Amazing Stories, the world's first science fiction magazine, opens for Beta Testing of Phase 1 on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013

The Experimenter Publishing Company is pleased to announce the  reintroduction of the world's most recognizable science fiction magazine – AMAZING STORIES! Set to relaunch with a Beta Test of its new Social Magazine Platform, Amazing Stories will feature content from 50+ bloggers, covering an enormous array of subjects of interest to genre fans. As a contributor, I am happy to share with you all of the news and updates on this project. The new Social Magazine platform is designed to create an interactive environment that will be familiar to fans with blog content designed to encourage discussion  and take things beyond the usual user-generated content model for social networks.

Originally published in 1926 by the father of science fiction, Hugo Gernsback, Amazing Stories helped to launch both the science fiction genre and its most enduring feature, science fiction fandom.  The magazine is well known for its Frank R. Paul covers and for publishing the first stories by many iconic authors such as Isaac Asimov, Jack Williamson and Ursula Le Guin.  Published continuously from 1926 until 1995, followed by two brief resurrections from 1998 till 2000 and again from 2004 through 2005.  In 2008 Hasbro, the then current owner, allowed the trademarks to lapse and publisher Steve Davidson applied for and eventually received them in 2011. The Experimenter Publishing Company was created in 2012 for the purpose of returning Amazing Stories magazine to regular publication.  The company  shares the name of the original magazine's publisher as homage.

At this year's Worldcon (Chicon 7 the 70th Worldcon, Chicago), Toastmaster John Scalzi talked about what it was to be a fan and concluded by saying

“We are diverse - and we are all in this together.”

We are diverse – and we are all in this together, a sentiment that captures the very heart and soul of what it means to be a fan.  Amazing Stories aims to be a vehicle through which the diversity of fandom can come together.

“We've got authors and agents, bloggers and editors, pod casters and broadcasters; we've got gamers and game designers; artists and art collectors; pulpsters and indie authors; we've got Hugo winners, John W. Campbell Memorial Award winners, John W. Campbell Best New Writer winners, Nebula and Hugo Award winners and nominees and winners and nominees of many other awards;  people who review films, people who make films; we've got fanboys and fangirls; we've got former editors of Amazing Stories, writers who've become synonymous with the field and writers who are just getting started; comic artists, book reviewers; traditionally published authors, self-pubbed authors and authors who've done it all.  The response to my request for participation was phenomenal – it couldn't be more perfect if I had set out with a list of must-haves!” said Steve Davidson, speaking on the diversity of new blog team.

The Amazing Stories Blog Team will cover (for now – more coming!) fourteen popular topics – Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, (lit), Film, Television, Gaming, Comics and Graphic Works,  the Visual Arts, the Pulps, Audio Works,  Anime, the Business of Publishing, Science and Fandom itself.

Amazing Stories' relaunch will take place in two phases.  Those interested in participating in the Beta Test of Phase 1 should contact the publisher at steve.davidson33 at comcast dot net.  Participants will receive full access to the site with Member status and will receive on-site benefits as the project moves forward.

Phase 2 will introduce additional interactivity and user-customization to the site.  Following the completion and testing of Phase 2, the magazine, featuring both new and reprint fiction, essays, photo galleries, reviews and more will begin publication.  Readers who are interested in what the magazine will look like can read two Relaunch Prelaunch issues on line, or download them from the Amazing Stories store.  (Additional Amazing Stories themed product is also available here.)

Guys I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about this. I can't wait for you to read my first articles. I think you will find something that both alternate historians and the rest of fandom can enjoy. If you want more information, feel free to contact me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com or contact Steve Davidson via email at steve.davidson33 at comcast dot net. Or keep an eye out on my own writing blog where I will be providing more details about the upcoming launch Amazing Stories. Plus I will be sharing links to all of the Amazing Stories bloggers sites here on The Update and at my blog (where I will give more in depth coverage to my fellow bloggers).

So please contact Steve and sign up for the beta test. You won't regret it.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a volunteer editor for Alt Hist magazine. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and The Were-Traveler. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

New Releases 8/28/12

New paperbacks

Blades of Winter: A Novel of the Shadowstorm by G. T. Almasi

Description from Amazon.

In one of the most exciting debuts in years, G. T. Almasi has fused the intricate cat-and-mouse games of a John le Carré novel with the brash style of comic book superheroes to create a kick-ass alternate history that reimagines the Cold War as a clash of spies with biological, chemical, and technological enhancements.

Nineteen-year-old Alix Nico, a self-described “million-dollar murder machine,” is a rising star in ExOps, a covert-action agency that aggressively shields the United States from its three great enemies: the Soviet Union, Greater Germany, and the Nationalist Republic of China. Rather than risk another all-out war, the four superpowers have poured their resources into creating superspies known as Levels.

Alix is one of the hottest young American Levels. That’s no surprise: Her dad was America’s top Level before he was captured and killed eight years ago. But when an impulsive decision explodes—literally—in her face, Alix uncovers a conspiracy that pushes her to her limits and could upset the global balance of power forever.

Ring of Fire III by Eric Flint

Description from Amazon.

Let’s do the “Time Warp” again!  Another anthology of rollicking, thought-provoking collection of tales by a star-studded array of top writers such as bestseller Mercedes Lackey and Eric Flint himself – all set in Eric Flint’s phenomenal Ring of Fire series.

Rock on, Renaissance!  A cosmic accident sets the modern West Virginia town of Grantville down in war-torn seventeenth century Europe.  It will take all the gumption of the resourceful, freedom-loving up-timers to find a way to flourish in mad and bloody end of  medieval times.  Are they up for it?  You bet they are.  The third rollicking and idea-packed collection of Grantville tales edited by Eric Flint, and inspired by his now-legendary 1632.

New e-books

The Confederation: Anniversary (Part 1) by Devin Nuhfer

Description from Amazon.

April, 1961

The Confederate States of America is celebrating a century of independence. However, the Cuban War drags on while internal strife causes government officials to worry about a Servant rebellion. Through the eyes of Colonel James Radcliff, a leading Confederate intelligence officer, we catch a glimpse of this American dystopia.

A Hope for a Different Future by Molly Maguire McGill

Description by Amazon.

Molly Maguire McGill went to sleep complaining about the budget cuts and slashes to the Wisconsin education budget. When she awoke in the morning she was in second grade again. It was October of '62.

She told her parents about her nightmare, the horror of the Kennedy Assassination, Vietnam, Watergate, a president with Alzheimer's disease, rich Texas Oilmen running the country. Her mother assured her this could not happen.

Mollly then told the boy next door about her being married to him.

This nostalgic novel of a by gone day retraces Molly's life as she grows from a second grader into an adult. She meets President Kennedy, and in the process prevents Vietnam, Dallas, and a host of other sins of the past fifty years.

She also falls in love with the boy next door, courts with him, has a great romance, and marries to a parade of bagpipes.

If you like the nostalgia of the '60's, lived the experience of Levittown PA or New York, if you remember the kinky things we did as kids back in the '70s, the H.I.P.P.Y. movement, and the like you will love this novel.

Other Paths II: Further Alternate Outcomes of the Second World War by Alexander Rooksmoor

Description from Amazon.

Following on from the successful ‘Other Paths: Alternate Outcomes of the Second World War’, comes ‘Other Paths II: Further Alternate Outcomes of the Second World War’ looking at a further range of scenarios that would have altered the outcome of the Second World War as we know. Starting with the expulsion from Germany of the Austrian Adolf Hitler following his release from prison in 1924, it considers the impact of coups d’état in Austria in 1932 or 1936 and in France in 1934. It looks at a more vigorous response to the Japanese invasion of China at different stages of the 1930s and 1940s and a focus by the Japanese on conquering Soviet rather than Pacific territory. It looks at other options for Italy from not becoming an ally of Germany to successfully conquering Greece. The book also considers the implications for a different approach to appeasement and options that France could easily have taken in 1940.

‘Other Paths II’ draws on Alexander Rooksmoor’s two decades researching and teaching history and uses the analysis and debate into counter-factuals from his blog over a period of 5 years. It looks at both the detailed changes that could have occurred as well as much broader potential outcomes. This is a book that will fascinate anyone with an interest in why a central event of modern history unfolded the way it did. Fans of alternate history will find ‘Other Paths II’ a book they cannot put down and will rush to discuss once they have finished reading it.

Speculative Fiction The Ultimate Collection by David K Scholes

Description from Amazon.

CURRENTLY FREE ON KINDLE.

A collection of some 23 speculative fiction short stories including science fiction, alternate history, science fantasy and an alternate reality story.

In The Intervention a super power empire’s long search for the truth about an ancient war yields an unexpected result. The horrifying trip encountered in Dangerous Journey is not quite what it seems while in Easy Meat a powerful star fleet finds an apparent mining colony more troublesome than expected.

Rescue Mission involves the attempted rescue of a group of humans that are being deliberately transported among ever weirder alternate realities while in Hired Guns star troopers for hire rid Earth of all it’s terrorists but there is a price to pay.

In the A Greater Britain series the United Kingdom is the third super power in a very dangerous post WW II environment while in Trathh an alien prison ship crash lands on Earth.

Time Travel Adventures Of The 1800 Club: Book 8 by Robert McAuley

Description from Amazon.

Chapter 1
A LOST TICKET THAT CHANGED HISTORY
What if the Boeing Aircraft Company had never existed in the United States of America because Boeing’s father lost his ticket to America at the dock he was to leave from in Europe? One tragic outcome would be that the Boeing B-17 and B-29 would never had been built prolonging the war and the number of men and women who would never return to their homes marrying and generating Lawyers, Teachers, Artists, Engineers and many just average folk. The club realizes this and sends a club member back to get the Boeing senior’s ticket for his historic trip. However the time traveler bumps into something that he always believed to be a piece of fiction . . . until he finds it to be as real as time travel.

Chapter 2
JACK THE RIPPER
When a time probes alerts the Time Watchers that ‘Jack The Ripper’ is up to his old tricks again and his next victim is an ancestor of one of the bodyguards of President Ronald Reagan when there was an assassination attempt on his life, the club voted to act and stop him. Twist after twist leads this club member in circles before he meets The Ripper face-to-face.

To fans, authors and publishers...

Do you want to see your work given a shout out on our New Releases segment? Contact Mitro at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.  We are looking for works of alternate history, counterfactual history, steampunk, historical fantasy, time travel or anything that warps history beyond our understanding.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a volunteer editor for Alt Hist and a contributor to Just Below the Law. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and his own writing blog. When not writing he works as an attorney and enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana.