One of the first things anyone will tell you when you say you’re editing an anthology is this: “That’s a lot of work!”

They’re not wrong. It helps immensely having a co-editor, as I do on Across the Universe, the upcoming Beatles spec-fic collection you may have heard me bleat about a couple of times.

But as story submissions begin rolling in during these first few weeks of the Universe submission period and the excitement truly gets underway, a few thoughts crossed my mind.

In no particular order, here are 9 of them. (Revolutionary choice, I know.)

1) It’s strange to be on the other side of the looking glass.

2) It’s also heartening: Holy cow, it’s fascinating what some folks send in as complete, submissions-worthy work.

3) I keep hearing hear the cliché about missing all the shots you don’t take. There are so many shots being taken here that miss, but at least they’re being taken. TAKE THE SHOT, PEOPLE.

4) Providing a prompt means seeing a lot of the same story written over and over again, with varying levels of success.

5) Which makes you all the more delighted when someone not only proves they know what the box is, but finds a way out of it.

6) An amazing story that’s not totally up to crossing every “I” and dotting every “T” (as it were) will still move forward, but trust me, it is hard to take off the Disapproving Scorn of No for those who can’t read the rules.

7) I would have liked a blind submission process. Preconceptions about authors don’t necessarily help in the long run.

8) I have never wanted to submit to an anthology as much as I want to submit to this one, because I know exactly what the editors want. (Note: I am not submitting to this anthology.)

9) I am one of the editors, and I have no specific idea of what I want.

This may be a definition of madness. But we’re all mad here, darling.

Considering submitting to Across the Universe? Here are all the details you need to know, and as noted above, think outside the box!

xo,
R

Like what you’re reading? Donate here! 

WANT TO KNOW MORE?
SIGN UP FOR MY BEAUTIFUL AND TALENTED NEWSLETTER!
CLICK ABOVE, OR SCAN THIS QR CODE BELOW WITH YOUR PHONE: