BACKLOG BLUES—About response times, the Vicarious Motherhood anthology, and other miscellany. Yes, once again, we are a bit behind on things. Orchid is more than a full time job but as you may know we’re not paid. Our paying jobs and other stuff have gotten in the way more than usual lately. And we’re sorting through a ton of contest entries for our recently completed contest. As a result we have a huge pile of unread manuscripts and another huge pile of manuscripts under consideration for publication. Response times to submissions may now be up to six months or longer. All subscription orders and sample copy orders are being filled in a two to three week time frame. Please let us know if you don’t receive your subscription or sample copy order in that time frame (media mail can be kind of funky at times).
People have wondered about our planned Vicarious Motherhood anthology. We still plan to publish the anthology but getting Orchid out in a timely manner is number one on our list of priorities at this point. This has become more difficult than usual because of the aforementioned reasons and more. Issue number six was six months late and we don’t intend to let that happen again. If you submitted work for the anthology and have not received an acceptance it means that we are still considering your work. We hope to have more news and decision on the anthology in six to eight months.
Orchid No. 5 is still available. Get your copy before this popular issue is sold out. You can get a free copy with any subscription. Order your subscription by clicking on the subscription link this page, the GET YOURS link on the left, or MOST RECENT PAST link at the bottom of this page. You can also mail subscription orders to Orchid, P. O. Box 131457, Ann Arbor, MI, 48113-1457. Issue five of Orchid has great fiction by Harriotte Aaron, Kevin Breen, Elisabeth Brink, Randy DeVita, Jonathan Evison, Joseph O’Malley, Catherine Rios, Elissa Minor Rust, Adam Schuitema, and Laura Hulthén Thomas. Mary Stepp interviews Beth Lordan and Amy Sumerton interviews Julie Orringer. And, of course, there are new Afterthoughts and five new lists of five: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Got to Get You Into My Life, On the Road Again, We are Family, and Do You Believe in Magic. You say you don’t know what the five lists of five are? Then you have to order your subscription and find out. You can check out the latest info on Orchid number five by clicking on the MOST RECENT PAST link at the bottom of this page. For info about Orchid number six, click the PRESENT link on the left of this page.