It's been a busy few months. We'll begin with the (slightly) bad news: we were planning on a January or February shipdate for our rewards. That was, it seems, a bit too ambitious. Some of our authors hit a few snags of their own, and long story short, their stories are delayed. On the way still, don't worry. But a bit slower than we originally planned.
Now the good news: we've every single piece of art ready, and every story ready except one. This means we have layout for our Arthurian special issue complete, and layout for our normal issue almost complete. The moment we get this last story, everything should progress very swiftly. We'll print all the issues, back issues, and assorted goodies, and send them to our fulfillment professional. Then, the Shippening shall commence.
We'll be printing proof copies of Issues 9 and 10 ASAP as well; once we have those ready, we'll be able to create the shipping tables, and open up the Pledge Manager. Which means you all will be able to get your digital rewards too!
Until all that happens (which should be relatively soon), we ask that you hang on for just a bit.
However, where there is good news, there is (occasionally) better news also! We've a full ToC reveal for you all today. Without further ado, here they are.
Issue 9 (the regular dark fantasy/sword and sorcery issue)
"The Mayfly Knight," by Sara Omer "The Pipe a Roaring Tiger," by J.S. Brewer "The Raven and the River Red," by K.H. Vaughan "The Horse that Pulls the Knacker's Cart" by Amelia Gorman "Obedient Flesh," by R.L. Summerling "How Does One Sow Peace?" by Zachary Olson "Ogre," by Mari Ness "Down and Out in the City of Graveyards," by John R. Fultz "By the Fountainside," by Robert Rhodes "The Barn," by John Langan
Issue 10 (the Arthurian special issue)
"Undying," by James Enge "A Toast to the Knights of the Trowly Wood," by R.K. Duncan "What the Water Gave," by E. Catherine Tobler "And He Swiped Off His Wife's Head," by Bryn Hammond "To Human Sucklings," by Matthew Holder "The Worms of Capua," by Francesco Meriano "Killer of Women," by Russell Hugh McConnell "The Vision of Galahad," by Jesse Graves "The Knight in the Mirror," by Daniel A. Rabuzzi "Lamentations of the Moon Priestess," by Silas Bischoff "Thought and Memory," by Marie Brennan "My Father's Body," by e rathke "Feathered Things that Lead Astray," by Mir Rainbird "Romans of an towart phantcy, sanz incipit et explicit," by Liam Q.D. Hall
And as a sneak peak at what the issues might look like, gaze below!
Once again, thank you all so very much for your support and (we hope!) for your patience. These are, we feel, the best issues of Old Moon yet. We cannot wait for you all to see them.
Behold, the cover art for our Arthurian issue, created by the mighty Teresa Ramos (@Teradiam on various social media sites)!
A mighty knight, brought low by most perfidious archers
Production continues apace! We shall have a full ToC reveal within the coming weeks, as well as interior art and (very shortly thereafter) sneak peeks at the spreads!
Let us know what you think about the art in the comments below.
Production continues apace! We have concluded our open submission window, and now have in-hand all of the stories and poems for the upcoming issues, bar one (which is still being revised by its author). This puts right on schedule for our planned release, early next year! We might even have a little something extra to share in the next few weeks, if the stars align.
We've also almost all the art for each issue in hand! We're only waiting on a couple pieces of art for the open submission stories--this is also right on schedule, since we cannot commission the art for them until we've accepted the stories to which said art shall be attached. Thankfully, our beloved artists work with the utmost alacrity!
To wit, an example of the fruits of their labors, displayed below for your perusal, your speculation and, dare we say, your enjoyment.
Art by Rune Hrafnagaldur
A knight? A wildman? How strange! How weird! How deleterious, one might say, of...well, of something, one supposes.
Regardless! We hope this update, however brief, salves some of your collective desire (red-hot though it may be!) for Old Moon. Be on the lookout for more updates soon. Including, perhaps, more art.
And as always, thank you, dear backers. Without you, this magazine (and its lovely art, its lovely stories) would not be possible.
Our submission window concluded on the 7th, and it was our largest yet: over 600 submissions!
We've narrowed everything down to about 18 stories: we believe by the end of the week, we'll have the final selections made.
We have, in fact, sent out our first acceptance letters! Perhaps the most exciting part for us (and for the authors too, we imagine).
The stories commissioned for the BackerKit campaign itself are progressing on schedule: we have the first ones in hand, in fact.
We have the majority of the art for both issues completed. Still to come is the cover for Issue 10 (the Arthurian issue), and some of the interior art for the non-commissioned stories (achieved as part of our stretch goals: thank you, backers!)
To wit: a glimpse at some of said completed art!
Armor? Skulls? Truly, a piece of Old Moon art!
As we reach more of the production milestones, we'll be sure to keep everyone in the loop.
Once again: thank you all for your help, and your support.
First off: thank you all so very, very much for your support. 157% funded is incredible, and we can honestly say we are flabbergasted (gobsmacked, even) by this level of support. These issues will be our coolest, most metal ones yet. And, for what it's worth, our issues which pay the most for both authors and artists! We hit TWO stretch goals, and came within a hairsbreadth of hitting a third. That means MORE ART and MORE PAY for our authors. Our original plan was to have illuminations and such on every page, as well as artwork for the four commissioned stories by E. Catherine Tobler, John Langan, R.L. Summerling, and James Enge. Now every story will have its own artpiece (and some might get more than one). All of our authors will receive nine cents a word. That may not sound like a lot, and we suppose in the long run it isn't. But that makes us the highest paying sword and sorcery magazine in the biz, and one of the highest paying SFF magazines in the world (at least for these two issues). That makes us really happy. And we could only do it because of you all. So once again: thank you.
Now, as for making the thing itself! We have much of the art already. Most of the rest is already in-progress. Our commissioned authors are writing their stories, and we're holding a submission window for the rest of our stories currently. That will run to August 7th. Our goal is to have all art and stories finalized by the autumn. We want the ebook editions of 9 and 10 available in January, and the print editions shortly thereafter. The schedule may flex a bit depending on when our authors and artists deliver their finished work to us. We'll keep everyone updated as things progress!
