An Editor's Job

September 18, 2004, 08:29:05 PM

An editor's job (for any fiction publication or website) is to choose stories that he or she likes. For pro and semi-pro markets, that job is somewhat modified because the editor must also choose stories that other people will like, ones that will sell copies or generate website hits and ad revenue. Many sets of submission guidelines suggest that prospective authors read the publication (and preferably multiple issues of same) to get a feel for what the editor or editors DO like (or at least what they are choosing to publish), which only makes sense. Since the 'quality' of a piece of fiction or other writing is a subjectively determined factor, once the obvious mechanical and structural aspects have been smoothed out, an author can determine in advance whether a particular story might have a chance in a particular market. A jokey twist ending will probably NOT sell to a market that takes it self very, very seriously; a fantasy piece probably will NOT sell to a market that publishes 'hard' sf almost exclusively; a straight-forward action yarn will probably NOT sell to a 'literary' market, nor to a 'horror' market, etc. It is NOT an editor's job to encourage new talent at the expense of the continued health and existence of his or her publication, but I have no doubt that editors are thrilled when an unknown author produces something that they can't not accept. Editors are human, and presumably like to 'discover' new stars while still attracting the known names whose bylines will attract readers. Of such things are Pro Zine Editor Hugos made. Hence my advice to Nate and others is to CHOOSE YOUR MARKETS CAREFULLY. Submitting stuff that you KNOW does not match the preferred style or styles of a publication is NOT the way to get published. If the Big Three aren't publishing stuff that you like, that's too bad, but other smaller markets may be. If you get feedback that indicates that a story has specific flaws (and ANY feedback that is not obviously a form rejection is something to be valued), think about it; learn from it; send the story out again, to other markets. I am, of course, entirely unqualified to give advice, given that my writing income in over 20 years is about $300 or so, and most of that was earned over 20 years ago. But I do not assume that editors are deliberately shutting me out because I don't have 'a name'; and I don't assume that my stuff is better than the stuff that IS getting published just because I don't happen to like some or even all of what I read in a particular publication. We have, in other threads, pretty much agreed that tastes vary. EDITORS ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE TASTES THAT DIFFER FROM YOUR OWN. So are the readers who buy a publication or visit a website. Thus endeth the lesson. Go forth, multiply, divide, whatever turns your crank. Generate some wordage that isn't lettercol commentary. (I turned out about 16.5 k of a Nightwatch story for next year in the last few weeks, so I feel I've done okay in that department.) Robert M.