A Review That Is Not A Review: I Am Recusing Myself

In a sense I want to thank BURNT OFFERING BOOKS for sending me an advance copy of YESTERDAY YOU SAID TOMORROW. However, I am going to decline a read and review for a couple of reasons.

1. I think, and traditionally I believe the industry will back me up on this one, that it is bad form for an editor who is choosing the stories for the volume to publish two of his own while also writing the introduction. These two tales are more than any other writer in the book but is something that appears to be a regular pattern in this publisher's/editor's history.

This does not bode well as to the selection of stories and does not speak well to the editor's consideration of the matrix of ideas in the weave. Why not just rename the title with your own name?

2. This same editor/publisher and I had a disagreement about a month ago. He wanted to include a story of mine but only if I re-wrote the entire story by his specs and with his ending and by the end of that day. He contacted me in the afternoon.

Really?

So thank you for sending the book but I think it is best I say nothing negative or be accused of being disgruntled. I am not a fan of your practices and I certainly don't have act as if I am.

I apologize to those other writers in the volume but it is more professional for me to walk away from this one than to add my name to something that should be nameless.