Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

Mark interviews Matthew del Papa and Andy Taylor, editors of SUPERCANUCKS: An Anthology of Small Town Canadian Superheroes. Prior to the interview Mark shares a brief personal update and a word from this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK10 at checkout and save 10% off your own personalized report. During the interview Mark, Matthew, and Andy talk about: Andy and Mat's writing background and how they got into editing an anthology like Super Canucks How editing is a new experience for Andy The consist "what if?" that has been a part of Andy's writing for most of his life Matthew's background and the various genres he has written What the appeal of writing fantasy and non-science-filled fiction is for Mat The origin story of the Supercanucks anthology and how it relates to the "brain drain" to larger cities How far the call-out for stories for this anthology went The submissions and the whittling-down process Having six stories set in Northern Ontario, but needing to ensure the stories were from across the country The locales across Canada that made the cut for this anthology The process of reading and selecting and editing the stories Deciding who was going to edit which story and work with which authors The uniqueness for some of the contributors with being able to use Canadian pop culture references and spelling The sudden need for an aspect of the "Elbows Up!" motif into the anthology Mat's learnings when it came to working with a traditional publisher rather than the previous self-publishing experience he'd had before Some of the things they experienced editing this anthology that they hadn't expected Advice Matthew and Andy would offer to writers who are interested in submitting to an anthology After the interview Mark shares a few reflections about the value of understanding the process that editors use when selecting stories for an anthology, an admission of a goof-up he made in a recent submission, and his own experience with "brain drain" and "Elbows Up!" Links of Interest: Matthew del Papa's Website Andy Taylor's Website Latitude 46 Publishing EP 298 - Honesty, Humor, Poetry, Essays, and Disability with Matthew del Papa and Vera Constantineau EP 224 - Being An Independent Publisher and Bookseller with Heather Campbell EP 439 - Rambling Reflections From The Road to CanCon Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link - use MARK10 to save 10%) Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections Mark's YouTube channel ElevenLabs (AI Voice Generation - Affiliate link) Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup) An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores Wide for the Win Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story) A Canadian Werewolf in New York Stowe Away (Novella) Fear and Longing in Los Angeles Fright Nights, Big City Lover's Moon Hex and the City Only Monsters in the Building Once Bitten (Novella) The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation I Think It's A Sign That The Pun Also Rises Matthew D. Del Papa spent every Tuesday of his youth crisscrossing his hometown of Capreol in search of newly arrived comic books. He wore superhero-themed Underoos to a truly worrying age and still has his Batman (and Robin) lunchbox, backpack, and wrist-watch. A graduate of Laurentian University, Matthew is a writer, editor, and self-publisher, and has released ten titles to some modest local acclaim. He joined the Sudbury Writers' Guild in 2009 and his writing has appeared in Spooky Sudbury, Nothing Without Us Too, Mighty, and Sudbury Superstack: A Changing Skyline. His collection of humorous essays titled Jerry Lewis Told Me I Was Going to Die, was released in 2023 through Latitude 46 Publishing. Andy W. Taylor has been a reader and writer of speculative fiction from an early age thanks in no small part to his mother's frequent trips to the public library with her kids. Andy is a member of The Writers' Union of Canada, past president and member of the Sudbury Writers' Guild, a graduate of the Viable Paradise writing workshop and Playwright's Junction workshop, and a member of CODEX. Originally from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Andy currently resides in Sudbury, Ontario with his family. His fiction has appeared in Nature: Futures, Polar Borealis, On Spec, FictionVale and on the streets of Sudbury. Visit him at www.SooGuy.com or on BlueSky at @sooguy68.bsky.social The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0