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更新于 2005-04-04 06:55 。
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标题：ZT：专业作家的烂小说 【1258字】
猫怪 在 2005-03-11 17:58:24 的评论
2005年03月10日 10:19 新京报
新书《亚特兰大之夜》恰恰证明了质量不高的科幻小说也能出版。
本报综合报道 新书《亚特兰大之夜》是一部描写上流社会的现实小说，在亚马逊网站上卖17.96美元一本，近日在网站上热卖，该书的宣传语是“专业作家写出的烂小说”，相当多的读者留言大力推荐这部小说，其中不乏从事专业写作的人。其实这部“烂小说”的诞生源于一场报复行动。
狂妄出版社惹祸
“美国出版”位于美国东部的马里兰州，原本只是一家名气平平的普通出版公司。当“美国出版”被一批专业作家戏弄过之后，它的名气陡然提升了十倍。这40多位专业作家精心炮制了一部名为《亚特兰大之夜》的垃圾小说，然后将书稿发给“美国出版”。在“美国出版”回信表示接纳书稿之后，这些作家又公开了《亚特兰大之夜》的真相，表示这完全是一场针对性的报复行动。
事情和“美国出版”相关的两篇网络文章有关。“美国出版”有个专门网站，号称用于挖掘有潜力的作家，并向这些新人提供专业指导意见。该网站一篇名为《不要相信所谓专家》的文章特地指出，科幻、奇幻作家活得要容易些，因为科幻、奇幻小说的质量要低于一般小说，一个新人最好不要接受科幻、奇幻专家的指导。不久该网站又登出一篇文章《只相信自己的眼睛》，文章大意说科幻、奇幻小说只能描述虚无缥缈的世界，不能体现出任何文学价值。
愤怒作家报复
被激怒的不光是幻想小说的读者，大批的科幻、奇幻作家也对“美国出版”的言辞极为不满，针对“美国出版”的报复行动因此酝酿而成。在詹姆斯・麦克唐纳德的带领下，40多位作家(美国科幻协会作家sfwa)共用了一个笔名特拉维斯・茶，开始精心撰写出一部“非常烂”的小说。这个作家团里不乏小说界的大腕，比如《刺客三部曲》的作者罗苹・荷布。大家约定，每人负责完成一章，一切都往烂里写，越是前言不搭后语就越好。比较“过分”的是，有两位作家就同一段故事写了重复的两章，故意漏掉了第21章。有人还用一个简单的电脑程序，随机从写好的章节里抽取了一些词句打散重组拼成了第34章。最终，一共41章的小说完成了。
号称自己“严格审查每一份书稿”的“美国出版”中招了，2004年12月他们给特拉维斯・茶发出录用信，书稿进入了常规的出版流程。还好报复性的玩笑在关键时刻中止，“美国出版”在得知事情真相后，于今年1月25日重新发出了一封拒信，中止了《亚特兰大之夜》的出版。
烂小说终出版
精心酝酿的小说稿并未就此闲置，作家们还是决定通过某种方式发行这本奇书。最后他们找到了一家自费出版社LULU，出版了该书。
现在除了发售的平装本之外，网络用户可以通过该书官方网站下载免费电子版。官方网站上还同时出售相关的T恤、茶杯、笔记本和手提袋，所有相关收入，都捐给美国科幻奇幻作家紧急医疗基金会。一场离奇的闹剧，最终以作家们的胜利告终。而“美国出版”的霉运并未就此止步。
在传统媒体的关注下，“美国出版”内部的诸多问题逐渐被曝光。华盛顿邮报就专文刊载了调查报告，揭露了“美国出版”欺骗作者盘剥收入的真相。(阿木)
(编辑：心雨)
Science Fiction Authors Hoax Vanity Publisher
“Atlanta Nights,” by Travis Tea, was offered a publishing contract by PublishAmerica of Frederick, Maryland.
Washington, DC (PRWEB) January 28, 2005 — Over a holiday weekend last year, some thirty-odd science fiction writers banged out a chapter or two apiece of “Atlanta Nights,” a novel about hot times in Atlanta high society. Their objective: to write a deeply awful novel to submit to PublishAmerica, a self-described “traditional publisher” located in Frederick, Maryland.
The project began after PublishAmerica posted an attack on science fiction authors at one of its websites (http://www.authorsmarket.net/). PublishAmerica claimed “As a rule of thumb, the quality bar for sci-fi and fantasy is a lot lower than for all other fiction…. [Science fiction authors] have no clue about what it is to write real-life stories, and how to find them a home.” It described them as “writers who erroneously believe that SciFi, because it is set in a distant future, does not require believable storylines, or that Fantasy, because it is set in conditions that have never existed, does not need believable every-day characters.”
The writers wanted to see where PublishAmerica puts its own quality bar; if the publisher really is selective, as the company claims, or if it is a vanity press that will accept almost anything, as publishing professionals assert.
“Atlanta Nights” was completed, any sign of literary competence was blue-penciled, and the resulting manuscript was submitted.
PublishAmerica accepted it.
From: PublishAmerica Aquisitions [e-mail protected from spam bots]
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Subject: Atlanta NightsAs this is an important piece of email regarding your book, please read it completely from start to finish. I am happy to inform you that PublishAmerica has decided to give “Atlanta Nights” the chance it deserves….Welcome to PublishAmerica, and congratulations on what promises to be an exciting time ahead.
Sincerely,
Meg Phillips
Acquisitions Editor
PublishAmericaThe hoax was publicly revealed on January 23, 2005. PublishAmerica withdrew their offer shortly afterward:
From: “PublishAmerica Acquisitions”
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005
Subject: Your Submission to PublishAmericaWe must withdraw our offer to publish “Atlanta Nights”. Upon further review it appears that your work is not ready to be published. There are portions of nonsensical text in the manuscript that were caught by our editing staff as they previewed the text for editing time assessment pending your acceptance of our offer.
On the positive side, maybe you want to consider contracting the book with a vanity publisher such as iUniverse or Author House. They will certainly publish your book at a fee.
Thank you.
PublishAmerica Acquisitions DepartmentThose who wish to see the novel, “Atlanta Nights” by Travis Tea, for themselves can find it at
http://www.lulu.com/travis-teaPublication at Lulu.com is free.
For more information about PublishAmerica and vanity presses, see:
http://www.sfwa.org/beware/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25187-2005Jan20.html上面的联接似乎不能用,想要拜读这部奇书还可以到下面地址下载:http://www.cs.du.edu/~aburt/StingManuscript.pdf (575k)
再转:合作者
Atlanta Nights – Contributors
Chapter 1. Sherwood Smith
2. James D. Macdonald
3. Sheila Finch
4. Charles Coleman Finlay
5. Julia West
6. Brook West
7. Adam-Troy Castro
8. Allen Steele
9.
10. Mary Catelli
11. Andrew Burt
12a. Victoria Strauss
12b.
13. Vera Nazarian
14. Sean P. Fodera
15.
16.
17. Charles Coleman Finlay
18. M. Turville Heitz
19. Kevin O’Donnell, Jr
20. Chuck Rothman
21. N/A
22. Laura J. Underwood
23. Jena Snyder
24. Paul Melko
25. Tina Kuzminski
26. Ted Kuzminski
27. Megan Lindholm and Robin Hobb
28. Danica and Brook West
29. Rowan and Julia West
30. Derryl Murphy
31. Michael Armstrong
32. Pierce Askegren
33. Deanna Hoak
34. Computer generated
35. Catherine Mintz
36. Peter Heck
37. M. Turville Heitz
38.
39. Brenda Clough
40.
41. Judi B. Castro
42.I know that Teresa Nielsen Hayden wrote a chapter, but she won’t own up to which one it is. Some of these people are spouses, some are children, and Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm are the same person. Obviously, I couldn’t find a site for every writer listed, which is too bad.
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