SF in SF Presents Ringers: Lord of the Fans

This is a big one, folks! Come to SF and SF movie night and see Tolkien fans' answer to Trekkies.

On Thursday August 25th, SF and SF will be screening the award-winning documentary Ringers: Lord of the Fans. Special guests are the film's director, Carlene Cordova, and bestselling author Peter S. Beagle (of The Last Unicorn fame), who wrote the screenplay for the Ralph Bakshi animated Lord of the Rings film.

Ringers explores the growth of the Tolkien fandom, and how it has influenced pop-culture over the last fifty years. Hear the story of LOTR on screen, from its first cartoon adaptations to the Peter Jackson films--including an interview with Jackson himself--and witness the awesome that is Leonard Nimoy performing "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins."

Ringers won the award for Outstanding Achievement in a Documentary at the 2005 Newport Beach Film Festival and was nominated for Best DVD Release at the 2006 Saturn Awards.

Thursday August 25th
Doors and cash bar open at 6:00, show starts at 7:00
Suggested $5-$10 donation, with proceeds going to Variety Children's Charity

This event takes place at:
The Variety Preview Room Theatre
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor - entrance is next door to Citibank
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery
San Francisco, CA 94104

Email sf in sf events@gmail.com for more information

Outfoxing the Food Police

Well, we *hope* we can outfox them...

On his blog today, Andrew Fox, author of the eerily prescient The Good Humor Man, gathers the best of (as it were) the Food Police. Between British bureaucrats surveilling student lunchboxes to organic farmers standing up to Monsanto over spurious copyright violations, it's scary to fathom how far gone we already are. Luckily, Elvis can save us - you'll want to read Andy's book to find out how.

Samantha Holloway at The New York Journal of Books has posted a very thoughtful review of The Urban Fantasy Anthology, concluding:

"As the genre is presented here, we see a rich, full, experimental and long-lasting contribution to the ecology of Fantasy. It’s perfectly arranged and intentionally diverse, and there are no duds here like there are in some other anthologies. If you’re new to the genre, this is an ideal place to start, so you begin with the multitude of ideas that count here. If you’re a fan of the genre, this is like a re-acquaintance, a reminder that there’s more to Urban Fantasy than the vast numbers of women on motorcycles who kill bad things."

Read the full review here.

Future and present adventures in St. Louis

When someone in the present speculates about the future, does the present become the future? Only Rick Wilber knows.

Wilber, the intrepid editor of Future Media, will be/is/has been taking St. Louis by storm, appearing at both the AEJMC journalism/mass media conference and in front of a full house at the excellent indie bookstore Left Bank Books.

So the future of communications really *is* now. We think...

Why e-books cost more than they "should"

Today's GalleyCat newsletter features one of the more frivolous lawsuits I've seen in a long time: Apple & Publishers Sued Over eBook Pricing. Thank goodness the right to ultra-cheap e-books is finally being stood up for! Here’s more about the suit, from the law firm:

"While free market forces would dictate that e-books would be cheaper than their hard-copy counterparts, considering lower production and distribution costs, the complaint shows that as a result of the agency model and alleged collusion, many e-books are more expensive than their hard-copy counterparts."

Hmm. What's wrong with this picture?

-E-books are (almost) never more expensive than print versions. It's ludicrous to state otherwise.

-Since e-books are cheaper than print books, and publishers still pay distribution fees, wholesaler discounts, and author royalties, we almost always make even less than we do on a print version. (This is literally true for Tachyon.)

-You can (almost) never publish an e-book without publishing a print version. So e-books absorb part of the costs of doing the print books, including printing, warehousing, and distribution, as well as all of the associated production costs.

-We live in a free market economy in which, within reason, prices are dictated by supply and demand. If people think e-books are too expensive, they don't have to buy them. You can't sue someone for that. Or can you?

***

So in case anyone is wondering why they're paying $9.95 for something they can't put on a bookshelf (unless it's that cute one in Calibre), remember that someone still has to publish that book. We're not trying to rip you off. I promise.

Urban Fantasy...and more Uncertain Places

The Urban Fantasy Anthology has hit the shelves!

All Things Urban Fantasy calls it "as thought provoking as it was enjoyable." You can read the rest of the review here, and you can buy the book over here!

Also, The Uncertain Places has gotten yet another fantastic review (not that we're bragging or anything...*ahem*):

"Exemplary.... Goldstein is one of fantasy's most reliable practitioners, and a new novel from her is always a cause for celebration." - San Francisco Chronicle