S. Michael Leier writes about...

The Bewildering Stories Writers’ School

You know how proud I am of being a small part of your creation. I proclaim it every chance I get to anyone who will listen. I will always be indebted to Bewildering Stories.

BwS has become more than just the average pulp fiction e-zine, it has become a learning tool for all aspiring writers. I think there is a way to bank on that duality. Imagine offering a print magazine that not only entertains but educates. I think you could have a unique offering in the writers’ market place.

Every issue could include not only several lessons in basic writing, but examples in the form of short stories kind of what you are doing now. You already have several years of articles to start with from the back issues of BwS.

I admit it would be focused to a particular market, but the buying strength of that market is well established. Writers are known to buy anything that gives them help and insight into their writing. I know that I personally read mainly to pick up techniques that I can incorporate into my own style.

To target that particular market effectively you probably couldn’t call it Bewildering Stories because it will sound like just another pulp magazine (and we both know how they do in the market), but name it something that tells writers it is a learning tool for them and I believe they’ll eat it up.

I think that is why BwS has become so popular with writers, because of the chance to learn and grow; that, as the commercial proclaims, is priceless.

Mike

Copyright © 2006 by S. Michael Leier

[Jerry]
Interesting concept, Mike. I’ll be thinking about that. The problem is, as usual, time. Where do we steal the time to put that concept into production? Anyway, I also thank you for the letter, and we boggle ourselves, because Don and I both love SF and fantasy, we love teaching, and our initial concept for BwS was forced into the direction it has taken by the kind of people we are and the philosophies we hold. But it sure wasn’t the initial plan.

[Don]
As usual, Jerry and I speak with one voice. We very much appreciate the compliment, Mike. Our original plan was to help writers “get noticed” — it seems singularly appropriate to borrow my own phrase in this context — and that remains our top priority.

We obviously do not rule out print. Slawomir Rapala and I met at the Bookshelf Cafe on Thursday night. We discussed, among many things, the astronomical odds against anyone’s work — no matter how good or important — appearing in a print magazine and the impact that Bewildering Press can have and is likely to have. The opportunities seem limitless.

Another contributor has complained that some magazine editors turn up their noses at anything that’s appeared on line. Indeed, a noted review website recently replied to an inquiry of mine with a curt, one-line brush-off. It amounted to: “Money is everything.” And — counting pre-hatched chickens — if Bewildering Press pays a royalty or two, I suppose the excuse will be: “Money up front is everything.”

I suggest we shake their dust from our sandals. Although paper is ephemeral — all of Bewildering Stories is on line all the time — the idea of a print magazine is intriguing and even logical. However, a Bewildering Stories magazine is one thing; a magazine that included tutorials would raise a few practical questions:

• Might it be too highly specialized? But there may be ways of avoiding that.
• What might it do that magazines such as Writers’ Digest and similar on-line resources don’t already do?
• Wouldn’t it largely reproduce on paper what Bewildering Stories already does on line? Is that good or bad?

With all due immodesty, I would not oppose including selections from the official Challenges, for starters. They’re a gold mine of story ideas in themselves. I just wonder whether readers of the magazine might say, “Hey, I seem to have gotten the teachers’ edition...” But that might not be a bad thing; you tell me!

Meanwhile, we could add a link to our home page menu: it would lead to an index of all the articles and letters in BwS about the craft of writing. You never know which one will give you just the tip you need.

We already have a good start in our Submissions guidelines. A systematic search through the Titles, Authors, Genres index and a keywords search of the Archive might well yield more. Can you compile an index for us, Mike? Maybe we can call it “The Writers’ Craft.” In fact, we have the foundations in place in our home page menu even now.

And, as in Challenge 211, we could even supplement it with one of the inevitable fixtures of a school: pop quizzes!