Monsters & Mormons: housecreeping, err, keeping

So as we approach the deadline a few notes that may be of interest…

Updated Timetable

So much depends on how much comes in at the last minute, how quickly Theric and I can read submissions, and how long it takes us to decide. So although we said in the original timetable that we’ll announce all admits by Oct. 31, we very well may do this in stages with another admit class in mid October, one in late October, and then perhaps a few more admits in early to mid-November. I will say that we’ve read much of what we have received so far and are confident that we have enough to make a pretty good anthology, but we’re also very much looking forward to more coming in here at the deadline. Beyond that, my lips are sealed.

Submissions

It looks like we’re on pace for 40-50 submissions. This makes us very happy. I will also say that you will hear from us weekly for the next 5-6 weeks here at AMV. In addition, of course, everyone who submits will eventually receive an e-mail back from us, too. We will attempt to have a few comments even for those submission we reject because a) we’re just that nice and b) we do appreciate everyone who has taken the time to write something and submit.

Editing

I’ve had some folks ask about editing (especially those who are feeling a little rushed to get their submission in). As I told Emily M, “we will accept stories that show a lot of potential but need a fair amount of work if we really like the story and have a sense that we can work with the author to hammer things out.” Our goal is to have the best stories that you are capable of giving us. You will be assigned a primary editor (e.g. either me or Theric), but the comments you get may reflect both of our opinions. For some stories, we may just be doing a quick copyedit. For others, we may want to work more deeply with you on things. Our goal is to not doing anything just because we want to (because we don’t — we’re very busy), but to do whatever needs to be done. I think that’s what any good editor does, but, you know, there are editors out there who don’t know how to let things go or don’t push as hard as they should or try to remake stories how they think they should go. We will try very hard not to do that.

Disclaimer/disclosure

Let me quote from AMV’s all-purpose disclosure: “William Morris and other AMV bloggers have ties to many of the players in the Mormon arts community. Some of what we blog about may or may not benefit people we like (or dislike). Some of these people may at times be our submitters, editors, advisers, advisees, critics, readers and/or collaborators.” The same holds true for Monsters & Mormons, perhaps even more so. Between Theric and I, we know a lot of you — some only through a Twitter account or a few e-mails back and forth or comments on other blogs or here, but others for years. And even those of you we don’t know, we probably know someone who you do know. This is all to say that this world of Mormon literature is rather small and we will be accepting and (sadly) rejecting friends, colleagues, acquaintances. What will keep us honest as we do this is a) each other b) our commitment to the quality of the anthology and c) our internal nagging editor voices. That doesn’t mean that every single reader will agree with all of our choices or like all of the stories. It does mean that we’re going to do our darndest to produce a product that shows craftsmanship (within a wide range of genres); entertains and delights; and says something interesting about Mormonism. Now on to the deadline! [Friday Midnight PDT in case you forgot].