Alt Hist Issue 7 is here!

The latest issue of the bestselling historical fiction magazine

I am pleased to announce that Alt Hist Issue 7 has now been published!Alt Hist Issue 7 eBook Cover

You can purchase eBook and Print copies from:

Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Barnes & Noble

And eBook copies from:

Smashwords | Kobo | iBooks

Alt Hist returns with the seventh issue of the popular magazine of historical fiction and alternate history. This is the biggest issue of Alt Hist so far and this time we have seven wonderful short stories for you—including two parts of the popular Battalion 202 series and stories from Alt Hist favourites Priya Sharma and Andrew Knighton. If you like historical fiction, then you are sure to love this issue of Alt Hist.

Alt Hist Issue 7 features the following stories:

  • “The Vivisectionist’s Daughter” by Jason Kahn
  • “Cold Flesh” by Andrew Knighton
  • “The Independence Day” by Pavel Nikiforovitch
  • “Heff in Dearborn” by Michael Fertik
  • “Battalion 202: The Sheep and the Goats” by Jonathan Doering
  • “Set Britain Ablaze” by Jonathan Doering
  • “The Red Vortex” by Priya Sharma

Want to get Alt Hist without even thinking about it?

Now you can – simply subscribe and you’ll get each copy of Alt Hist in printed format with a free eBook sent to you.

Simply go to our Subscribe page to find out more about this great deal which will save you time and money – great discounts are available!

Enough sales talk! This is a bit of an experiment so any feedback appreciated on what offers you would like us to provide – for instance would you like to have an eBook only subscription? Is PayPal OK as a payment option? Please let me know.

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Historical Fiction Short Stories – the Long and the Short of it

Like fantasy, historical fiction often seems to favour the epic mode where authors (and readers) can get to grips with extensive world-building and a deep setting. That’s at least what you often hear these days on online forums and discussion groups.

But is that really the case? Of course at Alt Hist we don’t think that is true as we publish a magazine dedicated to short fiction with an historical setting. In the case of Alternative History, with its links to the Science Fiction genre, the tendency to write short stories is much more ingrained – Alternate History stories often focuses ideas and these can sit naturally with the short story length.

But I really think there is a place for the short story for historical fiction as well. Just because the tendency of historical fiction authors is to write epic tales of romance/adventure, doesn’t mean that you can’t fit historical fiction into a short story. After all in Science Fiction the author may have to create whole new worlds that they reader may never encountered before, so what would prevent the writer of historical fiction from portraying an historical setting, which might be much more familiar to the reader? I would suggest the tendency is more about tradition and commercial pressure. Short fiction today is strongest in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Mystery because it always has been and its often a good starting point for writers in those genres. But the same tradition isn’t the same for historical fiction – as far as I know there weren’t any pulp magazines dedicated to historical fiction unless you include Westerns.

Commercially the emphasis is always on the novel length work. Short stories tend not to be a commercial format for most publishers. So if you’re a historical fiction writer and you want to make a living then its only natural to turn to the novel. Interestingly it seems that some authors once they’re established do then turn to short stories – especially for characters that run through their novels – there’s some tales that fit better into a short story rather than a novel.

So maybe it is possible to write and read historical short stories, but are there many of these rare birds about? Well yes actually. Check the reviews on the Historical Novel Society website and you will find reviews for 72 collections of historical short stories – and most of these were published in just the last few years.

If you have a favourite historical short story then please post a Comment and tell us about it.

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What kind of people read Historical Fiction? Help find out.

Would you like to help with the understanding of Historical Fiction as a genre? If so, then the wonderful Historical Novel Society is currently running a survey into reading habits of those who partake of fiction set in past times.

I encourage anyone who likes Historical Fiction to take the survey. I believe that the results will be made public in the future – so you’ll be able to understand a little bit more about your fellow readers and the genre as a whole.

Here’s the introduction to the survey if you want to know a bit more about it:

Your views on reading and on historical fiction are very important to us, and we very much appreciate your time.

THE SURVEY SHOULD ONLY TAKE 5-10 MINUTES. In addition to the survey results, as a thank you we would like to offer a free e-copy of the Historical Novel Society’s historical fiction anthology from authors at the London (UK) conference in 2012. You will be prompted for your email at the end of the survey.

PLEASE PASS THE SURVEY URL ALONG – https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JCG7NYP – the more participants, and the broader the base, the better.

Survey questions were developed by M.K. TOD, author of UNRAVELLED and blogger at www.awriterofhistory.com, in collaboration with RICHARD LEE, founder of the Historical Novel Society. We are grateful to the many authors and bloggers who contributed ideas for this year’s survey and agreed to publicize it.

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New Book Review and New Book Reviewer – The Sins of the Father by C. B. Hanley

Sins of the FatherAs you may know Ian Shone writes quite a few of the book reviews for the Alt Hist site, and while he is still going strong (should have another review from him soon), we have also had some other volunteers step forward to write reviews as well. The latest of these is Christopher Yates. His review of The Sins of the Father by C. B. Hanley is now live on the Alt Hist website.

If you like tales of medieval intrigue and crime then it sounds like C. B. Hanley’s book might well be of interest to you. Please go and read Chris’s review to find out more!

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Interested in book reviewing?

If you read the Alt Hist blog regularly you will have noticed that we are publishing regular book reviews now from Ian Shone. However, so as not to overburden Ian too much, and to be able to review some more books (we’re getting quite a few sent through to us at the moment!) I would like to have a few more book reviewers for the site.

If you would be interested in volunteering to do this then please send me an email at althist.editor@gmail.com with some examples of previous book reviews, or a sample of a new book review that hasn’t been published anywhere. Also let me know what sort of books you would be interested in reviewing and how often.

We can’t offer actual payment, but you will get a free copy of the next issue of Alt Hist and also a credit in the issue.

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New Book by Ian Sales reviewed by Ian Shone for Alt Hist – Adrift on the Sea of Rains

Adrift on the Sea of Rains by Ian SalesIan Shone has reviewed another new alternate history book for Alt Hist.

Ian’s latest review is of a new novel by Ian Sales called Adrift on the Sea of Rains. This novel is about the Cold War and astronauts – a combination of alternate history and hard science fiction.

Ian Shone’s review of Adrift on the Sea of Rains is in the Book Reviews section of our site.

Ian Sales has also written two stories for Alt Hist: ‘A Light in the Darkness’ and ‘Travelling by Air’, and we also have a free story on the site by him: ‘Disambiguation’.

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I now have a Goodreads Author Profile

I’m partly blowing my own trumpet to announce that I have a Goodreads Author Profile, but also to let you know that all issues of Alt Hist are also on Goodreads, so if you use the site don’t forget to add them to your list of books and rate them!

Every bit of your support really helps, especially reviews and rankings on sites like Goodreads, and especially Amazon, so if you have read any of our issues then please post a quick review – it doesn’t matter if you didn’t buy it through Amazon you can still post a review there!

Many thanks.

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Book Review Offer: Field of Dead Horses

We have another book up for review if anyone is interested. If so please get in touch with me with your name and address details and a brief CV of previous review work – I’ll then pass your details onto the publisher who will send you a review copy. I will then ask you to submit the review to Alt Hist in the usual way through the Online Submission system.

Here’s more information about the book and its author.

Title: Field of Dead Horses
Author: Nick Allen Brown
Publisher: Harrowood Books
ISBN: 978-0-915180-24-0
Price: $16.99
Page Count: 333
Publication Date: 4th Qtr 2011

Summary: On a cold February morning in 1939, Elliott Chapel is riding his horse on the border of his farm when he finds a bloodied and beaten woman, lying face up in the shallow water of Penny Creek. Days later, Ellie Evans escapes certain death with the help of the town doctor, and comes out of her coma. Once Ellie Evans explains how she ended up in Penny Creek, a series of events unfolds that traps Elliott Chapel between torturous circumstances and a dark future.

Narrated by Elliott five decades later, he recalls the incident, telling the story of the events that transpired and ultimately revealing the long kept secret that began in a small Kentucky town.

Author Bio:
Nick Allen Brown has been working as a copy writer for eight years writing television commercials. He has written treatments for the Sci-Fi Channel, The Lifetime Network and interned two years for Coke Sams, a movie producer, writer and director. Nick has worked as a writer for Insight Media Advertising, Liberty Media, Benedek Broadcasting and Gray Television. He lives in Bowling Green, KY with his wife Becky and their two children.

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