The three of us here at the Flaming Aces and Aros Anthology want everyone to know that we take aro-spec inclusion and representation very seriously. We recognize that there has been a recent uptick in arophobic and acephobic discussions and behavior on Twitter. We are not a part of that, and we will do our best to never be a part of it.
We want all aro-spec and ace-spec identities to be represented fairly and properly in voices written by people who label themselves with identities on these two spectrums. Our main mission in doing this project is to provide windows and mirrors for as many aro-spec and ace-spec readers as possible.
We also ask that you be patient with us through this process, as some questions we cannot answer until we have received all of our submissions. This includes things like how the stories will be organized. We want to curate them in a way that will best highlight the diversity of this community.
In the meantime, here is what we have done and are currently working to do to ensure that aro-spec identities are represented well in the anthology:
- We listened to feedback that the original use of “Arrows” as a pun didn’t work for some aro-spec people, and it made others uncomfortable. We have since changed the title in our graphics and on our website.
- We are working to hire at least one aro-spec editor for this project and have been in contact with a few options that have been recommended by an aroace member of the community. We are still in discussions with several people, and will announce our editorial team as soon as we have one.
- We are planning on including an even mix of stories from both the aro- and ace-spectrums, and we encourage ownvoices authors to submit their work to us.
In terms of experience level, we recognize that none of us have prior experience working with short fiction on a professional level. That is why we have planned to have editors and sensitivity readers involved with this project from the beginning. All of us have also been involved in the community on some level. It should be noted that some vocabulary is not consistent across all aro-spec and ace-spec online communities (AVEN, tumblr, Twitter, etc.), so we might be learning new things along the way. We hope that you will still support our project.
We are willing to listen to any comments and concerns brought to us, and our DM’s and email inbox is open, though it may take a day or two for us to get back to you, due to each of us having very different daily schedules.
-T.S., Ceillie & Brianna
Flaming Aces and Aros Anthology 