All the news that’s fit to capsulize!

‘SNUFF’ FILMS
To promote Chuck Palahniuk’s upcoming novel SNUFF, the book’s heroine — aging porn queen Cassie Wright — has her own MySpace page. I abhor MySpace, but at least it includes a hilarious faux trailer (more suggestive than explicit) for one of Cassie’s ’70s skin flicks: THE WIZARD OF ASS, also viewable at YouTube. Two more trailers will soon follow; here’s hoping that they’re as entertaining as this one (and that the book is even better).

GET ASTONISHED … AGAIN
Issue #3 of ASTONISHING ADVENTURES MAGAZINE is now available as a free download or to read online. This one is the first “all-story issue,” with new pulp tales from Bill Cunningham, Matthew Mayo and six others.

ORBIT GOES INTO DEEPER ORBIT
Following a successful launch in the U.S. last year, Orbit Books will double its list of titles within the next three years, and plans to release between 70 and 80 books per year by 2011. Said Orbit publisher Tim Holman, “The support that we’ve received for our launch season in the U.S. — and the success that we’ve achieved internationally — has given us great confidence in our publishing strategy. There is a clear and significant opportunity for any SFF publisher looking to expand the core readership, and we intend Orbit to be at the forefront of the effort to attract more readers to SF and fantasy.” Recent Orbit titles reviewed at BOOKGASM include Iain M. Banks’ MATTER, Jeff Somers’ THE DIGITAL PLAGUE and Philip Palmer’s DEBATABLE SPACE.

‘FIRST’ PRIORITY
Literacy nonprofit First Book has joined forces with the charity eBay Foundation for Community Gives, an online fundraising campaign to provide new books to needy children. Learn how you can help here.

FALL INTO THE ‘GAP’
With MIND THE GAP marking the start of their new THE HIDDEN CITIES series, Tim Lebbon and Christopher Golden have launched a new website that asks readers to make their mark. The site seeks local legends and folktales you’ve heard or witnessed, and you can submit them using the site’s world map. Two lucky contributors will win the book’s limited-edition signed hardcover from Cemetery Dance. You can also read the novel’s first three chapters here. —Rod Lott

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