Comments on: New column at IROSF

By: Kris

Kris — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 05:42:56 +0000

Good point, Steve.

There are stories that I bought at Pulphouse that I never would have bought for F&SF. There are stories that I bought for F&SF that I never would have bought for Pulphouse. I liked all of those stories, but I was editing two very different products. Publications have voices, just like writers do, and some things simply don’t suit the publication’s voice.

By: steve perry

steve perry — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:46:35 +0000

I threw everything but the kitchen sink at Analog for years and never made a sale there. My stuff didn’t suit their tastes. Much of it sold elsewhere, so it wasn’t so much a matter of whether it was commercial, but if it was what Ben or Stan wanted.

It wasn’t. I just wasn’t an Analog writer.

There are taboos, which is a different beast. Some of these, they will tell you, if you send for guidelines. Some, you find out when they kick something back and there is bile on the pages.

And there are editors who don’t want he-man stories written by women, or romances written by men, but Gordon isn’t one of ‘em.

By: Kris

Kris — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:07:32 +0000

Excellent point, Jack.

Here’s the problem. When you’re complaining in a cafe, your friends hear you. When you complain on the internet, everyone hears you–and ugly rumors start.

It’s hard to break in. You may never break into some markets. I know there are several literary magazines that still haven’t accepted me. But that doesn’t stop me from trying.

By: Jack Skillingstead

Jack Skillingstead — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:21:01 +0000

Every editor in the business rejected me on a routine basis for more than a decade of steady submissions. The hard truth is, you learn to write in isolation, and every rejection hurts. In the old days I would hang out in cafes and bars with the one or two friends who were also trying to write, and we would lament the unfairness of it all. Eventually you go back to work. Or not. How many rejections do you absorb before you begin believing in some bias on the part of editors and the establishment? The point is, there is no bias, except for personal taste. That’s when the relentlessness of your submission plan works to your advantage. Editors want good stories and they want to see new writers. The internet is kind of the bar / cafe that never closes.

By: Mike Allen

Mike Allen — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:42:34 +0000

Thanks, Kris. I appreciate your thoughts.