Many people worked hard to create the current issue of Asimov’s, and every issue of the magazine that has ever been published. Some of the names of these people appear on our masthead. Others are completely unsung. The job of buying the stories and writing editorials puts me at the forefront, but the magazine wouldn’t exist, or wouldn’t be the quality publication that it is, without people you are probably not familiar with.

Most of you know that I exist, some of you are aware of Brian Bieniowski, the magazine’s talented associate editor, and, of course, you suspect the existence of the authors whose bylines accompany the stories. Brian and I are the only people who work on the magazine full time. We haven’t used outside typesetters for years, so the two of us are completely responsible for the eventual electronic version of the magazine that will be sent to our printers, but we have a lot of help along the way.

I was reminded of the anonymity of many of these people recently when I received an email from Michael R. Wilson, a retired associate professor. I’ll reproduce some of his comments below:

Hello, folks—

The quality of proofreading in Asimov’s is generally above the current average for magazines (books? Don’t get me started on books!), but somebody slipped over a homophone on p. 176 of the April/ May issue. The word “reigns” is misused in paragraph 3, line 4.

Who’s the lucky soul that gets to do final vetting of text . . . or is that left to the writers, and the high text quality of Asimov’s just reflects a remarkable punctilio peculiar to most SF authors?

Describing the process of editing, copyediting, proofreading, and the further vetting of proofs would take an entire editorial of its own. There is one individual, though, who, far more than me, Brian, or any of our authors, is responsible for the low error ratio in Asimov’s. She is my long-time freelance professional proofreader and secret weapon, Margaret O’Connell. Margaret has been proofing the magazine for about twenty years. It was a love of SF that brought her to us. She would be a subscriber if she weren’t paid to read Asimov’s. Margaret has a Ph.D. in comparative literature, specializing in English and Spanish Renaissance Drama, from Princeton University. In addition to a deep understanding of the English language, she brings a wide breadth of general knowledge to her job. And what she doesn’t know, she’s sure to look up. She also loves comic books, and is the one proofreader who has made sure that the correct spelling and punctuation for Spider-Man has never slipped by us (although it almost invariably arrives here incorrectly). She has saved us from countless embarrassing mistakes. I always said that Margaret knew everything, and then about twelve or thirteen years ago the New Yorker hired her as one of their full-time night proofreaders. Surely, proof that I was right.

Margaret doesn’t read the material that comes in toward the end of the magazine’s production—the stories’ introductory blurbs, the table of contents, the next issue page, and my editorials. Any mistakes you find there are solely my responsibility. Errors can creep into stories at later stages of production, too, and every once in a while even Homer nods. Still, although you may catch a slip-up here and there, we, and our authors, are thankful for the thousands of errors Margaret has kept us from committing.

Margaret isn’t the only person laboring behind the scenes on an issue of Asimov’s.

I’d like to mention a couple of other people who have worked for years on these magazines. One of them is the formidable Carole Dixon. Carole is our senior production manager. She won’t let me tell you how long she’s worked on Asimov’s, but I can tell you that she was well established when I arrived here about twenty-four years ago. Over the years, Carole has taught me an enormous amount about producing a magazine. She oversaw the transition from traditional to desktop publishing. She keeps us all on our toes. I don’t miss deadlines because it would be costly and unprofessional, it’s true, but also because I don’t want to have to explain myself to Carole.

Carole is one of eleven children. She immigrated to the US from Trinidad and Tobago, and she has raised three accomplished children of her own while tending to all the Dell magazines.

While the computer revolution has transformed every publishing department from art to accounting over the last twenty years, no department has been affected more than production. Carole has swept through every change like Alexander wielding his sword through the Gordian knot, and she’s carried us right along with her.

Another long-time contributor to Asimov’s is Victoria Green, our senior art director. Vicki joined Dell about fifteen years ago. She was primarily responsible for designing puzzle magazine covers until about seven years ago, when she took on the task of designing the science fiction and mystery magazine covers, too. Vicki is the mother of a ten-year-old son, Will, and she studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She tells me that she “enjoys meeting and working with the wonderful SF illustrators, and finding new people and new options through the Internet.” She works closely with the artists who create the original artwork for some of our stories, she helps us find reprints for other covers, and she procures all the art.

Space doesn’t permit me to bring up everyone associated with producing this magazine. I hope, though, that this editorial has managed to give you a glimpse of some of the people, and some of the work, involved with the creation of every issue. In honor of the upcoming Halloween holiday, I’ve put together an issue that includes a few slightly spooky tales. If the ghosts and banshees in these stories of hauntings, murder, and betrayal cause you a little seasonal unrest, take comfort from the knowledge that this issue was lovingly fashioned for your eerie pleasure by a dedicated team of real people.