Simon & Schuster UK is combining their adult and children’s rights departments into one department run by former head of children’s rights Tracy Phillips, now promoted to group rights director. Adult rights manager Sarah Birdsey will report to Phillips, who will in turn report to Russell Evans.
Omnidawn is now distributed by UPNE Book Partners, effective January 1, 2014.
Abrams Books announced that their frontlist e-books are now available for purchase by libraries. E-books may be purchased for a year of lending on a one-copy/one-user basis, at the standard list price. They’re also including many backlist titles.
Per Aspara Press has emerged from hiatus and expects to publish six books in 2014, with titles by Chaz Brenchley, Bill DeSmedt, Shannon Page & Jay Lake, and others.
MAGAZINE NEWS
Apex magazine has announced some changes. Beginning in issue #58, March 2014, they will run three original stories per month; the monthly reprint story will appear only in the subscriber edition and e-book editions, not free on the website; and the subscriber and e-book editions will include additional content.
FINANCIAL NEWS
The US Census Bureau preliminary figures for December 2013 show bookstore sales of $1.483 billion, down a slim 0.5% from $1.491 billion in December 2012. For the year, bookstore sales were $13.194 billion, down 1.6% from $13.404 billion. All retail was up 4% for both the month and the year.
Barnes & Noble’s holiday sales fell, with Nook taking the hardest hit. For the nine weeks ending December 28th, retail sales dropped 6.6%; Nook sales fell 60.5%. Comparable store sales were down 5.5%; excluding Nook products, comparable ‘‘core’’ sales were down only 0.2%. Total retail sales were $1.1 billion, with stronges sales in juvenile, gifts, and toys & games. The Nook group’s sales dropped for both hardware and content, with device sales plunging 66.7% to $88.7 million compared to the previous year, which was boosted considerably by the introduction of new tablet devices. Digital content sales dropped 27.3% to $36.5 million, in part due to lower average selling prices.
Diamond Book Distributors reported sales up in 2013, with vice-president of sales and marketing Kuo-yu Liang calling it their ‘‘best year ever.’’ The trade book arm of Diamond Comics Distributors, DBD said sales were up by ‘‘double digits’’ compared to 2012, with UK sales up by ‘‘triple digits’’ thanks to the addition of DC Comics. Expanding venues helped; sales were up in libraries, schools, and retailers Walmart and Costco, along with increased digital sales. A solid backlist of graphic novels is also credited in part for the gains; strong sales for graphic novels and TV tie-ins are expected to continue in 2014.
Skyhorse Publishing, which acquired Night Shade Books in 2013, reported ‘‘record sales’’ for the year in a press release. Sales topped $26 million, up 14% from 2012. E-book sales were up 17%.
HarperCollins reported improved sales for the second quarter ending December 31, 2013. At $391 million, sales were up 4%; EBITDA was up 25% to $68 million. Strong sales for Veronica Roth’s Divergent series were credited in part for the improved figures. E-books sales also helped, up 39%, making up 17% of all revenues, up from 14%. Parent company News Corp. saw sales drop 4% to $2.24 billion; EBITDA rose 9% to $327 million.
The Data File continues after ad.
INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS
French rights to A World of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, Elio Garcia, & Linda Antonsson went to Huginn & Muninn at auction via Anais Parouty of Anna Jarota Agency on behalf of Rachel Kind of Penguin Random House.
Croatian rights to Guy Gavriel Kay’s River of Stars sold to Algoritam via Blanka Daroczi of Andrew Nurnberg Associates Budapest in association with Meredith Miller of Trident Media Group on behalf of John Silbersack.
Kazakh rights to Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand sold to the Association of Young Entrepreneurs in Kazakhstan, and Albanian rights to Anthem went to Uegen via Zvonimir Majdak, all via Jonathan Lyons on behalf of Timothy Knowlton at Curtis Brown.
Hebrew rights to Get in Trouble by Kelly Link sold to Babel via the Book Publishers Association of Israel on behalf of Taryn Fagerness Agency and Renee Zuckerbrot.
Italian rights to Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl sold to Multiplayer via Danny Baror of Baror International in association with Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency.
Japanese rights to Echopraxia by Peter Watts sold to Tokyo Sogensha via Danny Baror of Baror International with Miki Okahara of Owls Agency on behalf of Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.
Czech rights to Legion and three other books by Brandon Sanderson sold to Talpressvia Kristin Olson of Kristin Olson Literary Agency, and Korean rights to The Emperor’s Soul sold to Paranmedia via Danny Hong of Danny Hong Agency, all on behalf of Krystyna Lopez of JABberwocky Literary Agency.
German rights to The Wolf’s Hour by Robert R. McCammon sold to Festa via Caroline Hartge and Franka Zastrow of Thomas Schlueck Agency in association with Cameron McClure of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
Swedish rights to Diana Gabaldon’s Written in My Own Heart’s Blood and six other books sold to Stockholm Text, and Brazilian rights to Sextante; French rights to Written in My Own Heart’s Blood and seven more titles went to J’ai Lu; and Dutch rights to Written in My Own Heart’s Blood sold to Meulenhoff, all via Danny Baror of Baror International.
Bulgarian rights to Dance with the Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon sold to Ibis via Mira Droumeva of Andrew Nurnberg Associates Sofia in association with Meredith Miller of Trident Media Group on behalf of Robert Gottlieb.
Norwegian rights to Rachel Caine’s Bite Club, Last Breath, Black Dawn, Bitter Blood, Fall of Night, and Daylighters went to Schibsted via Philip Sane of Lennart Sane Agency, and Turkish rights to Black Dawn, Bitter Blood, Fall of Night, and Daylighters sold to Artemis via Fusun Kayi of Kayi Literary Agency, all on behalf of the Knight Agency.
Czech rights to Johanna Sinisalo’s The Core of the Sun sold to Euromedia via Paivi Ruottinen of Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.
Japanese rights to Jeff Carlson’s The Frozen Sky went to Tokyo Sogensha via Cameron McClure of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
Brazilian rights to Queen of Darkness by Anne Bishop sold to Saida de Emergencia via Flavia Sala of International Editors’ in association with Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
Portuguese rights in Brazil to Brent Weeks’s Night Angel series sold to Sextante via Flavia Sala and Cristina Purchio of International Editors’ in association with Cameron McClure of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
Norwegian rights to the Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown sold to Aschehoug; Turkish rights to Yayinlari; Hungarian rights to Agave; Czech rights to Triton; Hebrew rights to Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Divir; and Portuguese rights in Brazil to Globo, all via Philip Sane of Lennart Sane Agency on behalf of Havis Dawson of Liza Dawson Associates.
German rights to The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley sold to Heyne, Polish rights to Rebis, and Bulgarian rights to MBG, via Graal Agency and Thomas Schlueck Agency on behalf of Liza Dawson Associates.
Russian rights to The Fiery Heart and Silver Shadow by Richelle Mead went to Eksmo via Ludmilla Sushkova of Andrew Nurnberg Associates, Dutch rights to The Indigo Spell sold to Moon via Lester Hekking of Sebes & Van Gelderen, and German rights to Silver Shadows sold to Lyx via Annelie Geissler of Mohrbooks, all on behalf of Lauren Abramo of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.
Turkish rights to The Man from Primrose Lane went to Hece via Fusun Kayi of Kayi Literary Agency on behalf of Barer Literary.
Turkish rights to Lois Duncan’s Down a Dark Hall sold to Epsilon via Haziran Duzkan on behalf of Szilvia Molnar of Sterling Lord Literistic.
Hebrew rights to the Selection trilogy by Kiera Cass went to Simanim via Rena Rossner of the Deborah Harris Agency, and Tagalog rights went to National Book Store via Sirithada Kongpha of Tuttle-Mori, all in association with Kathleen Ortiz of New Leaf Literary & Media on behalf of Elana Roth of Red Tree Literary.
Brazilian rights to A.G. Howard’s Unhinged
went to Novo Conceito via Philip Sane of Lennart Sane Agency on behalf of Jenny Bent of the Bent Agency.
Vietnamese rights to Pendragon 10: The Soldiers of Halla sold to TRE via Heather Baror-Shapiro of Baror International in association with Richard Curtis Associates.
Dutch rights to three novellas by Leigh Bardugo sold to Blossom Books in a pre-empt via Jeanine Langenberg of Sebes & Van Gelderen on behalf of Kathleen Ortiz of New Leaf Literary & Media in association with Joanna Volpe.
Thai rights to Of Witches and Wind by Shelby Bach sold to Amarin via Sirithada Kongpha of Tuttle-Mori in association with Kathleen Ortiz of New Leaf Literary & Media on behalf of Joanna Volpe.
Swedish rights to The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard sold to Modernista via Jeanine Langenberg of Sebes Agency, and world Spanish rights sold to Oceano via Jennifer Hoge of International Editors’, both in association Kathleen Ortiz of New Leaf Literary & Media on behalf of Suzie Townsend.
OTHER RIGHTS
Audio rights to Robert R. McCammon’s The Wolf’s Hour and related collection The Hunter from the Woods sold to Steve Feldberg at Audible via Cameron McClure of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
Audio rights to installments ten through 15 of the Frontiers saga by Ryk Brown sold to Dan Totten at Tantor Media via Mark Gottlieb at Trident Media Group on behalf of John Silbersack at Trident Media Group.
Audio rights to The Scourge and The Defiance in A.G. Henley’s self-published YA series the Brilliant Darkness sold to Audible via Caryn Wiseman of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
Audio rights to Unenchanted, Fairest, and Fable by Chanda Hahn sold to Sarah Hershman and Ron Formica at Tantor Audio via Mark Gottlieb of Trident Media Group.
Audio rights to the Real Vampires Don’t Sparkle series sold to Contessa Nyree at Audible.
Audio rights to Legend of the Highland Dragon by Isobel Cooper sold to Tantor Audio.
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED
Instant Message No. 900 (January 5, 2014) and No. 901 (February 8, 2014), twice monthly newsletter of the New England Science Fiction Association, with news, meeting minutes, convention information, etc. Membership: $16.00/year. Information: NESFA Clubhouse, 504 Medford Street, Somerville MA 02145; phone: (617) 625-2311; fax: (617) 776-3243; e-mail:
The NASFA Shuttle Vol. 34 No. 1 (January 2014) and Vol. 34 No. 2 (February 2014), monthly newsletter of the North Alabama Science Fiction Association. NASFA news, meeting minutes, calendar, reviews, etc. Single copy: $2.00. Membership: $25.00/year, subscription only: $15.00/year. Information: NASFA, Inc., PO Box 4857, Huntsville AL 35815-4857.
Prometheus Vol. 31 No. 2 (Winter 2013) and Vol. 31 No. 3 (Spring 2014), quarterly newsletter of the Libertarian Futurist Society with news, interviews, reviews, letters, etc. Membership: $25.00/year basic or $50.00/year full. Non-member subscriptions: $20.00 per year, $25.00 international. Information: Libertarian Futurist Society, 650 Castro St. Suite 120-433, Mountain View CA 94041; e-mail:
P.S.F.S. News (January 2014), newsletter of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society with news, meeting minutes, calendar, convention information, etc. Information: PSFS Secretary, Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, PO Box 8303, Philadelphia, PA 19101-8303; e-mail:
CATALOGS RECEIVED
B. Brown and Associates, 3534 Stone Way N., Seattle WA 98103; phone: (206) 634-1481 or toll-free (888) 634-1481; email:
Cargo Cult Books & Notions, 2804 Stuart St., Berkeley CA 94705, phone: (510) 549-3018; e-mail:
DreamHaven Books; 2301 E. 38th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55406; phone: (612) 823-6161; e-mail:
Wrigley Cross Books; PMB 455, 2870 NE Hogan Rd., Ste E, Gresham OR 97030; phone: (503) 667-0807; toll free: (877) 694-1467; e-mail:
Return to In This Issue listing.
CORY DOCTOROW: COLD EQUATIONS AND MORAL HAZARD
Legendary science fiction editor Gardner Dozois once said that the job of a science fiction writer was to notice the car and the movie theater and anticipate the drive-in – and then go on to predict the sexual revolution. I love that quote, because it highlights the key role of SF in examining the social consequences of technology – and because it shows how limited our social imaginations are. Today, we might ask the SF writer to also predict how convincing the nation’s teenagers to carry a piece of government-issued photo ID (a driver’s license) as a precondition for participating in the sexual revolution set the stage for the database nation, the idea that people are the sort of thing that you count and account for, with the kind of precision that the NSA is now understood to bring to the problem.
The thing I treasure about science fiction is its utility as a toolkit for thinking about the relationship between technological change and human beings. This is why I value ‘‘design fiction’’ so much: an architect might make a visualization that flies you through her as-yet-unbuilt building, an engineer might build a prototype to show you what he’s thinking of inventing, but through design fiction, a writer can take you on a tour of how a person living with that technology might feel. That’s the kind of contribution to the discussion about which technology we should make, and how we should use it, that can make all the difference.
Like you, I am a human being alive in a period of unprecedented technological upheaval, and like you, I’m a person who reads a lot of science fiction. Every question today, from climate change to education, from social justice to public health, is an intensely technological one. Like you, I unconsciously parse out complex technological questions all day long: at the grocery store, at the office, at home, and out in the wider world. My impressions of daily life are often accompanied by remembered scenes from stories and novels.
Two of these stories have been coming to mind more often than the others lately, and not because of their wisdom: rather, because they embody the worst parts of modern shortsightedness. They present a kind of blueprint for disaster, a willful and destructive blindness whose self-deception is perfectly mirrored in these two classics of SF.
The first is ‘‘The Cold Equations’’, Tom Godwin’s classic 1954 Astounding story about a shuttle pilot who has to kill a girl who has stowed away on his ship. The pilot, Barton, is on a mission to deliver medicine to a group of explorers on a distant world. They have contracted a fatal disease, and without the medicine, they will all die. The pilot has just gotten underway when he sees his fuel gauge dropping at a faster rate than it should. He deduces from this that there’s a stowaway aboard and after a search, he discovers a young girl.
She has stowed away in order to be reunited with her brother, who is on the plague-stricken world (though he’s a continent away from the sickness). She believes that she is to be fined for her rule-breaking, but then a stricken Barton explains the facts of the universe to her. The rescue ship has only enough fuel to reach the plague-planet, and with the girl’s additional mass, it won’t arrive. She will have to be pushed out of the airlock, otherwise the sick explorers will die of the plague. If Barton could, he’d sacrifice himself to let her live, but she can’t land the spaceship. It’s entirely out of his hands.
As the truth dawns on her, she weeps and protests: ‘‘I didn’t do anything!’’
But we know better, as does Barton – and as, eventually, does she. She has violated the laws of physics. The equations are there, and they say she must die. Not because th
e universe thirsts for her vengeance. There is no passion in her death. She must die because the inescapable, chilly math of the situation demands it.
Barton wanted her to live. Apparently, editor John W. Campbell sent back three rewrites in which the pilot figured out how to save the girl. He was adamant that the universe must punish the girl.
The universe wasn’t punishing the girl, though. Godwin was – and so was Barton (albeit reluctantly).
The parameters of ‘‘The Cold Equations’’ are not the inescapable laws of physics. Zoom out beyond the page’s edges and you’ll find the author’s hands carefully arranging the scenery so that the plague, the world, the fuel, the girl and the pilot are all poised to inevitably lead to her execution. The author, not the girl, decided that there was no autopilot that could land the ship without the pilot. The author decided that the plague was fatal to all concerned, and that the vaccine needed to be delivered within a timeframe that could only be attained through the execution of the stowaway.
It is, then, a contrivance. A circumstance engineered for a justifiable murder. An elaborate shell game that makes the poor pilot – and the company he serves – into victims every bit as much as the dead girl is a victim, forced by circumstance and girlish naivete to stain their souls with murder.
Moral hazard is the economist’s term for a rule that encourages people to behave badly. For example, a rule that says that you’re not liable for your factory’s pollution if you don’t know about it encourages factory owners to totally ignore their effluent pipes – it turns willful ignorance into a profitable strategy.
‘‘The Cold Equations’’ is moral hazard in action. It is a story designed to excuse the ship’s operators – from the executives to ground control to the pilot – for standardizing on a spaceship with no margin of safety. A spaceship with no autopilot, no fuel reserves, and no contingency margin in its fuel calculations.
‘‘The Cold Equations’’ never asks why the explorers were sent off-planet without a supply of vaccines. It never asks what failure of health-protocol led to the spread of the disease on the distant, unexplored world.
Locus, March 2014 Page 6