John Joseph Adams (born July 31, 1976) is an American

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

, and

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

Career

Editor

Adams worked as Assistant Editor at ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science-fiction magazine, first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiv ...

'' from May 2001 to December 2009. In January 2010 he left ''F&SF'' to edit '' Lightspeed Magazine'', an online science fiction magazine which launched June 1, 2010. In March 2011, he took charge of its sister magazine, ''

Fantasy Magazine A fantasy fiction magazine, or fantasy magazine, is a magazine which publishes primarily fantasy fiction. Not generally included in the category are magazines for children with stories about such characters as Santa Claus. Also not included are ...

''. In June 2012, Adams and Creeping Hemlock Press successfully closed a $7,500

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign for funding ''Nightmare Magazine'', the first issue of which released October 2012. Originally the co-publisher and editor-in-chief, Adams now serves as publisher.

Publisher

In November 2011, Adams purchased ''Lightspeed'' and ''Fantasy Magazine'' from

Sean Wallace Sean Wallace (born January 1, 1976) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologist, editor, and publisher best known for founding the publishing house Prime Books and for co-editing three magazines, ''Clarkesworld Magazine'', '' ...

Prime Books Sean Wallace (born January 1, 1976) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologist, editor, and publisher best known for founding the publishing house Prime Books and for co-editing three magazines, ''Clarkesworld Magazine'', '' ...

. With the January 2012 issue, the first published under Adams's ownership, the content of both magazines was combined under the ''Lightspeed'' masthead, and ''Fantasy Magazine'' was discontinued as an entity. The ''Fantasy Magazine'' staff was also absorbed into ''Lightspeed''. In 2015, Adams became the editor-at-large of John Joseph Adams Books in partnership with

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company ( ; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, and reference works. The company is based in the Financial District, Boston, Boston Financial District. It was fo ...

Podcaster

Since January 2010 Adams and science fiction author

David Barr Kirtley ''Geek's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a science fiction book podcast. History The show is produced for Wired, and hosted by author David Barr Kirtley. It was created by Kirtley and John Joseph Adams, who served as co-host for the first hundred epi ...

have produced and hosted ''

Geek's Guide to the Galaxy ''Geek's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a science fiction book podcast. History The show is produced for Wired, and hosted by author David Barr Kirtley. It was created by Kirtley and John Joseph Adams, who served as co-host for the first hundred epi ...

''.

Accolades

His anthology ''The Living Dead'' was nominated for a

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

and named one of the "Best Books of the Year" by ''Publishers Weekly''. He has been called "The reigning king of the anthology world" by Barnes & Noble.com, and in 2011 he was named one of "100+ Geeks to Follow on Twitter" by TechRepublic. He is a finalist for the 2011 Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor, Short Form, and his magazine, '' Lightspeed Magazine'', is a finalist for best semiprozine. In 2017, John was nominated for a

for Best Anthology for The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016.

Bibliography

Short fiction

;Anthologies edited * '' Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse'' (

Night Shade Books Night Shade Books is an American, San Francisco–based imprint, formerly an independent publishing company, that specializes in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Among its publications have been the U.S. edition of Iain M. Banks' novel '' ...

, January 2008) * ''Seeds of Change'' (

, August 2008) * ''The Living Dead'' (

, September 2008) * ''Federations'' (

, May 2009) * ''By Blood We Live'' (

, August 2009) * ''The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' (

, September 2009) * ''The Living Dead 2'' (

, September 2010) * ''The Way of the Wizard'' (

, November 2010) * ''Lightspeed: Year One'' (Prime Books, November 2011) * ''Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom'' (

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

, February 2012) * ''Armored'' (

Baen Books Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...

, March 2012) * ''Other Worlds Than These'' (

, July 2012) * ''Epic: Legends of Fantasy ''(

Tachyon Publications Tachyon Publications is an independent press specializing in science fiction and fantasy books. Founded in San Francisco in 1995 by Jacob Weisman, Tachyon books have tended toward high-end literary works, short story collections, and anthologies ...

, November 2012). * ''Brave New Worlds'' (

, 2nd edition December 2012) * ''Oz Reimagined: New Tales from the Emerald City and Beyond'' (

47North 47North is a publishing imprint of Amazon Publishing, the publishing company of Amazon. It is the seventh imprint begun under the parent company Amazon Publishing, and publishes speculative fiction under three main genres: fantasy, science fiction ...

, February 2013) * '' The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination'' (

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles. History Tor was founded by Tom Doherty, ...

, February 19, 2013) * ''Robot Uprisings'' (April 2014) (with Daniel H. Wilson) * ''Dead Man's Hand: An Anthology of the Weird West'' (

Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of the British entertainment company Titan Entertainment, which was established as Titan Books in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cine ...

, May 2014) * ''Help Fund My Robot Army!!! and Other Improbable Crowdfunding Projects'' (June 2014) * ''

The Apocalypse Triptych ''The Apocalypse Triptych'' is a series of three anthologies of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey. The first anthology, ''The End is Nigh'', was self-published on March 1, 2014, with the second v ...

'' (2014 - 2015, with

Hugh Howey Hugh C. Howey (born 1975) is an American writer, known best for the science fiction series ''Silo'', part of which he published independently through Amazon.com's Kindle Direct Publishing system. Although he has since signed distribution deals w ...

) * ''Wastelands 2: More Stories of the Apocalypse'' (Titan Books, February 2015) * ''Operation Arcana'' (

, March 2015) * ''Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy'' (2015, with Joe Hill) * ''Loosed Upon the World: The Saga Anthology of Climate Fiction'' (2015) * ''Press Start to Play'' (

Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was acquired by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Ho ...

, August 2015) (with Daniel H. Wilson) * ''Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy'' (2016, with

Karen Joy Fowler Karen Joy Fowler is an American author of science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction. Her work often centers on the 19th century, nineteenth century, the Woman, lives of women, and social alienation. She is best known as the author of the b ...

) * ''Cosmic Powers'' (Saga Press, April 2017) * ''A People's Future of the United States'' (One World, February 2019) (with

Victor LaValle Victor LaValle (born February 3, 1972) is an American author. He is the author of a short-story collection, ''Slapboxing with Jesus'', and five novels, ''The Ecstatic,'' ''Big Machine,'' ''The Devil in Silver,'' '' The Changeling'', and ''Lone Wo ...

) * ''Wastelands: The New Apocalypse'' (Titan Books, June 2019) * ''The Dystopia Triptych'' (Broad Reach Publishing, 2020) (with Hugh Howey & Christie Yant) * ''Lost Worlds & Mythological Kingdoms'' (Grim Oak Press, March 2022) * ''Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror'' (Random House, October 2023)

Critical studies and reviews of Adams' work

;''Press Start to play'' *

References

External links

John Joseph Adams: Official Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, John Joseph 1976 births American book podcasters Hugo Award–winning editors Living people American speculative fiction editors American science fiction critics American science fiction editors