APEX PUBLICATIONS ASK YOU TO DO NOT GO QUIETLY AN INTERVIEW WITH JASON SIZEMORE AND LESLEY CONNER

In 2004, publisher Jason Sizemore suffered an early mid-life crisis at the age of 30. Stuck in a go nowhere city job supporting risk management software, the need to do something interesting and exciting overcame him. For better or for worse, he wanted to make a mark on the world.

Thus happened Apex Publications!

What started as a single quarterly print magazine of dark SF short stories (the well-regarded Apex Science Fiction & Horror Digest) has turned into a busy small press with over 40 titles in print and the monthly ezine Apex Magazine.

Along the way, Apex has had the opportunity to publish some of the most exciting and interesting writers in speculative fiction: Brian Keene, Damien Angelica Walters, Douglas F. Warrick, Nick Mamatas, Jennifer Pelland, Lavie Tidhar, Chesya Burke, Chris Bucholz, and many, many more.

Lesley Conner is a writer, social media editor and marketing leader for Apex Publications, and Managing Editor for Apex Magazine. She spends her days pestering book reviewers, proofreading, wrangling slush, doling out contracts, and chatting about books, writing, and anything else that crosses her mind on the @ApexBookCompany Twitter account. Most of her nights are spent with a good book and a glass of wine. Her alternative history horror novel, The Weight of Chains, was recently published by Sinister Grin Press. To find out all her secrets, you can follow her on Twitter at @LesleyConner.

They  are currently running a Kickstarter for Do Not Go Quietly, an anthology of victory in defiance edited by Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner.

Resistance. Revolution. Standing up and demanding to have your space, your say, your right to be. From small acts of defiance to protests that shut down cities, Do Not Go Quietly is an anthology of science fiction and fantasy short stories about those who resist. Within this anthology, they will chronicle the fight for what is just and right, and what that means: from leading revolutions to the simple act of saying “No.”



Head over to Kickstarter now to help them reach 100% funding and bring Do Not Go Quietly to life!

They have fantastic lineup of authors contributing stories that includes such writers as A. Merc Rustad, Rebecca Roanhorse, Maurice Broaddus, Nayad Monroe, Karin Lowachee, Brooke Bolander, John Hornor Jacobs, Laird Barron, Brian Keene, Cassandra Khaw, Sheree Renée Thomas, Catherynne M. Valente, Seanan McGuire, Fran Wilde, Rich Larson, Sarah Pinsker, Tal M. Klein, and J.F. Gonzalez (co-writing with Lesley Conner). But we're looking for more! 

To help promote the campaign Matt Brandenburg sat down with Apex publication overlords  Jason Sizemore and Lesley Connor to talk about the anthology and 

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What was the spark that set this anthology in motion?

Jason – For several years Lesley and I have wanted to edit an anthology together, but finding the right project turned into a challenge. Funding an anthology via Kickstarter is a massive undertaking, therefore when you decide to launch a Kickstarter project it better be for something that you love or believe in passionately.
 
About a year ago during a typical day of work, we started discussing the news of the day. The usual assortment of nonsense was happening. Trump being Trump. Alt-right assholes causing trouble. Blatant disregard of law and decorum by McConnell and Ryan. It was all a bit much. I shared with Lesley my aborted attempts to become involved in social and political discourse on Facebook (it was disastrous).

Soon after, the idea of forming an anthology encouraging and celebrating defiance and resistance via literature coalesced. We had hit on our passion project!
 
- Why do we need Do Not Go Quietly? in our world today?

Lesley – I think that it’s very easy to feel overwhelmed and as if nothing you do is really going to make a difference in the world we live in. I feel like a lot of people are beaten down and ready to tap out and give up. Our goal with Do Not Go Quietly is to inspire people to stand up and make the change they want to see in the world.
 
… And also to feature amazing stories about resistance and revolution.
 
Why did you go for a Science Fiction/Fantasy setting and not present day? (Interview note: I know Apex is Science Fiction/Fantasy, but was that the only reason you went with this genre?

Lesley – Dark science fiction, fantasy, and horror is what Apex does. But choosing the science fiction and fantasy genres for the stories in Do Not Go Quietly is more than just “it’s what we do.”
 
Genre allows writers to play with metaphor. It allows them to create worlds that are similar to ours, that may be going through a lot of the same things, but that are far enough away that they can bend the rules or change things to fit their narrative. Basically shifting the stories that the authors in Do Not Go Quietly will be telling out of our present day reality and moving them into the realm of science fiction and fantasy gives the writers a whole bag of tools they can use to create the story they want to tell. It broadens what they can do. And that’s something I’m really excited to see.
 
Why did you decide to use Kickstarter for Do Not Go Quietly?

Jason - There is no better platform for crowdfunding literary projects than Kickstarter. GoFundMe is great for social and medical projects, but Kickstarter has a long history of funding anthologies.
And from a practical standpoint, I’ve had experience helping manage and run three previous anthologies via Kickstarter for Apex.

What have you learned from your previous Kickstarter campaigns that helped you with this one?

Jason – A professional, front-facing Kickstarter page is a must. Lots of nice graphics. Clean copy. A nice video. If I’m running a Kickstarter asking for $20,000, I should come across as professional and capable (“I” means the entity running the Kickstarter – Apex, in this case).
You also must have your ducks in a row before you start. Otherwise, you’re underwater by day three.
 
The TOC is an amazing list of authors, is there one you were surprised to get? Anyone you might have wished you had?

Lesley – Thank you! I am thrilled with the TOC that we’ve been able to build so far, and I’m hoping we find even more amazing authors once we start going through open submissions.

There isn’t one author that I can say I was particularly more surprised that we could get than others. Honestly, I’m surprised several of our authors—Catherynne Valente, Seanan McGuire, John Hornor Jacobs, Fran Wilde, Brian Keene to name a few—had the time in their schedule to write something for us. We recently announced that Tal M. Klein (the author of The Punch Escrow) is joining the TOC, which is amazing!

As for an author I wish we’d have gotten, that’s easy. Nisi Shawl originally was going to contribute a story, but unfortunately she had to back out due to deadlines. She had a new, really awesome project come up (I’m not sure she’s officially announced it, so I don’t want to say what it is) and that had to come first. Obviously, we don’t blame Nisi at all—I’m really excited about the project she’s working on!—but I am sad that she won’t have a story in Do Not Go Quietly.

Jason – Virtually everyone we invited accepted. I was blown away by the response. A handful of folks declined due to work deadlines, including my top choice: Jacqueline Carey. She’s a fantastic author, a big name, and she can pen a fierce story when she’s in the mood (See “Suzie Q” in Apex Magazine).

I’m most surprised that Brooke Bolander accepted the invitation. I’ve been trying for ages to get her into Apex Magazine with no luck. Brooke has confessed on Twitter about not being the fastest of writers, and she is in high demand due to the quality of her work. She has the perfect authorial voice for Do Not Go Quietly and I’m delighted she’s part of the anthology.
 
Can you talk a little bit about having a J.F. Gonzalez story in here? (I know I was excited to see his name in the TOC) Is it a brand-new story?

Lesley- Having a story by J.F. Gonzalez in the anthology means a lot to me personally. J.F. was my writing mentor, and he was instrumental in helping me find the perfect publisher (Sinister Grin) when I was looking for a home for my novel The Weight of Chains. I miss him a lot.

When Jason and I were first talking about who to solicit stories from, I mentioned J.F. and Jason was really supportive of us including him. So I reached out to Brian Keene, who is managing J.F.’s literary estate, and asked if it was at all possible that there was an unpublished story that would fit our theme. Brian responded that there were a few partial stories that needed to be completed, and he encouraged me to read these pieces and see if any jumped out at me, saying he knew J.F. would be proud to have me finish one of them for the anthology. And that’s what we’re doing. I have the beginning of a story he was working on when he passed away. No notes, no outline, but I’ve been turning this story over in my mind for a long while now. I know how it ends, and I’m excited to my words with J.F. and create something together.
 
What type of story are you hoping gets submitted when you open for submissions?

Jason – I can give some tips.
 
Lesley loves historical fiction. I’m a big fan of transhumanism and singularity works.

We both want to see a speculative element in your work.

We love subversive fiction.

Keep it shorter if you can.

If you’re a reader of Apex Magazine, then you’re a big step ahead of everyone else. You know the type of voice and plots we like.

Read the essays that Sarah Waites wrote for us. They can be found at http://donotgoquietly.wordpress.com.

Most importantly, adhere to the anthology theme. Victory in defiance.

Can you go a bit into the process of joint editing an anthology? Do you both take a part of the stack? Or is it more collaborative?

Lesley – A few of our first readers from Apex Magazine have volunteered to be our frontline for Do Not Go Quietly. What they recommend will probably get split between us. Jason and I have been editing Apex Magazine together for nearly four years. We have very similar tastes in fiction, so if one of us feels a story isn’t a good fit, the other isn’t going to question it. Once we make it through this second round, we’ll both need to read everything, and then I’m sure there will be lots of discussion and story dissection.

Jason – We’ve worked together for so long, that Lesley virtually said everything I would have. 

What is the preferred drink of the editorial team? Does it change depending on the story?

Lesley – While working, coffee. But after hours, Jason and I both enjoy an Angry Orchard with a shot of Fireball. Yum!
Jason – While working, coffee. When I’m spending long hours in the editing chair, I might sip on a Red Bull or a diet Mt. Dew. Yes, I know, very unhealthy. But shit has to get done. When I decide to have some of the devil’s water, I go for bourbon and coke much of the time.

Which pledge level has the best perks? If you each had to choose a level, which one would you choose?

Lesley – This is a HARD question, but I do have an answer. If I were backing Do Not Go Quietly, I’d get Hardcover Resistance, because I want a hardcover copy of Unwelcome Bodies by Jennifer Pelland. Apex published Unwelcome Bodies before I was part of the team, and it is the book that made me want to work for Apex. So, yeah, a hardcover copy would be amazing!

Jason – The Cooking with Cass reward. It’s so demented. So delightful. Just like Cassandra Khaw.

If someone was to pick the Dinner with the Editors pledge level, how dressed up should they get?

Jason – The other day a Sunday morning news show was highlighting what they called modern dad fashion. It was all clothes I wear! I never felt so cool.
That was sarcasm, btw.
You can wear anything you want. I only ask that you follow restaurant guidelines: shirt and shoes required.
Addendum: Pants (or shorts) also required.
Addendum Two: Lesley will try to say pants (or shorts) are not required. She is wrong.
Addendum Three: Lesley will probably wear stretch tights with some weird pattern on them. I must make another guideline that only Lesley is allowed to wear something like that. Otherwise, I will probably tease you.
Addendum Four: Try not to wear the same thing I’m wearing. That would be weird.
 
What do you hope a reader gets out of the anthology?

Lesley – First and foremost, I hope a reader gets that satisfied feeling you get from reading really outstanding fiction, but I hope they also feel inspired. There are a lot of things going wrong in our world right now. We need people to stand up and fight for common sense and good. We need to vote. We need to lift up each other and quit feeling threatened by anyone who is different or has a different opinion. We need to be better. I hope that after reading the stories in Do Not Go Quietly, people will be inspired to be better.
 
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Head over to Kickstarter now to help them reach 100% funding and bring Do Not Go Quietly to life!

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