Well, almost. So I’m not sharing it yet, but all stories have been read, accepted or rejected or rewrite/resub requested (except for one, which is under special consideration), and the TOC has shaped up very nicely. There’s a broad range of style, genre and age target, which is what I was aiming for! Science fiction proper is a little light on, but sadly that seems common in the Australian spec fic scene, and I’m glad I got the quality subs I did in that area. There’s a lot of darker stuff, some great fun stuff, and I’m really pleased with the stories the authors have contributed.
Slushreading for this was hard, because the standard of submissions was really strong. I had a couple that I felt didn’t meet the age range, and one or two that simply weren’t spec fic in my eyes, but I was impressed with the quality overall.
So as it stands, I have 23 firm acceptances, one story being reworked at my request, and another two pending resubmission (plus the special consideration one – sekrit!). This is a lot of stories! But because of the word count of around 3500 words or less, it’s still within my desired word count, which is good 🙂
I also have some great illustrators already on board, and a couple more in mind to approach. Now to start editing!
