abstract
| - The 1632 Editorial Board is a group of established writers and fans that manages the development of the 1632 series shared universe and collaborative fiction project. A related group, the 1632 Research Committee focuses on technical issues (including historical research) likely 'realistic developments' given the resource of one small American town and the era. The 1632 Editorial Board is chaired by the fictional universe's creator Eric Flint, whereas outside historical research, Flint relies on the technical group for technological premises. The two share a lot of members, and the exact membership is informal and changes. The Editorial Board is more formally organized and collectively decides whether stories submitted to the "1632 slushpile" on the Baen's Bar Web forum are both canonical to the series and of sufficient quality to be published in the sub-series of works collectively called The Grantville Gazettes. Ten Grantville Gazettes were published in electronic form from 2004 through 2006, explosive production that can be in large part credited to the 1632 Editorial Board. The first Gazette began as an experiment in publishing as a serialized eMagazine. After three installments, the complete work was assembled as an e-book and was subsequently released in print in November 2004. Its successor, Grantville Gazette II, was released in hardcover in March 2006. Through early 2006, the 1632 series 'in printed form' was split about 50:50 in novels and anthology collections, each enjoying commercial success with a bottleneck in long work production, and intentions were to continue in that manner with due allowance for longer works in progress so long as the collections of shorter fiction keep selling. The longer works were also building apace. Flint and his assistant Paula Goodlett had put the majority of the time labor into them along with the board, and the new arrangement with the Editorial Boards help has the gazettes coming out much more regularly. Although the Editorial Board can recommend stories to be selected, Flint retains full control over canon and the final selection of stories. The selected stories (see The Grantville Gazettes) were first published as a serialized eMagazine, subsequently as an e-book, and finally (since 2004) as printed anthologies. Jim Baen died suddenly from a massive stroke in July 2006, but his last purchase from Eric Flint was Grantville Gazette IV as a hardcover contract.
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