It’s hard to believe that it’s July 2010. A year ago, with out 7^th issue, NT went print and the response has been outstanding. Now, John Wilson took the reigns for issue #11 and I am very impressed with the result. As editor for the issue, John was responsible for all of the non-fiction as well as making final decisions on stories and deciding on the TOC order and he did a great job.

Issue #11 has a few extra surprises too, including the unveiling of Vince, Stygian Publications necrotic poster boy, posing on the cover with our new motto “Winning Hearts and Minds, One Story at a Time.”

Doug Murano (who as we recently announced, is one of our new Associate Editors) won Editor’s pick for “Chums”, and our Special Guest Author is Andersen Prunty. I was fortunate to meet and speak with Andersen and Context last year and MoCon this year. Andersen is a great guy and a fantastic writer, and despite having met me, he was still eager to write a story for NT, or at the very least, get paid.

Before I sign off, I would like to say a word about favoritism. There are many names for it, most unflattering, but I have no doubt that some people will see Doug winning Editor’s pick and then see his name pop up as a new Associate Editor and assume that we are playing favorites. These people will either believe me or not, but I want to make it clear that the way I met John Wilson, Daniel I Russell and now Doug Murano, was after I had accepted a story from them. In all cases, either I reached out to them or saw them on one of the boards and started up a conversation. With Doug, he applied for the open position a few months after he was notified about being the Editor’s Pick and I had never spoken with him before. I realize that in this business, deals are sometimes made and favors done and I am not judging people that do, but the fact is that at NT, the friendships followed the acceptances and not the other way around.

I’m now doing bigger projects with both John and Daniel because I really like their writing and I have worked with them enough to trust them to deliver. I hope to make more friends in the business, whether or not they ever submit a story to NT, because I’ve found I have more in common with other writers that anybody else. So whether we are already friends or not, please know that if your story is accepted it will be on its own merits, and as I expand the scope of Stygian to take on other projects, it will be because I like the projects and think they will sell. Don’t worry, becoming my friend isn’t a requirement.

My Interview on The Funky Werepig

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-funky-werepig/2010/05/24/tfw-r-scott-mccoy

I had a great time and you will to if you give it a listen.

Change, The Only Constant

Please join me in welcoming our two new Associate Editors, Doug Murano and Jodi Lee. Doug has had two stories accepted by NT, the second time winning the Editor's Pick in issue #11, coming out this July and a solid editing background. Jodi Lee is well known in the industry as a writer and editor. She has been published twice in NT and has several years experience working for other markets until she launched New Bedlam in 2009 and Belfire Press in 2010. We are fortunate to have them both as NT Staph. Thanks to everyone that applied.

John Wilson has been the Technical Editor for NT since Issue # 3, back in 2008. In 2009, John picked up the additional duty as Associate Editor. Much of the reason for NT's success is due to John, and he will be sorely missed. John is taking a hiatus, but he is forever Staph and will hopefully be able to come back at some point in the future.

Daniel I Russell joined NT in 2009 with a solid background in editing, having worked on the magazine Dred for two years. His story, "Blood Pit", appeared in NT #1 and he also had a story in NT's first anthology, Malpractice. Daniel will continue in his role as Associate Editor and also pick up the additional duty of Technical Editor.

John took on the role of Editor-In-Chief for issue # 11, and Daniel is currently doing the same for issue #12. I took on the role of Associate Editor and of course deal with the mundane Publisher duties. Unlike some magazines, even as Editor-In-Chief, all of us read an equal number of submissions. Many magazines have what they call "Slush Readers". I dislike the term "Slush" and have said so in a previous NT rant, but my point is that the initial readers often do a lot of heavy lifting and float up the cream to the editors, who only read the short list to make final decisions. These readers rarely if ever get any credit. Since we give personal feedback instead of form rejection letters, we need to be able to articulate why we reject a story. It's a team effort, and everyone has a voice. Each of the Staph read the same number of stories and come up with a short list. The short lists are combined and everyone takes another week or so to read the other's lists. We then meet as a team and decide which stories make it into the issue. The additional duties for the Editor-In-Chief include making final decisions for the Table of Contents if there are disagreements and writing all of the non-fiction pieces.

I felt that my nonfiction pieces were getting stale and it was time for a change. I'm glad John and Daniel wanted the opportunity and I believe both of them found it to be a valuable experience. I will take back the reins for the next submission period in July, which will be used to fill issue #13, due out in January 2011. 13 issues are more than most small press magazine ever achieve, regardless of genre. We aren’t quite there yet, so I have no desire to jinx it, but I couldn't have reached issue #10 without the help of a lot of people, but most of all there would be no NT without Dan Barter. He was there from the beginning as we brainstormed on format and content. He built our website and still updates and maintains it. He did all of the art for the first several issue and the cover art for the first 7 issues. He does the entire layout for each issue and I don’t know what I would do without him, yet most people only know him as Remo, a name in the credits. We've been best friends since the 7th grade and while I've mentioned his contributions before, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank him for all he has done and will continue to do.

This is an exciting time in small press horror. There are so many talented people creating more stories than there are markets. Thank you for supporting NT and through us, the writers.

Necrotic Tissue is looking for 2 Associate Editors

Starting with the submission period in July, I have need of two people to help with submission for Necrotic Tissue. At NT, we have four submission periods each year (January, April, July & October). The current volume is approximately 500 submissions in that time frame. With the addition of these two people, we will have four people handling submission, so each would get about 125 over the month.

Our goal is to respond initially within two weeks to all writers with either a personal rejection (with at least one piece of feedback as to what could be improved), or a notification of making the Short List. At the end of the month, each associate editor is allowed only 12 stories in their short list. For the 15 days after submissions close, all associate editors read everyone else's short list and create a new revised list in order from best to worst in one of 4 categories (100-Word Bites, Flash up to 1,000 words, 1-3,000 and 3-5,000). We then meet on Skype for a BATTLE ROYAL CAGE MATCH. When the dust settles, we have chosen around 40,000 words of fiction and usually between 20-24 stories for the issue due out in 4.5 months (so the stories from July's reading period will be used to select stories for the issue coming out January 2011).
When stories come in, the Editor in Chief distributes them randomly so it is fare. Cronyism is not tolerated, so if you get a story from someone you know well, you should let the Editor know so someone else can read it.

For your hard work, you will get:
1. Credit as an Associate Editor
2. Invaluable experience that will help you as a writer and give you insight into the small press publishing world
3. A free subscription to NT (if you already have one, your subscription will get extended)
4. A discount on all NT products
5. The praise an admiration of your peers and family
6. And last but not least, a warm fuzzy feeling that comes with doing a great job and helping to put out a fantastic product.

Requirements:
1. Prior editing experience is preferred but not required
2. A great attitude and the ability to give actionable feedback
3. Skype
4. Must be reliable. I realize this isn't a paying gig, but if you agree to take the job, we expect you to be conscientious and complete your stories in the time allotted.

To apply, send me an email at rscottmccoy@necrotictissue.com . A resume and cover letter are not required and there is no "right" format, but please describe your writing and editing background and tell me why you are interested in the position and what you are looking to gain from the experience.

Issue #10 is out the door

Oh the sweet ache of accomplishment. It's not secret that I'm not getting any younger and my back is reminding me of that this morning. It's a good ache because it means that last night I mailed out all of the contributor copies and all of the subscriptions, to include our newest subscriber, Mark Wholley (thank you Mark).

I watched the latest episode of Spartacus, then drove to the post office with my overburdened SUV. I go late so I'm not interrupted. It takes about fifteen minutes at my top speed to stuff all the envelopes in the big mouth blue receptacle. Now, to clean up the refuse of print label wrappers and packing material.

I will say that this is very early for us to be mailing out an issue. January ran late (though still in the month of January) due to issues at the printer and holidays. Our goal is to mail out the issues the first weekend of the month they are due so that most people will get them by that Friday, and most will except for Greg Hall. I send his on an intentionally long and indirect route, and he knows why.

Please stop by and let us know what you think of #10. Both my Staph and the writers would love some feedback. Now I'm off to get some Motrin.

April Update

Big boxes of issue #10 are making their way to my house via pack mules. I know this because even a delivery truck that is restricted to 8 hours of travel per day could make the trip in half the time, so either they are using pack mules, or they are intentionally slowing down delivery in a vain attempt to make me pay for faster shipping. Foolish mortals! I'm aware of this slow transport and my Staph and I have worked it into our schedule. Not to worry, if you are a subscriber, your issue will be whisking its way to your door via half dead snails in about a week and you should have it in your hot little hands the first full week of April as predicted. If you're not a subscriber, now is the perfect time to join the Necrotic Tissue family (depending on your preference, I either will or won’t show up to your family reunions).

Some of you have been with NT from the very beginning and we thank you for your support. Many of you subscribed as soon as we went to print. I was cautious then, not wanting to over extend and be unable to deliver, so I only offered a one year subscription. Many other magazines have either gone out of business or switched to E versions, but NT print is going strong. Issue #10 marks are 4th print issue and the last for all of the people who started with our first print issue, #7 back in July, 2009. The good news, for all of you that fear NT withdrawal, is that we have updated our store and we now have 1, 2 and 3 year subscriptions available.

The price point between the US and Canada is low enough and I am physically close enough to Canada, that I am offering US and Canada subscriptions at the same rate. International subscriptions are a bit more, but radically less that many other US based magazines. Subscribing for multiple years reaps amazing savings. Bear in mind that these numbers might look larger than usual because most magazine only advertise the cover price, not tax and shipping. Unlike most magazines that look less expensive until you get nailed for shipping fees on the checkout page, I have it included those costs in the overall price, so what you see is what you get. US and Canada: Individual issues are $10 a piece. 1 Year (4 issues) = $30 a savings of $10 off the cover price. 2 Years (8 issues) = $55 for a savings of $25 off the cover price. 3 Years (12 issues) = $80 for a savings of $40 off the cover price. Once again, there are no additional charges when you hit the checkout page, tax and shipping is included. These prices are insane!

If you don't like to subscribe but you still want your fix, you're in luck. NT is available on the US, Canadian and UK Amazon sites.

A quick reminder to all writers: We're on Duotrope, Ralan and list the dates on our own web page, but I realize that it is easy to have time sneak up on you. I also realize with great sadness that some of you (I'm not going to mention names) submit stories to other markets. We do allow simultaneous submissions as long as you let us know, so I guess we are enabling your cheating ways. Simultaneous and not, we are open to submission four times a year (January, April, July & October). April 1st is coming up fast, so if you are a writer and think you have a story we'd love to read, here is your reminder to send it our way soon.

But wait, what's that I hear? Someone out there is asking what they get for their hard earned coin and I'm here to tell you. Every issue has around 40,000 words of horror fiction, from our 100-Word Bites to 5,000 words of the best horror fiction from established and brand new writers. We choose the best stories not the names. Here are some interesting stats:

In the first ten issues, we had slots for 200 writers. Of those, 40 were women (that's 20%). I've heard that it is harder for women to get into some markets. I don't doubt this, but it isn't the case at NT. We pick what we feel are the best 20-26 stories to get to 40,000 words, regardless of what gender the writer is or what country they come from. US writers don't get an advantage, but we do get a larger percentage of US writers submitting. I'm also very proud to say that NT has been the first publishing credit for an astounding 31 writers. While it is our goal to help new writers improve their craft, we don't do charity work. Every writer that made it in NT earned their slot and competed against as many as 500 other submissions to do so.

If you've never tried Necrotic Tissue, now's the time. If you love NT, please help spread the word. In order to reach our goal of paying pro rates, we need more subscribers. I'd like to reach that goal in 2010. Just two hundred more people in the entire world would be enough, so whether you are a writer or a fan, please help us reach our goal, because when you treat writers well, the fiction can only get better.

R. Scott McCoy
Publisher/Editor
Necrotic Tissue

It's that time again. Issue #10 will be released the first week of April, with stories from Jeff Strand, Colm Mc Geever, MontiLee Stormer, Bryce Albertson, Aaron Polson and many more. 40,000 words of yummy horror goodness, and best of all, it's low calorie.