Tu Few
As Tu Few, the noted SingSong poet, once remarked to his sagacious colleague Po Mo:
Writer
Subscribe
Not
In my humble transliteration, a lot of the resonance is lost, but the quintessence is clear: unfortunately, for publishers of litmags, writers want to get published, not to subscribe.
For example, of the 27 writers in the Winter issue, the so-called all-sex issue (see my post for Sept. 27), which is now rolling cross country from the printer in Salinas, MI, only 7 indicated on their contracts that they would like to subscribe.
AND THEY ARE GETTING PUBLISHED IN THE NEXT ISSUE.
(And being paid $50 for their efforts, regardless of length or genre. And they get two "author's copies" and five copies we'll send to whomever, if they give us their addresses.)
So it is not surprising that those who get rejected, which includes virtually everyone who submits (98%), most of whom have never seen the journal in its fleshly form, don't want to subscribe.
(continued tomorrow)
Writer
Subscribe
Not
In my humble transliteration, a lot of the resonance is lost, but the quintessence is clear: unfortunately, for publishers of litmags, writers want to get published, not to subscribe.
For example, of the 27 writers in the Winter issue, the so-called all-sex issue (see my post for Sept. 27), which is now rolling cross country from the printer in Salinas, MI, only 7 indicated on their contracts that they would like to subscribe.
AND THEY ARE GETTING PUBLISHED IN THE NEXT ISSUE.
(And being paid $50 for their efforts, regardless of length or genre. And they get two "author's copies" and five copies we'll send to whomever, if they give us their addresses.)
So it is not surprising that those who get rejected, which includes virtually everyone who submits (98%), most of whom have never seen the journal in its fleshly form, don't want to subscribe.
(continued tomorrow)
posted by Howard Junker at 7:45 AM
3 Comments:
I can certainly understand an editor’s point of view on this subject, but from a writer’s position, were I to subscribe to every litmag I submit to I would no longer have the time to write; I’d be too busy busing tables to pay for all those subscriptions. It’s a conundrum. The market guides all say to study sample issues before submitting, rather than sending out manuscripts blindly, to increase your chances of getting published. I think the Internet has improved a writer’s ability to understand a particular magazine’s style if samples of the kinds of stories they publish are posted on the web, but it isn’t, of course, the same as holding the actual printed version. But again, the cost of requesting sample issues from every potential market for each piece we’re hoping to sell can be prohibitive for many a starving artist.
Would the slush pile shrink if writers appearing in ZYZZYVA received a $30 honorarium and a free subscription? Current subscribers could still get the big bucks.
quelle horreur.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home