Ann VanderMeer joins Tor.com as Consulting Fiction EditorAnn VanderMeer has been hired by Tor.com as a ‘consulting fiction editor,’ joining Patrick Nielsen Hayden and Liz Gorinsky in acquiring short fiction for the website. Tor.com says:

Since the beginning, much of our fiction has been acquired and edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden; additionally, Liz Gorinsky began buying and editing for the site in 2010. Now we’re pleased to add Ann VanderMeer as a consulting fiction editor for Tor.com. […] She brings a sharp eye for adventurous fiction to all of her projects, and we look forward to the stories and authors she’ll bring to Tor.com.

Ann VanderMeer is one of the best in the business, and, after a public departure from the legendary genre magazine Weird Tales, it’s great to see her snapped up by another of the leading publishers of high-quality genre short fiction.

This is good news for any and all (like me) who are discouraged by the excessive turn-around times for Tor.com short fiction submissions, which, according to Duotrope, are currently sitting at a median of 299 days, well above the average wait time for SF/F/H short fiction venues. In comparison, Clarkesworld turns stories around in three days, and Lightspeed turns stories around in two days. Adding another acquiring editor, especially one with VanderMeer’s experience and expertise, should ease this period. Hopefully.

Equally, this is good news for anyone who likes good SF/F/H short fiction, as VanderMeer has a strong track record of acquiring and publishing quality stories from some of the genre’s best and brightest names.

Congratulations to both Tor.com and Ann VanderMeer.

Discussion
  • Josh Turner August 29, 2012 at 11:44 am

    Quite excited about this as like you I’m rather discouraged by the turn around times at Tor. As much as it’s clearly a fantastic place to be noticed it does mean that if you submit a great story you have to wait near a year to hear anything back. I mean you could make a baby quicker… that’s not right surely?

  • Rob Mammone August 29, 2012 at 11:01 pm

    299 days? If that’s correct, it’s insane! Who runs an organisation like that?