Edith is a good indicator of how on Baen-track a story is, but she's not the only editor and the slushies do disagree with one another.

A story might get passed up on majority vote, but it's also possible that a story gets passed up not unlike a book in a publishing house - because it has one champion among the editors who pleads a persuasive enough case that it's given a chance.

So, while Edith can be seen as a person in power, being a slush reader, it's still not quite as simple as accepting and making changes she suggests. There are more slush readers, some of them more silent than the others (except when they get togehter to talk about the stories, I guess, heh!), and they're tastes might be more aligned with what you write.

My advice is to take all the comments the same as you would with a normal critique group - compare them, see where the majority agreements&disagreements are, what the overall opinion is, and then decide yourself whether you agree or disagree with the crits.

If the critiques lead you to believe that there is room for improvement in your story, then re-write it, but because you prefer the re-write, not because someone else prefers it, because you think the story is stronger.

If all the critiques are in, and you still think the version of the story is right, then leave it for at least the 3 months and then come back to it if it hasn't been requested; send it to a couple of other markets and wait to hear what they say.

As I've said before, though, the best way to understand what the JBU wants is to read the JBU. The same as for any market.

Write the story and then see where it will fit; trying to tailor a story to a market's tastes isn't always that succesful.

Thanks, Jason.  I think you answered my question.  The Bar it is.  Hope I finish it soon enough for this window.

Barb.  Aka the tortoise.

I didn't realize slush readers commented on stories.  I just checked, and the only comment my story received back in June was from Edith.  She made a few good points.  Maybe I'll revise and repost.  I should have read this thread a long time ago, obviously. :)

The Baen's Bar software is horrible, or maybe their server just can't handle the load or something.  I had a terrible time getting my story to post.  I kinda sorta like the idea of an open slush pile, but to make it really effective it seems like they should have a better interface for posting and reading.

Jaqhama,

I think they are currently closed to submissions, but when they re-open if you want to avoid the bar slush conference, on the submission page they have a link to a submission form.  Click the link, enter in some very basic info, then attach your story file using the browse option and submit.  Very easy and returns an auto-responder to let you know they got it, with a link to let you follow your story's progress through slush.