Discussion: Q3 Volume 39

Posted by: @ehonour

@elainemidcoh I just noticed in the announcement that you're from Florida. Do you mind saying where? I'm in The Villages.

Ft. Lauderdale area for me.

Posted by: @doctorjest

I got my result, and--

And so, my set is complete! ? And I'm looking forward to seeing what Jody will say about this piece. I'm glad it placed SF, I really love this story.

(...well, complete apart from a win. I still need to add that one.)

Excellent work, Dr. Jest! You continually hit that target, which means your writing is of high caliber. You’ve also hit the bullseye with Finalist, so I know you can do it again. Stay the course, as I know you will. The reward is worth the effort!

Enjoy your critique from Jody! I hope you’ll share what you can with the group.

And in your case, since you’re a Year One Super Secrets Challenge Beastie, I’ll tip my hat and say, “All the beast!”

Beastmaster Moon

Wow, Cliff with ANOTHER finalist! This man needs to be a published finalist. This is his what 5th? 6th? can it be his 7th? He's gotten it a bunch! He's also a super nice guy.

Many congratulations to the winners and finalists!

@elainemidcoh Congratulations Elaine! Glad to see that all your hard work has finally paid off.

As you were so gracious with answering questions, I do have one that comes from something Dave Wolverton told me. (I was lucky enough to be in his last in-person class about a year ago in St. George, Utah). I had asked him about the process for winners of the contest and what he told me blew my mind--he said that once he buys a story (how he phrased the winning stories) that he often asks the writer to perform edits, and sometimes even add a denouement or other additional details. 

This was very eye opening because I had always thought that the stories were published 'as-is' from how they were submitted. So I would be very interested to know if Jody ends up asking you to do the same with your story.

Thank you again for all the information you have already provided. It is invaluable to those of us still on the climb.  

Posted by: @notley

@elainemidcoh Congratulations Elaine! Glad to see that all your hard work has finally paid off.

As you were so gracious with answering questions, I do have one that comes from something Dave Wolverton told me. (I was lucky enough to be in his last in-person class about a year ago in St. George, Utah). I had asked him about the process for winners of the contest and what he told me blew my mind--he said that once he buys a story (how he phrased the winning stories) that he often asks the writer to perform edits, and sometimes even add a denouement or other additional details. 

This was very eye opening because I had always thought that the stories were published 'as-is' from how they were submitted. So I would be very interested to know if Jody ends up asking you to do the same with your story.

 

Wow, do I envy you! I would have loved to have had a class with Dave Farland (Wolverton). (I missed the v. 37 workshop due to a family member's illness - and, thus, sadly, I missed out on meeting Dave in person.) I will be happy to describe the experience of working with Jody whenever that happens. Whoops, I mean Dean Wesley Smith. WotF has split the duties: Jody is the coordinating judge, but Dean is now the editor of the anthology.

I can tell you that for my WotF v. 37 PF story, "The Battle of Donasi," Dave did not do or request a tremendous amount of edits. There were minor edits. For example, I used the word "looked" too much. My characters looked up, looked at each other, looked at...well, you get the idea. Dave made sure the characters "glanced", "peered, and "stared" too. After he pointed this out, it was sooo obvious. But I didn't see it, he did. There was one edit of slight significance he wanted which was to change the wording in a sentence to make something clearer. He was right about that too. I questioned only one edit request regarding a character's dialogue. Dave initially found the dialogue repetitive, but I felt the character repeating himself showed how annoyed he was with the situation. My explanation was accepted and the dialogue repetition stayed in. 

I have no idea whether my experience with Dave is typical or atypical. The only other time I've worked with an editor was when my story, "Sized" was accepted by "Galaxy's Edge" magazine. (July 2022 issue - it was a revised version of a WotF HM story!) The editor is Lezli Robyn. I think she did a great job. Her suggested edits made the story flow more smoothly - and one edit she suggested, adding just a few words to a single sentence, created depth not just to that sentence, but to the whole story. I was very impressed by her. 

The few other stories I've had published were accepted "as is."

Anyway, i don't know what's normally done or isn't done - or even if there is a normal. Maybe it all depends on how individual editors view each individual story?

I do think that it is super important to make sure your story is as "clean" as you can possibly make it before submitting (ain't no room for grammar errors! / need flowing language /great word choices - anything that makes your story the best that it can possibly be). Who knows - and I don't know - but what if one factor, even if not the deciding factor, influencing Dave to pick my v. 37 finalist story to be a PF was because it didn't require a lot of edits - less work for him, right? Perhaps he picked it because he was short on military space operas for v. 37. But if that's true, would he still have picked it if he thought it required a ton of edits. Maybe - but maybe not... maybe he would have moved on to a different finalist's story...

Hey, I'll be happy to share what it's like to work with Dean Wesley Smith. I hope other folks share their experiences with editors too. Like you say @motley, it's eye opening to see how this business works.

Posted by: @notley

Dave Wolverton ... what he told me blew my mind--he said that once he buys a story (how he phrased the winning stories) that he often asks the writer to perform edits, and sometimes even add a denouement or other additional details. 

That is a powerful share, Notley, and I very much appreciate hearing it. But I also recognize the truth of what @elainemidcoh shared, that the submitted story needs to be as squeaky clean as it can be. "No edits needed" would be the goal on both sides of the transaction, I'm sure!

But then, I also find myself humorously puzzled, because I've been reading through all the past WotF anthologies. (A very good thing to do.) I find many instances that make me wince: poor word choices, awkward structures, even a few (very few) grammar errors. So even editors miss some things. But then, I also see that in the other professional markets, too. But then, but then [rolling my eyes] how much can we trust my judgment?

@elainemidcoh Thank you so much for your reply, that is fantastic information. And yes, it was amazing to meet Dave in person. He was such a great man on every level. He is missed daily.

Congratulations to all the winners and those that placed    Looking forward to reading them all soon!