:

  • Am I writing what I want to write? Or what others want me to write?
  • Have I gotten paid for what I’m worth?
  • Am I satisfied with the submission choices I’ve made?
  • Do I know what markets are a good fit for my work?
  • Am I stretching and experimenting with my limits?
  • How am I measuring progress? By my own publications or someone else’s?
  • Where do I want to be as a writer in five years? Ten?
  • What form of writing do I enjoy the most? Least?
  • If I died tomorrow, would I be satisfied with my work?

The other thing that I feel this concept does, is help you shape how you spend your time. While you’ll never know when you reach your limit of words, I suspect that the fear one day you’ll run out of them may help shape not only what you write, but where you submit and how much you get paid for it.

July 20, 2011
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[Call for Quotes] How Did You Get Published?

Hi folks,

Based on the popularity of my article yesterday for SFWA.org entitled Message to New Writers: It’s Okay to Focus on Your Craft, I would like to follow up in July with a new article that highlights how published authors got their start.

    If you are a published author who has gotten paid for your fiction, please consider telling us about the first story you ever published and where it was featured.

    You may contact me directly or provide a quote in the comments below along with your website.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: no two paths within this industry are alike. You and I may have opinions about the approach an author has, but at the end of the day those thoughts mean diddly. What matters, is focusing on your own work. What you are comfortable doing. What you are happy with.

I hope by exploring other people’s stories, in addition to my own, that we’ll not only shed some insight on these diverse paths, but we’ll also provide new authors with some much-needed encouragement.

June 17, 2011
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[My Guest Post] A Message to New Writers at SFWA.org

This month, I decided to write a column geared for new writers at SFWA.org. This month, I talk about how it’s okay to ditch all the writing advice and focus on your craft. Then, I offer several resources where you can turn to sharpen up your plots and trim your prose.

The mentality that you have to “get your first stories published or else” is incredibly foreign to me. I opted for an undergrad degree that allowed me to simply learn and write. Due to the flexibility of my Creative Writing program, I developed my own course requirements to focus on multiple forms of writing. While there are benefits and drawbacks to any academic program, I have no regrets: the environment allowed me to concentrate on the words I wrote as opposed to selling them. — SOURCE: Message to New Writers: It’s Okay to Focus on Your Craft

I hope you’ll give Message to New Writers: It’s Okay to Focus on Your Craft a read. I recommended Nascence as one of the resources and author Tobias Buckell was kind enough to provide me with a quote.

I feel that this issue is worth exploring, especially given the glut of writing advice and popularity of different topics. No, this article may not be relevant to you, but it’s definitely something to think about when you’re fresh out of the gate.

June 16, 2011
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Growing Pains are a GOOD Thing for Apex Publications

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to drop by and mention today that Apex Publications, which operates Apex Magazine, Apex Book Company and The Zombie Feed, is growing. They’re in the process of inking a deal with a major distributor and their books will be on a shelf near you.

This is fantastic news for Jason Sizemore and it’s been a long time coming. However, with new opportunities comes some amount of growing pains. The distribution deal means that he has to literally change his business model overnight to fulfill demand. To offset the printing costs, he’s started a peerbacker program with several tiers of rewards. While his business is doing well, this growth opportunity means he’ll have to order a large print run of books, which isn’t something he normally does.

This fiscal requirement goes above and beyond our normal business operations and normally, I wouldn’t be opposed to that. In this instance, however, the issue is time. The distributor is anxious to get Apex out on the market. To do that, I need to come up with the initial investment for a full-scale run. So I’m trying out a Kickstarter clone called Peerbackers. Any funds raised by Peerbackers will supplement the additional business loans I’m taking to cover the new production costs. — SOURCE: Our peerbacker Project: Apex Lands Major Distribution

I think it’s pretty cool that a publisher has the ability now to share news as-it-happens and ask readers, authors, editors and fans to be a part of that success. I have a vested interest in this deal doing well, too, for I have a story out now with The Zombie Feed Volume One anthology and a dystopian science fiction story coming out through Apex Book Company this year.

If you’re interested in helping Apex Publications, visit: Apex Publications Lands National Distribution Deal.

June 15, 2011
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