About Me

Good questions. Let me answer the first one; it’s easy. My name is Aeryn Rudel, and I’m a freelance writer and editor. The second one, well, here are my bona fides, such as they are.

I worked in the tabletop gaming industry for over a decade, beginning with designing and editing RPG material for companies like Goodman Games and Wizards of the Coast. I’ve been the editor-in-chief of two magazines, a short-lived quarterly called Level Up for Goodman Games, and No Quarter, a long-running bi-monthly for Privateer Press. In these roles, I wrote a lot, edited a lot, worked with freelance authors and illustrators, and tried not to lose my mind every two months when the magazine was due to the printer.

My most recent position of note was publications manager for Skull Island eXpeditions, the now-defunct fiction imprint for Privateer Press. Here I acted as both managing and acquisitions editor, worked hands-on with a large group of authors, and produced dozens of print and e-books. My responsibilities included all the things you’d expect: guiding the narrative for everything from flash fiction to full-length novels, getting manuscripts into publishable shape, and serving as the primary point of contact for the authors.

As for publications, I’ve written a ton of gaming products, articles, and game-related fiction for various companies like Goodman Games, Privateer Press, and Wizards of the Coast. I’ve also published a fair amount of short stories in various speculative fiction magazines, and I’ve written three novels for Privateer Press. If you’d like to see a fairly complete list of my professional credits, you can click here.

I’ve learned a few things in my years as an editor and writer, but I’ve made my fair share of mistakes and dealt with every kind of rejection. I’ll discuss all that on this blog, openly, in the hopes someone might learn from my missteps or find inspiration in my (very) occasional successes.

21 Comments on “About Me”

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Tiegan
December 19, 2015

Aeryn,

I’ve found your blog really helpful, so I have nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award… I’m not sure if this is something you normally partake in, but nonetheless, I hope you find the time to write a post on it!

Thanks,
Tiegan

(P.S here’s a link to my post with your nomination: https://harbourwave.wordpress.com/2015/12/20/one-lovely-blog-award/ )

Reply
- Aeryn Rudel
  December 21, 2015
  
  Tiegan, thanks for the kind words and the nomination. I’m thrilled someone (anyone) would find my blog helpful. 😉
  
  I was unaware of the One Lovely Blog Award, but I dig the concept.
  
  Reply
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Pencil
May 16, 2020

My girlfriend just read A Point of Honor to me last night! Great story! Definitely had a Matheson Twilight Zone vibe! Looks like I need to check out Aftershock!

Reply
- Aeryn Rudel
  May 16, 2020
  
  Thanks! Glad you enjoyed “A Point of Honor”, and thanks for stopping by the blog.
  
  Reply
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carlpapapalmer
March 17, 2022

I absolutely enjoy reading your stories, Aeryn, better yet would be seeing and hearing you read here in Tacoma.

Reply
- Aeryn Rudel
  March 18, 2022
  
  Thank you so much. I’ve been giving some thought to doing live readings in the area. Hopefully, soon. 🙂
  
  Reply
  - carlpapapalmer
    March 18, 2022
    
    Keep our venue in mind, The Puget Sound Poetry Connection (see Facebook) monthly open mic
  - Aeryn Rudel
    March 18, 2022
    
    Will do. Thanks. 🙂
ramauthors
May 1, 2023

Hi Aeryn,
Your rejectomancy posts are very helpful.

In its submission guidelines Metastellar had said
“Accepted authors will be notified by April 15”.
April 15 came and gone; Metastellar grinder shows acceptances too. But some authors haven’t still been responded yet; If Metastellar has selected all the pieces it wants for a particular submission period, ideally, rest all unaccepted should’ve been responded as ‘rejected’. isn’t it? Why should some of them still at the desk of Metastellar unresponded? any clues?

Reply
- Aeryn Rudel
  May 1, 2023
  
  Thanks for the follow. Yes, generally, a response would have been sent to all authors by this point. If you haven’t received a response, you could send a polite status query letter to the editor. Sometimes stories do fall through the cracks.
  
  Reply
  - ramauthors
    May 1, 2023
    
    Thanks for the quick response. Grinder itself shows a certain number under ‘Pending’. I know grinder figures are not accurate which means there could be more pending. Just wanted to understand.
  - Aeryn Rudel
    May 1, 2023
    
    Yeah, a lot of authors on the Submission Grinder or Duotrope don’t report their rejections, so you’ll almost always see subs still pending.
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