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Editor Interview: San Cicaro Anthology Series

This interview is provided for archival purposes. The listing is not currently active.

Q: Describe what you publish in 25 characters or less.

A: Shared urban fantasy.

Q: What other current publications (or publishers) do you admire most?

A: Tor obviously. Orbit for their ear-to-the-ground for finding new talent. DefCon One and Raw Dog Screaming Press for staying in the game for as long as they have.

Q: If you publish writing, who are your favorite writers? If you publish art, who are your favorite artists?

A: Ohhhh, that's a long one. Writers past include George Orwell, Agatha Christie, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Robert E. Howard. More modern ones include Gillian Flynn, Clint Lee Werner, Garth Ennis, Kentaro Miura and Bill H. Keith Jr. Artists include Katsuhiro Otomo, Kentaro Miura, Manuel Mesones, Francesca Resta, Frank Frazetta and Adrian Smith. There's more, but I think that's a good start.

Q: What sets your publication apart from others that publish similar material?

A: A few things.
First, we're very big on shared settings and collaborations. An author can go it alone and sure, he or she can do a good job. Yet there's always room for editorial input. An author has to learn to let an artist handle the visuals. And unless that author is going to pump out a dozen novels a year, consider letting others expand on their work with stories of their own. If authors cannot delegate, cannot trust others, then they'll be stuck doing a great deal of work.
The second thing is that we're constantly looking for a new angle when it comes to marketing. Sure, we'll advertise and attend conventions. But we're constantly trying to expand what we do and open new doors. Twitter and Facebook groups alone just don't cut it, and anyone who thinks otherwise is in for a rude awakening.

Q: What is the best advice you can give people who are considering submitting work to your publication?

A: First, read our latest stuff. While we had an idea of what we wanted early on, there's been some subtle evolutions. We've identified the stories we feel resonate best with our audience, so we have an understanding of what we want. It's also a good way to learn about characters and places around San Cicaro, so you can introduce references yourself.
Two? Don't be afraid to write outside your comfort zone. Many writers decide on one approach and stick with it, but that gets stale or cliché before long. If you do nothing but third person perspective, try first. If you write mostly male characters, give us a female protagonist. If you do a lot of middle-to-upper class folks, try making something from the view of a working man. We're always impressed with research.
Finally, be open to suggestions to improve. Many submissions get rejected because the authors want to "make a series" out of their stories. While we're open to that idea, they usually intend to develop huge swathes of our city. They're asking for too much control, more than we can give and maintain the setting.

Q: Describe the ideal submission.

A: The ideal submission involves a character encountering the supernatural. It could either be a first encounter situation, or maybe this person has seen it before. This protagonist is challenged and perhaps endangered, but is ultimately changed by it. The character may realize the limits of their morality, or may discover that they had a darker nature than they intended.
We prefer most submissions like this. However, we also leave room for a few traditional horror and fairy tale stories. Sometimes, things just go bad. Audiences need to be reminded of the risk, or the "hero's journey" tales will become too familiar.
Last, we really do NOT like submissions in which a character seems to have "all the answers." If you want to see the limits of someone knowledgeable, check out Larry Kay's "In the Overmorrow, the Offling." In that story, main character Xiomara has an instinct for what's going on, yet she still must experiment and test every exorcism or ritual she performs. She knows she doesn't know, except that magic makes for terrible science.

Q: What do submitters most often get wrong about your submissions process?

A: All kinds of things! Early on, writers didn't understand what we meant by "shared universe." So we got stories that pictured San Cicaro as a dystopian hellhole. One in particular stood out, in which the Nazis had somehow seized control and were enforced by the KKK.
Besides that, other rejections happen when writers grab too much control of the city. Many submitting authors treat San Cicaro as a game of Monopoly, and want to write huge swathes of the infrastructure. We'd rather something small be well developed. A mom and pop store, a tiny museum, your indie coffee shop. This goes for plots too. For example, we don't want a huge gang war of vampires versus werewolves. Rather, we'd prefer like a series of strange crimes, and the police are assisted by a forensic consultant or insurance investigator. The suspect turns out to be a vampire, and the consultant kills him before disappearing, insinuating the kill was to "clean his lord's house."
We love a hint of mystery. Answers bore, questions intrigue.

Q: How much do you want to know about the person submitting to you?

A: We've discovered that prior publications matter little, and we're probably going to drop the cover letter request in the future. Story quality is really the only thing that matters.

Q: If you publish writing, how much of a piece do you read before making the decision to reject it?

A: It varies. Most pieces get a full read through. Those that are thick with problems early, or are blatantly not what we want, get sent back without being finished.

Q: What additional evaluations, if any, does a piece go through before it is accepted?

A: We check legal issues. If characters or places are used from prior authors, we get their permissions. If products are mentioned, we make sure we're not inflicting trademark tarnishment. We also make sure a story doesn't cause tremendous ripples throughout the city.

Q: What is a day in the life of an editor like for you?

A: Leave me a few secrets...

Q: How important do you feel it is for publishers to embrace modern technologies?

A: Very. Publishing is a long process as it is, and older technologies often take a longer time. Anything we can do to speed it up without sacrificing quality should be embraced.

Q: How much do you edit an accepted piece prior to publication?

A: Honestly, writers aren't always prepared for how much we do. On occasion, some writers really hit it out of the ball park regarding what we want, and they need little input. The rest of the time, there's a fair bit of work. During The San Cicaro Experience, there were four to six rounds of edits and a final proofing. We are going to push writers to do more whenever and where ever possible.

Q: Do you nominate work you've published for any national or international awards?

A: I make an effort to put our name forward to a few groups. There's enough competition that just putting our name out there seems fair.