Mount Zion Town Cryer

The spring 2006 issue (technically Vol. 1 No. 2, or V1N2) is coming together nicely.  It may not be quite as thick as V1N1, but I am very pleased with the quality of stories.  It will include a few longer pieces (hey, with 120-160 pages to fill we can afford the space).  Oddly enough I've purchased 3 stories from writers from the UK.  One is definitely not Appalachian, but the end is subtly terrifying.  Another is very short and gruesome--and very good.  The third is well-written and mighty troublesome. 

What is it with you Brits?  Ain't got any small press mags of yer own? 

We also have a few repeats: Ron Shiflet with a nice Lovecraftian tale, Mark Allan Gunnells sent a fine ghost story, Eric S. Brown evidently has a soft place for zombies, and Danny Adams continues to impress us with his tales of Appalachian fantasy (obviously written by a native son).

We hope to have V1N2 ready by the middle of April.  My family is moving, though, so that may slow us down a bit. 

If you've been in touch with us about illustrations:  sorry, time has slipped to far away from us that we'll probably be using photos only this issue.  We do have some nice photos from cameras other than Mike's and mine this issue.  John Stanton, our very first paying customer and our first subscriber, has sent us several. 

Keep sending stories and poems.  I'd love to be an issue ahead on content. 

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This weekend Mike and I did some serious thinking.  We are very pleased with the success we’ve had so far, and I can easily see things continuing at their current pace without much effort.  Still, I feel like we are at an important time in the life of MZSFR.  The second issue will be out soon (our goal is early April) and it will be physically similar to the first issue.  Nonetheless, some niggling in my brain tells me that now is the time to break through to the next level.  We have the market cornered on a certain type of fiction and several well-wishers have approved of my editorial choices.  We have had two issues to figure out the basics; I’m ready for Publishing 201 (Advanced Small Press). 

Or not.  But my motto is, “Begin before you’re ready.” If you wait until you’re ready, you’ll never get started. 

What is the next level? 

Better pay for contributors.  An honest-to-goodness printer.  A barcode so we can snag a distributor.

What’s holding MZSFR back? 

Money.  I am still hoping to find a printing partner that will allow us to keep the cover cost at or below $6.  Registering a barcode and ISSN ain’t cheap. 

What can we do? 

Ah, “there’s the rub,” as the Bard said.  I am trying to figure out what we can do cheaply to spread the word.  This week I will be designing a banner ad to swap with our friends.  If you have a website, email me if you’d display it for us.  If you are a regular in a forum, tell folks how great we are. (And what a value! You can’t buy 156 printed pages of anything for $4.)

If you have any ideas, pass them along.  Just post a comment below.

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From time to time Mike and I google “Mount Zion Press” or “Mount Zion Speculative Fiction Review” and see what comes up.  The first time we did it we received a much needed (at that point) shot of confidence.

Having just googled, I discovered that Jason Sizemore’s “Preacher Ira May Bowling” is up for the Southeastern Science Fiction Achievement Award, administered by scidimensions.  Pretty cool. Here’s the whole list.

Of course, he’s nominated for a few other stories too, so I’m not sure what’s going on.  Can you nominate yourself?  Nah.  Way to go Jason.

In case you didn't already know.  Jason publishes the great and getting greater Dark SciFi mag Apex Digest. 

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Feeling the Heat

About two weeks ago Mike and I were thinking we had things well under control.  We knew we had a good stock of stories (maybe almost enough to fill V1N2), plenty of time before our final proof deadline, and more experience than last time around.

 Suddenly we are about a month from our April deadline and felling the heat.  We need more good stories.  We need art.  We...

We will get it done.  I had hoped to have some kinks worked out before V1N2, but alas, not to be.  Finances are tight and Mount Zion's budget is hand to mouth (we hoped to sell more copies so we could buy more toner).  We need a computer and software upgrade.  More importantly, I am hoping to find a printing partner so Mike and I can get out of the hand printing biz.  That's right, every copy of MZSFR has our fingerprints on it.  I staple; Mike folds the covers; I glue; Mike stacks tight to cool. 

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