It’s December (for a little while yet!), so surely that means it’s time for a look back at the year that was. This past January, we looked at what we hoped to achieve in the coming year — did you make the goals you set? What are you planning for 2012?
Numbers
Shimmer received approximately 2400 submissions in 2011–which seemed big, but when I looked back at 2010, with 1800 submissions, seemed even bigger! Of those 2400, about 6% (136) were passed up the editorial chain for further consideration. We accepted eight out of those 136, a smaller number than usual (and split between issues fourteen and fifteen). Six stories were from women, two from men.
It’s much harder to break down overall gender stats, but a glance at the reams of email looks to be about 500 male submissions for every 300 female submissions.
Accomplished
Our blog became a regular thing in 2011, with the addition of the Advice for Newer Writers feature. We hope to take that to the next level in 2012, pushing you beyond the basics. Do you have a topic you’d like to see us tackle?
In March, we were part of #zinechat on Twitter, with editors wrangling questions from writers and readers. This lead to a great conversation about exactly what Shimmer wants in its stories, as well as our next themed issue which is still in the planning stages. Want to follow the Shimmer staff on Twitter? You can start with @bethwodzinski and @ecthetwit and go from there!
World Fantasy Con saw a Shimmer reading and party! Among those in attendance were: Beth Wodzinski, Sean Markey, Keffy Kehrli, Grá Linnaea, Ferrett Steinmetz, Nicole Taylor, Cat Rambo, Vylar Kaftan, Caitlyn Paxson, M.K. Hobson, Shweta Narayan, and Marissa K. Lingen!
We released two issues in 2011, lucky #13 and #14.
Staff
There were some changes to the staff line up, most notably Beth shifting her role and handing off senior editing duties to me. (And what is there to know about me? I like the Oxford comma, I appreciate cupcakes, and have fallen in love with Gabriel García Márquez.)
Grá Linnaea and Keffy Kehrli were promoted to full-blown editors, the talented Sandro Castelli joined us as Minister of Art, and Matt Barron as Minister of Layout! We gained Associate Editors Shalene Gupta and Josh Vogt. Associate Editor Sophie Werely leaves us as the year winds down and while we will miss her smiling face, we know she’s destined for bigger and better things.
Goals for 2012
Three issues of Shimmer! Shimmer for your eReaders! A themed issue? More cake! More monkeys! Maybe we’ll finally get our very own TARDIS… There will certainly be more conventions, and parties, and readings.
Thank you
Thank you for being part of Shimmer this past year. We can’t do what we do without you. Publishing is constantly changing, but our goal remains the same: to bring you amazing fiction that stays with you long after you close an issue. If we did that this year, we were successful! Onward to the next.
Just over a year ago, Shimmer turned pro. Why? Because the new owners of Weird Tales made a series of missteps, and we felt that the best way to respond was to become even better ourselves. We believed that Shimmer had always been excellent; and now it was time to raise the bar for ourselves. With the generous support of Mary Robinette Kowal, we were able to do that, and now provide a strong professional home for the kind of intelligent, innovative speculative fiction that we loved at Weird Tales.
