(First appeared in Jobs In Hell #124, March 2002 and in Science Fiction Chronicle #224, May 2002 issue)

ELLEN DATLOW (although she'll modestly deny it) is an editorial legend. She is responsible for encouraging and developing an entire generation of genre fiction writers, and as editor of Omni magazine and its webzine, published some of the biggest names in science fiction, fantasy, and horror today. She was also the editor of Event Horizon, and is currently the editor of SCIFI.COM's fiction section. She co-edits (with Terri Windling) the popular Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, and has edited a number of anthologies, including Vanishing Acts, A Wolf At The Door, and the forthcoming The Dark. She is currently tied for winning the most World Fantasy Awards in history (six), won a Bram Stoker Award, and been nominated for the Hugo Award numerous times.

But who is she, really? Jobs In Hell decided to find out·

JOBS IN HELL: We know about Ellen Datlow, the editor of OMNI, Event Horizon, YBF&H, Sci Fiction, and some of the most popular genre anthologies. But who were you before that? How did you get into the business?

ELLEN DATLOW: Basically, I was a kid who loved to read and tried to figure out how I could get to do that all the time. First, when in high school I thought what fun it would be to work in a bookstore and maybe even own one (silly me!).

I don't remember what I figured to do once I was in college and majoring in English literature. So to kind of put that off I hitchhiked around Europe for a year after I graduated, using money I'd save while working in --what else?--the University library during the school year. I worked a bit while in Europe as well --in a German factory.

Once I got home I worked a few temp jobs through an agency until I was asked to interview at Little, Brown & Company's NY office, one of the many places I sent my resume. So that was my first publishing job--as sales secretary for the New York Salesman. I stayed there a about ten months before moving to a series of ill-fated jobs as editorial assistant in various mainstream publishing companies. I finally landed and stayed at Holt, Rinehart and Winston (now called Henry Holt, Inc) for three years. Quit, after I couldn't get my boss, the Editor-in-Chief, to promote me.

Another short stint as Assistant Editor at Crown and then I heard about this new magazine called OMNI starting up. I was hired as Associate Fiction Editor by Ben Bova, who was promoted from Fiction Editor to Editor and I worked with the new Fiction Editor Robert Sheckley until he left and I was appointed Fiction Editor. I was at OMNI and OMNI online for seventeen years, started up Event Horizonwith three former OMNI colleagues and ran that for about 1 1/2 years and then started at SCIFI.COM, where I am now.

JIH: So you loved to read as a kid. Did you grow up reading genre fiction?

ELLEN: I grew up reading "weird" fiction--anything I could get my hands on: my parents Modern Library editions of The Iliad and THE ODYSSEY, collected stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Guy de Maupassant, Edgar Allan Poe, a lot of science fiction anthologies like Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions, Richard Matheson's Shock collections, The Playboy Book Of Horror (which I finally got in hardcover--although I still have my ratty old paperback) which had Ray Russell, Bradbury, and a ton of other great writers, Bradbury's books. I was a member of the Science Fiction Book Club. I've been collecting Edward Gorey since my roommate discovered one of his books in our University library in the late 60s. (I have two prints by him). But I also read mainstream fiction.

JIH: Reading is a big part of your day-to-day job. Are you still able to read for pleasure in the off hours?

ELLEN: Unfortunately, I don't have any "off-hours" because of the anthologies I edit in addition to working fulltime for SCIFI.COM--which is why I try to make the few novels I do read during the year those that I hope I'll really enjoy. The only time I have to read something completely out of the horror field is a couple of months when I rest between handing in one YBFH and begin reading for the next. Then, I try to read a few quasi-mainstream books, maybe some sf novels by friends.

JIH: Do you ever burn out?

ELLEN: Burn out? I'm burned out every year by YBFH. In fact, this is the time (mid-January) when I hate the YBF&H and want OUT. I don't get burned out on the actual reading of sf or horror but on the idea that I feel I've GOT to read EVERYTHING out there to be fair. Aighhh!

JIH (laughs): So who do you read for pleasure? Who are some of your favorites (as a reader, not an editor)?

ELLEN: Well, I used to love reading Jonathan Carroll for pleasure but now I'm his book editor for Tor so I have to read him as an editor --although I still enjoy his work very much.

William Gibson, Oliver Sacks' nonfiction (although I'm a few books behind), Jack O'Connoll (author of Box Nine, Wireless, The Skin Palace, and Word Made Flesh), Janette Turner Hospital (Oyster and The Last Magician), the various collections of Pat Cadigan short stories, Elizabeth Hand's short stories and novellas, Patricia Highsmith's Ripley novels, Jerome Charyn's police series like Marilyn The Wild and Blue Eyes, Edward Whittemore's Quin's Shanghai Circus and the first two novels of his Jerusalem Quartet, early James Ellroy, Mitchell Smith's great prison novel Stone City, Herbert Lieberman's best (and second, I think) novel City Of The Dead, early Iain Banks' mainstream but weird novels and Ian McEwan's early novels, uh, I could go on...

JIH: Let's talk about YBF&H. It must get overwhelming at times. How do you keep track of the mass-market, small press, and electronic publications, books, short stories, etc.?

ELLEN: Well, I don't do it systematically, which is why I occasionally miss something--everything is in piles around my apartment. I periodically go through the piles to see what I've got.

It's actually occurred to me to hire someone (or bribe them) to come in as material starts coming in and cataloging it for me so I can cross things off as I read or even just "cover" the reprints and novels. I'm talking to Kelly Link about possibly doing this for me for 2002. Terri has two assistants and I bet because of that she's a lot more organized than I am.

Every once in awhile someone gets really irked at me and accuses me of intentionally leaving someone or something out. And one author reprimanded me for not having my fact-checker correct an obvious error--uh, what fact-checker--it's ME. Once the manuscript leaves my hands it goes to Jim Frenkel, Terri and my packager for the series, and he theoretically gives it an edit. Then it goes to St Martin's for a copy edit and proofreading. But there are no fact-checkers. If Terri and I don't get some notation or address exactly correct it's highly unlikely that anyone will catch it until it's too late. Actually, Terri's assistants might fact-check her summary. I don't know.

JIH: How do you stay on top of it all?

ELLEN: Focus. I may go days when I'm feeling very scattered but when I have a deadline or start getting really stressed I know I have to sit down and focus--just like finishing this interview (laughs). I finally finished up YBF&H#15 so in between reading manuscripts for SCI FICTION, I'm taking a break to continue this interview.

JIH: When you make your selections, do you know what they will be as the year progresses, or do you decide closer to deadline?

ELLEN: Usually there are a few (say four the most) that I know I'm going to take as soon as I read them. But most are stories that I've put on my "short list" --those stories on my Honorable Mentions list that I've put an asterisk by-- I go back to towards the end of the year and read and reread until I've whittled down the list to the wordage I've got to play with: 125,000 words.

JIH: What separates an Honorable Mention from The Best?

ELLEN: For those four or so that I know on the first reading --those that make an impact on me the first time around as a result of the perfect balance of style/substance and that frisson one gets from reading a really creepy story.

For the others--If I can read a story two or three times and still want to read it through, still think it's chilling and still enjoy it then I know it's really good. For me the Honorable Mentions are just that--my honoring the stories and their authors that I feel are notable. The actual percentage of Honorable Mentions to the number of stories I read throughout the year is pretty small.

JIH: Have you and Terri ever disagreed on a selection?

ELLEN: Terri and I don't confer on YBF&H at all. I do not read the fantasy and she does not read the horror. Once in awhile we'll discover that we both want to take the same story and should that happen we'll each take half the wordage and we'll each write something about the story at the end of the bio. Terri and I do have to agree on our other collaborative anthologies such as the adult and children's fairy tale anthologies, Sirens, the erotic fantasy anthology, and The Green Man, our YA anthology. In those cases we have occasionally given in to the other, depending on how strongly one of us felt, pro or con.

JIH: Looking back, what are you most proud of with YBF&H?

ELLEN: That I actually have finished it for 15 years without having a nervous breakdown or completely burning out! Really, that over the years it's introduced some excellent writers into the field's radar.

JIH: At conventions, I've seen you struggling with an armload of free books that should have been on a forklift. Has a week ever gone by when you DIDN'T receive a book or story for consideration?

ELLEN: I usually get lots of mail (if not for YBFH then for SCI FICTION).

JIH: What happens to all of those free copies once you've read them?

ELLEN: Many (too many) I keep, and they stay in piles on my living room and library floor while I figure out what to do with them--or move the piles from one place to another trying to choose the books to get rid of. Most of the magazines go out. Some of the books I send to Dreamhaven for trade credit.

JIH: I think it's fair to say that you're an editor that's known for buying talent, not just names. YBF&H has showcased the work of newer authors, such as Tim Lebbon's "White". Do you think we're entering a period where more editors will be willing to take a chance with a talented newcomer, rather than just publishing the same names?

ELLEN: Depends on whether you're talking about short fiction of novels. I think short story editors have always been willing and able to take more chances than book publishers--the health of your company is not dependent on one story while if a novel fails and fails badly it might be more of a problem for an editor. The greatest joy an editor feels in the job is finding, nurturing, and publishing good new writers. We don't want to publish the same writers all the time.

JIH: You once said "I don't believe the violence (in American Psycho) is any worse than that in genre horror writers Richard Laymon and C. Dean Andersson, or for that matter in the works of the Marquis de Sade." Some viewed that as a compliment. Some didn't.

Do you think the extreme movement has become a viable, acceptable part of the horror genre, or is it still a step-child that shouldn't be at the table for Thanksgiving dinner?

ELLEN: It was meant as a neutral comment on our field but as a negative judgment on the so-called mainstream publishing and media community for being so blind to the horror field and what it regularly publishes. I'd be happy to invite it to Thanksgiving dinner although it might want to fuck the turkey rather than eat it. (Laughs).

Seriously though, I see it as a dead end. I think the extreme movement has a limited audience within the horror community and an even small audience outside of the horror community. It's a stylistic choice more than thematic. I personally enjoy reading scary stories with subtlety more than reading disgusting stories that aren't scary. Gore for gore's sake doesn't make an impression on me--but I'll add that gore is fine when it's necessary and remains startling. Part of the problem is that it becomes numbing when you pile it on. I actually believe that a lot of the writers writing it now will tire of it and move onto something else in the broad field of horror.

JIH: E-books and e-publishing had some tumbles in 2001. Do you think e-books have hit their popularity point, or is there more room for growth?

ELLEN: I think the creation and marketing of e-books are in the beginning stage right now and that it will take a few more years for the idea to take hold and take off. A cheap reader that looks like and feels like a book would certainly help.

JIH: Have you ever tried your hand at writing fiction or are you content to edit the work of others?

ELLEN: I have no interest in writing fiction. I love working with writers on their fiction.

JIH: Let's talk a bit about anthologies. Do you come up with the themes yourself, or does the publisher design the theme and then ask you to edit it?

ELLEN: I've usually come up with ideas myself or in those that Terri and I have co-edited she may come up with the idea. A children's book editor approached Terri about doing a children's fairy tale anthology, which we did (A Wolf At The Door). A YA editor approached us about doing a book and Terri came up with the idea for The Green Man (coming out in May from Putnam). My English editor and I discussed the theme for the follow-up to Little Deaths. We agreed on a vengeance and revenge anthology but unfortunately the publisher decided to call the book Lethal Kisses despite the fact that the stories I bought and the introduction I wrote was about vengeance and revenge.

JIH: There's no end to advice on how to write and sell a novel, but very little for anthologies. What advice do you have for an editor interested in selling an anthology?

ELLEN: Figure out what you want it to be about--theme anthologies are easier to sell than non-theme anthologies. Contact some of the authors you'd really like to have in the antho--preferably those you've worked with before so you can say "if I get a contract for this antho would you be interested in writing a story for it?" If you can nail down five or six "sures" that's good.

While you're contacting writers you should also be writing up a proposal. What's the book about and why you are burning to edit such an anthology? How is it different from other anthologies, and who are some of the writers who have "committed" to contributing? (Mind you, even if someone says they'll write a story when the time comes, that doesn't mean they will--they may not have time or inspiration).

Figure out how much of an advance you must get in order to pay what you would like to pay the contributors and how little can you stand to keep for yourself (and don't forget the % to your agent). Back up from there to figure out how much your agent needs to ask for.

Submit (or have your agent) submit the anthology proposal to all the publishing houses you think might be interested. If you have a personal relationship with any editor in a publishing house you might bring it up in person first and find out if there's any interest at all.

JIH: What about editors in general? What advice would you give the novice magazine or webzine editor?

ELLEN: Never try to psyche out your readers. Buy what you like/love and hope that your readers will trust your judgment and go with you, even if you occasionally throw in something really different from what you usually publish. Be courteous to your contributors even if the submission sucks. Write and publish/post guidelines. Don't use your own money!

JIH: Tell us about The Dark and some of your other upcoming projects.

ELLEN: The Dark is my all-original scary ghost story anthology for Tor Books. I'd been trying to sell it for at least two years with a few nibbles but no success. At one point a writer friend decided it might sell if it was transformed into a BIG book and got a smashing presentation. So I tried that, paying an artist friend to do a cover treatment and the writer friend as a favor wrote up a more energetic proposal for me. Still no luck.

Finally, after a few more bites, one of the editors who originally expressed interest made an offer and bought it for Tor. The idea is that I wanted scary ghost stories rather than moving ones. I've been reading some excellent ghost stories over the past few years, many of them quite moving but not too many that were scary.

I've got wonderfully creepy stories by Tanith Lee, Ramsey Campbell (who has never written anything for me before), Jack Cady, Terry Dowling, Sharyn McCrumb, Kathe Koja, Charles L. Grant, and Daniel Abraham. I've got some submissions in that I'm thinking about and some still promised. And one huge novella that I either have to love, have the author cut, or turn down (haven't read it yet). The book is due in May 2002 and hopefully will be out in spring or fall 2003.

I'm also finishing up a second children's fairy tale anthology with Terri Windling that's due in May. And we've just signed a contract to edit a second YA anthology for Viking --this one on the subject of faeries....not the elfy welfy kinds of fairy--the book will be called The Faery Reel and we'll be looking for multi-culti hard-edged faeries. These will be fantasy and dark fantasy. Our erotic fantasy anthology that was mis-marketed a few years ago in trade paperback with an awful cover from HarperCollins is being reissued as a mass market paperback with much more appropriate cover art--from HarperEos I think in the fall. The Green Man will be out soon.

I'll be starting to read for YBFH #16 in a couple of months. I continue to work full time for SCI FICTION. And that's it, I guess for now.

JIH: Well then, I'll let you get back to work. Thanks, Ellen.