In my position as Managing Editor of Every Day Fiction I have to make daily decisions on who we publish and who we don’t. This is a pretty major thing considering that authors who publish with us get read by, at last count, 1500 people–a number that is unheard of outside of the professional level magazines. Oh, and last year, we nominated six authors for the Pushcart Prize.

Sometimes you meet an author who’s on the verge of breaking out. One such author is Brian Dolton. He’s subbed a bunch of work to us recently, and I’ve accepted every one… but every time I see a new submission I want to reject it. Why? Cause I worry he’ll stop submitting unless it’s a challenge. It’s my fear that if I don’t occasionally reject stories, authors will think that they’re better than us and move on. Now, Brian is a humble, courteous author, and a writer that I admire… and as long as he keeps subbing great stories we’ll keep publishing them.

But I can’t help wanting to reject his work every time I read one of his stories. Brian, if you read this, consider that a challenge!

Tags: Brian Dolton, Every Day Fiction

So, I subbed a piece to Clarkesworld and get a rejection in four hours flat.

Four hours.

That is a huge plus in their favour. Less of a plus is that they no longer do personal rejections, which were a definite highlight for me. I was getting really encouraging feedback from former editor Nick Mamatas, and I was sure this piece would suit his style. Of course, he has since moved on, and now I’ve got to go back to the drawing board to see what kind of fiction they’d like to publish.

Jim Baen’s Universe will probably be my new first market to sub to (because of the personalize comments at the Bar), but Clarkesworld will remain high on the list, not the least of which because I’ve had several conversations with Publisher Neil Clarke and the man is a class act.

In any case, I will leave you with a short poem posted by Brian K Lowe on the Codex forums. He couldn’t remember the original author, so step forward if it’s you, and I’ll attribute it.

There once was an editor named Bright,
Who read slush much faster than light.
He judged stories all day
In a relative way,
And returned them the previous night.

Tags: Brian K Lowe, Clarkesworld Magazine, Jim Baen's Universe, Neil Clarke