I found this editorial over at Baen’s Universe. Mike Resnick talks about Slush. It’s a fun article, but also pretty intimidating. In one section, Resnick talks about asking Dozois, who was the managing editor of Asimov’s at the time, how many stories he’d accepted from the slush pile, and his response was three. Congrats if you’d been published out of the slush at Asimov’s. You’ve won the lottery. The number at F&SF was slightly better–7. Notice I said slightly. Of course that doesn’t dissuade the manaical masochists like yours truly.
The whole article is illuminating, funny, and depressing. A weird combination, but it’s worth the read.
As long as I’m talking about Baen’s Universe, I have to mention my experience in their “slush pile”.
They have two slush piles. They accept stories that are submitted to them like many other magazines–through a web form. This is method number 1. Method number 2 consists of a private forum where you post your work and ask for comments. Great stories get comments, and may draw the attention of Gary Cuba, Edith Maor, or Sam Hidaka, who are the assistant editors. One of the best things about the bar is that if a story doesn’t cut the mustard, you can rewrite and resubmit it. My current submission is in its fourth (and hopefully final) revision. The fact is that it simply wasn’t ready for primetime when I first submitted it, and now it’s much, much better. Who knows? It might even make it into the magazine. A man can dream, can’t he?
Baen’s reserves two to four “Introducing” slots an issue to beginning authors. This means you can actually get into the magazine through the slush since you aren’t competing with big names for these spots. The requirements are the same for WotF, and since that publication is my only major credit (Sails & Sorcery paid pro-rates, but I doubt the print run was 5K), I’m good.
My experience at the bar has been extremely positive. I feel like I’ve really learned some lessons about craft from the guys (and gals) there. I’d recommend the experience to anyone.