Okay, for those of you short on time and eager to spend some cash, first the bad news: You can only spend half as much cash as you’d hoped to, unless you buy two copies of fmC #1, because dudes are having  a RECESSION SALE and slashed the price of copies of their 1,500 copy-limited, first edition run by 50%.  They also said there would be a new fmC website up and running sometime in the next few days. So why don’t you go over to the site, buy a couple copies of the issue–which features new work by Ha Jin, as well as a Jorge Luis Borges story that is otherwise unavailable in English—and take a look at the old site before it is replaced by something several orders higher on the awesome scale. 

Also, stay tuned for our long overdue and only maybe still forthcoming review of their first issue. They sent it to us and we loved it, then totally fucking flaked on telling you about it, because we were all too busy either blogging about Tao, picking fights with people who blogged about Tao, or checking out pr’s goods. So we’re still trying to get to that, but what I’m saying is that the world moves on, and you really shouldn’t wait on us. In fact, if you buy the magazine and have trenchant analysis to offer, email your remarks to me and I’ll post them here. 

Full text of Editor Kaelan’s press release/facebook post after the jump. 

Dear Additions,

I wanted to issue a warm welcome to all the new faces in the fmC group. Many of you found us through Dr. Andy, and we’re much obliged for his endorsement. I also wanted to remind you all that our RECESSION SALE—where you can get a copy of our debut anthology, FIRST WINTER, which features newly translated work from Jorge Luis Borges, and National Book Award winner Ha Jin, for just $10!—continues at http://www.flatmancrooked.com/market/fmcmarket.html. 

In other news, it’s apparently 2009. Accordingly, we at fmC are launching our new site—in, like, just a few days. The usurping site will look much like the old one, excepting that the new one will have way more content, and shall be updated with said content thrice weekly.

So, what kind of content will the new site have? I’m glad I asked. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we will publish a new article on the BLOG. These articles will discuss the magazines, newspapers, television shows, and websites where exemplary narrative/literary work is getting published. For instance, we might write about how Phillip Adler writes about bridge for the New York Times (whoever handles the Twitter account for @nytimesarts always posts links to his stories, and there’s a reason for that). Or, we might publish an article on how the show CALIFORNICATION carries on a dialogue each season with an important American novel (think of the Gatsbian themes in season two; they’re both explicit and subtle). By the way, if y’all have any story suggestions, email me either through Facebook, or at kaelan@flatmancrooked.com.

The new FEATURES section, updated every Wednesday, will continue to publish the sort of fiction that fmC stakes its reputation on. But we will also be publishing a lot more non-fiction this year. For instance, we’re planning a major, multi-media story on the Sacramento Cricket Association’s 2009 season. The Sacramento Tigers won in 2007. The Bradshaw Lions, in their debut season, won in 2008. One can only imagine the brewing tension of 2009. 

And, finally, we’re expanding our RAUDIO section. We’ll be doing some radio only-stories, but we’ll also publish audio supplements to our fiction and narrative non-fiction. Shit, to use the term non-pejoratively, is going to be rad.

I’ll write to y’all the moment the new site goes live. Get ready for it!

Sincerely,
Kaelan Smith
Senior Web Editor, fmC