reece

Two things I hate about Three Crow Press.

1. I don't have enough money to publish more authors.

2. Sending out rejections.

Three Crow is paid out of my pocket. It's not a bottomless pit. If it were, I'd own more cars. We may not pay a lot but it adds up. My day job goes to pay for it. Sadly, that's the happiest part of the Hates.

The worst part is sending out rejections. I try to be nice about it. This time around we were seriously loaded down with them and the reviewers all had stuff piling up. Whacking down the subs to an acceptable amount was hard and then sorting out the yes, maybe and no piles was a bitch.

There is always a few that are right on the edge. Some move on. Some don't. Today I sent out the letters. God, it kills me.

The love part? Sending out the Acceptance letters. Really. That's a win. Okay, so now I have to pay the author but that's okay.

Now that submissions are hacked back, we can take a breath and go for round two. Yes, more submission. Less of a flood but still, since each story should be weighed against what we can accept, how many i can pay for and most of all, how good it is... I'd rather be late in accepting than rush to rejection.

Latest Issue of Three Crow Press is Now Live: www.threecrowpress.com
November 2009, Issue Five, Volume One

Fiction
3am, Lights Flickering by TW Williams
Alice by Jared W. Vickery
Bloodreader by Erin Cashier
In the Primal Library by Aaron Polson
Let Love Flow by Gerard Brennan
May Spirit by Francesca Forrest
Tasi's Truth Lives in the Sea by Suzanna Kolevski
Winderskin by Kenneth Mark Hoover

Author Interview
Bruce Golden

Featured Artist
Cecily Webster (Phantom Queen Artist)

Reviews and Articles
On the Edge by Ilona Andrews
Angel Time by Anne Rice
Hunting Grounds by Patricia Briggs

State of the Crow - Morrígan Books

Now no one here probably isn't on my personal account but I'll give a minor update.

1. First book of Kai (doesn't that sound like a Bible or something) is done. It's with the Betas.

2. Second book of Kai will be started probably in about half an hour depending on if I get a phone call or not. If call comes, then an hour.

3. I am armed with a Yoshi-cat so my writing can begin. I am wondering if other writers similarly arm themselves with a cold or hot drink which will then be ignored until warm and a cat. I have removed all of the cat hair from my laptop keyboard with a plastic card. I'm not sure how the hair gets under the keys as said cats don't go near the laptop.

4. I have about sixty submissions left to go through for Three Crow Press. I do need more erotica as that's a bit lean and for some reason, I've not found any urban fantasy in the subs yet. Really, when did I start publishing a sci-fi/fantasy/horror literary magazine? It boggles my mind but is rather funny.

5. There do need to be a few more reviews for November. I owe one for On The Edge, which I thoroughly enjoyed. And I need to hit up Anya Bast for an interview for our Erotica issue. Isn't Anya (anyabast) disgustingly gorgeous? She also has a toddler who had her "princess barbies" savaged by dinosaurs today.

Actually ilona_andrews is disgustingly gorgeous too. Both of them.

Strangely enough, I seem to be very busy for someone who is not considered successful.

Beta Shadows Bloom (Due NOW)
Cover For CSI Peat Bog (Due NOW)
Postcards For Dead Souls (Due NOW)
Postcards For Phantom Queen (Due NOW)
Post Cards For CSI Peat Bog (Due NOW)
Write 3000 Words A Day To Finish Current Project in two weeks
Reformat Dead Souls Book (5.5 x 8.5)
Reformat Dead Souls Cover (5.5 x 8.5)
Reformat Grants Pass Book (5.5 x 8.5)
Reformat Grants Pass Cover (5.5 x 8.5)
Finish Current Project To Get Back To Editing Urban Fantasy Kai
Cover For Second Storey
Read Submissions For Three Crow (About 50) (Due Next Week)
Finalize Interview w/ Jeri Ready-Smith for Drops of Crimson
Review for On The Edge for Three Crow Press

Now I don't want a wibble from a certain magpie about her story. She knows who I am talking about *coffs* TAMM *coffs*

I do name things in production in my head. CSI Peat Bog is in reality The Red Hand of Crime which I keep wanting to make the Red Badge of Courage so CSI Peat Bog is easier. Also, up to a day ago, I didn't really know the name. My brain is on a first come first need info retrieval.

Submissions for Three Crow are at a brimming point. I have to go through them to knock some out.

Morrigan Books is going to be at FCon again. I hope Mark has a better time of driving around then he did last time.

I wear a lot of hats. One of the many hats includes editor for Three Crow Press, an online ezine. It's not a HUGE magazine but one that I think serves the market well and seems to be chugging along on its way.

One of the things about Three Crow is that it's without advertising. I decided that I would carry the cost of the zine when I peed on it ... wait, that's a different method of marking. Let me rephrase. In looking at costs of running the zine, I decided I could carry it...and I would carry it so I could put out something about four times a year, down from every other month. I have lovely co-editors who read the slush along with me and we have a sense of false democracy. I'm honest. If I could afford to put in twenty stories, I would. As it is, the zine crept up from six to about ten stories at 3000 each. Paying out at a penny a word, it can get pretty steep but I think it's worth it.

Why am I discussing finances? Because the issue of accepting reprints came up. And I had to really decide "Do I Want To Pay For A Reprint?"

We have in the past but I've mulled over it and decided I really didn't want to. Not because we're "above" reprints or any such nonsense but because I have limited space and time to produce Three Crow. While a reprint is an "Established Piece", Three Crow really isn't an Establishment.

When I assumed the Three Crow mantle, I (mistakenly) thought the zine would follow my tastes in books. More contemporary. Urban fantasy. Not very literary (Not that there's anything wrong with that) but more... of what's out there in the marketplace.

So imagine my surprise when this turned into a more literary magazine with some stories that were skirting the out there and beyond. Coupled with the avant-garde non-fiction articles that we seem to pull in and the wonderful interviews we are given, Three Crow is kind of like that curios shoppe on the corner. You have to stop in and just browse. You never know what you might find.

So back to the reprint issue. I decided with said limited resources and all that nonsense that prohbits me from having a bi-weekly ezine, that I would offer the funds to stories that have not been out there yet. To authors who have not sold that story. I felt that it was important to spread the readership's exposure to those different authors or perhaps a different story from a familiar author.

We're not big, not by any means. But I think we're dedicated. Or at least committed. To which sanitarium, I don't know as I can't read the label on the back of my strait jacket but I'll get back to you as soon as I can make it out.

So yes, that's the hat I had to wear today. Sometimes it's a bit uncomfortable... I hate turning down someone... but I think.. for Three Crow... it's a good call. Now to win the lottery so I can do that bi-weekly zine I want.

The saga of ink density continues... (to learn more about ink density, I'll link you to a brief tutorial. Or a handy way you can escape this rant.)

Now, I've worked with print for a long time. Little did I know that I've never worked with a company who set a low ink saturation (density) level for printing covers or advertisement pieces. Until now.

Lightning Source was to print Grants Pass but after a long go around with the cover, we finally had to bail out on them. Basically, they kept insisting that they needed an ink density of 240% for the cover's PDF. Now, I've never had to work with limiting my ink that far down (really, I rarely overink) so I figure; Okay, maybe there's an equipment thing or some odd Euro bit. I go about limiting down the ink density and still they can't "work with the file".

I send it to my printer up the road (okay so they're about 40 miles up the road) and I say; Hey guys, I'm printing this on standard paperbook cover stock. Problem with it? They call back and give me an Er? No, it's all good. What's the problem? When I relay the "ink density" matter, I hear a bit of silence and then... Well, that's crap. What the hell are they printing on? Toilet Paper?

Now the cover isn't saturated with a rich black. I couldn't use a true superblack because I've got too much variation on the front cover and I didn't want the blues and whites to band against a super black. Now I'm not a hardcore colourist. I'm not. But I can do a damned cover. Yeah I like doing them but I'm not fooling myself, it's not the Sistine Chapel. It should look good. Be able to be printed at the most at 600 dpi and not look like someone did it in Paint. I don't oversaturate. Never have. Don't like the way it looks.

Pretty easy requirements.

That is until you run into a printer that can't print.

I'd scaled down the ink density to below 240 because even at 240, they couldn't handle it. I wasn't too pleased with the result. Not at all. I expressed this and said... meh. MEH! It went brown-black. Hated it. By this time, they'd already tanked the deadline and we're in the arears for the Con to get any books.

Screw it. Going elsewhere. It just doesn't look good. It really doesn't.

Oh and the original file's "ink density"? 280

The default mix for "true black"? 300

I'm back now. Really. So how are things with all of you?

Morrigan Books: Finally put Grants Pass to bed. Lightning Source was well... neither Lightning nor a Source. I can't even wrap my brain around the issues they had with the cover. It was something I'd never heard about and I've been around for a bit. But we finally had to go with Lulu to get it out the door. Now we're looking at a few PODs and honestly, Amazon's CreateSpace looks inviting. But that's not up to me.

Sometimes it's good to shirk responsibility.

Got the document file for Dead Souls. I'll be typesetting that over the next few days. We just have to decide upon a book size before I begin to lay down text. Can't format until I know margins.

Three Crow Press: It's almost open submission time again. Come September first, the floodgates will be open. I'll have to ping the co-editors about work flow. And notify Ralan and Duotrope to change the listings. Debating another erotica issue. Not the Solstice one... I'll need time to brace my thoughts against the octopus leavenings.

Smokestack Lightning: I love the title but alas, the average person would probably not know of the phrase. Or the song. Or even the song's reference in Fire Woman (and in a by blow... Born to be Wild). Tangent. I get off on them apparently.

I edited the prologue and Chapter One. I left a lot of it but tightened up One a bit. Two is really going to be the bear because there's a lot to redo and chop in but I think it can work. I've got a few places that are earmarked for revision. But it should go fairly quickly once I sit down and do it.

And continue to do it. Then off to the rounds.

I think I've made a decision.

Smokestack Lightning.

No really, it's been a rough week on the jobs front and sadly, as always, the writer has to sit in the back of the bus.

I have the first Kai manuscript to edit and I really need to get into the headspace to start editing it. I'm also still mulling over titles. The tentative one so far is Slipping On Shadows, which my mind keeps making Sipping on Shadows and I might even go there instead. Because, like naming a dog or a cat, if you keep calling the animal one name when you've named it something else... that's its name.

I think the same thing can be said about people. Hence the multitude of odd nicknames that are out there and the default nicknames for most local kids of Brudda or Boy for the son or Sister for the daughter.

Three Crow Press: I need one non-fiction review of Karin Lowachee's world that is coming from the esteemed emmyjag and the State of the Crow [Morrigan Books] from markdeniz, both of whom I realized haven't friended this LJ yet so I could possibly be free to slander them if I so choose.

The artist for the December issue of Three Crow Press will be Cecily Webster, the artist who did Phantom Queen's masthead and panels. It'll be a nice tie in to its release.


click image for larger picture

Morrigan Books: Grants Pass' cover is still being a pain to work with but not so much the cover, which is done but the actual printers who keep saying that it has an overrun on its max ink density and want it down to 240. Thing is, the file that they were sent was 240 and I adjusted it again to drop below the threshold... not something I like to do because it skewed the blues into the purple range a bit and I'm afraid it will dingy the blacks. I'm really not happy with that but it's only a few points of a drop so we'll see what happens. It could be like so many things, what I see isn't what the world sees.

Phantom Queen 2: I will have to organize my thoughts and look at the spread. Have to discuss the particulars still.

I have an art thing that I need to do but for the life of me.... I can't recall what it is. It's more than likely to customize this LJ.

Several projects are coming into the starting gate for me.


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Phantom Queen is starting to finalize out so Morrigan Books will be ramping up its production process shortly. I'm not typesetting this one (heh) and I've yet to see the interior art but I know Cecily Webster (the artist) work from her initial contact with Three Crow Press and Morrigan Books. When I first saw her submission, I knew I had to have her somewhere in the MB universe. I'm glad she got to do PQ. Now if I can just get markdeniz to forward me the art so I can see it. :D I'm hoping that they are... the rough Irish sketchy images I saw in draft.

I actually got word this morning about Phantom Queen II [2] [B] and the project is a go. I have a list of authors on the initial invite list and as soon as I get some idea on budget, word count and where I'm taking it, I'll send out the invite list and the parameters. After I fill in my "wish list", I'll see if there is room for open submission. Where PQ 1 is "ancient Morrigan", PQ 2 will be "urban Morrigan" so it'll be urban fantasy / spec fiction set in this world or just off this world. If PQ 3 happens, it'll be "alternative Morrigan", steam punk, more AU and perhaps even sci-fi (ish).



The first is Dead Souls for Morrigan Books.
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I'm in an odd place with this one because one of my stories was accepted into this anthology and I also did the cover. Dead Souls has a ... history.. .behind it and suffice it to say, it really is the Phoenix of Morrigan. I feel a bit odd about submitting to this book because well, I work for Morrigan. So I'm of two minds about submitting. Yes, I did go through the same process of the review like everyone else. Do I think Tatsu is a good story? I have to go back and read it now that I've had some distance. I liked it at the time. ( Cut for length )

and we are live.

February 2009 - Issue One, Volume Two
This issue deals with erotica - it is not work safe.
Front Page is work safe.

Fiction
Look But Don't Touch by Fran Walker
Eye Candy by Joe Nazare
Lucinda by Gerard Brennan
Need by Jean Langill
Scoring Too by Carl Hose
So Hot by John Miller
Transmission by Michael R. Fosburg
Wolf Spider by Mina Kelly

Author Interview -
Stacia Kane by T.A. Moore

Featured Artist -
Kiriko Moth by T.A. Moore and Reece Notley

Reviews and Articles
World Review - Anya Bast: Elemental Witch Series - by J. Lee Moffatt
The C Word by Stacia Kane
Lust and the Bad Boy by Reece Notley
State of the Crow - Morrigan Books

This was written for a specific anthology so... since it wasn't accepted, I can post it here.

It's rather longish.

Teeth and Bone( sliced for length )

Hello, and welcome to my LJ. Some of you know me. Some of you are wandering in for which ever reason brought you here. This will be my "official" author livejournal for the series of books that I want to get published.

Can't say that I'll be interesting, or that I'll update a lot until I have something going. I do however at this time have four rejections and 1 request for materials. So, welcome to the long ride of looking for an agent and well, pimping out bits of my brain.

Snookies.