Signal Boost: Trust and Treachery

[swan_tower]

You know how we keep having these discussions about anthologies that take the best stories, regardless of who writes them . . . and somehow those stories end up all being by white men? (Totally by chance, you understand, and the editors can't be blamed if that's what was sent to them.)

It's nice to be able to talk for once about somebody doing it right. I've been contacted by the editors of an upcoming anthology, Trust & Treachery, who are actively reaching out to get more quality submissions from women. To quote:

One of the items that we made specific mention of in our original call for submissions was that we’re looking for works representing the entire range of experience -- including all races, ethnicities, genders, ages, religions, sexual orientations, abilities and views on life. The world of fiction and its characters, especially genre fiction and speculative fiction, can be diverse places with a richness and depth in both culture and community. As editors, we made both a personal and professional commitment to have that same richness represented in this anthology. But we need to you help us do it.

This? Is good, pro-active editing. It's realizing that imbalances aren't automatically a reflection of the fiction that's out there -- only the fiction that's being sent in. And that's something that can be changed, with a little effort.

So I'm happy to give them a signal boost. Description of the theme is here, and submissions guidelines are here. And props to Day Al-Mohamed and Meriah Crawford for their hard work.

Comments

[aishabintjamil.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Now I'm tempted to try to come up with something to submit, although I've never managed to write anything under 5K. Keeping something under 8K usually involves blood, sweat and swearing.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Heh. Yeah, the word limit is pretty narrow, and not everybody falls naturally into it. (I didn't, for a long time, though I've learned to write short since then.)

[meriah crawford (from livejournal.com)]

Hey, it's cool: we love blood, sweat, and swearing! ;-)

[celestialgldfsh.livejournal.com]

Oh, this looks interesting, and I have a story that fits the theme, too. Thanks for posting this!

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

You're more than welcome!

[cepetit.myopenid.com (from livejournal.com)]

So long as melanin content (or the lack thereof) is not taken as a definitive marker of distinctive ethnicity... which, I suppose, is supposed to be part of the point of the exercise, but people tend to forget that some non-Northwest-European ethnicities "look like" what passes for "white." (Perhaps not "white" enough for the Klan, but still...)

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I doubt it would be, since they're not going to go around and do visual checks. I mean, you wouldn't expect them to look into somebody's relationship history to see what their orientation is, would you? The point is more to vocally advertise their interest in diversity, rather than leaving it unstated (and therefore potentially in doubt).

[pirateveronica.livejournal.com]

thanks for posting this. I frequently skip over anthologies for that very reason, or I'll only read a few of the stories. I find the problem is similar with the quarterly magazines, though some issues will be much more balanced than others.

I'll definitely keep my eye out for this one when it gets published.

(Also, first time commenter here, been too nervous to comment before :P. *waves hello* I'm a big fan of your novels, the 2nd Doppelganger book is one of my favourite books, I've read it several times)

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Welcome! Don't feel nervous about commenting; I like people to speak up.

Thank you!

[meriah crawford (from livejournal.com)]

Thanks so much for this posting! We really appreciate your help in boosting the number of great submissions by diverse authors. We're going to have an amazing anthology. :-)

Re: Thank you!

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I hope this gets you an embarrassment of riches in your slush pile. :-)

[mstrobel.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I think I may have to have a go... :D

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Good luck!