A Little Business

Working hard to get issue seven of IGMS out as soon as possible. It should be in the next week to ten days, but it really can't be soon enough for me; I'm really looking forward to getting this issue out there. It's got one of the strongest line-ups of stories we've published yet.

Here's a quick look at the TOC:

Cover story: "Silent As Dust," by James Maxey
"Unryhmed Couplets of The Universe" by Sharon Shinn
"The Braiding" by Pat Esden
"The Smell of The Earth" by Joan Savage
"After This Life" by Janna Silverstein
"Lost Soul" by Marie Brenan
and Part II (and the conclusion) of last issue's novelette:
"The Price of Love" by Alan Schoolcraft

And, as usual, new stories from Orson Scott Card and David Lubar.

And speaking of stories, let me mention a few points to the folks who already have or are thinking about submitting stories:

1) I'm heavily bought on fantasy of all kinds and long stories in both the SF and fantasy areas. My greatest need is for SF under 7,000 words. If you have something long or fantasy that you think is absolutely perfect for IGMS, go ahead and send it in; but know that your best chance of selling me something right now is with shorter SF.

2) I don't remember if I've mentioned this here before or not, but I am also now working as managing editor of a new nationally distributed women's magazine. It's a much better job for many reason than my old one (editing that regional business magazine, which, as you may recall, drove me insane at times). The first issue of that magazine is set to come out in April, but our publisher was recently invited by the NFL to come to Hawaii in February for the Pro Bowl and speak at a luncheon the NFL holds for the wives of the players. It's a fantastic opportunity, but it also means that we're all going to be working like crazy on putting together a smaller-sized sampler issue of our magazine for the publisher to take along with her. Basically that means my time for reading IGMS submissions is going to be severely limited until the end of January. Sorry; I hate making you wait as much as you hate waiting, but it's not everyday the NFL invites someone to speak and we have to make the most of this.

3) If I get a moment to write another of the "Five Things I've learned About Writing" before the next issue of IGMS comes out I will. If not, look for the "Stories Behind The Stories" in issue seven to start here as soon as the issue goes live, and then I'll get back to my "Five Things" when the SBTS have all run.

I hope everyone had a great holiday, whatever holiday it may be that you celebrate. Do make sure you catch the new issue of IGMS when it comes out. I don't say this lightly or often because I want you to take me seriously when I say it, but this is going to be one of the best overall issues we've ever had.