He opened the letter and read it aloud:

Dear Mr. Hires.

We thank you sincerely for sending us your collection of short stories for our publication consideration. Here at McGee and Company, we pride ourselves upon providing up and coming authors the opportunity to see their works published and to help get a foothold as an author. We always feel that this is mutually beneficial, since the author can see his craft develop and flourish, and we hope to establish a useful business relationship with him in the future.

We have used this strategy to begin the careers of such notables as Robin Adams, Johnathon Lambez, and, most famously, Albert Tinney, whose first work of fiction, The Waking Hours was published by McGee and Company twenty years ago. We feel that we are at our best when we are giving young authors the chance to become established. We're not afraid to take risks on new people, for they are the future of the industry, and we want to be the company that brings them to the forefront.

Unfortunately, we are unable to accept Bludgeons and Bone snaps for publication at this time. There are several areas which you can address which may make your work more acceptable for other publishing houses. Here at McGee and Company, we try to extend every professional courtesy to new authors, so that even if your work is not appropriate for us, you have a greater chance of having it published elsewhere.

Mainly, the descriptions you provided seem to be rather inaccurate. For example, In Eviscerate slowly, the appendix was described as being spherical in shape when it is more elongated. Time for Knocking was set in the summertime, yet you frequently made reference to the leaves on the ground catching the blood dripping from the suspended bodies. Fever Pitch said that the infected man's temperature was 115 and he had had it for more than two weeks, and a fever like that probably would have killed him within days, if not hours.

While these criticisms may sound harsh, here at McGee and Company we feel that our editors can be most helpful to young writers when they are brutally honest. A reader might find the book difficult to follow. Authors are allowed creative license, of course, but blatent errors are distracting. Please do read the enclosed editorial suggestions, fact checks, and accuracy notes. Hopefully, they will help you produce a more solid book.

Thank you for your interest in McGee and Company.

Sincerely,

James Overbee.

He set the letter down as he finished reading it. "Well, Mr. Overbee," he said to the short, balding man that was tied and gagged at his feet, "I guess I'll need to do some research before I can write accurately. I know you do like an accurate book. Let's find out how the blood flows from the body when a finger is removed, shall we? Where's my knife?"