Does being editor-in-chief of a small specialized quarterly count in your favor or against you? The advantages I would see are: you were asked to come on board by a small organization, and this is the only foreign-language quarterly on that subject in the region (demand for that particular language is quite high though). There are 2,000 issues in print in a city of 500,000+ people. The disadvantages: it's too small to hold any real significance, and no one's really heard of that organization (unfortunately, PR is out of my hands, so that area is a no-go for reasons I can't get into).
Also, if you decided to place one of your short stories in that quarterly (with the idea of every staff member introducing him / herself via their respective field), would that be considered vanity publishing or worth mentioning to agents when you query them? I'm leaning towards vanity publishing but just wanted to make sure.
The query would be for fiction and non-fiction respectively. The non-fiction would relate to the quarterly in some ways (e.g. it covers the specified subject but in a different way). Personally, I see this as more harmful than helpful (because the circulation is too small, the quarterly doesn't carry enough weight etc). But if anyone has an idea on how to spin this out, I'd be really grateful. I don't want to be self-deprecating, but I don't want to overdo it either. I've had positive feedback from people whose judgment I trust due to their positions (i.e. they judge similar projects and fields on a regular basis), so I know that here at least, they see it as an asset, "a very valuable contribution". But I'd like to get a feel for the UK/US perception as well, since these things really tend to vary from region to region.
Hope this makes sense. It's just before sunrise here, but this was costing me sleep, so I decided to risk it.
Also, if you decided to place one of your short stories in that quarterly (with the idea of every staff member introducing him / herself via their respective field), would that be considered vanity publishing or worth mentioning to agents when you query them? I'm leaning towards vanity publishing but just wanted to make sure.
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The query would be for fiction and non-fiction respectively. The non-fiction would relate to the quarterly in some ways (e.g. it covers the specified subject but in a different way). Personally, I see this as more harmful than helpful (because the circulation is too small, the quarterly doesn't carry enough weight etc). But if anyone has an idea on how to spin this out, I'd be really grateful. I don't want to be self-deprecating, but I don't want to overdo it either. I've had positive feedback from people whose judgment I trust due to their positions (i.e. they judge similar projects and fields on a regular basis), so I know that here at least, they see it as an asset, "a very valuable contribution". But I'd like to get a feel for the UK/US perception as well, since these things really tend to vary from region to region.
Hope this makes sense. It's just before sunrise here, but this was costing me sleep, so I decided to risk it.
