How TNG’s Wil Wheaton is giving spec fiction authors their Big Bang
The legend is using his nerd power to help authors find their audience.
“You’re going to meet authors you don’t yet know you love, including some who are being narrated for the very first time.”
There’s a new way to meet the future of science fiction and fantasy writers—and it’s hosted by a Star Trek legend. Weekly audiobook show It’s Storytime, with Wil Wheaton features new stories from the pages of ongoing genre publications like Uncanny Magazine, Lightspeed Magazine, On Spec, and more.
The new podcast will introduce listeners to authors who are new, some of whom have never even been narrated yet. You’ll be meeting many of them for the first time!
Wheaton told the team on Los Angeles’ KTLA 5 Morning News:
“It’s a short fiction podcast where I narrate speculative fiction from emerging authors. My goal is to eventually find brand-new authors and help them get their break and put them out into the world.”
For many, show host Wil Wheaton is best known for his role as a young star on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Of course, over the years the actor has also had roles in movies plus more TV shows, including recurring roles on Eureka, The Big Bang Theory, and Leverage.
Now, Wheaton is offering you his new podcast It’s Story Time With Wil Wheaton. Recently launched, the show has new episodes currently dropping every Wednesday wherever you can get your podcasts:
To pick the right stories for the show, Wheaton hired longtime Uncanny Magazine editors Michael Damian Thomas (Editor-in-Chief/Co-Publisher) and Lynne M. Thomas (former Co-Publisher).
He told Trek Central:
“They read a ton of speculative fiction. I asked Lynn and Michael to choose wonderful, wonderful speculative fiction stories for me that really lent themselves to narration.”
(BTW, in that interview, he also shared the very personal story about why the show was even invented.)
The team pulled together stories from some of today’s best genre authors—in order to introduce those authors to even more new readers. The stories will come from the pages of different popular genre magazines.
During Wheaton’s recent AMA on Reddit, he also shared that It’s Storytime with Wil Wheaton has been two years in the making.
“It’s been a long time, a lot of work, and absolutely worth it to bring you incredible stories that I love, pulled from the pages of Uncanny Magazine, Lightspeed, On Spec, and others. You’re going to meet authors you don’t yet know you love, including some who are being narrated for the very first time. I will take you with me as we travel together through time, I will take you to meet some gods, we will watch people fall in and out of love, and more.”
Wheaton also shared a bit more about how he came to hire the Uncanny editors to help him:
“I tried to find stuff on my own, but after months of frustrating struggles, I admitted to myself that I’m a bad slush reader and editor. So I hired the editors from Uncanny, Lynne and Michael Thomas, to find me great stories from great authors, with an eye toward works that maybe hadn’t found the large audience they deserve.”
Wheaton says the editors brought him exactly the kind of fiction he wanted to promote. If the project works like they hope, Wheaton plans to work again with Michael. (Lynne is stepping down from her tole at Uncanny.)
“We will seek out as many brand-new writers as we can,” Wheaton says. “I would love to eventually be a podcast that breaks new writers, in addition to sharing work from established authors.”
Find out more about the show here:
Official website: WilWheaton.net
Uncanny Magazine’s Michael Damian Thomas and Lynne M. Thomas Are the Content Editors for It’s Storytime with Wil Wheaton! (Uncanny Magazine)
Wil Wheaton Talks Star Trek Prodigy & New Podcast Adventure (Trek Central)
“Hey nerds! I’m Wil Wheaton, and I am here to tell you all about my new short fiction podcast. AMA!” (Reddit)
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