A Puzzle…

Story Manuscripts Just Vanished…

For about a year’s period when I was doing Smith’s Monthly issues every month, and I had help putting them together, I lost dozens of original manuscripts. Best I can figure I sent the story manuscripts to WMG. The stories got put into the issue, and somehow those original story manuscripts in electronic files just vanished.

Now, I have no memory of what was happening at that point in time, or why I would have let my stories out of my control instead of just sending copies, but I clearly did.

So now, to put those stories into collections as I am doing for my challenge, I am having to find the copyedited word file of that entire issue of Smith’s Monthly, find the story and copy it out into a new word doc file. So I still have the stories fine, but wow, just wow does this seem wrong to me. But no surprise considering who I had working on this at WMG.

After about a year, I took back control of doing the magazine and for the last 30 or more issues, all stories are in place, easy to find. And the first twenty or so issues I did and all stories are in place and easy to find. Just ten or so in a middle period this happened to when I had “help.” I guess I should be happy, considering everything we have learned, that it was only ten issues and I took back control when I did.

And yes, Smith’s Monthly will return as soon as I am done with this challenge. So this winter some time. I am excited.

Here is an image of the last issue I did, #67 back in November 2022. And yes, these are and will be 7 x 10 trim. About 70,000 words of my fiction and nonfiction every month.