Hey, Hey, 50K

I once swore never to post an apology for not blogging, so I'll just point out the fact that the time I spent vouchsafing a spectacular victory in NaNoWriMo has detracted from the time I've spent on LabInhab.

So, if your submission has been languishing without a response, it should get one fairly soon, and now would be a good time to submit. My plan is to complete Issue 8 by the end of December.

Note on submissions

I've just cleared out the Labyrinth Inhabitant submission pile, and I've only accepted one story for the new issue, though there were several very near misses. As I discussed in the last update, I was already considering letting the new issue run through the end of the year, so that's now pretty much a certainty. It doesn't mean I'm ignoring the site.

If anybody has a submission still pending as of October 4 (today) with no response from me, please send me a query email.

Labyrinth Inhabitant Issue 7

The new issue is up. Labyrinth Inhabitant is now upgraded to WordPress, and it now has the kind of hosting you pay money for.

Out of 24 submissions this time around, I accepted one story, one piece of flash fiction, and one poem (plus I ran one story I accepted last quarter, leaving me with none in reserve).

I'm slipping a little behind my intended quarterly schedule. If submissions are slow for issue 8, I might let it run through the end of the year and call it the Winter 2010 issue. Even if I do that, it shouldn't have much impact on anyone who wants to submit, because I'm still generally maintaining my one-month-at-the-most response time and posting most stories soon after I accept them. So check the submissions page and send me more stories!

Labyrinth Inhabitant Issue 6

The new issue is online. My essay this time around is my long-awaited review of Minotaur China Shop.

This time around I accepted 4 stories and 1 poem out of 17 submissions, which means I now have one story already stockpiled for next issue. These numbers would seem to indicate that I'm not being very selective, but I thought the submissions were strong this time around, including several very near misses.

Labyrinth Inhabitant Issue 5

is now available for your enjoyment.

My introductory essay this time was so immense that I won't even repost it here, but it's a very important document: the Preliminary Report of the Late-Career Genre Author Human Rights Investigatory Commission.

And here are the selectivity stats: out of 16 unsolicited submissions that I would have considered only for this issue, I accepted 2 stories. There was a poem I probably should have accepted, but I was being too snooty so I turned it down. Plus, I solicited and accepted one other story.

The most common reason for rejecting submissions, as always, was that they did not take place in a mysterious artificial environment. However, violations of the "no blank or featureless settings" rule made a strong showing this quarter. I have a feeling that, as the archives grow and people get a better sense of what I'm looking for, "featureless setting" could conceivably become the most common rejection criterion.

These are exciting times!