>March 11, 2004, NYC - Phobos Books, the upstart science fiction publisher known for its anthologies featuring Phobos Award-winning authors, announced today the hiring of John J. Ordover as Editor-in Chief. Ordover comes to Phobos Books with fifteen years experience in science fiction ublishing, most recently as Executive Editor at Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster, where he commissioned over 150 best-selling books for the Star Trek program as well as editing science fiction and fantasy projects by such award-winning authors as Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. As a writer, Ordover's credits include several science fiction television scripts and graphic novels, plus numerous science fiction and fantasy short stories in venues ranging from Amazing Stories to Penthouse magazines.

"Phobos is fortunate to have attracted the services of such a presence in the science fiction and fantasy community as John Ordover," said Publisher of Phobos Books Sandra Schulberg. "We bring passion and pride to bear on every book we publish and John is just the man to grow our publishing
house into a powerful magnet for authors and readers alike."

"Phobos will continue its mission to produce science fiction on the cutting edge of creativity and intelligence," Ordover said. "We will focus on fun and fascination, on a good story well told, and on the sense of wonder and hope for the future that is the heartblood of science fiction."

While Phobos will continue to publish its namesake anthology series, Ordover plans to expand the current publishing program to include Critchtonesque science fiction thrillers, fantasy series both contemporary and historical, and signature series from established authors.

Phobos Books launched in September 2002 with its first title, Empire of Dreams and Miracles: The Phobos Science Fiction Anthology, edited by Orson Scott Card and Keith Olexa, which showcased a dozen stories by 10 science fiction authors who emerged from the 1st Annual Phobos Fiction Contest.
The second volume in the contest series, Hitting the Skids in Pixeltown, was also edited by Card and Olexa. Both books have been hailed by Locus for uncovering important new talent. While Phobos Books continues to publish the work of Phobos Award-winning authors--James Maxey's novel Nobody Gets the Girl and the anthology Absolutely Brilliant in Chrome--it is also publishing debut novels such as Adam Connel's Counterfeit Kings due out this May.

Phobos Books is a division of Phobos Entertainment Holdings, Inc., with offices at 200 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10003. More information is available on the company's website: www.phobosweb.com, or by writing to info@phobosweb.com.
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This is really exciting news. Keith Olexa and Christian O'Toole were terrific editors. They really helped me whip Nobody Gets the Girl into top shape. But, neither had the depth of experience that Ordover will be bringing to Phobos. I think this is a watershed event, moving Phobos from a small, start-up press to a major player in the publishing field.

I will pass on more information as I get it.

--James Maxey
 

quote:

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. . . with fifteen years experience in science fiction ublishing . . .

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Stupid monkeys at typewriters, always leaving out letters.

 

--James
 

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Now that the winners themselves have been individually informed, I am very
pleased to announce to you the 12 winners of the 3rd Annual Phobos Fiction
Contest – the “Class of 03”:

Virginia Baker AND CRY THE NAME OF DAVID…
Daniel Conover GOLDEN TOWN
Susan Fry THE BIG SHOT
Nancy Fulda THE MAN WHO MURDERED HIMSELF
Eric Griffin THE SECOND CHANCE OF CLEAVON WALKER
Julie Hyzy DISSIDENT
David Barr Kirtley VEIL OF IGNORANCE
James Maxey EARL BILLINGS AND THE ANGELS OF THE LORD
M.T. Reiten TWO ROOMS AND ALL THE ELECTRICITY YOU CAN EAT
Lane Robins THE WALLS WITHIN
Eric James Stone THE MAN WHO MOVED THE MOON
David Walton ALL THE RAGE THIS YEAR

Keith Olexa and I deeply appreciate the work of our stellar jury on this last
round: Scott Card, Jeanne Cavelos, Doug Chiang, Ken Perlin, Stanley Schmidt,
and Eleanor Wood. There are now 29 authors, from all over the country (21
states to be exact), whose 36 stories our juries have recognized with Phobos
Awards. The two-time winners since 2001 are Rebecca Carmi, Daniel Conover, Carl
Frederick, David Barr Kirtley, and James Maxey.

I’m also delighted to make another big announcement: John Ordover has just
joined Phobos Books as Editor in Chief and as a partner in the company. John
comes from Simon & Schuster where as Executive Editor he commissioned and edited
the long-running series of Star Trek books for Pocket. John will be editing a
new line of SF&F books for Phobos, and putting his expertise and marketing
savvy to work on behalf of the Phobos Award winners and our other authors.

John was introduced to us by Keith Olexa, who has been the heart and soul of
Phobos Books since our beginning in 2001. Keith is devoting more and more time
to his own writing, but will continue to be involved in Phobos, especially
with the editing of this year’s contest anthology.

With John taking over the full-time management of Phobos Books, I think you
will notice an increased level of professionalism. In April we will inaugurate
our 4th Annual Phobos Fiction Contest. I urge you to submit new stories for
consideration and test our resolve.

The improvements may not be apparent overnight; John is just getting started.
The items on our agenda include: 1) returning the contest to our original
schedule, acknowledging receipt of all stories, informing authors when they have
been selected as finalists; 2) a clearer submission process and more prompt
responses to non -contest submissions; 3) more timely publication agreements;
4) a revamp of the website; and 5) marketing, marketing, marketing.

I’ll close by urging you to buy our first Phobos Galaxy anthology, ABSOLUTELY
BRILLIANT IN CHROME, which should be hitting bookstores very soon. (Ask your
bookstores when it's due to arrive.) For those new to Phobos, this is an
anthology of 10 novellas and short stories written by 7 past Phobos Award winners:
Rebecca Carmi, Daniel Conover, Carl Frederick, Harold Gross, James Maxey,
Matthew Rotundo, and Justin Stanchfield. Please also ask about Adam Connell’s
exciting first novel COUNTERFEIT KINGS, which will be out in May. If you
haven’t purchased James Maxey’s novel, NOBODY GETS THE GIRL, please do. The book
continues to get great reviews, has been picked up for additional distribution
by Diamond Comics, and was just spotted at Tower Records in Manhattan. Sales
of all Phobos titles are crucial to the confidence of booksellers, as we are
still viewed as a new publisher. Buying a book by your fellow author will
definitely help generate sales of the next Phobos book that features your work. We
all rise together.

Best regards,
Sandra
 

Thanks to the Fragments & Feedback forum, I received valuable feedback from several Hatrackers. ( http://www.hatrack.com/forums/writers/forum/Forum11/HTML/000093.html ) So a special thank you to Lord Darkstorm, pygmy_goat and Survivor, who each critiqued the whole story before I sent it off to Phobos.
 

<Insert party smilie>
 

I can't say I don't envy you a bit, but I'm glad you won.

LDS

 

James, You mentioned that they were going to be branching out into fantasy as well? Do they have any idea as to when? Is that just a thought for now, or a sure thing? I didn't see any mention of that on the website.
 

--James
 

Lee
 

So stay ready for more congratulations.