Interview: LaShawn Wanak, editor of GigaNotoSaurus

We all love short stories.  On the days that you are itching for something a little longer than a short story, but a little shorter than a novel, the webzine GigaNotoSaurus has you covered.  Started in 2010 by Ann Leckie, GigaNotoSaurus has become know for keeping it simple, and doing it right. The 'zine has little in the way of bells and whistles, and lots in the way of high word counts,  high levels of diversity, and high quality fiction that you get to spend a little more time with, due to that high word count. All fiction published by GigaNotoSaurus can be read for free at the 'zine's website.

I was lucky enough to meet LaShawn Wanak at a convention back in 2019, and then saw her speak at a virtual convention in 2020.  Her excitement about editing longer fiction at GigaNotoSaurus was infectious, and I knew I needed to learn more about her and the 'zine.  My only regret is that it took me so long to do so.    If you're a regular at GenCon or WisCon, or a regular reader of Lightspeed Magazine, Uncanny, FIYAH, Strange Horizons and other popular magazines, you'll recognize Wanak's name, as her short fiction, essays, and book reviews have appeared regularly in many publications since 2005.  You can learn more about Wanak by following her on twitter at @TboneJenkins and checking out her website, The Cafe In the Woods.

Wanak has been the editor at GigaNotoSaurus since September 2019, and since then she's brought in slush readers, defined her editorial style, and made a deep dive into the process of editing longer short stories and running a webzine. She was kind enough to let me pick her brain about her experiences as an editor, how she keeps everything organized, and how much the online writing sphere has changed since she starting publishing.  Let's get to the interview! 

NOAF: One day in summer of 2019 it was a regular day, and the next day you were the new editor at GigaNotoSaurus! How did you become the editor of the magazine? What were those early conversations like? Once you were settled into the role, how did you know what to do?

LaShawn Wanak: It seems like a long time ago! At the time, I wasn't looking for an editing gig. I had just moved to a new position at the dayjob that freed up my time to dedicate towards more writing. I got an email from Anna Schwind, who used to be one of my editors at PodCastle. She mentioned that Ann Leckie, who was the main editor of GigaNotoSaurus, was looking for someone to take over the editorial duties while she moved to more of a publisher role. It had intrigued me, because I had deeply loved my time at PodCastle, but had to step down due to the dayjob stuff. Now, the timing was right, so I said yes.

NOAF: GigaNotoSaurus isn't your first editing gig! Back in the day, you were an associate editor at PodCastle. What are some of the biggest differences between editorial duties at PodCastle and GigaNotoSaurus? Do the two 'zines have any at all in common?

LW: It feels weird to be at the helm of deciding what stories come into GNS. Luckily, my experience at PodCastle taught me well. I also learned a lot from Anna Schwind and Dave Thompson, who were my editors at the time and made the final decision on what stories to publish. They valued my input on the stories I passed along to them, and they trusted me to know what stories fit in Podcastle and what didn't. I'm now encouraging the same input and feedback with my own slush readers.

NOAF: You've now been at the helm of GigaNotoSaurus for around a year and a half. What do you know about editing the magazine now, that you wish you'd know when you started? 

LW: That it's okay to ask for help. It took a long time before I realized I needed help managing the slush, and to do that, I had to bring on my own team of slush readers. The team I have now is sooooo helpful in getting things to the point that I can focus on reading and purchasing stories. I do feel like I'm still learning the job, though, especially since we've only just opened up submissions again in January, so we're still finding our rhythm.

Another thing I like about my team is that I can discuss the stories I have in mind for publishing. I wanted my team to be diverse so that they can catch things that I, a Black woman but who's also cishet and abled, would miss.

NOAF: Give us a behind the scenes of GigaNotoSaurus. What is a typical week like for you? How far in advance are you buying stories to publish? 

LW: Usually a typical week is reading. Lots and lots of reading. Sometimes I jump in and help with the slush. Other times, I'm doing deeper reads of the stories that are passed on to me. When I read a story, I like to do it a couple of times and see if I really want to publish it. On the rare occasion, there are stories that so drag me in that I know right away that I'm buying it. There are others where I need to seriously think. Maybe there's something about the story that pulled me in, but there's just one thing that's off--maybe it's pacing, maybe there's character's action that doesn't sit well with me, or maybe there's something about the world-building that isn't clear. If it's a good enough story that I still want to publish it, I usually ask for a rewrite.

Other weeks I reserve on getting the story ready for publication, or sending rejects and or acceptances. I've just now settled into a routine that works, at least for now. I try to buy stories two or three months in advance, although now that submissions are open again, I want to expand that to at least six months in advance.

NOAF: What types of stories is GigaNotoSaurus looking to publish? Are there particular subgenres you are seeking, or any particular subgenres of types of stories that you are bored with, or sick of seeing? 

LW: That's hard to say! I'm a sucker for literary fantasy stories with lush worldbuilding, but I also like engaging science fiction. I also like stories that use genre to delve into identity, race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, religion, etc. But I'm also like stories that make me laugh out loud. I don't know, I guess the best thing to say is surprise me.

What I'm not a big fan of is the standard sword and sorcery stories, where a guy goes out to save the world, or is the chosen one. I'm also not huge into blood and gore. Also, stories that have violence against women and/or children are a very, very hard sell for me. This goes for 'fem sexbot' stories, which for some reason we get a lot of--I don't know why.

NOAF: When stories are in the 2,500 – 7,500 word range, a slush reader or editor can get through the submissions pile in a timely fashion. GigaNotoSaurus is famous for publishing longer works, up to 25,000 words, around five times the length of the typical short story. How long does it take you to get through the submissions pile? Do you have a team of slush readers who helps you?

LW: Again, we just opened up, so we're still finding our groove. The good news is that the stories I have under second consideration are stories from when we first opened up this year, so if you haven't heard on your story that you submitted in January 2021, it means it's with me.

NOAF: What advice do you have for someone who wants to get into editing? As far as skillsets and processes, what's the major difference between and author and an editor (if there are any)?

LW: You need to be organized. I had to put together an editorial calendar that has deadlines for when I send out acceptances, contracts, editing a story and getting it ready for publication. Having a set schedule is new to me; as a writer, I'm a lot more loose in scheduling things. With GNS, I can't let a deadline slip. I've made it a goal to have a story published every 1st of the month, and I'm happy to say that I've pretty much stuck to that goal.

NOAF: You've been publishing poetry, short fiction, interviews, essays, and blogging online since 2006. What changes have you seen in the online sphere over the years?

LW: Oh boy, lots of things. I feel in many ways stories have gotten easier to publish, and paradoxically, harder to publish. In the past year alone, there has so much done to highlight Black writers, which has been such a boon On the other hand, the pushback has been fierce and disheartening, and it's just a microcosm of what's happening outside of genre over the past decade. I've seen the writing community yell at each other, but I've also seen it come together and fight to get more stories heard from vulnerable communities. It makes me proud to be part of that, even if all I'm doing is finding stories that I like and then publishing them.

NOAF: Thank you so much for this behind the scenes look at GigaNotoSaurus!

POSTED BY: Andrea Johnson lives in Michigan with her husband and too many books. She can be found on twitter, @redhead5318 , where she posts about books, food, and assorted nerdery. 

Interview: Fireside Magazine

Congratulations to Julia Rios and Elsa Sjunneson at Fireside Magazine, for their Hugo nomination for Best SemiProZine!

Fireside Magazine started in 2012, and since then has grown into a monthly magazine, a website with weekly fiction and non-fiction, a podcast, and a quarterly digest, among other accomplishments.  Fireside prides themselves on their two major publishing goals: To find and publish great stories regardless of genre, and to pay their artists and writers well.

Fireside may have started small back in the day, but the magazine has grown quickly. In 2016 they added a third goal to their mission: To resist the global rise of fascism and far-right populism; and later that year the magazine published the eye-opening #BlackSpecFic special report. Fireside has featured fiction, essays, and poetry by Nghi Vo, Karen Osborne, Brandon O'Brien, Izzy Wasserstein, Sheree Renée Thomas, Jacqui Talbot, and Charles Payseur, to name just a few.

Elsa Sjunneson won a Hugo in 2019 for the Uncanny Magazine special issue Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction, and she has also won the Aurora and British Fantasy award. Sjunneson's work has appeared in Uncanny, Tor.com, The Boston Globe, and elsewhere. She has taught workshops with Clarion West and Writing the Other, and has presented work at The University of Chicago and The Henry Art Gallery. Her debut memoir, Alone in the Light, will be released in 2021. You can learn more about Sjunneson and her work by visiting her website, snarkbat.com or by following her on twitter, @snarkbat.

Julia Rios won the Hugo in 2017 and 2018 for her work with Uncanny Magazine, and she co-edited Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories, which won the Aurelius Award and the Ditmar Award.   Rios' work has appeared in Apex Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, Lightspeed, and elsewhere. She is a co-founder of FuenteCo, which fosters hybridity in writing and other arts. Julia is a co-host at the Hugo nominated Skiffy and Fanty Show, and if you've listened to Podcastle, Cast of Wonders, Pseudopod, or the Strange Horizons podcast, there is a good chance you heard her voice as the narrator. You can learn more about Rios at her website, juliarios.com, or by following her on twitter, @omgjulia.

Elsa Sjunneson and Julia Rios were kind enough to answer my questions about their editorial voices, their own editing, special issues and important essays, among other fascinating topics. Let's get to the interview!

NOAF: Can you tell us about your role at Fireside Magazine? How did you get involved with the magazine?

Elsa Sjunesson: I started as a slush reader for Brian White back in I think 2014? I was there a long time! I then moved on to being the Assistant Editor, and when Brian White stepped down in 2017 I was promoted to Managing Editor. In all these roles I was a part of maintaining the voice and values of the magazine. I learned so much at Fireside and I’m proud of having spent the time there becoming the editor that I am today.

Julia Rios: I took over as Fiction Editor in 2017 when Brian White stepped down, and I edited all the fiction and poetry and essays (with the exception of those essays Elsa edited!) through the end of 2019.

NOAF: You are both award winning editors, for your work with anthologies (among other projects). How is editing a monthly magazine different from editing an anthology?

ES: As a managing editor it's a very different process. My job was less to edit (in the places where I did edit it was non-fiction work), but to help shepherd the magazine through the editorial process, from submissions, to the editorial selection process, and through copyedits. I was the person who kept an eye on the piece all the way to publication.

JR: Anthologies are complete units and have their own specific needs and voices and so on. Magazines are ongoing, so while they tend to have distinct voices, there is also room to explore and evolve over time. You can do a theme issue in a magazine without making a definitive statement about what the magazine is as a whole. For instance, in 2019, I did a Mexicanx theme issue for the month of September and a ghost theme issue for the month of October, but Fireside is not all ghosts or Mexicanx content all the time the way that an Ellen Datlow ghost story anthology is or A Larger Reality, the Mexicanx Initiative anthology edited by Libia Brenda was.

NOAF: Every magazine has its own editorial voice, as does each individual editor. What is Fireside's editorial voice, and what do you, personally, look for in submissions?

JR: When I came on board, Brian told me that he always wanted the stories to be gripping stories with beginnings, middles, and ends. I started from there, but as I stayed on the editorial voice evolved to include things like poetry. Elsa was invaluable as managing editor because she understood what kinds of things I was looking for and helped me choose stories. We had a shared vision for uplifting underrepresented voices. I’m not sure what the next editors' visions are, but I respect their other editorial work.

ES: Julia said everything I wanted to say, but I'll add this: at Fireside the goal from my first day to my last day was to give underrepresented authors a chance to shine.

NOAF: What pieces in Fireside are you particularly proud of?

ES: I want to step away from my direct editorial work to talk about the writing I did as an editor for Fireside for a second. One of the most important conversations that I started in our industry is the conversation about the use of the word "blind" as a publishing term. My piece "Blind Reading Is in Braille or Large Print" resulted in a lot of changes to the submissions statements of several magazines and I'm proud of using the space Fireside afforded me to create change.

JR: I genuinely love all the pieces I worked on. One of the great joys of editing is getting to work with awesome writers and share stories you love with the world. Of course I was extremely proud of Phenderson Djélì Clark's "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" winning awards. Phenderson is an amazing writer, and we have seen more from him since then and I am sure we will see a lot more in the future. 2019 was the first year that Fireside provided audio versions of the texts, something that Elsa and I had advocated for because we cared a lot about accessibility. It was also the first year the magazine published poetry, which happened because Meg Frank, our marketing director at the time, shared my love of poetry and advocated for including it. We started out with an incredibly strong poem by Sabrina Vourvoulias. "Teeth" is … dare I say… biting? Okay, but seriously, it's a hard and sharp examination of the Latinx immigrant experience in the United States after 2016. On top of that, "Teeth" is beautiful and musical in its language. In 2019, I did my first translation work, translating a few stories from Spanish into English. I mentioned the September 2019 Mexicanx theme issue, and I am very proud of that one. I'm also proud of the essays by Layla Al-Bedawi (on losing native language fluency) and Elsa Sjunneson (on becoming a guide dog handler). I could go on indefinitely here. I was incredibly lucky to work with many brilliant writers, all of whom honored me by trusting me with their words.

NOAF: How is Fireside different from other projects and magazines that you have been involved with?

JR: Every publication is unique. I can't really find a good way to compare them to each other. Fireside was the first print magazine I worked with, though, so I suppose that is the easiest measure.

ES:  Right now I'm working at Uncanny Magazine as the non-fiction editor, which is very different because I am not dealing with the magazine protocols so much as my authors' words. It's definitely a different job, but one I'm enjoying!

NOAF: Four times a year, Fireside publishes a gorgeously designed print edition. How do the editorial and design processes differ, if at all, between the digital and print editions?

JR: I never handled anything to do with the design. My job was to select the texts and work with authors to refine them until we all agreed they were as strong as we could make them. The biggest difference came when Fireside started publishing a print issue each quarter because that was a change from the monthly issue ebooks that were available. This meant I had to think about how the contents of each month fit together (as usual), while also thinking about how each three month period worked.

ES: One of the challenges for me on print was that I am blind, so I definitely struggled with print, and the ability to navigate what was on the page versus what was on the site. I stayed on the site side of the process as a result. We did do a couple of pieces that were designed to do different things in print and online, notably Sarah Gailey's "STET" and Fran Wilde’s "Choose Wisely". We had discussions as a team about how to articulate a vision of each piece effectively for our audience, with varying degrees of success.

NOAF:  Thank you so much Julia and Elsa!

POSTED BY: Andrea Johnson lives in Michigan with her husband and too many books. She can be found on twitter, @redhead5318 , where she posts about books, food, and assorted nerdery.