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Beyond Comment
April 30, 2006 in Fiction | Permalink
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I used to be offended by such rejection slips...until I started reading slushpile for a magazine (which shall go unnamed). You realize quickly that a healthy percentage of people who submit have no idea what they're even submitting to; and you also realize that if only a small -- very small -- fraction of those who sent material also subscribed, the magazine could probably turn a profit. We didn't send subscription cards with the rejection slips, but after spending twenty or thirty minutes reading each story (I'm a slow reader) and then writing comments for the editor to look over, I decided that it wouldn't have been too much to ask the person to whom I just dedicated that time if they'd like to support the journal that they think highly enough to want to get published in. I really, honestly think every writer should work for a literary journal for a while. It not only gave me a greater appreciation for the folks who work on that side of things, it made me realize how much competition is out there, and how if you want to be in that 1% (which was the percentage of stuff our magazine accepted), you really had to up the ante. There's nothing more daunting than looking at a stack of manila envelopes that runs the length of the wall, knowing that 99% will get sent back -- and that I would have to read all of it! (Well, a LOT of it, anyway; I wasn't the only intern.) It was a serious (but informative) kick in the ass. I wouldn't have said this before working for the magazine, but I'll say it now: A subscription card in exchange for reading one's story seems like fair quid pro quo.
Posted by: John McNally at May 1, 2006 10:18:26 PM
