My name is Jason Sizemore. If I had to guess, I’d say not many of you have heard of me. I’m a small fry in the genre cooker. But like a lot of people in the business of words, I wear many hats. I write (I just sold my first short story collection!). I edit (Stoker Award-nominated as an editor). I publish. That last one is important. It’s my one claim to fame and notoriety, and I abuse it for as much personal gain as possible: I’m the owner and editor-in-chief of Apex Publications, a publisher of quality dark SF, dark fantasy, and horror. In fact, I’m pretty sure the whole Apex thing helped me land this terrific gig.
Short bio: I live in Lexington, KY, where I work as a software developer for the state’s Department of Education. I moonlight (about 30-40 hours a week) as a book & magazine (Apex Magazine) publisher. I’m 35 years old. I received a Bachelor’s Degree in computer science from one of those hippie liberal art schools—Transylvania University (and yes, it is a real college, minus the vampires but choked full of hairy frat boys that could certainly pass as werewolves). My heroes include but are not limited to: Ellen Datlow, Mary Doria Russell, Deb Taber, Brian Keene, Cherie Priest, Tom Piccirilli, Alethea Kontis, and Mary Robinette Kowal. I really like Neil Gaiman, but he’s blocked my number and no longer answers my calls.
Pablo Defendini and the wonderful people at Tor.com deserve a shout out for giving me a platform to talk about small press publishing, the chores of editing, and the perils of being a writer.
So, remember earlier when I described myself as a small fry? Yeah, well, it’s true, and it took a small amount of coaxing by Pablo to convince me to join the blogging team. I’m a small press guy. Tor is something akin to what many small press publishers want to become at least in terms of roster talent and revenue. What can Mr. Small Fry Guy add to the genre conversation that would interest the readers of Tor.com?
It wasn’t until one afternoon at work, while staring at the cover of the same issue of Architecture Monthly (March, 1992) that had been in residing in the men’s bathroom stall for the last 18 months, that an idea occurred to me.
I could fight against the prejudices many people have toward the small press. I would become a voice for the scorned and mistrusted small press industry.
And do you know why?
Not all of us exist only to publish poorly edited anthologies with crappy Poser covers.
Not all of us exist only to self-publish our crappy horror novels.
Not all of us exist just to be existing, to be able to say “Hey, I am a publisher.”
Nope, some of us want to succeed, grow up into a Tor-sized monster of publishing (or at least become a successful, respected small press publisher such as Subterranean, Soft Skull Press, Prime, Snow Books, Raw Dog Screaming Press, and others). We want to bring quality product to you for your dollars lots of your dollars.
Therefore, I will endeavor to focus on the great aspects of the small press.
I want to highlight great writers from the small press folds that you should be reading. I want to point out titles that are worth your time and expense. I want to show you the smart people who work their tails off for little or no recompense just to be doing something they love.
I want to show you the people who do it right. Maybe we’ll both learn a little something along the way.
