© James Pyles

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I must have originally read Harlan Ellison’s landmark SF/F anthology Dangerous Visions (1967) sometime in the mid-1970s, but I remembered nothing about it when I picked up the book again. I only decided to re-read “Visions” because it was mentioned by a publisher as part of their open submissions call.

When a publisher throws their gates open and allows any and all (with certain caveats) authors (would be or established) to submit a story to them (usually in an anthology), they sometimes offer hints or ideas as to what kind of stories they are (and are not) looking for.

One such strategy is to suggest the author read some of the stories they’ve already published. Another is to ask the writer to read other novels and anthologies they favor.

Recently, I read an open submission call that suggested, among other books, Ellison’s original “Dangerous Visions.” I can’t say whether I submitted to that publisher or not. I step away from a certain percentage of them for a number of reasons. This can include them being just too darn picky (too many hoops to jump through), they are only open to a certain population (usually those they believe are marginalized), or they’ve rejected everything I’ve ever thrown at them in the past and I’m resigned to that publisher never liking my writing.

So I checked out a copy of “Dangerous Visions” from the public library to see what I could see.

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