Category: Editorial
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On Editing Your Own Work
One thing that many rejected submissions to Swords & Sorcery Magazine have in common is that they contain more than a few errors. Spelling mistakes, grammar goofs, and (probably) accidental malapropisms are scattered through the text like landmines, ready to blow the reader right out of the story. Typos happen, of course, and it’s not…
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In the Beginning
I must begin with a confession. I do not read every submission to the end. Some few I eliminate without reading them at all—they obviously do not fit the guidelines because they are too short, too long, or the author describes them as some sort of modern fantasy or science fiction that I don’t publish…
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Slay Slayed
This post is about something trivial, but intensely irritating: the use of slayed as the past tense of to slay, meaning to kill. This is a stumbling block for me. When I come across it in a story I trip and fall flat, or rather the story does. In my mind, the proper past tense…
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Starting a Patreon
After more than twelve years publishing Swords & Sorcery I have decided that it’s time for it to bring in some income. My loving, supportive, and patient wife Jennifer has been hinting for years that it would be great if S&SM could pay for its own expenses. If things work out I also hope to…