Some troubling news

So one of my short stories was supposed to be out in the May issue of Flashing Swords Press. I happened to take a jaunt over in their direction today to see how the schedule was coming along and when I could expect to see the issue in print.

Apparently the staff underwent some massive changes in late 2008/early 2009, and things are in a state of flux. The new editor is saying that things got lost, stories were misplaced, and if you had a story that was supposed to be published you need to write in to let them know who you are, what your story was, and when it was supposed to be published in the first place.

Not exactly the news I was looking for.

Then, I went on to read in their new forums that the new editor has this to say:

Right now, Flashing Swords Magazine staff is in a state of flux, things are being changed.

One thing that will NOT be changed, is if you had a story already accepted, it WILL be published.

Don't think that means that what you sent in will be published however.

Many of you will receive your stories back, with editors notes. One thing that will NOT be changed is your voice. The editor that is currently working at getting your stories ready for publication believes strongly in allowing the writer's voice to shine through on the product, after all, we all write differently. Now, when you get them back, the faster you get them back to us, the faster they move into an issue.

That disturbs me. First of all, my story already went through two revisions before it was accepted the first time. It's already been paid for and cleared for publication, but because someone else screwed up, I'm supposed to be expected to make further revisions to a story that was already accepted?

Sorry, that's just bogus. I've already made the changes required by the initial editor to bring my story up to the qualifications of their magazine. I don't relish the idea of paying for someone else's mistakes, especially not on my own time.

In any case, I'm not too happy about it right now. I'm waiting to hear back to see if my story was even included on-schedule as expected, or what's going on. Kind of put a damper on my "May is a great month!" vibe that had been doing on. Grr!