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Machine of Death is a collection of short stories set in a world with one thing in common: there exists a machine that can tell you — cryptically but with 100% accuracy — how you are going to die.

In 2010, it became the #1 bestselling book on Amazon.com — in, and for, one single day. Thanks to an innovative grassroots marketing campaign, our self-published book has now found an audience of tens of thousands. We offer the book in print, ebook, as a free audio podcast, and even as a 100% free downloadable PDF.

Thanks to the success of our Amazon campaign, we also secured major trade distribution, and now, with over 25,000 copies in print, our anthology can be found across North America wherever books are sold.

Since that day in October, we’ve continued to explore the world of Machine of Death in new and interesting ways, inviting our readers to participate as we create new artifacts and products, stage real-world live events, and held an open call for submissions for a second volume of Machine of Death.

That second volume is now out: This Is How You Die, from Grand Central Publishing, containing all-new stories chosen from the nearly 2,000 submissions received in the wake of the first volume.

We’ve also created a card game: Machine of Death: The Game of Creative Assassination, which raised over half a million dollars on Kickstarter. The game is scheduled to be released in fall 2013.

Existing book reviews / Press mentions

Background on the project

The Machine of Death concept was based on a comic strip by Ryan North, which was originally published at qwantz.com on December 5, 2005.

The concept was then batted around by members of the Truth and Beauty Bombs messageboard. Here’s the original thread. / Here’s another.

In late 2006, Matthew Bennardo and David Malki came onboard to help Ryan curate a short-story anthology based on the concept that had proved so popular among readers. Submissions were formally opened to the general public on January 1, 2007, and stayed open through April 30. Here’s the original call for entries.

By the end of the submission period, we had received 675 submissions from writers on five continents. We announced our selections for the book on July 20, 2007. Here’s our announcement.

Then, we spent three years shopping the manuscript to agents and publishers. Our blog post here talks about our struggles with the publishing industry. A full chronology of our 2010 success on Amazon.com, and what happened after that, is here.

In 2011, we opened submissions for a second volume. Submissions were open from May 1 through July 15. We received nearly two thousand story submissions from 44 countries.

The second volume, This Is How You Die, also contains original comic strips and illustrations. It was released July 16, 2013, accompanied by a short film by director Michael Mohan.

Book info

Title: Machine of Death
ISBN: 978-0-98216712-0
464-page trade paperback original

Stories included in the book : 34
Illustrations in the book : 36
Cover artist : Justin Van Genderen

Publisher imprint: Bearstache Books
Publisher of record: Machines of Death, LLC
Vendor of record: Publishers Group West
EDI: Pubnet SAN number 631760X

Title: This Is How You Die
ISBN: 978-0-98216712-0
492-page trade paperback original

Stories included in the book : 31
Illustrations in the book : 50
Comic strips in the book : 12
Cover artist : Justin Van Genderen

Publisher imprint: Grand Central Publishing

Numbers & statistics

Authors who submitted one or more stories in 2007 : 626
Total number of stories received : 675

Books sold on October 26, 2010 : 5,000+
Books currently in print : 28,000
Printings to date : 6 paperback and 1 hardcover
Available as : paperback, ebook, free audiobook, free PDF

Authors who submitted one or more stories for TIHYD : 1,705
Total number of stories received : 1,958

Graphic assets

Original page on qwantz.com

Screenshot of our book at #1 on Amazon – October 26, 2010

The official MoD logo

The books themselves

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Machine of Death, a self-published collection of short stories, took the book industry by surprise when it became a grassroots bestseller.
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A Machine of Death Collector’s Set, including a limited-edition hardcover, was issued in March 2011.
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MoD Events

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Sean Monahan and Lloyd Ahlquist, members of Mission IMPROVable, perform “The Grind” at the Machine of Death Talent Show in Hollywood, CA.

Ryan North, left, looks away in fear as Malini Vijaykumar and Kate Beaton high-five at the Machine of Death Draw & Guess event. At right is Christopher Hastings.

The Editors

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David Malki !, Ryan North, and Matthew Bennardo
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Photo credit: C. Anderson

David Malki !, Matthew Bennardo, and Ryan North
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Photo credit: C. Anderson

Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo (on computer), and David Malki !
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Photo credit: Zack DeZon

Ryan North and David Malki !
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Photo credit: C. Anderson

Biographical information

Ryan North writes “Dinosaur Comics,” your new favourite comic ever in time, which you can read online at qwantz.com and also in books too. He also built Project Wonderful, a site that makes online advertising not suck, and ALSO makes it awesome. He is a tall drink of water who lives in Toronto with his wife Jenn.

Matthew Bennardo graduated from Case Western Reserve University with degrees in English and business management. His stories have been published in Asimov’s Science Fiction and Strange Horizons, among other markets. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio. mbennardo.com

David Malki ! is the author of the comic strip “Wondermark”, a gag strip created entirely from 19th-Century woodcuts and engravings, AKA a collaboration with the dead. In 2009, the Wondermark collection Beards of our Forefathers was nominated for the Eisner Award — the highest honor in comics — for “Best Humor Publication.” It’s possible that this was a clerical error. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Nikki, a special-effects makeup artist.

A full list of Machine of Death contributors is here.

Other projects and what’s next

In March 2010, we offered an exclusive limited-edition Hardcover Collector’s Set of Machine of Death. The print run of 300 copies, each packaged with an embroidered badge and a personalized Certificate of Predicted Death, sold out within a week.

On April 26, 2010, we held a Half-Birthday Party and Talent Show in Hollywood, CA, inviting folks to an evening of comedy and performance. MOD readers provided music, monologues, gameplay and entertainment, and the event was also livestreamed on our website. Nearly 100 folks packed the small theater in Hollywood for the event, which also featured performances by Mission IMPROVable‘s “The Grind” and a reading by Jesse Thorn, host of PRI’s The Sound of Young America.

That evening, we opened submissions for a second volume of Machine of Death. Through July 15, 2011, we accepted stories and art portfolios from anyone who’d like to be involved in another go at this concept, and received quite a mountain of submissions.

The full table of contents for the second volume is here.

We Kickstarted, and are currently in production on, a Machine of Death card game, called Machine of Death: The Game of Creative Assassination.

We continue to send free Death Prediction Cards to readers who send us a self-addressed stamped envelope.