1. Editors and readers of smart short fiction mags differ from the general reading public. Several reviews of my short fiction collections have brought this to my attention. Most recently, a reviewer in the UK wrote: " I particularly enjoy short stories that offer a final twist. I don't recall any of this collection having what I would regard as a decent ending" of Violent Ends. Ouch. Anyone in the UK want to counter that with some mild words of praise? I'll give you a cookie...
Anyway, final twists? Good luck getting a story with a "twist" ending published in most mags.
2. Commercial readers, by and large, don't give a sh*t about how beautiful your prose is. In fact, some will simply regard creative word-play as "typos" and snark about it.
I've published a few pieces under pseudonyms. No, I won't tell you what they are, yet, because they aren't in my genre. Let's just say they aren't my best work. Trust me. What I will tell you is that they are outselling In the Memory House, a book on which I worked for half the year. Gives a guy pause...
3. Cover art matters to everyone. I've given Black Medicine Thunder a Facelift and cover art change:
From this:
To this:
I think I like. You?
