June 2005

I co-edit the SCIENCE FICTION: BEST OF and FANTASY: BEST OF anthology series with Karen Haber for Simon & Schuster/ibooks. The latest volumes were published in January 2005, and we are currently reading for the 2006 volumes, which will include all material published in the year 2005.

We are looking for stories from all branches of science fiction and fantasy: from space opera to the slipstream, fairy tales to infernokrusher, or anything else that might qualify. If in doubt, send it. This is a reprint anthology so we are only reading material published in or about to be published during the year 2005.

We work on a very tight deadline, and need to see work as early as possible. With that in mind, the submission deadline is 15 October 2005. Anything sent after this deadline will reach us too late. If a magazine, anthology, or collection you’re in or you edit is coming out by December 31st 2005 you can send galleys or manuscripts so that we can judge the stories in time. No email submissions. I strongly suggest that authors check with their publishers that they are sending review copies out to me, as we don’t have the resources to follow-up publishers to get material.

When sending material please put YEAR’S BEST on the envelope.

Jonathan Strahan
9 Merton Way
Morley WA 6062
Australia

While we do not accept email submissions, we are happy to receive recommendations or information on publications via email. The contact address is jstrahan (at) iinet (dot) net (dot) au.

** All correspondence should be direct to Jonathan Strahan.

*** We do not want to receive manuscripts from authors of stories from venues that it’s likely we already receive regularly (like Interzone, The Third Alternative, Asimov’s, Analog, F&SF, etc). And please do not send a SASE.

Discussions have taken a long time this year, but we’re set to go. I’ve just received word that Karen Haber and I will co-edit Science Fiction: Best of 2005 and Fantasy: Best of 2005 for Byron Preiss at ibooks. No solid dates are set yet, but I imagine that they will be published in February/March 2006. It also looks as though details have been agreed on for the following year’s books, but more on that soon. In the meantime, I’d appreciate any story recommendations people would like to make at the address on the sidebar.

According to the SF Book Club website, they are now shipping Best Short Novels: 2005, so if you’re a member, it should be on its way to you soon. It’s the sixth anthology I’ve worked on that has been published in the past eighteen months, and I can hardly believe it. Wow. I have one more book due this year, and have agreed do so more.