PHOBOS BOOKS proudly introduces a revolutionary new scifi novel by debut author Adam Connell. And make no mistake, Counterfeit Kings is the genuine article. 

In the tradition of scifi pioneers Alfred Bester and Dan Simmons, Adam Connell’s Counterfeit Kings is a gritty exploration of a dangerous future peopled with brutal heroes and sympathetic villains. The “struggle for identity and self-sacrifice are just a few of the powerful stories beneath an action-packed surface plot that provokes as it dazzles,” says Publishers Weekly. “Featuring shattered characters whose souls are as dirtied as their deteriorated surroundings, Connell's novel boldly challenges the rigid, moral conservatism so often found in traditional space opera, and is sure to both please and anger readers of this particular subgenre of scifi movies".

Connell's unrepentantly visceral style hits readers like an intellectual bullet to the gut.described the writer's prose as "simultaneously hilariously funny and deadly sharp... Connell brings the reader's attention to details so minute and yet so brutal that they burn holes in the page."

To read more outstanding reviews—and excerpts—of Counterfeit Kings, click here.

Absolutely Brilliant in Chrome features 10 new short stories and novellas by seven previous winners of the 1st and 2nd Annual Phobos Fiction Contests.  If you marveled at the new worlds introduced in the anthologies Hitting the Skids in Pixeltown and Empire of Dreams and Miracles, wait until you see what fresh ideas these magnificent seven storytellers spin. After reading these stories, you’ll understand why all these authors were originally singled out as important new voices by such SF giants as Orson Scott Card, Larry Niven, Catherine Asaro, Doug Chiang, Jim Shooter, Vincent Di Fate, and Dave McDonnell.   The cover art is by JayJay Jackson.

Click here to see reviews of Chrome and read commentary by the editor.

Phobos Books Indefinitely Suspends its Annual Fiction Contest

It's with great regret that Phobos Books announces the discontinuation of its Annual Fiction Contest and publication of further Contest Anthologies. Mounting financial pressures have made it necessary for Phobos Books to refocus on more commercial properties,  making the continuation of the Contest and publication of further anthologies untenable. Both Phobos Books editor Keith Olexa and Editor-in-Chief John Ordover express their regret over the circumstances that have lead to this difficult choice, and hope that over the next few years, as Phobos Books  develops into stronger and more successful publishing imprint, that they can once again re-implement the Contest. Thanks again to all the writers who submitted stories, and to those Contest winners published in our initial anthologies.   

Phobos Books is proud to announce an all new slate of SF and Fantasy books written by some of the genre's favorite authors. Look for the new PHOBOS IMPACT science fiction and fantasy line.

Congratulations to the winners of the 3rd Annual Phobos Fiction Contest! Phobos Books is thrilled to honor the authors of the 12 winning stories, all of which are slated to be published in the 3rd Annual Phobos Science Fiction Anthology, edited by Keith Olexa, entitled All the Rage This Year.

A Great Opportunity To Market Green Initiatives Using Pinterest

Pinterest has been seeing rapid growth over the past years and the number of visitors to the site has reached 23 million with the average time that one spends on the site making up 1200 minutes on a monthly average. The figures show that Pinterest is one of the social networks that is proving to be entertaining and attention grabbing at the moment.

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Phobos Books Announces Finalists in 3rd Annual Phobos Fiction Contest. (Click on Contest for list of stories...)

Publishers Weekly featured Phobos Books in its Science Fiction Close-Up issue, dated June 30, 2003. Judith Rosen's article highlights the book jacket for Hitting the Skids in Pixeltown, a collection of stories by the winners of the 2nd Annual Phobos Fiction Contest (pub date Sept 04). To read the article, go to www.publishersweekly.com. Our thanks to Stephan Martiniere for his glorious cover painting, and to JayJay Jackson for the jacket design. To see more of their art, go to our Gallery page. For bios and photos of our Phobos Award-winning authors and the jurors who chose them, read on....

Creative writing ideas for students

Many students can write good scifi story. Clear goals, hard work, perseverance make the author to eliminate distractions in writing a good book. Creative, fun and productive writing can be helped to write a book. Student can get these ideas by using real life university stories. Try to break down what the author wants to write about is the effective way to get an idea. If the author still has some problems with the ideas, consider doing some research. There are plenty of resources available for doing research on specific topics. The ideas are written down on a piece of paper. The most important tip for the writers is to select something that they have an interest in. The everyday ways are used for creating characters. The author may look the people around him and base a character on one of them. He could also look through magazines and use of pictures to create a character.

The outline of the story should be created. The outline is what the author will write the book off so it is important to ensure that all the key factors of the story written down in the outline. Many professional might suggest using whatever comes more naturally. The writers can write in the way that they are most comfortable with. Once the writer finished the outline of the story, then he can start writing of the story and fill the missing places. The introduction of the characters should impress the readers. The book must have a description for each of their lives. The scenes in the book will create conflict with characters and give them some dilemmas to solve. This can help keep readers interested because of the twists and turns. The ending is the hardest part of the book to write. But if the writer becomes with the characters and the story itself might have an easier time creating the ending.

PHOBOS BOOKS is proud to publish Nobody Gets the Girl, the first novel by Phobos Award winner James Maxey. Introduced by legendary comic book editor and author Jim Shooter, Nobody Gets the Girl is a fast-paced science fiction novel that skillfully combines quantum physics with the energetic action of classic comics. Richard Rogers wakes one morning to find himself transformed into an invisible man. Suddenly thrust into a new life as a superhero called Nobody, he fights alongside two stunningly sexy superheroines -- Rail Blade and the Thrill -- in an effort to thwart the evil schemes of global terrorist Rex Monday. Sparks fly, adrenaline pulses, whole cities fall, but in the end, Nobody gets the girl! James Maxey won the 1st Annual Phobos Fiction Contest with his short story "Empire of Dreams and Miracles," which became the title story of the first Phobos Science Fiction Anthology. Jim Shooter served as editor-in-chief of MARVEL, VALIANT and DEFIANT Comics, and is the author of several YA books.

To read the Prolog and first 2 chapters of Nobody Gets the Girl got James Maxey's web

Hitting the Skids in Pixeltown is the dazzling follow-up to PHOBOS BOOKS' popular first title, Empire of Dreams and Miracles. Second in the imprint's series of Science Fiction anthologies, Hitting the Skids in Pixeltown is again presented and edited by best-selling SF author Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game), who wrote the introduction and a preface to each story. The stories were selected from the 2nd Annual Phobos Fiction Contest by Card and a jury of other SF luminaries. They include legendary SF author Larry Niven (Ringworld); Nebula Award-winner Catherine Asaro (The Quantum Rose), renowned SF artist & author Vincent Di Fate (Infinite Worlds); Starlog Magazine Editor Dave McDonnell, and movie producer John Roche (Fire Dancer). From a gritty cyber-noir tale of dangerous technology to a parable for peace in the distant future, the stories in this collection continue the Phobos mission of bringing devoted SF readers the best brave-new fiction by emerging authors. The book includes a delightful bonus -- Larry Niven's first published short story, "The Coldest Place". Hitting the Skids in Pixeltown was co-edited by PHOBOS BOOKS Editor Keith Olexa and Creative Director Christian O'Toole.

PHOBOS BOOKS, a division of Phobos Entertainment, has launched its publishing program with its first book Empire of Dreams and Miracles: The Phobos Science Fiction Anthology, an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by best selling author Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game) and former Starlog Managing Editor Keith Olexa.

The authors whose stories are collected in Empire of Dreams and Miracles were all winners of the 1st Annual Phobos Fiction Contest. In the summer of 2001 science fiction scribes from around the country were solicited to submit works of short fiction that demonstrated "innovation, insight and farsight".

Take my word for it; all science fiction books are not created equal. All right, don't take my word for it. You'll figure it out when you plow through packed bookstore shelves. You'll realize soon enough that not every writer pens a tale worth reading. So just how does one find stellar SF? For starters, why don't you try out these 100 narrative works. Each one should be part of every SF reader's-- not to mention every SF writer's-- repertoire. Many of these novels are award winners, and most have inspired profound trends in science fiction.

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