the promised update

I promised an Electric Spec update by the end of the week, and oops! it got to be the end of the week. So, without further ado... We did have our production meeting, which as usual, involved a fight-to-the-death via maces/quarterstaffs/broadswords/spears over liquor to select the stories. I joust, er, jest. :) But a spirited discussion was had by all (pun intended). All the stories in hold-for-voting could have been published. It came down to issue balance--as we've blogged about before. We want to publish a variety of stories in each issue.

So, anyway, by now, all hold-for-voting authors should be contacted with a yea or nay. Thank you for submitting, we appreciate it.
Check out the new issue coming on August 31, 2010 to e-newstands near you! It promises to be our best issue yet! (And, yes, I always say that.)

Incidentally, this time, we also had a discussion of what makes a story "great". I think a great story has a concentrated story jewel at its core. To illustrate, Connie Willis' story "The Last of the Winnebagos" is about many things, the last of the Winnebagos, the extinction of dogs, the decline of print media, etc., but at its ultimate core, it's about a man who sacrifices his most prized possession/goal to save a human being. Awesome! Does your story have a core?

What do you think makes a story great?