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Sept. 21, 2005 I am excited to present my latest finished work, The All-Mart Wars. It is about a future society dominated by an all powerful retail center. For a number of reasons I'm giving it away for free. The novelette is an odd length: too long to be submitted as a short story, conversely it's too short to be submitted as a novel. Moreover, the story itself is an odd juxtaposition of political satire and science fiction. I've researched the writer's market thoroughly, and there are no publishers who like political satire/science fiction. There are publishers who specialize in chick lit, Christian romance, lesbians, African-Americans, Micronesians, and midgets from villages in Tibet, but none for a 40,000 word marriage of socio political economics and science fiction. And most publishers of science fiction novels have strict word limits and only accept formulaic stories though they deny it and claim that they want new and different story ideas. I could probably get this published by PublishAmerica, but that would mean I would have to promote the book, and I haven't finished promoting my first novel, Talk Radio. Salesmanship is part of writing. First, a writer has to sell a manuscript to an agent or publisher, and then, if it is published, the writer has to sell the finished product to the public. I'm a competent salesman (I've sold management consulting, lawn care programs, and newspaper subscriptions.) and can sell my books in person at book signings. But I much prefer writing to selling. I don't want to have to personally sell every book I write, but I do want people to read my work. So, I'm presenting The All-Mart Wars for free in the hopes that people who read it will enjoy it and want to buy the books that I do choose to actively publish and promote. The All-Mart Wars is of a quality equal to work published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, or Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. The former has a word limit of 25,000 words precluding a submission of this manuscript to that fine magazine. And The All-Mart Wars is better than the made for tv movies the Sci-Fi channel produces...but that's not saying much. Readers who like F&SF will like my story. And now a little on the work that influenced my story. Many of the terms I use in The All-Mart Wars are Orwellian. There are justice beams--a weapon used to kill subhumans. And there are joy disks--a mind control device. The All-Mart Wars, however, is much lighter and more upbeat than 1984 which has a very depressing theme and ending. The world I created for The All-Mart Wars I owe to Philip Dick. From reading volumes of Philip Dick I learned how to create alternate realities though I've yet to master how Dick could keep readers guessing when his characters were trapped in various multi-tiered realities. Some day I might write a Philip Dick pastiche`, but The All-Mart Wars is not one. There is a bit of black humor in all of my work, and The All-Mart Wars is no exception. However, there is rather less than in both my first book, and my still unreleased third book. This black humor is kind of my signature style, but I may have subconsiously picked something up from Kurt Vonnegut. His influence is most evident in my descriptions of the decadent obsessions of the All-Mart executives, Benjamin one and Jack one. Of course, real life was an important inspiration. I probably first came up with the concept for The All-Mart Wars when walking through one of the gigantic mega-mart chain stores that take up so much space in modern day suburbia. I hate these stores. Trying to find single items in stores this big requires a considerable hike and going there with a list is just plain exasperating. The assassination scene near the end is an homage to the television series, Mission Impossible. I hope you take the time to read my story. It's available at my website listed below. ------------ About the author Mark Gelbart: My book, Talk Radio, is a black comedy about a radio talk show host who gets kidnapped and psychologically tortured by a loser. www.mark-gelbart.com Email: agelbart@aol.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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