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| SFReader Forums > Writing > Juicy Rumors and Other News > What Baen is really looking for in slush: | Forum Quick Jump
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Camille Alexa
fictionista
      
Date Joined Jun 2007
Total Posts : 625
| Posted 5/5/2008 9:58 AM (GMT -4) |   | |
Hey, SFReaders!
The following message was posted to the Broad Universe boards. I thought it might be of interest to some around here:
I was talking online to a fellow OSC Literary Bootcamp alum who is now a slush editor for Baen Books. He'd been talking about how many manuscripts he gets do or don't fit Baen's profile. So I asked him, "What is Baen's profile?"
Here's what he said:
Ada, I don't know if I can characterize Baen's "profile," but I can tell you what I've been told to look for:
- stories that are adventurous and fun at their core (think "golden age of SF");
- stories that are exciting if not actually action-packed; (Lots of folks believe this means a Baen book must have a battle, riot, brawl, barfight, gunfight, knifefight, or fistfight on every other page. That's not entirely true, but it's not entirely false either. Baen fans seem to appreciate action.)
- stories that make sense (e.g., science, economics, etc., that ring true) and are internally consistent;
- stories in which characters' actions and the consequences of those actions make sense and seem realistic; and
- stories that have an underlying hopefulness.
Basically, in a Baen book you should know pretty well who the good guys and bad guys are, and the good guys need to win. Dark and difficult things may happen in a Baen book, but the whole story can't be dark.
Anyway, he said I could tell other writers.
Ada
. . . Hope that's useful.
--Camille
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Jared Evers
Neophyte
Date Joined Feb 2008
Total Posts : 183
| Posted 5/5/2008 10:57 AM (GMT -4) | | | Thanks for the tip! I've been wanting to submit to them for a while now, but haven't had anything I thought fit. This'll help me in the future. | | Back to Top | | |
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erazmus
Master
Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 4503
| Posted 5/5/2008 2:51 PM (GMT -4) | | | | |
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erazmus
Master
Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 4503
| Posted 5/5/2008 5:54 PM (GMT -4) | | | | |
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erazmus
Master
Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 4503
| Posted 5/6/2008 4:30 PM (GMT -4) | | | | |
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Camille Alexa
fictionista
Date Joined Jun 2007
Total Posts : 625
| Posted 5/6/2008 5:38 PM (GMT -4) | |
erazmus said...I never try for an introducing slot, though I think its a great thing. Maybe I should, but I have my own, personal reasons that I don't. One of which is I left the Baen boards because I couldn't cope with the traffic flow, just too much to keep up with. It was eating all my writing time. But the slots are worth trying for. Mike
I've never submitted to Baen (I'm not sure my fiction is Baen material). I posted this because I know there are a bunch around here who may be interested.
If I ever did submit, I'm not sure I'd go the Slush Conference route, either. I do think it's a very interesting project and a good opportunity for the right folks.
As for boards: I get overwhelmed with SFR, much less Baen's or Asimov's or Nightshade. My brain doesn't move that fast.
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J. Cheney
Stablehand
Date Joined Feb 2008
Total Posts : 32
| Posted 5/6/2008 7:04 PM (GMT -4) | | | I've been in one of the Introducing spots...so it ~is~ a viable process. One of the things that helped me out was that I put my story in at a time when the official slush pile was closed, and therefore traffic on the Bar was far less than normal. Just a thought, Camille ;o) | | Back to Top | | |
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J. Cheney
Stablehand
Date Joined Feb 2008
Total Posts : 32
| Posted 5/6/2008 11:51 PM (GMT -4) | | FWIW: Nancy Fulda put this in her blog some time ago. Perhaps it will give some guidance as to what they like there. ;o)
Jim Baen's Universe
Length: any
Pay Rate: 6 cents and up
style
upbeat: encouraged
downbeat/dystopic: discouraged
humor/silliness: neutral
need plot? yes
need depth? not necessarily
fancy prose: neutral
themes/symbols: neutral
unusual narrative styles: discouraged
genres
hard science fiction: yes
military science fiction: yes
dark science fiction: generally not
space opera: yes
science fantasy: yes
traditional/high/epic fantasy: yes
dark fantasy: generally not
urban fantasy: yes
sword and sorcery: yes
slipstream/magic realism: no
alternate history: yes
supernatural horror: yes (but not too creepy)
psychological horror: no | | Back to Top | | |
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H.P. Lovesauce
Necronomicondiment
Date Joined Jul 2007
Total Posts : 584
| Posted 5/12/2008 10:28 AM (GMT -4) | | Congrats on the sale. I'm a big fan of Broads, me. :)
That Fulda breakdown is great! I'm hoping if I google her I'll get similar treasures for other markets... | | Back to Top | | |
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SherylNantus
Stablehand
Date Joined Apr 2008
Total Posts : 9
| Posted 5/13/2008 1:33 PM (GMT -4) | | that's a GREAT breakdown...
wish they would do that for all the big markets - sure save a lot of time and money!
:D | | Back to Top | | |
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tchernabyelo
Acolyte
Date Joined Oct 2006
Total Posts : 434
| Posted 5/14/2008 7:30 AM (GMT -4) | | Well, Nancy can certainly do it with confidence for Baen's, because she's a slush reader there...
Brian Dolton
Land Of Wind And Ghosts stories:
"The Box Of Beautiful Things" - IGMS#3
"The Man Who Was Never Afraid" - Abyss and Apex #20
"At Blue Crane Falls" - Abyss and Apex #25 "Where No Wind Blows" - Staffs & Starships #2
"What The Sea Refuses" - Black Gate (forthcoming)
"What The Heart Bears" - Black Gate (forthcoming)
"Above The Clouds" - Paper Blossoms, Sharpened Steel (forthcoming)
"The Gray World" - Every Day Fiction (forthcoming)
"Three Out Of Four" - Sorcerous Signals Feb-Apr 08
"The Dragon Path" - Fictitious Force #5
"The Last Arrow Of Liang Xi" - Darwin's Evolutions (forthcoming)
Stories in other settings:
"The Unicorn Hunter" - OG's Speculative Fiction #8
"Call Centre" - Necrotic Tissue #1
"When Winter Came" - ASIM #32
"Cold Fire" - Flashing Swords #9
"St. Saviour And The Devil's Dandy" - Flashing Swords (forthcoming)
"In This City" - Fantasy Magazine (forthcoming) | | Back to Top | | |
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erazmus
Master
Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 4503
| Posted 5/18/2008 11:17 PM (GMT -4) | | | | |
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Keralen
Adept
Date Joined Mar 2006
Total Posts : 529
| Posted 5/19/2008 10:13 AM (GMT -4) | | | Same here - "How I Lost the Intergalactic Little League World Series" - talk about your "Now for something completely different..." | | Back to Top | | |
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ennubi
Neophyte
Date Joined Nov 2007
Total Posts : 83
| Posted 5/20/2008 8:04 PM (GMT -4) | | really? that's a pity. i was thinking of trying them for a saki and sixshooters short story when the western site rejects it coming up here....
ennubi | | Back to Top | | |
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Keralen
Adept
Date Joined Mar 2006
Total Posts : 529
| Posted 5/21/2008 9:21 AM (GMT -4) | | | So, advice please? I posted my story. Got four comments. Nice compliments, nothing specific to fix. Now what? | | Back to Top | | |
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ennubi
Neophyte
Date Joined Nov 2007
Total Posts : 83
| Posted 5/22/2008 8:10 PM (GMT -4) | | 'preciate it, xiaotien :). i'm allowed to inquire end of the month [2 months]. i'm surprised baen didn't like yours. asian seems all the rage locally - i would've thought they would jump on something like that. i start off a little quiet for the first page or so, but i think the 'bad, bad things on the horizon' neon signs are pretty bright :).
ennubi | | Back to Top | | |
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