My 2011 Readercon Schedule

I'll be attending Readercon this year, held July 14-17, in Burlington, Mass. Here's my schedule:

Friday July 15

12:00 PM – Autographing.

John Joseph Adams

2:30 PM – Reading.

John Joseph Adams

Adams reads selections from his anthologies and magazines.

5:00 PM – De Gustibus Est Disputandum When Editing Anthologies.

John Joseph Adams, Ellen Datlow, Gardner Dozois, John Kessel (leader), Howard Waldrop.

While any anthology has its no-brainer must-include great stories, the anthologist usually needs to flesh it out with selections from a broader pool of merely good stories. When should an editor choose their personal favorites from that pool, giving the anthology more of a coherent flavor but possibly limiting its audience, and when should they make a conscious effort to choose stories that will appeal to a wide variety of readers, so that there is "something for everyone"? How do the rules change when one is editing a themed anthology or a Year's Best, or pitching to a larger or smaller publisher?

Saturday July 16

2:00 PM – Kaffeeklatsch.

John Joseph Adams