Can you really tell within a few paragraphs if something is good?

Guest post by Patty Jansen

Many people are surprised when agents and editors say that they often don't need to read an entire story to know that they'll reject it. Some writers are even insulted. But if you read five to ten story submissions a day, and you keep this up for a few years, you tend to develop an eye for picking the 10% or so of submissions that show reasonable promise to pass onto editors. How do you do it? Here is a quick checklist I use to weed out the stories that I'll reject immediately from the ones I'll continue reading—in the first few paragraphs (I usually do read a bit more, or skip to a different part of the story to see if the story redeems itself). I want to stress that this is my list, and that other people may well have different criteria. That said, the issues below will raise their ugly heads at some point in the selection process.

A decent magazine gets hundreds, or even thousands of submissions each year. They typically have a number of first-line slush readers. Those people will see hundreds of submissions. They don't need to read an entire submission to know that they're not going to pass it to the next level. Sometimes they don't need more than the first sentence.

Why?

There is a myth in aspiring writer-land that grammar and style don't matter all that much. That it's the story's content which determines its publishability, and that beautiful prose alone won't sell your work.

Yes, yes, and yes.

That said, what sinks a lot of stories is a lack of what I'll call natural flow in the text. It comes both from not listening to writing advice to taking it way too seriously. It comes from trying too hard to sound interesting and from lack of cohesion in the writing. It comes from tics every writer picks up somewhere along the line.

The most important reason a story gets rejected after a paragraph or two is that there are issues with the writing style and occasionally the grammar.

What do I mean by this, and what sets red flags?

Apart from the obvious (is the text grammatically correct and are there spelling mistakes?), an experienced slush reader will see:

If first few the sentences are unwieldy and trying too desperately to fit in too much 'stuff'. Chances are that the rest of the story follows this pattern. Sure, this is fixable, but a lot of work for the editors, and a lot of communication with a writer who may not be ready for quite this much red ink. Too much effort. Reject.

The first few sentences contains odd word choices. The writer may be hanging onto the 'no passive language' or 'use interesting verbs' mantras too much. Again, this takes a lot of effort to fix because it will be insidious throughout the piece. Too much work. Reject.

The first sentence and the second sentence don't follow one another. There needs to be a flow of logic in the text. If the first few sentences jump around like crickets in zero-gravity, chances are that the author has a problem expressing logic in a format readers can follow. This takes a huge amount of time to fix. Reject.

The first three sentences all start with the same word, usually a pronoun. A quick scan reveals that this continues through the text. Or the sentences start with some other repetitive pattern, like a participial clause (a clause containing the –ing form of a verb) or a prepositional clause, like: In the kitchen, there was…, or, After he did this, he… Writers often use these and participial clauses to avoid some other structure (never start a sentence with 'There was…' says the bogeyman), but the end result can become a repetitive mush of too-complicated sentences and death by ten thousand commas.

The story starts with an unnamed character and a quick scan reveals that there is no reason for the name of the character to be mentioned for the first time only on the third page. That by itself is not a great sin, but often, the lack of a character's name will signal POV problems that may be more confusing.

The first few paragraphs contain words that are repeated several times, for example a four-sentence paragraph in which the word 'door' is used five times. Again, this is fixable, but if the writer hasn't pick this up him or herself, it will likely occur throughout the story.

And an experienced slush reader will see these things even before he or she has started to take notice of the story's plot or its central premise. The easiest way to make it past a first slush reader is to polish your style, and the best way to do that is by writing more and reading what you want to write. Meanwhile, try to volunteer as a slush reader some time. It's a crash course in what works in fiction.

Besides a writer of crazy fantasy and hard Science Fiction, Patty Jansen is slush reader and editor at Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. She blogs at http://pattyjansen.wordpress.com/, about writing, about science and about editing and slush piles. Patty is a winner of the second 2010 quarter of the Writers of the Future Contest and has published in the Universe Annex of the Grantville Gazette and has a story forthcoming with Redstone SF.

Writing my First Sequel

At the beginning of February, I started writing my first sequel novel, tentatively titled "The Returning," which carries on the story of my forthcoming first novel "The Worker Prince." An epic space opera series, the books tell the story of Davi Rhii, born a slave but raised a Prince, who helps his native people of birth win their freedom and full citizenship in the Borali Alliance.

Whereas the first book is a space opera coming of age story set against political intrigue and a revolution, the second book is more of a thriller/mystery with forces rising to try and upset the balance and restore the Alliance to its pre-revolution state with Rhii and his people enslaved again.

It's an interesting experience to revisit a milieu you know so well. On the one hand, I feel very comfortable writing these characters and much world building is already in place. On the other,  I felt the need to start with a multi-chapter outline through Chapter 5. While I reserve the right to change the outline as I go along, and I have, the desire to connect the story and capture the feel of the first novel compelled me to do more planning than usual.

It's interesting to work within the parameters I've already set forth with a different type of story.  On the one hand, banter between characters is fun and easy to write, and I am finding it easy to just drop in the back story in little chunks in trying to avoid the common mistake of sequels known as the info dump (I was criticized for this some on my first novel and endeavored to fix what I could). On the other hand, because I know it so well, I have no idea how much is too little or too much, and I find myself seeking beta readers who have not read the first book to better guage their sense of frustration at knowing too little or desire to know more and when. So far, the betas have not even mentioned this, so I may be doing okay, although I have asked them to write questions which occur to them and where in order to give me an idea if there are pressing questions readers need answered at certain points along the way.  


While it took me a bit to get back into the swing of things, so to speak, it's delightful to write these characters knowing them so well because I can actually enjoy the scene as it unfolds almost like a reader would, much more so than the first time around. Of course, when I run into a new character that's a bit different, but so far it's mostly been the old regulars. I have dealt with mostly new settings however, and that allows me to introduce some new technologies (i.e. gadgets) and other ideas to build the world further. In some ways I think introducing new settings with familiar characters will make it easier for the reader. It provides them with familiar guides to lead them into the new parts, which keeps them still feeling like they're with old friends rather than disjointed and on totally unfamiliar ground.


I also notice how my craft has evolved. Although I will still need many drafts to polish, I am adding more detail in this first draft than I did in the past and setting up story arcs, inner monologues, etc. much better. So far the beta reader who wrote back to me said "I'm not bored" implying he was intrigued and it challenged him to give notes as a result. I'll call that a good sign that the book is on track.


Interestingly, I just finalized the contract on Book 1 at long last and will probably sign it officially this week. So we are off and running with a projected publication date in late Summer. Next week, I go to Rainforest Writer's Village from Wednesday through Saturday to do nothing but write, so I hope to get two chapters done there. Since I just wrapped chapter 3 today and plan to do another before I travel, that would put me at seven, around half way. Exciting stuff. What have your experiences with sequels been like?

Call For Beta Readers: The Returning

After learning from other novelists about how they do beta reading, I've decided to try and recruit beta readers to read as I write. The novel in question is the sequel to my forthcoming first novel, "The Worker Prince." This book, titled "The Returning" is a space opera epic with a touch of thriller, murder mystery and political intrigue.

The basic premise is that after the workers (Vertullians) achieve citizenship and freedom from years of slavery, someone is killing them off, one at a time and stirring up questions amongst both workers and their former enemies, the Borali Alliance about whether they can all live together in peace. Our hero, Davi Rhii, former Borali prince, now a Captain in the Borali military, is sent to investigate the murders and report back to the Council of Lords. In the meantime, he faces a personal challenge in his developing relationship with Tela as their parents pressure them to marry and Tela resists his attempts to keep her safe. Aron, the first ex-worker to serve on the Council of Lords, has proposed making the worker religious holiday, The Returning, an official Alliance holiday to encourage a sense of unity, but now that plan is stirring up controversy. Meanwhile, Davi's exhiled Uncle Xalivar is content on regaining his power as High Lord Councilor of the Borali Alliance.

Beta readers will recieve a chapter at a time. I am using the system developed by AJ Hartley at www.magicalwords.net. Readers will read the chapter on either Word file or paper and mark passages using the following system:

A=Awesome. Something about this just blew me away. Excellent.

B=Bored now.

C=Confused. He said what? The people of Anth believed in what? He can get out of the rabbit burrow because…? Huh?

D=Don’t care. Ten pages on minor character’s lineage? So what? Yeah, I’m sure it’s really clever and all but… I’ve got QVC to watch.

You only need to mark the passages which evoke one of the four responses listed. Total honesty is requested. Don't worry about offending me. It's first draft--a lot of work will be needed before it ever sees a publisher's desk. And detailed explanations won't be demanded, although they can be helpful when offered. This allows me to get a sense of how you respond to the manuscript. I prefer people who have not read book 1 because I need a sense of how well I am trickling out the back story. Is it too much, too little?

I am writing about a chapter a week (22 pages on average). I would hope you could read each chapter within 2-3 weeks and get back to me. I can't pay you except to say I will acknowledge you in the book when it's published and I can offer you a free copy. 

If anyone's willing, please get in touch. My beta readers on the first book said it captured the feel of "Star Wars: A New Hope" and really liked it. I hope you'll enjoy this as well. You'll be helping me write a better book and I'll also throw in a free e-copy of book 1 when you're done if you want.

Thanks for taking time to consider it and for your support of my work and this blog!

Science Fiction And Fantasy Writer's Chat 2/2/11 with Michael Ray of Redstone Science Fiction

1:59 am	BryanThomasS:	Ok folks. Join us on #sffwrtcht now. With Michael Ray of @RedstoneSF
2:00 am	sffwrtcht:	Welcome to Science Fiction Fantasy Writer?s Chat. #sffwrtcht
2:00 am	sffwrtcht:	Our goal is to talk w/ writers, editors, & others abt the craft of writing, specifically related to writing speculative fiction. #sffwrtcht
2:00 am	sffwrtcht:	Our format is round table discussion. Please restrict ?s to writing craft, business of writing & the specific works of the guest. #sffwrtcht
2:00 am	sffwrtcht:	Please wait until your question gets answered to ask another & use the hashtag #sffwrtcht for all questions and comments.
2:00 am	sffwrtcht:	It?s up to the guest whether the question time will run longer than our allotted hour slot. #sffwrtcht
2:00 am	sffwrtcht:	I appreciate your participation and hope you find this enjoyable and informative. #sffwrtcht
2:01 am	sffwrtcht:	Next Wed our guest will be author @JeremyCShipp #sffwrtcht
2:01 am	shadowflame1974:	*knocks three times to keep the gremlins at bay* #sffwrtcht
2:02 am	sffwrtcht:	Tonight's guest is the editor of Redstone Science Fiction, Michael Ray. @RedstoneSF on Twitter. Mike, thanks for joining us #sffwrtcht
2:02 am	RedstoneSF:	Glad to be here. #sffwrtcht
2:02 am	BryanThomasS:	To start, why don't you tell us a little bit about how you came to want to edit a science fiction zine? #sffwrtcht
2:03 am	jasonsanford:	RT @RedstoneSF: I'll be on with #sffwrtcht with @BryanThomasS in less than 10 minutes.
2:03 am	RedstoneSF:	I began writing again a few years ago. I learned about the process of submitting etc. #sffwrtcht
2:04 am	RedstoneSF:	I learned there were very few pro markets. #sffwrtcht
2:05 am	RedstoneSF:	I talked about it with Cassondra Link and Paul Clemmons after the Scalzi article about the lowpaying markets. #sffwrtcht
2:05 am	louisbshalako:	How do I learn what age group or demograhic to write for? #sffwrtcht
2:06 am	RedstoneSF:	We decided we might enjoy investing the time and money in a pro online magazine. and we just got rolling. #sffwrtcht
2:06 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF Redstone started last summer, correct? #sffwrtcht
2:07 am	sffwrtcht:	Besides providing pro market, did you have other goals/focuses in mind when you founded Redstone? #sffwrtcht
2:07 am	RedstoneSF:	We started publishing then. We set up the site in we set things up in March and took submissions then. June was our first issue. #sffwrtcht
2:08 am	shadowflame1974:	was there a particular niche you wanted to fill with RedStone? #sffwrtcht
2:08 am	RedstoneSF:	We wanted Science Fiction as we saw it. #sffwrtcht
2:09 am	RedstoneSF:	Something changes society - how will people react? #sffwrtcht
2:09 am	BryanThomasS:	So what made you choose online as opposed to print? Was that purely cost? #sffwrtcht
2:10 am	RedstoneSF:	We probably have a more traditional idea of scifi. #sffwrtcht
2:11 am	RedstoneSF:	We chose online because it was simple (for us) to do, inexpensive and gave us complete control over the product. #sffwrtcht
2:11 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF Can you give us a bit of a description of how your SF def might vary from a lot of what's out there? #sffwrtcht
2:11 am	BryanThomasS:	ie What do you mean by more traditional? #sffwrtcht
2:11 am	pattyjansen:	@RedstoneSF #sffwrtcht kudos to you for starting the mag, since many trad markets were drifting towards weird/fantasy
2:12 am	RedstoneSF:	I have some website experience and all of us have been lifelong SFF readers. It simply made sense. #sffwrtcht
2:12 am	sffwrtcht:	Obviously since you were closed to subs for a while and just opened for 1 week yesterday, you're not having trouble getting subs #sffwrtcht
2:13 am	portiriszine:	@RedstoneSF That's how/why we started too #sffwrtcht
2:14 am	RedstoneSF:	Haldeman and Heinlein, Cassondra likes Dangerous Visions New Wave-influenced stuff. #sffwrtcht
2:14 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF Frankly, I read a lot of stuff and wonder how it qualifies as SF. Not slipstream or weird fan myself #sffwrtcht
2:14 am	RedstoneSF:	Current sub count is 51. #sffwrtcht
2:15 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF Is it just the three of you or do you have slush readers and other help? #sffwrtcht
2:15 am	shadowflame1974:	@RedstoneSF wow and you have just reopened a week ago? #sffwrtcht
2:15 am	RedstoneSF:	I like Mieville type stuff, as well. But I felt we could be a place for more science oriented stories. #sffwrtcht
2:15 am	RedstoneSF:	Opened yesterday. #sffwrtcht
2:15 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF How hard as it been to build an audience? #sffwrtcht
2:16 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF And what are some of the ways you go about that? #sffwrtcht
2:16 am	shadowflame1974:	RT @RedstoneSF: Opened yesterday. #sffwrtcht -- yesterday? awesome!
2:16 am	sffwrtcht:	Hey all, other than query questions which are not allowed, feel free to jump in with questions any time. Thanks for joining us! #sffwrtcht
2:17 am	RedstoneSF:	Right now it is we three. Cassondra was between semesters and handled a lot of slush, last summer & in Novemeber. Ed. grad school #sffwrtcht
2:17 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF That sounds like a lot of work. #sffwrtcht
2:18 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF But at the same time, you're doing great stuff. I reviewed the first few issues for Tangent & really enjoyed them #sffwrtcht
2:18 am	sffwrtcht:	So what does your ideal story look like? Hard science? #sffwrtcht
2:19 am	pattyjansen:	@BryanThomasS #sffwrtcht agree that stories have been consistently high in quality
2:19 am	RedstoneSF:	We listed at Duotrope and Ralans to get the word out as well #sffwrtcht probably the most important
2:20 am	BryanThomasS:	RT @RedstoneSF: I used twitter & Fb frm the beginning to let ppl know about us. Many ppl were helpful like@inkhaven at lightspeed #sffwrtcht
2:20 am	RedstoneSF:	As for work - we enjoy reading. #sffwrtcht
2:20 am	BryanThomasS:	Lightspeed does great stuff as well. Lots of stories picked for best lists this year. Pretty impressive. #sffwrtcht
2:21 am	shadowflame1974:	@RedstoneSF: used twitter & facebook frm the begin to let people know about us. Many were helpful like @inkhaven at lightspeed #sffwrtcht
2:21 am	RedstoneSF:	Stories for us? Something happens - people react to the change & we can't easily see the outcome. We like different things. #sffwrtcht
2:22 am	sffwrtcht:	Duotrope is a great resource for writers. Have you been influenced by other editors/zines in various ways? #sffwrtcht
2:23 am	sffwrtcht:	In addition to stories, do you do regular columns and other features? #sffwrtcht
2:23 am	shadowflame1974:	Not even a year old and you have already won some awards, tell us about those #sffwrtcht
2:23 am	BryanThomasS:	@shadowflame1974 Good question #sffwrtcht
2:24 am	Merc_hyn_di:	Oh, yay! #sffwrtcht with @RedstoneSF *settles in to read*
2:24 am	RedstoneSF:	Not really. We are trying to be our own magazine. I like several mags, @clarkesworld and @escapepodcast but we want to be SF #sffwrtcht
2:25 am	RedstoneSF:	If something is great, but is "fantastic", we let it pass because it doesn't fit us. #sffwrtcht
2:26 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF What kind of feedback do you get from other pros in the field? Has it been supportive? #sffwrtcht
2:27 am	RedstoneSF:	I seem to finally be lagged. #sffwrtcht
2:27 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF Sorry. We deal with that every week #sffwrtcht
2:27 am	shadowflame1974:	@RedstoneSF no worries. :D #sffwrtcht
2:28 am	BiscuitCIB:	Watching #sffwrtcht with @RedstoneSF
2:28 am	RedstoneSF:	We have a columnist - Henry Cribbs who does a great litcrit of SF column every month. I'm hoping he'll get more notice #sffwrtcht
2:29 am	RedstoneSF:	Henry's column this month is great. #sffwrtcht
2:29 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF We'll check that out and pass the word. #sffwrtcht
2:29 am	sffwrtcht:	@RedstoneSF New issues come out at the first of every month with two stories per issue, correct? #sffwrtcht
2:30 am	RedstoneSF:	From the field - nothing but support. @johnjosephadams did and interview, as did @Catrambo with us #sffwrtcht
2:30 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF They're good people @Catrambo @johnjosephadams Very supportive and helpful #sffwrtcht
2:30 am	RedstoneSF:	We got stories from @MaryRobinette and @Catrambo and they were giving the new guys a chance #sffwrtcht
2:31 am	shadowflame1974:	I always think how awesome it is that the Sf/F/Horror community is so supportive #sffwrtcht
2:31 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF Did you have any Creative Writing or editing training before starting this? MFA? #sffwrtcht
2:32 am	RedstoneSF:	Monthly issues. We try to have a 4000 and a 1000. Unless we do a reprint. #sffwrtcht
2:33 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF That's story length? #sffwrtcht
2:33 am	RedstoneSF:	Our reprints from @hannu and @amendlocke were two of my favorite storiwes from the last few years. to show what I like #sffwrtcht
2:34 am	RedstoneSF:	Words, yes. #sffwrtcht
2:35 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF Any ongoing goals you are shooting for other than the usual growth and such? #sffwrtcht
2:35 am	louisbshalako:	@RedstoneSF What age group reads Redstone SF? #sffwrtcht
2:35 am	BryanThomasS:	@louisbshalako Good question. Welcome, Louis. #sffwrtcht
2:35 am	RedstoneSF:	I minored in English/Creative Writing, but I'm a teacher. I grade essays a;ll the time ;-) #sffwrtcht
2:35 am	BryanThomasS:	@caseysays Thanks for joining us! #sffwrtcht
2:35 am	BryanThomasS:	@Merc_hyn_di Good to see you here! #sffwrtcht
2:36 am	BryanThomasS:	@jasonsanford Wanna have you on sometime too. Thanks for the support and being here #sffwrtcht
2:36 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF Ah, there you go. What level/grade do you teach? High school? #sffwrtcht
2:36 am	Wyld_Dandelyon:	#sffwrtcht @RedstoneSF Do you prefer near future or distant?
2:36 am	RedstoneSF:	@louisbshalako your first one - I'd say write and then figure out the market. As for age, I think we don't think age, but adult #sffwrtcht
2:37 am	BryanThomasS:	@Wyld_Dandelyon Thanks for joining us. Good question. #sffwrtcht
2:37 am	BryanThomasS:	@pattyjansen Thanks for joining us! #sffwrtcht
2:37 am	RedstoneSF:	Teaching: AP History and AP Economics. #sffwrtcht
2:38 am	sffwrtcht:	@RedstoneSF Do you get feedback from your students at all about Redstone? #sffwrtcht
2:38 am	RedstoneSF:	As for type: both I like @doctorow a lot and I like stross and Reynolds & Scalzi. Good in any time is the real answer. #sffwrtcht
2:39 am	RedstoneSF:	We just took a story from @pattyjansen . It is excellent. #sffwrtcht
2:39 am	sffwrtcht:	Keep the questions coming everyone. Still 20 minutes to go in #sffwrtcht
2:39 am	mbranesf:	Patty is brilliant. RT @RedstoneSF: We just took a story from @pattyjansen . It is excellent. #sffwrtcht
2:40 am	RedstoneSF:	The students who are SF fans are tickled by it. Particularly my hackers. #sffwrtcht
2:40 am	BryanThomasS:	@mbranesf Nice to see you. Thanks for joining us. Gotta have you on sometime to discuss MBrane #sffwrtcht
2:40 am	J_GriffinB:	@RedstoneSF Any military SF? #sffwrtcht
2:41 am	RedstoneSF:	@J_GriffinB Our story by @Vylar_Kaftan is adventure, but not quite Mil. SF. I'd love to have some, a few were very close. #sffwrtcht
2:41 am	sffwrtcht:	@RedstoneSF Any plans to release a print antho with the best of Redstone at some point? #sffwrtcht
2:42 am	pattyjansen:	@mbranesf #sffwrtcht thx for heads-up. I'm also an editor for ASIM
2:42 am	RedstoneSF:	We expect to go that way. I've started investigating it and will see how it pans out. There will definitely be some print. #sffwrtcht
2:43 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF Great! Look forward to that! #sffwrtcht
2:44 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF One of the issues ppl face in pro rates is the cost of doing the zine. Can you make a profit doing a pro ezine? #sffwrtcht
2:44 am	J_GriffinB:	@RedstoneSF And you may have already covered this, but how long do you believe you'll be taking open submissions at this stretch #sffwrtcht
2:44 am	BryanThomasS:	@J_GriffinB Feb 1 through 7 #sffwrtcht
2:44 am	RedstoneSF:	@jaymgates and @jenniferbrozek were helpful in discussing a future anthology, excellent folks #sffwrtcht
2:45 am	shadowflame1974:	@RedstoneSF another great set of people! #sffwrtcht
2:45 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF Yes. Both have given me advice as well. #sffwrtcht
2:45 am	RedstoneSF:	Real Profit - I doubt it for a while. If we can build a name and get soldid ads, maybe. Subs - open for a week. #sffwrtcht
2:45 am	J_GriffinB:	@BryanThomasS Thanks. Probably not this time. #sffwrtcht
2:45 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF Do you offer writers any feedback on stories you reject? I realize that's time consuming. #sffwrtcht
2:46 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF Relatedly: do you ever send stories back for revisions and ask them to resub? #sffwrtcht
2:46 am	BiscuitCIB:	@RedstoneSF Towards An Accessible Future was interesting and successful. Any plans to do themed issues/contests #sffwrtcht
2:46 am	RedstoneSF:	We have an amount we're willing to spend. We also have a Kickstarter fundraiser coming up. #sffwrtcht
2:47 am	pattyjansen:	@RedstoneSF #sffwrtcht are there any grants you could apply for?
2:48 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF Kickstarter's something I just learned about. Could you tell us a little about that? #sffwrtcht
2:48 am	RedstoneSF:	We have asked for a few rewrites. I Love our story from @rahkan, british highseas in space, and he worked with me on it. love it #sffwrtcht
2:49 am	RedstoneSF:	Kickstarter supports the arts, and you submit a plan and explain what you are going to use the funds for. #sffwrtcht
2:49 am	sffwrtcht:	Get those questions in. 10 minutes to go on #sffwrtcht
2:49 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF And then people can contribute to help you reach financial goals, right? #sffwrtcht
2:49 am	shadowflame1974:	@RedstoneSF do you know when your kickstarter will begin? #sffwrtcht
2:50 am	BryanThomasS:	The publisher is using Kickstarter to help fund an anthology I am editing. #sffwrtcht
2:50 am	RedstoneSF:	@pattyjansen There may be. We want to get in our year and be SFWA and then we re going to explore more funding. #sffwrtcht
2:51 am	Metafrantic:	@BryanThomasS @crossedgenres has used @kickstarter twice to successfully fund publishing projects. #sffwrtcht
2:51 am	pattyjansen:	@RedstoneSF #sffwrtcht yay for SFWA accreditation ;-)
2:51 am	BryanThomasS:	@Metafrantic Nice to see you, Bart. Interesting. That's great to hear. #sffwrtcht
2:51 am	RedstoneSF:	Our Kickstarter should go up this week. We want to do 8000 words an issue for the last three months of our first year. #sffwrtcht
2:52 am	J_GriffinB:	@RedstoneSF #sffwrtcht That's a great step in the right direction.
2:52 am	sffwrtcht:	@RedstoneSF That's an awesome goal. #sffwrtcht
2:52 am	RedstoneSF:	@Metafrantic @crossedgenres is from whom I got the idea. #sffwrtcht
2:53 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF @Metafrantic That's encouraging. The SF community at large (even readers) are very supportive of zines, etc #sffwrtcht
2:54 am	sffwrtcht:	Last three months would be March April and May, FYI #sffwrtcht
2:54 am	BryanThomasS:	Last three months would be March April and May, FYI #sffwrtcht
2:54 am	Metafrantic:	@RedstoneSF Glad to hear that! Kickstarter has been a great tool for @crossedgenres, we'll be using it again. #sffwrtcht
2:54 am	RedstoneSF:	From the beginning we set out to be SFWA. I followed @scalzi 's lead on paying writers a pro rate & we followed their guidelines #sffwrtcht
2:54 am	sffwrtcht:	@RedstoneSF What's your editorial lead time? #sffwrtcht
2:55 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF Besides Kickstarter, what else can we do to help/support your efforts? #sffwrtcht
2:55 am	RedstoneSF:	If you mean from acceptance to publish - right now 4-6 months, but we want to clear the decks this spring. #sffwrtcht
2:56 am	BryanThomasS:	RT @portiriszine: I also heard of Kickstarter from @crossedgenres and will be using it within the year to create a print volume #sffwrtcht
2:57 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF Yeah, that's what I meant. #sffwrtcht
2:57 am	sffwrtcht:	Ok, 4 minutes. Final questions anyone? #sffwrtcht
2:57 am	RedstoneSF:	Support - visit read, download the PSF's and EPUB's nominate our good stories. #sffwrtcht
2:57 am	sffwrtcht:	@RedstoneSF In case anyone doesn't know, where can we find you online? Do you charge subscription fees? #sffwrtcht
2:58 am	RedstoneSF:	We are new, but we want our stories to be on lists next year at this time. #sffwrtcht
2:58 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF I hope they are. They should be. #sffwrtcht
2:59 am	RedstoneSF:	Free - http://redstonesciencefiction.com/ We happily accept paypal donations.;-) #sffwrtcht
2:59 am	sffwrtcht:	@RedstoneSF Awesome. Anything final you'd like to say? Thanks for coming on, Mike. It's been a great chat. #sffwrtcht
3:00 am	RedstoneSF:	for twitter http://bit.ly/rsfmag also works! #sffwrtcht
3:00 am	sffwrtcht:	Next week, same time, with author @JeremyCShipp Then we have @MaryRobinette and @jay_lakecoming up on #sffwrtcht
3:01 am	sffwrtcht:	All right everyone! Thanks for the great questions & participation tonight & for joining us. Let's thank @RedstoneSF for joining #sffwrtcht
3:01 am	sffwrtcht:	Ok, so Mike's here for a bit if anyone has left over questions. #sffwrtcht
3:01 am	J_GriffinB:	@RedstoneSF thanks much! #sffwrtcht
3:02 am	pattyjansen:	#sffwrtcht thanks to everyone
3:02 am	BrandonLayng:	RT @RedstoneSF Free - http://redstonesciencefiction.com/ We happily accept paypal donations.;-) #sffwrtcht #SupportTheLittleGuy
3:02 am	jolantru:	RT @RedstoneSF: Free - http://redstonesciencefiction.com/ We happily accept paypal donations.;-) #sffwrtcht
3:02 am	BryanThomasS:	@BrandonLayng Thanks for RTing that #sffwrtcht #SupportTheLittleGuy
3:04 am	sffwrtcht:	Don't forget writers, you still have 5 days to submit to @RedstoneSF before they close for subs! #sffwrtcht
3:04 am	BryanThomasS:	Don't forget writers, you still have 5 days to submit to @RedstoneSF before they close for subs! #sffwrtcht
3:04 am	BryanThomasS:	RT @RedstoneSF: Thanks so much for having me in Guys. You have some topnotch people coming up. @sffwrtcht #sffwrtcht
3:05 am	BryanThomasS:	@RedstoneSF We do. Been lucky and grateful for the support of the SFF community for #sffwrtcht
3:06 am	RedstoneSF:	You do a great job. @BryanThomasS and @sffwrtcht Thanks for having me. I'll stick around for a few minutes #sffwrtcht
3:06 am	RedstoneSF:	Thanks so much for having me in Guys. You have some topnotch people coming up. #sffwrtcht
3:07 am	BiscuitCIB:	@RedstoneSF Towards An Accessible Future was interesting & successful. Any plans to do other themed issues/contests? #sffwrtcht reasking :)
3:07 am	RedstoneSF:	Thanks for having me. Always love to hear from SF lovers like us. #sffwrtcht
3:08 am	sffwrtcht:	Tonight's transcript will go up at the blog in an hour or so. http://bit.ly/a7fKZ5 Working on an #sffwrtchtsite. Past transcripts also up
3:08 am	BryanThomasS:	Tonight's transcript will go up at the blog in an hour or so. http://bit.ly/a7fKZ5 Working on an #sffwrtchtsite. Past transcripts also up
3:10 am	RedstoneSF:	@BiscuitCIB We will probably do another this summer. The contest really sparked a lot of talk. It did a little good I think. #sffwrtcht
3:11 am	RedstoneSF:	@BiscuitCIB Thanks for mentioning that! I meant to. It was great @SarahEMC2 really gained us some attention early on with it. #sffwrtcht
3:11 am	RedstoneSF:	RT @BryanThomasS: Tonight's transcript will go up at the blog in an hour or so. http://bit.ly/a7fKZ5Working on an #sffwrtcht site. Past transcripts also up