This week, I acquired something at Penumbra that I never really thought I'd have--an assistant. Yep. You read that right. I, who can whip through stories at an astonishing rate of speed, needed a reader and assistant to help me keep our response times at the optimum level.
This, of course, is extremely helpful, particularly since her tastes in literature are pretty much the same as my own. Being a writer myself has made me very particular about response times. If you're rejected at Penumbra, it will be within a couple of weeks. If two weeks go by and you haven't heard from us, that means your story is still under consideration and has moved to a higher level of evaluation.
Yeah. Me.
At any rate, the quality of submissions we're getting at Penumbra right now has gobsmacked me beyond belief. Which makes some thing easier--like putting together a high quality selection of fiction for the e-mag--and some things a lot harder--like rejecting a story because I just don't have room for it, or because it doesn't quite fit in. Those stories, the ones we really hate to reject, are usually accompanied by an invitation to submit to Musa, our parent company, who is publishing short stories as standalone e-books. Musa is experimenting with this practice, hoping to develop a wider range of options for oustanding writers of short fiction.
Oh--one other thing I should tell you. The second and third issues of Penumbra will be finalized within the week. If you have a submission still out for those issues and haven't heard from me, you will in the next few days. Good luck!
