Congratulations, Preston! What an incredible journey it's been for you.

This is only the start, of course. Keep writing, keep submitting!
Henckel wrote:Sataris wrote:My silver honorable had a bit of a literary bent to it - though in hindsight, I probably put too much focus on the language (at the expense of plot in particular).
Would you consider it acceptable to retain a
heavy literary or lyrical bend at the cost of readability if it didn't compromise the plot?
"The Long Dizzy Down" in Volume 33 was written in a...
very distinct style. Now, I'll admit, while I liked the characters and the worldbuilding, the unusual voice/style lessened the readability enough to affect the emotional impact (for me personally).
But: It's in the anthology. So Dave loved it. And the panel of judges loved it. So costing readability can still work if you have the right story that connects with that specific set of readers. So I'd say go for it. Submit what you think is the best version of the story, not what you think the editor thinks is the best version of the story (except for small/obvious things like length, profanity levels, ect.).