For Exposure: The Life and Times of a Small Press Publisher

What does it take to become a Hugo and Stoker Award-nominated editor and publisher?

Follow Jason Sizemore’s unconventional professional path as it winds through a tiny, overheated Baptist church deep within the coal fields of Appalachia, Kentucky, past a busted printer and a self-serving boss that triggered an early mid-life crisis and the epiphany that he should open a magazine spreading the gospel of science fiction to the masses, all the way to WorldCon 2012 and his first Hugo Awards ceremony.

In this collection of semi-true and sometimes humorous essays, Jason exposes the parties, people, and triumphs that shaped him into the Apex Overlord. He also lays bare the hardships and failures that have threatened to take it all away. Meet Thong Girl, heed the warning about the ham, receive rest stop bathroom wisdom, and visit an emergency room straight out of a horror movie in this extraordinary account of life as a publisher and editor.

With rebuttal essays from Maurice Broaddus, Monica Valentinelli, Lesley Conner, and more, For Exposure tells Jason’s story with insight from key players along his road to success. It is a comprehensive and frank look at what Apex and the genre publishing business is about. Take a shot with the publisher, dance the night away, and become a legend. And do it all For Exposure.

Includes first-person rebuttals by Geoffrey Girard, Maurice Broaddus, Janet Harriett, Monica Valentinelli, Sara M. Harvey, Justin Stewart, and Elaine Blose.

Also features a look at Apex ten years in the future by Michael A. Burstein, Jaym Gates, Maggie Slater, and Jettie Necole.

Cover art by Justin Stewart.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Prologue: See the Child

Chapter 1: The Risk Master

Chapter 2: The Ham

Chapter 3: A Forgotten Night
--A Forgotten Night: Eyewitness Rebuttal by Justin Stewart

Chapter 4: Legends of the Slush Pile

Chapter 5: Death by a Thousand Cuts

Chapter 6: Another Forgotten Night, with Fact-Checking by Maurice Broaddus

Chapter 7: Business Acumen

Chapter 8: Building the Legend of Apex
--Building the Legend of Apex: Eyewitness Rebuttal by Elaine Blose

Chapter 9: Stoned and Delirious
--Stoned and Delirious: Eyewitness Rebuttal by Sara M. Harvey

Chapter 10: Waterfalls
--The Case of the Mysterious Warm Splatter: Eyewitness Rebuttal by Monica Valentinelli

Chapter 11: For Exposure
--For Exposure: Eyewitness Rebuttal by Lesley Conner

Chapter 12: Lord Hugo
--Lord Hugo: Eyewitness Rebuttal by Janet Harriett

Chapter 13: Parting Shot
--“Faithful Reader” by Jettie Necole
--“Unless…” by Maggie Slater
--“I Remember the Future of Apex Publications” by Michael A. Burstein
--“Feed the Beast” by Jaym Gates

Born the son of an unemployed coal miner in a tiny Kentucky Appalachian villa named Big Creek (population 400), Jason fought his way out of the hills to the big city of Lexington. He attended Transylvania University (a real school with its own vampire legend) and received a degree in computer science. Since 2005, he has owned and operated Apex Publications. He is the editor of five anthologies, author of Irredeemable, a three-time Hugo Award loser, an occasional writer, who can usually be found wandering the halls of hotel conventions seeking friends and free food. Visit him online at http://www.jason-sizemore.com.