Declining the Offer of an Editorship

Well, the editor for MOSF Journal of Science Fiction just emailed me, asking if I'd be interested in being their book reviews editor. I declined. 

Just being offered that particular editorial position was strange. During the interview, I explicitly stated that I had no interest in repeating my work as a book reviews editor, and that I wanted to take the next step in my career. Perhaps there were Zoom connectivity issues ... at one point, after talking for three solid minutes about my experience with Fafnir, the second interviewer asked me, "Do you know anything about book reviews?" Trying to be polite, I played off the question as her maybe thinking that, when I said "reviews editor," I meant something like what a managing editor does with arranging peer reviews. Still, the question proved that she hadn't done basic due diligence by reading my CV or my application letter. So, red flag there.

Even so, even if they had offered me a different editorial position, the interview clarified that Journal of Science Fiction isn't a good fit for me at this time. Since the journal's founding, it seems to be barely functioning -- irregular publication schedule; an article retracted due to plagiarism; tons of editorial turnover; articles under review for over two years; etc. That sort of thing happens, though, and all it means is that there's room (a lot of room, honestly) for improvement. 

Still, I'm too experienced and good at what I do to begin on the bottom editorial rung of a "needs drastic improvement" journal. It would be extremely frustrating, for one thing. I know exactly what a journal like MOSF JOSF needs, but I wouldn't have the authority to do it, nor would I get the credit if things began turning around. Moreover, when I asked the editor in chief, "Where do you see this journal in five years?", his answer didn't strike me as particularly solid. An editor in chief needs to have vision -- something stronger than, "Well, we want a smooth running journal." For the record, too, he is only a PhD student. I don't say that as a hierarchy thing; in fact, he gave off a really good vibe during the interview, and I suspect he received the position due to studying a hot subject, Afrofuturism, and having been on the editorial board longer than anyone else. So he's put in his time. Even so, as the recent debacle over at Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts has shown, the experience element in academic editing is a real thing. As a contingent faculty member, too, I've grown sensitive to how graduate students tend to get privileged over highly competent contingent academics. It wouldn't have been fair either to him or myself to take a subeditor position.

So, that's that. I'm glad I applied, though. Editorial positions don't open up often, and it's good to learn about another journal in my field.