Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2002 12:26:13 -0400
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu>
To: <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] WSFA Press
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

At 3rd Friday there was a brief discussion post-meeting about WSFA Press.  =
Since there are a number of WSFAns who have no idea about this piece of =
WSFA history let me give a brief history and a request for help.

WSFA Press was my brain child.  For Disclave 1989 I thought it would be a =
*neat idea* to publish a GoH book very much like NESFA's Boskone books.  =
The result was the publication of the novella THE FATHER OF STONES by =
Lucius Shepard, with cover and interior art by Art GoH J. K. Potter, =
limited to 500 signed, numbered, slipcased copies.  Here's the cover =
image: http://www.jkpotter.com/field01/42b.html . The story was subsequentl=
y published in Asimov's and was nominated for a Hugo, a Nebula, a World =
Fantasy, and a SF Chronicle award.  It did win the Locus Award.  The book =
went OP fairly quickly.

Three more Disclaves, three more books.
 - 1990 -  Through Darkest Resnick With Gun and Camera, a collection of =
fiction and non-fiction by Mike Resnick.  Cover by Todd Cameron Hamilton, =
who was not the Art GoH.  500 copies signed & numbered, no slipcase.  Went =
OP a few years after publication.
 - 1991 -   The Edges of Things, a collection of fiction by Lewis Shiner =
with  cover art by Alicia Austin.  600 copies, signed, numbered, slipcased.=
  Still with us.
 - 1992 - Home By the Sea, a collection of fiction by Pat Cadigan, =
interior art by David Works, introduction by Mike Resnick.  Approx 500 =
copies, signed by all three, numbered, slipcased.  Issued without jacket, =
but with stamped boards, full color endsheets.  Described by Ed Bryant in =
Locus as "the most over produced book of the year."  And this too is still =
with us.

The 1993 Chair decide to avoid the whole issue and that's all she wrote =
for WSFA Press.

The situation is that we still have copies of the last two titles, Bill =
Jensen & I have been babysitiing these books for close to a decade.  =
Something like 200 to 300 or each remain.  The Shiner retails at $45.00 =
and the Cadigan for $49.95 - and those are the original 1991 - 1992 =
prices.

It would do the club well to convert these bound pieces of paper to thin =
bank notes or checks and fatten up the WSFA Treasury.

Yes, the books are listed on Amazon, but regretfully neither Cadigan or =
Shiner are Big Names so few people are really going to stumble over them.  =
So, we need to somehow promote/sell them ourselves.

- put information on the WSFA site; that will require having a mechanism =
set up to take money & ship.

- create an information flyer to send out with Capclave membership =
receipts, offer the books at a discounted price.

- sell the books at a better discounted price to WSFAns (you need more =
books, right?)

- offer them as gifts for monetary donations

I will not be at any of the July meetings, conventions and business =
travels, so I will be unable to bring copies of the books in question, but =
I suspect a few of the Old Pharts on the list may have copies to show off =
at 1st & 3rd Friday.

I'm confident that the Group Mind will come up with some good ideas - =
let's see if we can keep MacIntosh busy with bank deposits.

Michael Walsh
mjw at mail.press.jhu.edu