Slushpile Interview: ASIM's First Line of Defence (Part One)

Most fiction magazines begin with the noblest of intentions -- namely, to provide the founders with a venue for pseudonymously printing their own crap, while revelling in the capricious totalitarianism of editorial power, sitting on submissions for an indefinite exclusivity period and waiting for enough subscription payments to cover the bar tab from last issue's launch party.

Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine is of course completely different, founded instead on the utterly absurd notion that the world needs more quality Australian short science fiction. They have, at least, made their submissions process fantastically complex -- instead of a couple of no-talent hacks who've barely read the genre screening all the submissions by throwing them down a stairway and keeping the ones that land face up, they have ... they ... I'll let them explain it:

When a story arrives it is entered into a submissions management program developed explicitly for Andromeda Spaceways, affectionately dubbed "Slush-o-matic". The author details are stripped, and the story is then sent to a random reader. At this stage, the reader marks it with a "Yes", "No", or a "Maybe". "No"s are sent back to the author (often with reader comments), "Maybe"s are sent to another random reader for a second opinion, and "Yes"s are send to round two.
In Round 2, the story sent to three different readers, each of whom gives it a rating between 1 and 5, with 1 being great and 5 being the opposite. Once all three second-round readers have rated the story, the ratings are added up, and compared to an arbitrary minimum number (which varies a bit depending on circumstances). At this stage, the reader will get either a Reject (with all the reader comments attached) or a Hold.
A Hold request means that your story has passed into the Round 3, and is in with a real chance. It means that your submission is considered good enough to go into an issue of  Andromeda Spaceways, and you should feel proud because it is in about the top 10% of all stories received. It will be placed in the luxurious Slushpool for the editors of upcoming issues to ogle. However, with the number of submissions we receive, only about 1 story in 3 makes it out of the Slushpool and into print. If no editor selects it within two-three months, the story is reluctantly booted out of the Slushpool and back to the author (again, with reader comments attached).

(Source)

Got that? What's the bet the guy who came up with that works or used to work in public service?

Several of the members of the Round 1 Slush Reading Team (they have jerseys) agreed, nay volunteered, to be interviewed for my drawn-out and now appallingly overdue Slushpile Awareness Month. They are:

• Simon Haynes, biographer of the only man I would trust to move my furniture across the galaxy
• Lee Battersby, creator of fine short fiction and the accidental destroyer of fine novels-in progress
• Tehani Wessely, who may or may not be Tehani Croft (which either way sounds like a variation on delicious Indian dish, as prepared by an English chef), and
• 'Charlie', my pseudonym for an interviewee who wishes anonymity.

I've combined the interviews, to heighten the suspense.

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What is your experience with slush reading?

Wessely: I’ve been slushreading off and on for ASIM for almost six years, since the publishing group that produces it formed and opened for submissions in 2001.

Haynes: I read Slush for ASIM from issue 1 until ... lord, I can't remember. The bells, the bells.

Battersby: I sub-edited an issue of ASIM (#11), was a slush reader for Ideomancer, and was submissions editor for Ticonderoga Online. I'm currently at large.

'Charlie': Overall very positive. I enjoy getting the chance to give feedback to writers and to read the stories before they get to the magazine.

How on earth did you get roped in to it, and what makes you do it?

Wessely: As a founding member of the Andromeda Spaceways Publishing Co-operative Ltd, slushing was simply part of what we did. I still do it when I can, because I edit for ASIM regularly and it’s the best way to find absolute gems that come through the slush.

Haynes: At the time it was part and parcel of being involved in the magazine. Then I realised I could take on other tasks like maintaining the subs list, printing all the envelopes, posting all the magazines and maintaining the website, and so I did those instead. More work, less stress.

Battersby: With ASIM, I was dating the editor, and stepped into the breach when the person who was supposed to be sub-editing withdrew from the issue in order to concentrate on her own upcoming volume of the magazine.

'Charlie': Another slusher friend invited me to join. It works to spur on my own work and I do make comparisons like 'If this is getting through then surely my stories would be worth sending in!'

What qualifies you to judge other people's babies?

Wessely: I think you’re only as qualified as you think you are! I’ve been reading in the speculative fiction arena for over 15 years. I know what I like, and I also know what gets published, done to death, well reviewed, bagged severely, awarded …  I try to use this knowledge to form an idea of what editors might be able to use, for whatever the reason.

Haynes: I can tell whether something works or not. I've had short fiction published in ASIM, and you'd have to admit that gives me an insight into what the mag will and won't print. (And no, I didn't have to slush my own slush.)

Battersby: A degree in Writing, 50-plus stories in print, and a fair record in the teaching and reviewing of writing, would be the serious answer, I guess. In practical terms, it's important to have a strong view on what makes a good story, an innate understanding of the terms of reference of the magazine's guidelines (in my experience, just because an editorial team can pronounce words like 'pulp' or 'gonzo', it doesn't necessarily follow that they understand what the words mean).

'Charlie': I am offering judgement but I see it more as an appraisal. I am a writer too, I offer other writers the level of courtesy and consideration I would like to think my work gets when I send it in.

(Part Two to follow.)