Returning once more to the Hugo Awards…

In my original post about Best Editor (Long Form), I mentioned the names of a number of very gifted and hard-working editors deserving (IMNSHO, of course) of nomination. Some of the fans commenting on that post, both here and over on FILE 770, said they could not possibly vote for any of them — or for any editor, actually — without knowing what titles each of them had edited during the awards year.

So I asked them.

Some have replied. Downstream of this, you’ll find a list of the books edited last year by Anne Lesley Groell of Bantam Specta, Diana Pho of Tor, and Jane Johnson of HarperCollins Voyager. And today I have a response from an editor who was NOT mentioned in my original post, but should have been: JOE MONTI of Saga Press.

Saga, for those who do not follow the ins and outs of publishing closely, is the new science fiction imprint of Simon & Schuster/ Pocket Books. S&S, of course, is one of publishing’s Big Five, a major major house with a long and storied history, but they have not had much presence in our genre since David G. Hartwell’s prestigious Timescape imprint folded a few decades back. The return of S&S to SF was one of the big publishing stories of recent years, and a very good thing for our field. It says a lot for Joe Monti’s skills that he was the guy S&S chose to launch Saga and go head to head with Tor, Bantam Spectra, Del Rey, DAW, Baen, and the other long-established SF imprints.

And so far, I think, he’s done a hell of a job. But you can judge that for yourself. When I wrote Joe and asked what books he’d edited last year, he replied:

“As for this, I sat on it a bit as I wasn’t sure if I deserved to be mentioned, but I will play along… I edited and acquired a lot in my inaugural year for Saga Press! I really was scrambling to present a full list, along with my fellow editorial conspirator Navah Wolfe, to showcase the kind of books I hope to publish and a sense of my tastes.

“One author I snapped up in a pre-empt in my first days: The great Ken Liu. Some were through previous relationships I had as an agent, a friend, others were just serendipity like The Gospel of Loki and Lagoon, which I saw on publisher rights list and ran screaming after. They are, in loose order of publication:

The Darkside War by the enigmatic Zachary Brown
The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu
The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris
Cold Iron by Stina Leicht
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
Loosed Upon the World: the Saga Anthology of Climate Fiction, edited by John Joseph Adams
The Red by Linda Nagata
The War Against the Assholes by Sam Munson
The Trials by Linda Nagata (The Red trilogy #2)
Silver on the Road by Laura Anne Gilman
Going Dark by Linda Nagata (The Red trilogy #3)

I also reissued a few excellent books that were previously at other publishers:
Chuck Wendig’s first three Miriam Black novels: Blackbirds, Mockingbird, and The Cormorant (Setting up for books 4, 5, & 6 starting in 2017)
Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente
The November Criminals by Sam Munson

And then I repackaged a few great books from the S&S lists for adult SFF readers:
The Harper Hall trilogy by Anne McCaffrey: Dragonsong, Dragonsinger and Dragondrums; all with new introductions by Tamora Pierce, Naomi Novik and Brandon Sanderson (respectfully)

The Sea of Trolls trilogy by Nancy Farmer: The Sea of Trolls, The Islands of the Blessed, The Land of Silver Apples

The Curse Workers trilogy by Holly Black: White Cat, Red Glove, Black Heart.

PHEW! I am really proud of that list, as they contain a few debuts and all of them reflect authors… stretching their… skills… I really feel lucky to be in my dream job after all this time. That’s why I got the Saga colophon tattoo!”

So there’s another name to consider when you are making those Hugo nominations.

We have a wealth of choices in Best Editor (Long Form) this year. Good editors, who would make worthy winners. Regardless of what the slates chose to do, my own hope is that one of them gets to claim a rocket in Kansas City, to thunderous applause.