As the top creative and business leader for the world’s oldest science fiction magazine, the Editor-in-Chief of Amazing Stories plays a key role in Paizo Publishing’s editorial team. The Editor-in-Chief oversees all aspects of the development and production of Amazing Stories, from the strategic to the tactical level, and is ultimately responsible for the successful growth of a key asset in Paizo’s publishing portfolio. The Editor-in-Chief works closely with the Publisher and with Paizo’s business team (including circulation, marketing, accounting, and advertising sales).
Reading through their full job description and requirements, I was suddenly struck by a disquieting notion: I fully meet the minimal qualifications, and exceed them in many instances. What is the world coming to? Never fear--I'm not actually going to apply. If the universe lost all hold of reason and somehow I managed to land the gig, I don't see any way of avoiding a relocation to Washington State. Nothing against Washington--Green Arrow did run around Seattle for the better part of a decade, remember--but we're happy in New Braunfels and cold, wet winters would get old pretty fast. Not to mention the fact that I wouldn't want to go down with the ship when Amazing inevitably turns belly-up three years down the road or so.
But still, it's fun to play make-believe. Publishing six issues a year, I'd like to do an "Artist of the Year" thing, with one artist doing all six covers, and having various authors craft a story around those images. That would definitely be fun--that's an approach that used to be popular in the 50s and 60s but has fallen by the wayside of late. I'd sign on John Picacio, otherwise known as the Beautiful One, to blow away our visual cortexes that first year.
And I'd make sure I had a Howard Waldrop story in my first issue. Howard has a reputation for killing off magazines that run his work. If I ran a Howard story right off the bat, I would either 1) break the curse and successfully publish for years to come, or 2) save myself a lot of time and trouble editing a magazine too weak to withstand Howard's eldrich might. Either way, I figure, I'd come out a winner.
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I haven't seen the latest incarnation of AMAZING, but I'm told it has only a three or four stories, with the rest being media tie-in stuff. I'm not very interested in a magazine like that, so I wish you'd take over as editor. More fiction would be cool, and I like the "Artist of the Year" idea a lot. Here's another vote for John Picacio to be the first one.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, gamers are going to get their fix through the other 'zine Paizo publishes: Dragon, Dungeon and the like. A gaming column would be cool, for the cross-pollination aspect, but more than that would start giving you diminishing returns.
ReplyDeleteStories published in AMAZING should be, well, amazing. I'd ban "sense of wonder" as a term used in connection with the 'zine, since that's too passive for what the title publishes. Quiet lyricism is wonderful, but belongs more in F&SF than AMAZING. I'd want more stories that were, well, over the top isn't necessarily the right term, but it's not exactly wrong, either. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow might be one good example. Ken McLeod's CASSINI DIVISION another. Or Pohl & Williamson's STARCHILD TRILOGY. Delaney's EINSTEIN INTERSECTION. Stuff that packs in the whiz-bang ideas that leaves your head spinning. You don't have to sacrifice quality writing for excitement and readability, and vice-versa.
I enjoyed the Spielberg-produced Amazing Stories TV series, but in all honesty, most of those episodes were gentle, inoffensive things. They were too safe. Family-friendly. Some were clever, but deus ex machina was far too often used as a plot resolution device.
Opinions? Yeah, I got a few...
OK, you've definitely got my vote. There's not a magazine out there like the one you'd produce. (Of course there's revolutionsf, but I'm talking about print magazines.)
ReplyDeleteYou know, if I could do it "part-time" (ie put in 40 hours a week in addition to my day job) and not have to relocate from New Braunfels I'd jump at it. I mean, six issues a year is manageable. I was managing editor (in charge of everything from layout, design, copyediting to payroll, story and photo assignments, and coddling occasional ad buyers) for two monthly tabloids when I was with Prime Time in San Antonio. A bi-monthly 'zine would be a cinch, especially if I had dependable production folks. But AMAZING isn't going to give me those terms, so I'm not going to be the editor there.
ReplyDeleteAnd while it may go without saying, I think I ought to clarify that my version of AMAZING would have different content and approach than my version of F&SF or ANALOG, for example. But AMAZING is enough of a blank slate right now a creative editor could really go to town. Die-cut covers could be fun...
You know, if I could do it "part-time" (ie put in 40 hours a week in addition to my day job) and not have to relocate from New Braunfels I'd jump at it. I mean, six issues a year is manageable. I was managing editor (in charge of everything from layout, design, copyediting to payroll, story and photo assignments, and coddling occasional ad buyers) for two monthly tabloids when I was with Prime Time in San Antonio. A bi-monthly 'zine would be a cinch, especially if I had dependable production folks. But AMAZING isn't going to give me those terms, so I'm not going to be the editor there.
ReplyDeleteAnd while it may go without saying, I think I ought to clarify that my version of AMAZING would have different content and approach than my version of F&SF or ANALOG, for example. But AMAZING is enough of a blank slate right now a creative editor could really go to town. Die-cut covers could be fun...