For those who may not know, I am the Fantasy Acquisitions Editor for Staffs & Starships Magazine , the Anthology Editor for Flashing Swords Press, and the Managing Editor of The Custer-Hawk Gazette. The following is a collection of my musings on being an editor, most specifically in relation to the acquisition of material.

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Acquisitions. The possession of things new, things desirable. Gains. Publishers crave them. Agents seek them. Writers strive for them. Readers buy them. What is this object of their common desire and who is it that delivers relief from each of these not so disparate needs? It is the stories that unite them and the editors who choose those stories that free them. The stories we choose bring satisfaction to the publishers (temporary though it may be); discovery to the agents; success to the authors; entertainment to the readers. As the linchpins of the relationship, we want those acquisitions too, raising the question: What exactly is acquisitions editing?

A valid query, as its answer sets the tone for every publication there is. Easily answered, though perhaps not so easily met, its answer remains simple. Acquisitions editing is not only the desire, it is the duty to acquire publishable material. Not readable material – publishable.

Our editorial goal is not to send rejections. Not to find fault, destroy dreams, or mount writer’s heads on our den walls like the prey of a big-game hunter. We are tasked with selecting from among the submissions we receive the highest quality material that meets the defined needs of whatever target market our employer chose. We are not critics despite being required to be critical. How terrible and dreary such a career would be, to regularly find reason to tear down the creations of others. Anton Ego, food critic in Ratatouille, sums it up best at movie’s end when he says the work of critics is of less import than that of the persons they scrutinize.

So what do we fearsome editors truly want to acquire? We lead the eternal quest for the words that sell issues of our publications. The words that sell issues. The words that sell.

The ultimate responsibility of all editors, it is the acquisition editors who most specifically bear this solemn charge. It is we who choose the stories placed before the line editors, the copy editors, the senior editors, the managing editors, the editors ad nauseam. None of these others exist without the acquisitions editor putting product before their eyes. Small press, large press, one person or many, every publication has someone who wears the hat of Acquisitions Editor at some point in the acceptance and publication of tales. Even in the one-person press, the copy editor and managing editor hats don’t want the acquisitions hat wasting their time.

Identifying the good acquisitions editors becomes the challenge for all involved. Who determines what sets such an editor apart from his peers, what elevates his ability in story and author selection? Target audience and target labor pool, of course. I believe the subscribers and submitters establish this through observation of how well an editor:

1. Adheres to the publication’s stated aims as evidenced by a competence to choose (gain) those stories closest to that ideal;
2. Identifies with those chosen (acquired) stories, for if nothing else, he should be judged by the old maxim that by association are we known.

There can be no better measures of these characteristics than the continued submissions of those who write and the growing number of subscriptions by those who pay.

Yet is it necessary to identify these editors?

Again, it is through the efforts of writers and readers alike and to their further benefit to do so, for a third characteristic of the good acquisitions editor is a direct result of the previous two: the success of his publication as determined, not by the simple number of subscribers, but by the number of renewal subscriptions. If a publication’s target audience believes the selections editor consistently acquires stories that deliver what the publication promises, they renew. If the acquisitions editor believes that the stories he chooses are direct reflections of him when scrutinized by the squinting eyes of writers and readers above the barrels of that narrowly defined double-bore shotgun, he will be careful to associate only with the best of what he is offered. All of which creates a self-perpetuating cycle of quality acquisitions and publication.

No matter what, an editor cannot become larger than the product he represents. No editor can dictate taste or define a genre; not even I. If I attempt to do either, I elevate myself above the press, above the writers, above the readers. The focus then shifts from the target audience to me. To an editor who has forgotten the components of a successful publication. To an editor who no longer serves my publication. To an editor whose entity has begun to fail.

In order to avoid such arrogance and remain focused on the publication’s mission of providing good acquisitions, the following qualities must be cultivated:

• Vision. The capability to see my publication’s potential to fruition while working within the confines of my reality; seeing the possibilities inherent in the work of certain authors and continuously seeking those special talents, mentoring them as possible;
• Determination. The desire to always strive toward that potential and always honor a personal commitment to product excellence;
• Patience. Not settling for lesser works simply to meet deadlines or fill counts. Not only finding lone gems buried between long periods of unpublishable reading, but waiting for them;
• Reliability. Creating strong levels of trust between editor and audience.

Certainly there are more, but these suffice to serve as cornerstones of the foundation each publication must be built upon to become and remain successful. True, an editor can no more be held responsible for the ultimate success of his publication’s marketing and distribution plans than the janitor (often the same person in small press ownership). Even excellently executed plans cannot continuously carry a false or faulty product. Maybe in other fields, but not in literary endeavors. The percentage of the population that reads for entertainment is not very large to begin with, and market share is the acquisition most desired by all. Regularly delivering what is promised establishes reputation – something every acquisitions editor must be cognizant of. Reputation brings readers; more readers increases market share.

This thing called reputation does not come easily; rather, a good reputation does not. Consistently selecting – acquiring – only the highest quality stories that best meet both the defined targets of my publication and my personal expectations of association forces me to do distasteful things. Such as rejecting a friend’s story. Such as holding out hope that a story will eventually meet our guidelines and persisting in reading it until I discover that link – only to miserably fail. Such as rejecting a story that I personally enjoyed but doesn’t meet our criteria. Such as trying to offer as much help as I am capable of only to have a disappointed author lash back in anger.

An editor, like anyone else, can never please everyone. Many involved in the process of acquiring publishable material (authors, publishers, and editors) do not understand it is not the job of an editor to do so. There are only three opinions editors should respect, all of them proffered by those who have authority to hold editors accountable – the target audience; the boss; and the editor himself (the latter two, at times, being one and the same). While I list these in order of perceived importance, I suggest the best way for an editor to serve these interests is by pleasing himself first. Doing so within the proper perspective as already defined pleases the target audience, pleases the boss. Outside this proper perspective, pleasing oneself foremost becomes an exercise in bias, an end to edification.

What is an acquisition? It is a robust word packaging nouns like desire, possession, and perception with powerful adverbs such as here and now and future and imposing adjectives like impressive, beautiful, and inspiring. It is a formal word signifying the attainment of something distinct worthy to be gained.

Distinctions within the literary fields most worthy to be gained, most worthy to be possessed, consist of acceptance, publication, payment, consumption and recognition. Such are the literary acquisitions. Each of us yearns for them – it’s the acquisitions editors who satisfy our cravings.~