Nominate stories for the 2009 anthology!

[Camille Gooderham Campbell]

The end of our second year is only a month and a half away (September 1st), and it's time to start the difficult process of compiling a list of stories for inclusion in "The Best of Every Day Fiction 2009". Since we can't include all the stories, we have to make some tough choices, and your input can help.

The selection process is an editorial one (unlike our top stories lists, which are automated), though we are naturally influenced by star ratings and comments since they reflect readers' opinions.  And now... you also have an opportunity to influence us directly... by nominating your favourite stories of the year right here in this thread!

What stories should we absolutely without fail include in our antho?  Nominate them now!

[bcomet]

LEFTOVERS • by Lia Molly Deromedi

[bcomet]

MODERN LOVE • by Elizabeth M. Thurmond

[bcomet]

TWO ROADS DIVERGED IN A WOOD • by Nicholas Ozment

[Frank Roger]

As the author's pages are still down, I thought it might be helpful to list the stories of mine that appeared in EDF from September 2008 onwards (including one scheduled for late July):
Complete Understanding
The Talisman
Irretrievably Lost
Full Board
The Glitch
Blockers
The Big Farewell Party At The End Of Time And Other Historical Documentaries

I'm looking forward to your nominations.
Frank Roger

[Madeline]

I was wondering what would be the best way to go back/go through the previous, eligible (for this antho) stories.  I didn't keep track of the ones I liked the best, the ones I liked okay, etc.  Any suggestions for a smooth selection process?

[Alex B.]

You can run a search for "table of contents" and look at those. Unfortunately, the stories aren't linked, so you'd have to go back to the search box to look at particular stories/authors you want.

I fell behind on my reading these past few months, so I don't feel like I can make many suggestions. I'll have to start perusing.

Of course, having Apotheosis Cake included would be a delight. 

[Sarah Hilary]

I'd like to vote for Stranger on the Porch and London Eye, both by Gay Degani.

Great to know there's another anthology in the pipeline, EDF!

Sarah

[bcomet]

I am new here so only voting as I go along.

NO ENEMY BUT TIME • by Jenny Schwartz

[Gay Degani]

I'm going to start checking back through the tables, but a reminder that anything written by Sarah Hillary is worth an appearance in the anthology.  I know, we're buddies, but she is brilliant.  Here's her list,
Starting with my favorite from a list of favorites:

Me and the Mouser
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Revenge of the River Gods
Kanti Chooses Santa  
The View from Olympus

Now I'm heading over to look for KEVIN SHAMEL, KC BALL, JASON STOUT, ALEXANDER BURNS, RUMJHUM BISWAS, MICHAEL EHART, ROBERT SWARTWOOD, ERIN KINCH, DJ BARBER, ANGELA CARLTON, MICHAEL SHERLOCK, BILL WARD, DAVE MCPHERSON, BOSLEY GRAVEL, AARON POLSON, C.L. HOLLAND, JON PINNOCK, MARTIN REED...AND I'M OLD BUT DID MADELINE AND SYLVIA HAVE SOMETHING IN THE PRESENT YEAR???  I MUST HAVE MISSED OTHERS!!  SORRY.  REMIND ME.

[bcomet]

Oh, good.
Thanks, Gay, for pointing at some past stories from earlier this year.

I hope a new thread for next year gets put up on Sept. 1 (assuming that's when the new year gets started here)
so we readers can nominate as we go throughout the year.

I love the variety and talent I've been reading on this site!

Thanks for offering it.

[Shezan]

I would like to nominate "Kanti Chooses Santa" by Sarah Hilary.

[bugiarda]

Revenge of the River Gods by Sarah Hilary - it still makes me shiver delightedly!

[Sarah Hilary]

Thank you to everyone voting for my stories. I'm especially touched because I've been absent from these pages for a while. Thank you for remembering!

Sarah

[Madeline]

Gay, thanks for the reminder of some of my favorite authors.  Thanks, too, for mentioning me, but I don't have anything on EDF this year. 

Now that I've got some of my favorites to go back and read over, I'm still concerned I'll miss some really good ones if the author is unfamiliar or only had one piece published here.   That was partly why I was asking about an easy way to go back and read the stories, etc.

I'll muddle through, though.  I usually do. 

[aaronpolson]

"Incomplete" by Robert Swartwood.

Fantastic story.

[Gay Degani]

I second Incomplete and add to that your own list: Inked,
To Make Things Right, The Sub-Basement.

[aaronpolson]

Gay,

Thanks for providing the link to Robert's story.  And if I can repeat the links for both The Stranger on the Porch and The London Eye--both are powerful renderings of flash fiction.  The imagery is top-notch.

[Gay Degani]

Here's some more worth appearing in the 2009 Anthology

From Sylvia Spruck-Wrigley:
THE  BANSHEE
DARREN IS UPDATING HIS FACEBOOK STATUS
COFFEE OR TEA

From Jason Stout:
THE UNSTOPPABLE EVELYN MCHALE
WRITER'S BLOCK
THE LAST TIME
THE WELL RUNS DEEP

[Camille Gooderham Campbell]

It occurs to me that maybe I should clarify something... the star rating system is intended only to give us a general idea of whether the stories we select to appear on EDF are appealing to our readership. While a story with a very high star rating is obviously appreciated by a significant number of our readers, that alone doesn't make it a shoo-in for the anthology, and nor does a lower rating eliminate a story. We have a fairly complex system for selecting stories, which only slightly touches on star rating. We also look at the readers' comments, but again, that doesn't guarantee anything – it just gives us an idea of how readers responded. Ultimately, it comes down to our decision as editors, and this request for nominations is just another factor we can add in making that decision (if someone loved a story enough to bother mentioning it here, it's worth a second look from us).

It's too bad that even in the tables of contents there are no links to the stories making this process time consuming.

Yes, that is too bad. I wish we had the time to do that – someone would have to manually link each story as it was published, and go back and do that for everything already out there...

Perhaps some of you authors who have 3.9+ scores...and some of you who do not but who's story might have been overlooked or sabotaged, please post your links! 

Readers may overlook a story or two, but authors should be assured that my spreadsheet system makes sure every story gets considered for inclusion in the anthology, regardless of ratings or comments.

I don't think sabotage is much of a problem. There has only been one situation where one individual author's star ratings were deliberately attacked and lowered by some scum life forms who seemed to think it was okay to tinker with our system, but we identified their IP addresses and restored the star ratings to their original goodness.  We are always alert to that sort of thing, but it has never reoccurred – and believe me, we would know.

[sylvia]

There has only been one situation where one individual author's star ratings were deliberately attacked and lowered by some scum life forms who seemed to think it was okay to tinker with our system, but we identified their IP addresses and restored the star ratings to their original goodness

Well, it was restored to a number what was seen as fair but did not recover the stories place in the top ten. Since being in the top ten leads more people to read your story than probably any other part of this site, that was a pretty big loss in my opinion.

Also, how would you know now when you didn't then?

I would question that the star-rating is a valid view of what the readership thinks of the story but hey, it's your site and your call. I do think it's good that as editors, you are using more than the popularity presses to make your decision.

[sylvia]

Here's some more worth appearing in the 2009 Anthology

From Sylvia Spruck-Wrigley:
THE  BANSHEE
DARREN IS UPDATING HIS FACEBOOK STATUS
COFFEE OR TEA

Aw! Thanks Gay

[jasonstout]

I fear I'm not being terribly original, but here are ones that I thought of:

Revenge of the River Gods by Sarah
London Eye by Gay
Stranger on the Porch (One of my all time favs) by Gay
Taken for a Ride by Oonah
Pixelated Peasants by Nicholas
Cyril Mack and the Very Cup of Cold Tea by Kevin
Darren is Updating his Facebook Status by Sylvia
The Man Named Ray by Angela
Sub-Basement by Aaron
Incomplete by Robert
Mirror, Mirror by Jonathon Pinnock
The Care and Feeding of Your Sleeping Knight by Erin Kinch
Davy's Toy Box by Bill Ward
Starting Over by Wayne Scheer
Full Board by Frank Roger

There are many others as well, so I'll come back and add - I'll also add links as time allows.

Of my own (thanks for the mention, Gay), I prefer either The Last Time or Evelyn McHale over Writer's Block or The Well Runs Deep.

[Gay Degani]

Camille:
I'm so glad you've brought this up because yes, it is and should be the editors' choice as to what appears in the antho. I think the process needs to be exactly as you do it: gather feed back from many sources and then in the end, decide on what best represents and honors the mission of EVERY DAY FICTION.  

And I understand that if there were to be links to the stories in the Tables, someone would have to do that task and it would be a long and laborious chore.  Volunteers need to step forward to perform this kind of task. 

[bcomet]

RAMON-3 • by Jeremy Lightner

[Sarah Hilary]

Thanks for the kind vote, Jason. I'd like to nominate your flash, THE UNSTOPPABLE EVELYN MCHALE. As soon as I saw the title listed there I remembered the flash - and that's rare here as there are just so many stories!

Sarah

[Peter M]

My nomination
Full Board by Frank Roger

[Gay Degani]

From Kevin Shamel in order of my favorites:

OUTLAST THE STARS
DOUBLE VIRGINITY
UNINVENTING THE INTERNET
A BEDTIME STORY FOR BREEZY
CYRIL MACK AND THE VERY COLD CUP OF TEA
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
KRUPPER AND JONS


From Alexander Burns in order of my favorites:
APOTHEOSIS CAKE
THE SQUEEZE

[acarlton]

I, too, am looking forward to going back and reviewing stories for this year for the EDF collection!!! Thank you Jason and Gay for mentioning my name. It's going to be tough narrowing down a list. Good luck to all!

[Sarah Hilary]

CYRIL MACK by Shameless also deserves my vote. Re-reading is fun!

Sarah