Edward Willett is currently Kickstarting a new anthology, Shapers of Worlds Volume II, featuring science fiction and fantasy by authors who were guests during the second year of his Aurora Award-winning podcast The Wolrdshapers.
The Kickstarter campaign page is here: https://tinyurl.com/shapersofworlds2
The Kickstarter launched March 9 and runs until noon on April 8. Willett is seeking $15,000 Canadian to publish twenty-four stories, eighteen new and six reprints, from a wide variety of authors, many of them major award-winners and/or international bestsellers.
Backers' rewards available include dozens of autographed books, plus ebooks, book plates, audiobooks, and more. At the higher end, Willett, former writer-in-residence at both the Regina and Saskatoon Public Libraries, is offering short-story critiques and online consultations, and even three-month mentorships.
If it funds, Shapers of Worlds Volume II will feature original fiction by Kelley Armstrong, Marie Brennan, Helen Dale, Candas Jane Dorsey, Lisa Foiles, Susan Forest, James Alan Gardner, Matthew Hughes, Heli Kennedy, Lisa Kessler, Adria Laycraft, Ira Nayman, Garth Nix, Tim Pratt, Edward Savio, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Jeremy Szal, and Edward Willett, plus reprints by Jeffrey A. Carver, Barbara Hambly, Nancy Kress, David D. Levine, S.M. Stirling, and Carrie Vaughn.
The anthology will be published by Willett's Shadowpaw Press.
Shapers of Worlds Volume II is a sequel to Shapers of Worlds, which Willett successfully Kickstarted last year. That book, available now, featured original stories from Tanya Huff, Seanan McGuire, David Weber, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., John C. Wright, D.J. Butler, Christopher Ruocchio, Shelley Adina, and Edward Willett, plus fiction by John Scalzi, David Brin, Julie Czerneda, Joe Haldeman, Gareth L. Powell, Dr. Charles E. Gannon, Fonda Lee, Derek Kunsken, and Thoraiya Dyer.