Dr. Martin Rundkvist is a Swedish archaeologist, journal editor, public speaker, skeptic, atheist, lefty liberal, bookworm, and father of two.
I've been a devotee of Escape Pod, the weekly science-fiction short-story podcast, for 2.5 years now. Its audience has grown and grown and grown until Escape Pod is now the world's second-largest paying market for sf short fiction regardless of medium. It's second only to Analog! Steve Eley, who runs the thing, is a fixture in my life, the way Oprah wouldn't be even if I watched TV. Now, in a blog entry, Steve's giving the world a look behind the scenes at Escape Artists, Inc. Though you'd never guess it from Escape Pod's solid record of weekly publication, things have been rough for the guy lately, personal crisis sort of thing, and he's come out of it determined to build a podcasting business. Yes, he's putting even more effort into Escape Pod!
Dear Reader, Escape Pod is a Creative Commons free download, and it's going to remain so. Donations are voluntary: I've been sending them a few bucks now and then, not really keeping tabs on how much it's worked out to per month. Now I've shot them an extra one-time donation and signed up for the suggested monthly: $5. If you're into science fiction and like to listen to podcasts, or if you think you might want to try a first, check out the site and consider signing up, you too!
[More blog entries about sciencefiction, sf, podcasting, escapepod; sciencefiction, sf, podcasting, webbradio, escapepod.]
Comments
I had never heard of it before; have to check it out!
Meanwhile, I have to mention Nature as an unexpectedly good source of short sci-fi; they've used their last page the past few years to publish one-page stories from both professional and amateur writers. The quality is of course predictably uneven but the best ones are among the best stuff I've read anywhere.
Posted by: Janne | March 7, 2008 11:25 AM
Yeah, I've read a few Nature stories in recent Hartwell & Kramer Year's Best Sf anthologies. Good stuff!
Posted by: Martin R | March 7, 2008 11:28 AM
Good work flying the flag for Steve. I will also fix a monthly donation, and I will also preach over at my place. The man does important work and he truly deserves it.
Posted by: paddy | March 7, 2008 5:21 PM
Steve does witty, entertaining and gripping work!
Posted by: Martin R | March 8, 2008 4:05 AM