04-20-2010, 04:03 PM | #1 |
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Are there publishers like Baen but for other genres?
I love the business model of Baen books and would enjoy something like Webscriptions where there is a package you can get every month, DRM-free, at a great price like that. And the free library is a nice touch too.
But I don't read a ton of sci-fi. And not THAT kind of sci-fi. If only Baen published mystery instead of sci-fi, they would probably be my favourite ebook store. Are there any publishers doing something like Webscriptions but for mystery and other genres? |
04-20-2010, 08:22 PM | #2 |
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"THAT kind of scifi"? What do you mean by that? Baen has a pretty broad range of the whole genre, including fantasy.
But to answer your question, no I don't know any other genre publisher like that. |
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04-20-2010, 08:57 PM | #3 |
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Short answer: no, nobody else is anywhere near as ebook-savvy as Baen.
Long answer: take a closer look at Baen. The free library. Maybe pick up a book or two. You might be surprised if you actually *try* some of the content. (Dunno if you have, but... It doesn't sound as if you have.) Upfront, try Lois McMaster Bujold's MOUNTAINS OF MOURNING from the free library. It's, technically, a murder mystery. But just technically. There's a lot more going on in there than a whodunnit. (Bujold has several other similar volumes in the Vorkossigan Series; Cetaganda, Memory, Komar, Diplomatic Immunity, all highly aclaimed. Though personally my favorite work of hers is A CIVIL CAMPAIGN, which is pretty much unique; you don't see too many comedies of manners in any genre these days, much less SF.) The lady can write. Period. You may also want to Check out LORD DARCY, a collection of somewhat "different" murder mysteries. Take a look at the fantasies and humor. (The Retief stories are fairly droll, PANDORA'S PLANET is a romp--wild and convoluted but funny if you enjoy screwball comedy). And then there's Esther Friesner anthologies... Even their hard science SF is quite approachable; you don't need to be an SF regular to enjoy stuff like BOUNDARY (a paleontological mystery about a very odd fossil in a very odd place) or INHERIT THE STARS (a corpse is found on the moon. Human. 50,000 years old. It's been described as CSI: Clavius. Even better is Hogan's THRICE UPON A TIME. About a triple murder mystery where the victim is humanity itself. Three times.) There's a lot more to Baen than just adventure SF and there's a lot more to SF than just adventure and space opera. Give it a try; that's what the free library is for, after all. What do you have to lose beyond an hour or so of time? |
04-21-2010, 08:04 AM | #4 |
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04-21-2010, 08:27 AM | #5 | |
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The Webscriptions catalog is well vested in fantasy, urban fantasy, hard sf, spoofs and romps, alternate history, mystery, juveniles, and other genre variants. They may be home to some of the more prominent practicioners of military sf, but it hardly consumes them. Edit: Here, check this list of their more prominent series: http://www.webscription.net/c-9-series.aspx 76 different series, hardly focused on military sf. Not with stuff like: PIGS DON'T FLY CHICKS IN CHAIN MAIL FAFHRD AND THE GRAY MOUSER WITCHES OF KARRES HALFLIFE CHRONICLES ETHICAL VAMPIRES VORKOSIGAN SAGA BARD'S TALE GRANTVILE GAZETTE/RING OF FIRE Or sample their Free Library: http://www.baen.com/library/ Free books, no strings attached. Except the stories might prove to be starter drugs. So no, their is a lot more to Webscriptions and Baen than military SF. Just look at the authors they carry: John Joseph Adams Jerry Ahern Sharon Ahern Aaron Allston James G. Anderson Poul Anderson Christopher Anvil Catherine Asaro Chuck Asay Neal Asher Nancy Asire Robert Asprin Paolo Bacigalupi Jim Baen Kage Baker Margaret Ball Laird Barron Elizabeth Bear Greg Bear Clare Bell Gregory Benford Nigel Bennett Ben Bova Steven R. Boyett Leigh Brackett Marion Zimmer Bradley Jeff Bredenberg Poppy Z. Brite Damien Broderick Mary Brown M. M. Buckner Lois McMaster Bujold Jaqueline Carey Lillian Stewart Carl John F. Carr Jeffrey A. Carver Paul Chafe Jack L. Chalker A. Bertram Chandler C. J. Cherryh Julie Cochrane Hal Colebatch Stoney Compton Glen Cook Rick Cook Seamus Cooper Sharon Cooper Larry Correia John Dalmas Ellen Datlow L. Sprague deCamp John DeChancie Virginia DeMarce Andrew Dennis Bradley Denton Gordon R. Dickson William C. Dietz Thomas M. Disch Chris Dolley James Doohan L. Warren Douglas David Drake Dave Duncan Doranna Durgin Rosemary Edghill George Alec Effinger Greg Egan Harlan Ellison P. N. Elrod Terry England Linda Evans Philip Jose Farmer Bill Fawcett Leslie Fish Eric Flint Michael Flynn Judy Forward Robert L. Forward Leo Frankowski Dave Freer David Friedman Esther Friesner Randall Garrett Roberta Gellis Mark Geston Scott Gier James C. Glass Tom Godwin Arlene Golds Paula Goodlett Roland Green Martin Harry Greenberg Dave Grossman James E. Gunn Ellen Guon Joe Haldeman Edmond Hamilton Matthew Harrington Robert A. Heinlein John Helfers John G. Hemry P. C. Hodgell James P. Hogan Cecelia Holland Sarah Hoyt Matthew Hughes Dean Ing Les Johnson Graham Joyce Richard Kadrey William H. Keith Jr. Caitlín R. Kiernan Jeffery D. Kooistra Marilyn Kosmatka Paul Kozerski Tom Kratman Henry Kuttner Mercedes Lackey Jay Lake John Lambshead John Langan Joe R. Lansdale Keith Laumer Tim Lebbon Sharon Lee Fritz Leiber Murray Leinster Edward M. Lerner Holly Lisle Brian Lumley Nathalie Mallet Barry N. Malzberg Mark O. Martin Anne McCaffrey Robert McCammon Jack McDevitt Charles C. McGraw Shirley Meier Steve Miller Elizabeth Moon Modean Moon Howard L. Myers Larry Niven Ted Nolan Andre Norton Jody Lynn Nye Norvell W. Page Jerry Pournelle Cherie Priest Hank Reinhardt Mike Resnick John Ringo Richard Roach Spider Robinson Selina Rosen Joel Rosenberg Rudy Rucker Fred Saberhagen Pamela Sargent John Scalzi Elizabeth Ann Scarborough James H. Schmitz Martin Scott Mark Sebanc Charles Sheffield Mark Shepherd Susan Shwartz Robert Silverberg Dan Simmons William Mark Simmons Cordwainer Smith L. Neil Smith Walter Spence Wen Spencer Ryk Spoor D. W. St. John Marc Stiegler S. M. Stirling Johnathan Strahan Charles Stross Tim Sullivan Michael Swanwick Howard Tayler Travis S. Taylor Mark Teppo Brian M. Thomsen Mark Tier Harry Turtledove Mark L. Van Name Patrick A. Vanner A. E. Van Vogt Vernor Vinge Karl Edward Wagner Lars Walker David Weber T. K. F. Weisskopf K. D. Wentworth Steve White Liz Williams Walter Jon Williams Michael Z. Williamson Robert Charles Wilson Timothy Zahn Roger Zelazny Its not quite a who's-who of the genre but it's a darn good start. And yes, they do carry some of the big names in combat sf, but even those folks tend to "dabble" in fantasy, political intrigue, and plain old adventure sf from time to time. Last edited by fjtorres; 04-21-2010 at 09:09 AM. |
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04-21-2010, 12:29 PM | #6 |
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I agree with you that Baen is much more than Science fiction. Unfortunately, some of the books are too long for my taste
Oh. I do recommend Tinker by Wen Spencer, it is a great read . Last edited by mikaelalind; 04-21-2010 at 12:44 PM. |
04-22-2010, 10:43 AM | #7 |
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I'm not sure whether angryrobotbooks.com use DRM, but they do publish their ebooks in Epub format and sell them for only £3 UK in most cases. I haven't bought one - yet - from them, so can't say if geographic restrictions apply. But they're clearly an up and coming sf imprint (as well as being part of Harper Collins) and are about as close to the Baen model, certainly in terms of competitive pricing, that I've seen yet. Anyone bought anything from them?
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04-22-2010, 04:49 PM | #8 |
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I checked out their web site and it doesn't look like they actually sell off the site (I found no shopping cart or checkout) but rather use it to promote the books and authors in both p- and e-. They do offer free sample chapters in epub, pdf, and mobi.
More like Tor.com, I think, than Baen's storefront. But a good move by Harper Collins UK. |
04-22-2010, 07:49 PM | #9 | |
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Which is a pretty heavy concentration on military SF, really. Wouldn't a bookstore that was 50% vampire books seem like it was mostly vampire books? Wouldn't a store that was 50% urban fantasy seem like it was mostly urban fantasy? Don't get me wrong; I like Baen very much. But I don't care for most military SF which means the Webscriptions themselves are generally not a good value for me. Sure you can find non-military stuff on Baen, but you have to look for it, which usually means you have to already know which authors you want to check out. There's no equivalent of the "If you like this book you might like" sorts of pages you get on, for example, the Amazon web site. On the other hand, I would *love* to have other publishers do what Baen is doing--making a wider selection of books--mysteries, westerns, historical fiction-- available at Baen style prices with Baen style terms would do nothing but good for e-books and readers. |
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04-22-2010, 10:04 PM | #10 | ||
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Hominids byRobert J. Sawyer is a very good book. It does have an anti military slant, but then again the military is mentioned. I don't know if there is a way to completely filter out EVERYTHING with some mention of the military. But if you want to devote your life to creating a website where people can go for "military free" reading recommendations I think that you should do it. |
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04-22-2010, 10:20 PM | #11 |
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Different folks have different definitions but not every story featuring soldiers or even war is Military SF. That end of the SF spectrum has a lot of variation that is not immediately apparent. Military SF in the strict sense is a very specific sub-genre, where the military aspect is milieu, theme, character, and plot.
The prototype is STARSHIP TROOPERS. (The book, not the horrendous movies.) A lot that outsiders describe as "military SF" is actually old-fashioned Adventure SF, Space Opera, or character-based drama that happens to tap into some military element. The argument is in fact positively ancient as the perception of mainstream SF as "overly millitaristic" goes back to its pre-Campbell origins in the 20's and 30's, but not many folks would go as far as lumping Buck Rogers (Armageddon 2419, actually) or the Skylark Novels, in with STARSHIP TROOPERS or WEST OF HONOR. Ultimately it really doesn't matter what the stuff is called; just whether it is good writing. And BAEN does have a lot of it. To say nothing of Webscriptions, which, let's not forget, carries non-BAEN titles. As a minor example, my most recent purchase from them was for Harlan Ellison's DANGEROUS VISIONS and AGAIN, DANGEROUS VISIONS. I'm hoping they'll soon add the LAST DANGEROUS VISIONS so I can complete the set in ebook form to match my original SFBC hardcovers. :-) |
04-23-2010, 12:03 AM | #12 | |
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As catsittingstill said "Sure you can find non-military stuff on Baen, but you have to look for it...." So maybe they just dislike having to see any "military" references. And as you say "Ultimately it really doesn't matter what the stuff is called; just whether it is good writing. And BAEN does have a lot of it.". And Baen has a lot of my money. In Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer you will see the American government and the military are bad. I'm used to seeing that kind of stuff. The book, though, is otherwise very good. Many authors use the military background of a character as shorthand to say “here is a capable person”. Others say “I emote, therefore I exist, and I have relevance. I am as good as anyone.” Saying that a military, or ex-military person, would be better at handling adversity is anathema to an emotoid. Last edited by HorridRedDog; 04-23-2010 at 12:06 AM. |
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04-23-2010, 03:19 AM | #13 |
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I generally like military SF. However, oddly enough, that's not what I've been buying from Baen. My last purchases were the complete Lankhmar collection (even though the last one sucks), and P.C. Hodgell's new book (and all the rest in that series). I've gotten some of Rick Cook's "Wizardry" series, the Harve Rackham stories by Dean Ing, and one or two others. Now, granted that one reason I didn't buy any military SF is that I have most what I want on dead trees, and most of that duplicated from the Baen Free Library and the CD collections, but still, my recent purchases should be some indication that there's a lot more there.
Heh ... talking about Baen gave me an itch for books ... thanks to y'all, I'm now $20 poorer, and have a few more books. Because two thousand books just wasn't enough. |
04-23-2010, 07:29 AM | #14 |
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I appreciate the recommendations. I don't know much about what ;military' SF is. I did get a free month of webscriptions from someone and I know none of the included books really worked for me. I am more of a straight mystery reader and the only sci-fi I really like is what would probably be more 'paranormal' than straight sci-fi. I was hoping there was a mystery publisher who was doing something like what Baen does.
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04-23-2010, 08:11 AM | #15 | |
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All I saw was a lack of familiarity with the actual books and I was cautioning that appearances/reputation/inferences from promo blurbs can be deceiving. David Drake, for example, is an esablished author of alout military SF and ne of his more prominent series, the RCN/Leary&Mundy stories, has all classical trappings of the same, yet within the series (about a young, dashing, womanizing starship captain and his best friend, a slightly older, female librarian) you'll find all sorts of different kinds of adventures ranging from the oh-so-common "escape from behind enemy lines" to stories of political intrigue in a very Classical-rome milieu, to an outright, 19th century-style travelogue narrative full of colorful planets, cultures, and peoples. As a whole, the RCN series gets classified as military SF (fair enough as far as that goes) but an individual story like the FAR SIDE OF THE STARS most definitely is not, even if it does feature a space battle climax. But the only way to appreciate this is to actually read the thing. Easier to say all the RCN stories are military SF and move on, right? Except for the fact that it is a very good story and an example off the kind of experimenting BAEN does. (It is available for free on one of the BAEN Promo CDs available at the FIFTH IMPERIUM website and the promo CD includes a free audiobook version of the story in DRM-free MP3 format. I nice reading, too. As I said, those folks experiment with publishing tech; they don't stand still pretending its the 19th century out there.) Now, examples/anecdotal evidence is easy to find for any position, of course, but the issue of SF militarism is intrinsic to the genre. Simply put, good drama/adventure comes from conflict and/or danger. SF, naturally, tends to play out large; large in ideas, large in milieus, large in ambition (world-building is usually the smallest part of the author's job), and off course large in scale. And large-scale conflict is but another definition of war. Lost in all the debate (which will not be settled any time soon--it is 80-90 years old I suppose) is that good SF is all about humans (we're the readers and the writers after all) and their ideas, their conflicts (even if often wrapped in alien metaphor) and that humans are by nature tribal. We *always* seek to define ourseves in terms of the familiar vs the alien, us vs them, in every large scale activity. (Even if we have to invent artificial distinctions like sorts team affiliation.) And when these "tribes" come into conflict we invariable end up with War. We are used to thinking of large-scale conflict as war and of war as something to be avoided. Which it is. But the reality is that things that should be avoided can't always be avoided and rarely are. That too is human nature. And it can be discomforting to be confronted with that reality too closely, too often. And since SF at its best aspires to examine/illuminate the so-called human condition by looking at human issues and concerns from other angles, other viewpoints, through story-telling (which, as I've said, involves large scale conflict), good SF is going to inevitably poke at the sore spots that make us uncomfortable. Hence the long-standing debate ad sensitivity about the "militaristic" nature of SF. Which teds to make us long-term consumers of the genre antsy because we are familiar with the genre's aspirations, conventions, and subtleties that are not apparent from the outside, and because a lot of the charges of militarism have *historically* come from outsiders with no real interest in the genre's aspirations. Doesn't mean we're ready to go to war over it but we do get defensive about inaccurate charges. After all, we *have* to defend our tribe, no? |
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