Sean Wallace
![](../I/m/Wallace%2C_Sean_(2007).jpg)
Sean A. Wallace (born January 1, 1976) is an American science fiction and fantasy anthologist, editor, and publisher best known for his work on Prime Books and for co-editing three magazines, Clarkesworld Magazine, The Dark, and Fantasy Magazine. He has been nominated a number of times by both the Hugo Awards and the World Fantasy Awards, won three Hugo Awards and two World Fantasy Awards, and has served as a World Fantasy Award judge.
Career
Wallace began publishing fiction in 1997, when he launched Cosmos Books, with Philip J. Harbottle. Their debut title, Fantasy Annual, was a paperback magazine of British authors including E.C. Tubb, John Russell Fearn, and Sydney Bounds. In 1999, the "Cosmos Books" name was licensed to Wildside Press; output greatly increased, expanding with American and Australian authors. Wallace also became a freelance editor for Wildside Press, working from Ohio.
In mid-2001, Wallace stepped in to assist an ailing publishing company, Imaginary Worlds, though commercial conditions ultimately meant the company went into bankruptcy. Wallace then launched Prime Books to publish a few of the orphaned books,[1] including the award-winning City of Saints and Madmen, by Jeff VanderMeer. Later, in 2003, he licensed the company to Wildside Press, and moved from Ohio to Pennsylvania, subsequently becoming a senior editor. In early 2009, Wallace reacquired Prime Books, and relaunched as an independent publishing house in May that year.[2] Wallace was twice-nominated for a World Fantasy Award in 2003 and 2004 for editing Prime Books, in the Special Award: Non-Professional and Special Award: Professional categories, respectively.[3][4]
Around this time, he felt there was a lack of appealing short fiction available in the literary fantasy genre. To cater to this, he launched Fantasy Magazine in 2005, at the World Fantasy Convention in Wisconsin.[5] During 2006 his first nationally-distributed book, Horror: The Best of the Year was released, and he took on a co-editing job with Nick Mamatas, with Clarkesworld Magazine.[6] That same year, he won the World Fantasy Award in the Special Award: Professional[7] category for editing Prime Books.
In 2009, his work for Clarkesworld gained recognition with Hugo Award[8] and World Fantasy Award nominations.[9] In 2010 and 2011, those efforts were rewarded with back-to-back Hugo Awards. Sean and the rest of the Clarkesworld team also received World Fantasy Award nominations in 2010, 2012, and 2014. In 2011 he served as a World Fantasy Awards judge and in the same year he launched the World SF Travel Fund with Lavie Tidhar. In 2013 Clarkesworld Magazine and its staff garnered yet another Hugo Award nomination for their work, winning it yet again for their third time.[10] in 2014 the magazine currently garnered yet another World Fantasy Award nomination and this time the magazine won its first World Fantasy Award. Other genre efforts he's been involved with include the relaunch and management of WSFA Press and co-founding the Shirley Jackson Awards. He currently resides in Germantown, MD with his wife, Jennifer, and their two daughters, Cordelia and Natalie.
Works
The Mammoth Book series
- The Mammoth Book of Steampunk (2012)
- The Mammoth Book of Steampunk Adventures (2014)
- The Mammoth Book of Warriors and Wizardry (2014)
- The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk (2015)
- The Mammoth Book of Kaiju (2016)
The Realms series
- Realms: The First Year of Clarkesworld Magazine (2008), with Neil Clarke and Nick Mamatas
- Realms: The Second Year of Clarkesworld Magazine (2010), with Neil Clarke and Nick Mamatas
- Clarkesworld: Year Three (2013), with Nick Mamatas and Neil Clarke
- Clarkesworld: Year Four (2013), with Neil Clarke
- Clarkesworld: Year Five (2013), with Neil Clarke
- Clarkesworld: Year Six (2014), with Neil Clarke
Other anthologies
- Bandersnatch (2007), with Paul Tremblay
- Best New Fantasy (2006)
- Fantasy (2007), with Paul Tremblay
- Fantasy Annual 3 (1999), with Philip J. Harbottle
- Fantasy Annual 4 (2000), with Philip J. Harbottle
- Fantasy Annual 5 (2003), with Philip J. Harbottle
- Horror: The Best of the Year (2006), with John Betancourt
- Japanese Dreams (2009)
- People of the Book: A Decade of Jewish Science Fiction and Fantasy (2011), with Rachel Swirsky
- Phantom (2009), with Paul Tremblay
- Robots: Recent A.I. (2012), with Rich Horton
- Strange Pleasures (2006)
- War & Space: Recent Combat (2012), with Rich Horton
- Weird Tales: The Twenty-First Century (2007), with Stephen H. Segal
Other works
- Eric Frank Russell: Our Sentinel in Space : a Working Bibliography: 3rd Revised Edition (1999), with Phil Stephensen-Payne
- The Tall Adventurer: The Works of E.C. Tubb (1997), with Philip J. Harbottle
Magazines or journals edited
- Clarkesworld Magazine, with Nick Mamatas (2006-2008); with Neil Clarke (2008-current; 98 issues)
- The Dark Magazine, with Jack Fisher (2013-current; 6 issues)
- Fantasy Annual, with Philip J. Harbottle (1997-1998; 2 volumes)
- Fantasy Magazine (2005) with Paul Tremblay (2006-2007), with Cat Rambo (2007-2011), total: 47 issues
- Jabberwocky 1 (2006-2007; three issues); with Erzebet YellowBoy (2009-2011; 6 issues)
- Podcastle (November 2009), guest editor
- Thaumatrope (August 2009), guest editor
- Underworlds: The Magazine of Noir and Dark Suspense (2004; 1 issue)
Essays and articles
- "Publishing in the Future: The Potential and Reality of POD" in Locus, March 10, 2004
References
- ↑ Dziemianowicz, Stefan. "Prime Suspect", Publishers Weekly, p. 43, Reed Business Information, July 26, 2004. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
- ↑ Wallace, Sean. Press Release: Acquisition of Prime Books. LiveJournal (official site). February 10, 2009. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
- ↑ "2003 World Fantasy Award Winners and Nominees". World Fantasy Awards, World Fantasy Convention (WFC). Oct. 30–Nov. 2, 2003. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
- ↑ "2004 World Fantasy Award Winners and Nominees". World Fantasy Awards, WFC. October 28–31, 2004. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
- ↑ Foster, Eugie. "An Interview with Sean Wallace" at the Wayback Machine (archived April 12, 2008), The Fix, TTA Press, April 7, 2008. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
- ↑ About us: Staff, Clarkesworld Magazine, Wyrm Publishing. Retrieved September 7, 2008.
- ↑ "2006 World Fantasy Award Winners and Nominees" World Fantasy Awards, WFC. November 2–5, 2006. Retrieved September 7, 2008.
- ↑ "2009 Hugo Awards". Hugo Awards, World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). August 6–10, 2009. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
- ↑ "2009 World Fantasy Award Winners and Nominees". World Fantasy Awards, WFC. Oct. 29–Nov. 1, 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
- ↑ Locus Magazine website.
Further reading
- Morgan, Cheryl. "Interview: Sean Wallace, Prime Books". Emerald City, Iss. 102, February, 2004
- Tan, Charles. "Feature: Interview with Sean Wallace". Bibliophile Stalker, April 15, 2008