We are completely aware of the backlog of submissions and are going to spend January tackling it. We are closed for submissions until February. Since we hadn’t made an official blog post about it till today, the stories that have arrived before noon, Jan 3, Eastern Standard Time, will still be considered.
Sorry for the delay, folks. Here’s a note from AQ wrangler, Dave:
Hey all,
Dave Thompson here.
Just wanted to let everyone know that the Alphabet Quartet is coming, but it looks like it’s going to be coming a little bit later than we’d originally hoped.
I am sincerely sorry for the delay – we’d hoped to get it to you by the beginning of July. That said, I’ve put a lot of time into it, as has Wilson Fowlie (who is working as the sound producer), and we don’t want to give something unless we’re completely happy with it.
As I said, it is coming, and it should be coming soon. I’ll definitely keep you all updated as to when you can expect it.
Thanks for your patience. I’m looking forward to sharing all these stories with you.
Hey folks,
We’re very sorry for the downtime of the last day or two, and I’m very sorry to also say that it may continue for another few days while we sort through some server issues that have affected the blogs, forums, and RSS feeds. Though we are hopeful that we’ve gotten things fairly well fixed for now.
Please let us know here if you are having issues with the blogs or RSS feeds at this thread on our forums. Or if they go back down, please email me at bill at escapeartists period net.
Thanks for your patience,
–Bill
We were delighted to hear that Escape Pod has been nominated for the SFX Blog Awards in the “Best SF Podcast” category! If you’re inclined, check out all the nominations and the fantastic blogs, and vote!
Due to an overabundance of flash submissions, we’ll be closed to them while we sort out a release schedule. Please do not send us stories under 2000 words until you read otherwise on this site. (Or until we have another contest!)
Hey Folks,
Quick programming note: Escape Pod will be closed to submissions for the month of December. This is partly to get though a slight backlog of stories in the system now and also because as we get closer to the end of the pro-rate experiment we’ve got some things to figure out.
I never know how to end these things, so I’ll steal from Mur and—
Be Mighty,
–Bill
You’ve asked, and we’ve answered! Through the miracle of The Internet and RSS, we bring you more customized feeds!
Please note- most of these stories are picked automatically (via categories on the site) and so it’s possible there may be a story in the For Kids feed, for example, that while not objectionable, may contain content that your kid won’t be interested in. There’s a difference between “for kids” and “family friendly.” Moving forward, the kid feed will contain only “for kids” stories.
Hi SF fans!
I wanted to talk about some changes that are happening here at Escape Pod.
First: DON’T PANIC. What you love about Escape Pod – free stories every Thursday – is not changing. At all. We’re not removing things as a change, we’re adding things.
Second: For a while, this site has been little more than a delivery device for the podcast. But now we’re going to add commentary, reviews, and news. We need help, though. If you’re interested in volunteering material for the blog, simply email me and let me know what you’d like to contribute.
Third: Escape Pod is raising its rates. That’s right folks, we’re shooting for the stars and going for an SFWA pro rate format. We’ll be paying $.05 a word for new stories (maximum $300), $.03 a word for reprints (minimum $100). We’re doing this for a couple of reasons- authors deserve to be paid, of course. We’re hoping we can attract a greater caliber of authors, which will therefore grow our audience. Along with the rate increase, we’ll be asking for ebook rights to the stories so we can print them on our site, which will bring in a bigger audience. The rate increase will start with stories I accept after October 1, 2010.
A side note- we’ll only be able to pay pro rates if the donations help us do so. we’re doing a six month trial; if our donations stay strong, it’ll be a permanent change for 2011, if they don’t, then in April we will drop back down to $100 a story. This depends on your support of the site.
Alternately, if you’re a media publisher of any kind — television, movies, video games, a book seller, or just an indie author who wants to sponsor Escape Pod, that will help us out while also promoting you to tens of thousands of listeners. You can email amanda at escapeartists.net for current rates and details.
For anyone among the tens of thousands of SF fans attending Dragon*Con in Atlanta this weekend: for the third year, we’re hosting a meetup along with Cunning Minx of the Polyamory Weekly podcast.
The meetup’s at 11 AM on Sunday, September 6 at the Gordon Biersch Brewpub at 848 Peachtree Street:
Minx has an RSVP list for headcount purposes at:
http://twtvite.com/cz4lk4
The brewpub’s about a mile north of the con, which makes for a long walk; but it’s an easy taxi ride, and we’re talking about bringing some people to carpool together as well. Drop me a line at sfeley@gmail.com with your cell number or post in the forum thread if you need to coordinate transportation.
We look forward to seeing many of you there!
A few announcements. The full text is on the forum. Please visit that link to comment, as well. Thanks!