As you might have read in our news updates, WMG Publishing, led by award-winning authors and editors Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch, is embarking on an exciting new anthology project—a first for WMG, but far from the first for Smith and Rusch.

Called Fiction River, the bi-monthly anthology series will be modeled on the successful anthology series of the past, from Orbit to Universe to Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine, and Fiction River, too, will provide a forum for original ground-breaking fiction of all genres.

Each Fiction River volume will have electronic, trade paperback, and limited-edition signed hardcover editions and will feature some of the best new and established fiction writers in publishing.

In addition, each volume will have a different editor and will feature stories written around a central theme specific to that volume, say Pixies in Space. There could be a mystery story about a detective hunting for a murderous pixie on a space station, along with a romance story about a pixie and a human finding love on a moon base, along with an sf story about the rise of the pixie race on Jupiter colony in the year 2568, along with… well, I think you get the idea.

But all six volumes will have two things in common—the high quality of the individual stories, and the series editors: Smith and Rusch, who will use their thirty years of combined editorial experience to monitor the series and make sure each volume lives up to the highest standards. They might even write a story or two. The pair are not only award-winning authors, they’re award-winning editors, too.

Another exciting aspect of this project is the funding platform through which we’ve decided to launch this project: Kickstarter. This way, you, the reader, can be part of the creative process from day one. There’s even an opportunity in the highest funding level to become part of the story. How’s that for reader interaction?

The first volume will appear in April 2013. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to get reading.

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Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer.