Publishing is changing fast, as we all know, and last week I encountered yet another example. This time it's not the electronic press but the print small press. As with the little English ships that took on the Spanish armada, a small press, when it chooses, can mobilize with far greater speed than corporate giants.

Shahid Mahmud, owner of Phoenix Pick, contacted me February 25 about doing a small trade paper of my Nebula-nominated novella "Act One." We maneuvered about a contract, agreed, and four days later the book was available for sale, complete with cover art, a Forward, the next chapter of Joan Slonciewski's new novel as a "tickler," and a very attractive price ($5.99 including shipping). Four days!

This is astonishing to me. Granted, it's a reprint rather than a new work, but still.... Print-on-demand, a determined editor, a cooperative author, and a website can move amazingly fast. Shahid, who reports that his wife says he's "having way too much fun at work," plans on doing more works. Fast.

The Web site, with the book's lovely cover art, is http://www.phoenixpick.com/Nebula/Nebula.htm