14 February 2004

Editorial: The Broadsheet, The Sublime Makeover
by Diane Silver

Makeovers are all the rage on television these days. Stylish gays make over clueless straight people, people redecorate their neighbors' bedrooms, and plastic surgeons sculpt plainness into chiseled beauty. While Broad Universe seldom takes its cue from the vast wasteland known as TV, it seemed appropriate that as BU entered its fifth year we put a little effort into sprucing up the old Broadsheet.

And boy, did we need sprucing! The first task in our sublime makeover was to call in the experts and transform the publication from a two-person shed in the back (me and webmaster Heather Whipple) into a sleek office of seven. We put out the word and were amply rewarded with a flood of amazing talent. Please join me and Heather as we raise our glasses of champagne and toast the amazing Broads joining our staff:

Diana Pharaoh Francis has taken over as assistant editor of our Teach section and interim editor of our Create section. She's the author of the fantasy novels Path of Fate and Path of Honor, and teaches at The University of Montana-Western.

Sue Lange is the new assistant editor for the Sell section. Her first novel, Tritcheon Hash, was published in 2003.

Victoria McManus, our assistant editor for the Read section, is a reviewer for sfrevu.com. She has published a media tie-in story as well as science fiction.

Rob Gates, our new assistant editor for the Gossip section, is a short story writer, freelance reviewer and the editor of Wavelengths, a review journal for genre works of special interest to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people.

Illustrator and short story writer Susan Urbanek Linville has taken on the task of being our style guru as the Broadsheet's art director. Linville is best known to Broadsheet readers as the author of a study of the success of women writers. You can read her article and my response to it (Broad Universe members only).

Writer Marcia Barrett Nice is battling our typo problem and my grammatical inadequacies as our new copy editor.

More information on all these talented people and links to their web pages can be found in Who's Who on the Broadsheet.

As you can see in this issue, these very talented people have already brought new energy to the magazine. They took one look at our bare walls and started right to work by adding a little "paint." Many thanks to Ursula Vernon for supplying the Broadsheet's first piece of art, "The Tiger's Bride."

Among the highlights of the issue are an article on how to keep track of your characters—complete with the coding you need to make full use of your software! We've got an interview with Louise Marley, who is the author of seven novels, in addition to singing opera and being the most gracious writer you've ever met.

Don't miss the article on book promotion for eBook authors. Feel free to linger over the discussion of emotional blocks that keep us from achieving, the proper way to pursue a bookstore tour, and how to use the Internet for guerilla marketing. And don't forget the joy and terror of writing with your students, the best way to teach Andre Norton's The Witch World, and a variety of amazing book reviews. Come celebrate with us as we cut the ribbon on our first issue of the new year, the half-decade and our new staff! Let us know what you think, and don't forget to let us know the kind of articles you'd like to see in the future. Let us know what you'd find to be helpful as you pursue your career as a writer.