| Grantville Gazette | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Eric Flint |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Series | 1632 series |
| Genre(s) | Alternate History, Anthology |
| Publisher | Baen Books |
| Publication date | Semi-periodic, and Periodic (bi-monthly) Various dates from February 2003 and from 2004 (in print as books) |
| Media type | e-zine and ebook Paperback and hardcover |
| Pages | Grantville Gazette I, 361 pp (first edition) |
| Preceded by | Ring of Fire (anthology) |
| Followed by | Grantville Gazette II |
The Grantville Gazettes are anthologies of short stories set in the 1632 universe introduced in Eric Flint's novel 1632.
The Gazettes started as an experiment: a professionally edited, officially sanctioned "fan magazine" published electronically. Initially released as serialized e-magazines, they were later published as e-books (taking a page from the Baen Books experience with E-ARCs—Electronic Advance Reader Copies, which had been instituted several years earlier.) Because the electronic sales were successful, Baen contracted with Flint for more issues, to be published 3-4 times per year. Each would form part of the canonical background for the other works (novels and anthologies) in the rapidly growing 1632 series.
Contents |
Separating 1632-verse history from the internet web fora at Baen Books web site Baen's Bar is impossible, for the forum has shaped the series, as the series has, in part, shaped the forum. Only the Honorverse web forums of best selling author David Weber have been busier than the eventual three special fora set up for 1632-verse topics since 2000, and according to Flint, by 2005 over two hundred-thousand posts had been made on the '1632 Tech' forum alone. Hence, while fan fiction, the Gazettes from the outset differed in important ways from most fan fiction:
Issued initially as an electronic quasi-magazine using the publisher's e-ARC distribution system, the original magazine came out only sporadically—as Flint and Baen copy editors had time to put early issues together. By the time of the seventh issue in June 2006, three years from the first volume, having proved to be a self-funding success, the publication changed. Along the way, Jim Baen had agreed to try another experiment, and brought out volume 1 in print as a paperback. In March 2006 Baen published volume 2 in hardcover, which became a New York Times best seller.
No longer were issues serialized in three installments, the form of the promotional Baen Webscriptions value packs, but began coming out as a single ebook at a much greater regularity. By volume 10, the magazine had hit a regular publication rate of one issue every other month released the first day of odd numbered months, and migrated from being an offering within Baen's catalog of offerings (where they are still listed as ebooks) to having a subscription system administered and accessed from its own website. It is particularly notable in that is composed of short fiction which has spawned no less than three best sellers in an age when the market for short fiction (anthologies) is very poor. In addition, the Grantville Gazettes have served as the source of new ideas and relationships which energize the popular series and find their way into the novels of the 1632 series.
Beginning in early 2007, the Gazette's publishers added an on-line web based edition published quarterly and changed the paper series to an annual "best of" volume. Additionally, the publishers switched to paying full professional rates instead of the semi-pro rates that had been paid. After one year, the Gazette expects to be an SFWA qualifying market.
The electronically published Grantville Gazettes are now reaching long novel length with regularity, and now make up the majority of the series for the foreseeable future. Because of a soft market for anthologies, it is not anticipated that most of the Gazettes will reach print, save perhaps as a "Best of" type of collection, despite the publication of the first four in hardcopy.
The various authors featured in the Gazettes are part of Flint's online experiment (Phase II) in developing a milieu with input from many others on the webforum Baen's Bar. The 1632 Tech Manual (oldstyle: '1632 Tech') sub-section of the Bar focuses on reproducing modern technology in 17th century. The 1632 Slushpile forum is where authors first submit to a tough peer review process. Once critical readers have deemed the nascent story worthy, the work passes to an editorial board, which also considers how the work will fit into and impact the milieu as currently planned out and plotted. Some stories have thus served as the genesis of their own 1632 universe sub-series or plot thread. This is chaired by Eric Flint, who retains veto power over all work in the 1632 verse, and Eric then decides in which issue or volume of the Gazette the story should be allocated. Authors get paid a sub-professional rate upon the acceptance of the work, and additional financial remuneration and considerations when the anthology reaches print at a later time.
The Gazettes thus contain short stories based in the world of Flint's 1632 series, as well as articles about the restrictions on technology available in the time-stranded town and the plausibility of items and redeveloped technology within the milieu of the 1632 multiverse. The latter essays are written by members based on findings and results from a more formal subset of contributor-advisors known as the 1632 Technical board. Part of this group also sits on the 1632 Editorial Board.
The impact of individual stories in the Grantville Gazettes will likely never be truly known, because even the bad ones have shaped the action, commentary, and thought on the web-forums 1632 Tech and 1632 Comments. Even those that fail to meet the final test of espousing 'canon' developments in the neohistory have influenced later written works, including those by Flint, who is the final determiner as the sole person involved in each work in the milieu of what is acceptable canon. Considered one way, each story written has the ability of setting a new Point of divergence, affecting various storylines. Several fan-written stories have suggested major plotlines, even before the concept of the Grantville Gazettes eMagazine experiment was approved by Jim Baen. Those stories were published alongside established writers in the Ring of Fire, and according to Flint, affected other main plotlines like 1634: The Ram Rebellion.
Other Gazette stories have filled in important gaps in terms of economics, sociology, and technology: "The Sewing Circle" deals with four precocious teen friends and their stubborn insistence on making adult contributions. When they succeed, they establish a model for uptimers starting downtime businesses, setting an example that ripples through Grantville. In the sequel, "Other People's Money", they shake up the European stock markets, and not inconsequentially, interest the downtime populace in learning more about investing and uptime financial knowledge. Sociologically, their success doomed tailoring guilds, and spawned down-timer publication of popular fiction, inculcating up-timer sociology et cetera via modern novels, especially perhaps, Romance novels. Apparently even downtimers like their soaps! "A Lineman for the Country" along with a couple of other short stories created the forthcoming important Eastern European thread , and so on.
On another level entirely, the gazette stories are just stories. Since they tend to focus on the ground-level interactions of their protagonists, and those characters tend to repeat, not only in subsequent stories by the same author, but in stories by others, Flint has characterized them in part as soap-operas in the prologue to Grantville Gazette IV
Starting in November 2004, the first Gazette was also released experimentally in a paper edition with issue I as a paperback. The second volume was released in hardcover in March 2006, this and subsequent titles use Roman Numerals for titles such as are listed below in the section List of Gazettes, as appear on the print publication covers.
| Book Volume | e-zine Volume |
1st Serialed e-magazine Volume date |
e-book (Copyright) version |
Hardcover date |
Paperback date |
| The Grantville Gazette | Volume 01 | 2003-02 | 2003-04 | none | 2004-11-01 |
| Grantville Gazette II | Volume 02 | 2003-08 | 2003-10 | 2006-03 | 2007-10-01 |
| Grantville Gazette III | Volume 03 | 2004-08 | 2004-10 | 2007-01 | 2008-05-20 |
| Grantville Gazette IV | Volume 04 | 2004-10 | 2005-04 | 2008-06 | 2010-07-27 |
| Grantville Gazette V | Volume 05 | 2005-07 | 2005-09 | 2009-08 | |
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| Grantville Gazette VI | Volume 06 | 2006-01 | 2006-03 | ||
| Grantville Gazette VII | Volume 07 | 2006-02 | 2006-04 | ||
| Grantville Gazette VIII | Volume 08 | 2006-06 | 2006-08 | ||
| Grantville Gazette IX | Volume 09 | 2006-09 | 2006-11 | ||
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| Grantville Gazette X | Volume 10 | 2006-11 | 2007-01 | ||
| Grantville Gazette XI | Volume 11 | 2007-01 | 2007-03 | ||
| Grantville Gazette XII | Volume 12 | 2007-03 | 2007-05 | ||
| Grantville Gazette XIII | Volume 13 | 2007-05 | 2007-07 | ||
| Grantville Gazette XIV | Volume 14 | 2007-07 | 2007-09 | ||
| Grantville Gazette XV | Volume 15 | 2007-09 | 2007-11 | ||
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| Grantville Gazette XVI | Volume 16 | 2007-11 | 2008-01 | ||
| Grantville Gazette XVII | Volume 17 | 2008-01 | 2008-03 | ||
| Grantville Gazette XVIII | Volume 18 | 2008-03 | 2008-05 | ||
| Grantville Gazette XIX | Volume 19 | 2008-05 | 2008-07 | ||
| Grantville Gazette XX | Volume 20 | 2008-07 | 2008-09 | ||
| Grantville Gazette XXI | Volume 21 | 2008-09 | 2008-11 | ||
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| Grantville Gazette XXII | Volume 22 | 2008 | 2009-03 | ||
| Grantville Gazette XXIII | Volume 23 | 2009 | 2009-05 | ||
| Grantville Gazette XXIV | Volume 24 | 2009 | 2009-07 | ||
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