2009 - 05/2009 Meeting

Page Created: 09/16/10. Last Updated: 11/01/10. Last Google Group Page Update: 06/10/09.

LIZ GORINSKY

Editor's Official Site: http://lizgorinsky.com/

MEETING SUMMARY:

Meeting Date: May 9, 2009.

Meeting Site: Saddle River Valley Cultural Center, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Official Attendance: 33.

Meeting Program: Talk by Tor Books Editor.

Notes:

Meeting Memories:

Newsletter Account:

The most recent General Meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held on Saturday, May 9, 2009 at the Saddle River Valley Cultural Center. Associate editor Liz Gorinsky of Tor Books was the featured speaker.

Before the meeting our Animation Associates showed episodes of ROCKY & BULLWINKLE and classic Warner Brothers cartoons. The new STAR TREK movie, aka, DIE HARD ON A SPACESHIP, was the primary subject at the Ice Nine discussion.

Liz Gorinsky explained that she had come to the world of science fiction publishing almost by accident. Although she had been President of the Columbia University Science Fiction Society for three years, her heart was really in the comics / media end of the genre. She interned at DC comics one year and was a volunteer at the Museum of Cartoon and Animation Art.

When no intern positions were available in the comics or animation fields the next year, Ms Gorinsky applied for an internship at Tor Books. She was given A DARKNESS IN THE SKY by Verner Vinge to critique and was soon handling glamorous assignments like filing and making copies. When someone left the company, she was hired as an editorial assistant.

Tor Books had originally been an independent publisher, but negotiated its sale to Saint Martin's Press when Tor lost its distributor. The agreement provided for a great deal of independence for Tom Doherty Associates within the larger company. Saint Martin's was later acquired by MacMillan. The Tor group is presently on the same footing as Saint Martin's within MacMillan.

Tor is actually one of five imprints within the Tom Doherty Associates organization: Tor, Forge, Orb, Tor Teen and Starscape. Patrick Nielsen Hayden is the head of Tor and Melissa Singer the head of Forge, the group's more mainstream imprint. Orb focuses on sf classics, Tor Teen is the semi independent YA imprint and Starscape focuses on younger (8 - 12) readers.

Liz Gorinsky is both an assistant to more senior editors like Jim Frenkel and David Hartwell and an acquiring editor in her own right. Her personal tastes lean towards literary and character driven science fiction and looks for works spotlighting women, minorities, and gays. She does not like paranormal romance, the hottest area of fiction at the present time.

Once a month, she and the other junior editors have a slush session. A submission generally has three paragraphs to impress her: the first paragraph and two other random paragraphs from the first three chapters.

She will read a book she intends to edit from two to ten times. The first is as a reader. How will the average book buyer react to the work? The second time is as an editor. She actively looks for things to dislike and makes notes for the author. The author generally makes changes based on the notes from the second reading. When the manuscript comes back, Ms Gorinsky then reads the revised manuscript on a line edit basis, on the level of sentences and paragraphs. It goes back to the author for revisions. When it comes back, the manuscript is sent to a copy editor, although Ms Gorinsky generally reads it again at this stage. The copy edited manuscript is then returned to the author for review and corrections. Our speaker generally reads it again upon its return.

Additional information about this meeting will be posted under the May 2009 Meeting in the Programs & Speakers Google Group. Our thanks to all who helped out.