Orson Scott Card 's InterGalactic Medicine Show published an excellent essay last month by Carol Pinchefsky called "Is There Nepotism in Science Fiction?" While I suggest anyone who submits to SF/F magazines and publishers read the essay, to summarize Pinchefsky's argument: While the SF/F community is small, nepotism by editors is self defeating. Still, it doesn't hurt to be nice if you meet an editor at a convention. After all, no one likes to purchase stories from raving lunatics who whine on and on about not getting published because of nepotism. (Disclaimer: That last sentence is not in Pinchefsky's essay, but should have been. :-)