and a partridge in our back yard

don't ask me. all i know is it was there for a while and rozanne thought it might be a pheasant and googled it and when we tried to take a closeup it flew away.

Hibernation

This blog has gone into hibernation and will reemerge on Thursday, January 3.

Happy Holidays!

In case of emergency, please make a charitable contribution.

For advice and consent, please e-mail: editor@zyzzyva.org.

Wild Thing

Rainstorms are the only real weather we get around here, so I try to take advantage.

I have rain paints and a poncho/shell. My New Balance 965s are said to be waterproof. I am ready for the elements.

Earlier this week, it was wet and and chilly trudging along Crissy Field. (Later, going up through the Presidio Cemetery, a bit waterlogged, I felt like G.I. Joe with the hood of my poncho pulled up over my helmet, I mean, baseball cap. [click on images to enlarge]
Looking toward the Bridge, I saw a wild thing.
It was scary.

Litblogolandia

The indefatigable Clifford Garstang, who recently tabulated each litmag's appearances in the Pushcart, has now identified the genre of litmagblogs, of which he counts 13 [scroll way down the links on the right side].

As far as I can tell, the primary purpose of litmagblogs is self-congratulation.

Coming off as hip (privy to gossip) is also key.

Also, ranting & raving, conventionally called "tossing off quickie reviews/interviews."

The content providers seem to be graduate students, those who hang out as mss. screeners and who welcome the chance to grab a moment at the podium.

To broaden my purview, I thought I'd also check out the blogs linked to by linkmeister Ron Silliman. Their number is legion, so I limited myself to sampling the seven Zs. (ZYZZYVASPEAKS is listed as Howard Junker.)

Three of the seven are defunct; one last posted in March 2007; one, "Sunni Sister," is of spiritual (Islamic) orientation; one seems mostly musical.

Which leaves one that seems like "a poet's diary."

I guess Ron has better things to do than police his links.

Meanwhile, ex-localite Ed Champion has renounced his litblog in order to monetize his talents and, what else, finish his novel. We wish him the best.

And we hope someone else takes up the slack and mentions us, as he was wont to do every once in a while, in their own blog.

The Angry Letter

Lots of writers think e-submissions are the way to go—cheaper, faster, easier.

Lots of litmags are now willing to read them.

But not everyone is happy.

The writer of The Angry Letter, for example, complained that, in keeping her e-ms. only 15 days, VQR couldn't possibly have given it a careful, thorough, time-consuming read.

Dismayed, the VQR editors are thinking about "aging" their responses—letting them sit around for a few days—a practice we instituted years ago when we got our first Angry Letter.

We maintain our response time at about three weeks, which seems satisfactory to our submitters. No writer wants to wait forever, but part of the fantasy, at least for some, seems to be: "I have work out at VQR..."

Once, we got a complaint about a cursory, unconsidered read because the returned ms. was too clean and neat. Fortunately, this complaint included a new submission, which we were happy to tromp on, wrinkle, hot-chocolate-stain....as evidence of our assiduity and close attention.

In any case, the real complaint about a careful read ought to focus on who does the screening. Graduate students? Other wannabees? Good luck.

And do you really want those screeners scrolling away? Processing mss. as if they were IMs?

The real truth is that literature is slow. If you want fast, twitter.

Another real truth is that almost all submissions are rejected. For cause.

I read everything sent me; some manuscripts can be dismissed out of hand. Only a few, maybe ten percent, demand reading at leisure.

We accept one percent.

Not to whine, but it takes tremendous energy and unbounded good will to read through the slush pile.

It's worth it because, on occasion, there's a diamond in the haystack.

It would be nice if these diamonds always sparkled and were therefore easy to spot, but often they don't, they take on the coloration of the slush pile. They come on as unschooled, ill-packaged, clumsy, freaky, half-baked...

It is recognizing talents that would ordinarily get screened out that gives me my greatest pleasure, that makes my effort worthwhile. IMHO.

A Walker in the City

Alfred Kazin called his 1951 memoir A Walker in the City. I sat in on his survey of American lit course a few years later at Amherst. It was for sophomores and I was only a freshman, but a friend said I shouldn't miss the opportunity. I never read the assignments—I just wanted to listen to Kazin talk—but lots of other people didn't, either; one day, when Kazin couldn't take the dumbness anymore, he walked out. I thought that was cool.

My walks these days are mostly through the urban jungle. [click on images to enlarge]
This directissma route up Mt. Sutro, scouted out last Thursday, and attempted yesterday, has some difficult passages.
Unfortunately, I turned right when I should have gone left, so I never reached the tower summit.
But on the descent, I admired UCSF's woodsy, Seventies Shingle Style student housing.
And, on the Stanyan flats, I ran into my Facebook Friend Meredith (she'd come to our party for the Fall issue at Parea), finishing up a six-miler.

Where are We Going?

At ground level, things seem desperate and confused : [click on images to enlarge]

Holiday Inn

Only an absolute cynic would refuse to add a witty caption: "home for the holidays," "no room at the inn," "we do have a sidewalk suite available" [click on image to enlarge]

Writers as Subscribers

Of the writers we've published during the last two years, 32% subscribed after their work was accepted.

Of the writers we rejected over the past year, 8% responded to our special offer—when we returned their manuscripts—three issues for $10.

When Poets & Writers surveyed its subscribers, it found that half didn't subscribe to any litmag whatsoever.

So it goes.

Sutro Directissima

How sad it must be to surrender your unwanted baby at a fire station.
I asked two firemen at the Stanyan St. station if any babies had been renounced there lately; they didn't think so.

Yesterday was a glorious morning. [click on images to enlarge]
I had put in a couple of early hours on the new issue, and I felt free to make a directissima assault on Mt. Sutro, which is dominated by a three-pronged antenna tower.
I was really just on a preliminary trek, to where the Stanyan St. sidewalk breaks up into "steps." Early on, I had passed one of the little people who lurk in backyards during climbing season.
On my descent, I passed a well-protected sidewalk garden.

Pushcart

Unlike the other annual anthologies, the Pushcart Prize asks the editors themselves to nominate six of their favorite pieces from the past year.

One dude has tabulated the winners in fiction since 2000: we rank 35th, which is pretty good considering we've moved so far away from the Usual Suspects and tend to nominate our favorite unknowns.

From our three issues in 2007, we've nominated work by Po Bronson, Cory Garfin, Andrew Lam, Charles McLeod, Kirsten Lee Soares, and Stephanie Waldmann.

Garfin, Soares, and Waldmann are first-time-in-prints.

I'd be interested in your six Nominations.

If your Winter issue of ZYZZYVA hasn't arrived yet (because you don't subscribe), just ask for a freebie by e-mail. If you want to send $2 to cover postage, which is actually $2.13, please do so, but it's not necessary.

BTW, the cover of the Winter issue has charmed everyone, although our designer, whom we couldn't consult because he wasn't feeling well at the time of production, feels the logo could have been bigger.

PS: Manuscripts received last month were up 7% from October and up 5% from November last year.

PW's Regional Focus

Publishers Weekly Dec. 3 featured Chronicle book editor Oscar Vilalon's take on the "Northern California" literary scene.

Besides dithering in deepest cliche for most of his 21 column-inches, he fails to mention MFA programs at New College, St. Mary's, USF...

and such poetry imprints as Apogee Press, Atelos, Kearny St. Workshop, Kelsey St. Press, Krupskaya, Manic D, O Books, Omnidawn, Post-Apollo Press...

and the Poetry Center at SF State...

and AK Press, Arion Press, Chronicle Books (did Barbara Boxer's first novel), North Atlantic Press, Shoemaker & Hoard/Counterpoint...

and Small Press Distribution and Publishers Group West...

and such poets as Lyn Hejinian, Brenda Hillman, Jane Hirschfield, Michael Palmer, Kay Ryan, Gary Soto, Juliana Spahr...

and Adam Hochschild, Khaled Hosseini, Armistead Maupin, Richard Rodriguez, Martin Cruz Smith, Danielle Steel, Tobias Wolff...

and he spells it Zzyvva,

which, everyone knows, is all caps italic.

Rory & Jan's Party

Board president Rory Little and his wife, Jan, gave a party for ZYZZYVA last night, which, since they live in the hills of Marin, needed some directional indicators.
I was a bit shocked to see a big Webster's prominently displayed, because its last word is an imposter. Rory introduced former Board member Dixon Long (shown somewhat dimly by our inept staff photographer), who read from and discussed his recent guidebook, Markets of Paris, and
current Board member Tim Maleeny (not shown, even dimly, by our inept staff photographer), who read from and discussed his second mystery novel, Beating the Babushka.

Deck the Halls

I was trying to take a picture, I did take a picture, of the big lit-up Monterey pine in front of McLaren Lodge in Golden Gate Park.


The thing was, I was in my car, in the far right lane, going north on Stanyan. I had wanted to take this shot a couple nights before, but was too slow grabbing my camera, and "the light" had changed.

I was quicker this time, perhaps too quick, unless you like 'em arty.

How to Look

Artists, in this case those lumped together as Minimalists, show us how to look: [click on images to enlarge]

Caddy

What is an editor besides a writer's caddy?

We do not do the deed itself, but we do the heavy lifting.

Step by step, we bear witness.

We point out the destination—and the preferred route, and suggest, when asked, the appropriate instruments of force. We do not scold or cajole, but we do
buck up, clean up after, listen carefully to.

We reap some of the same rewards—a walk in the greeney quiet, the satisfaction of a completed round. But, obviously, none of the glory.

In the end, and even from the beginning, we are invisible.

We have been virtually obsoleted.

USF to Students: Do Not Enter

The future home of the USF Creative Writing Program [an advertiser] takes shape.

Although strenuous, the program is not as forbidding as it might seem.

Thomson-Shore: F-

The late fall is stressful for short-run (under 5,000 copies) printers, because everyone wants their book by Thanksgiving to sell for Christmas. Our Winter issue suffered accordingly.

Here is the "letter of concerns" I sent our rep at Thomson-Shore last week, and his replies.

Please note that almost everything seems to have been our fault.

My words are big; his are small:

Dear Justin:

Here are our concerns for our recent job. Please find out what happened and why.

Some of these concerns are simply unacceptable; some are one-time mistakes; some are procedural and we hope they can be corrected for next time.

1) although I alerted you three weeks in advance, telling you the exact day we would deliver—and did deliver—it took three days after you got the files for us to get a quote.

1. The quote did in fact take 3 days to be completed, and yes, we did know that the title was coming. A quote in advance of the materials being received would be the most efficient method, especially when the schedule is concerned. Also, with needing a down payment added to the delay by 3 days on this printing well

2) then we were told work could not continue because our files were in Word. In fact, our files were not, and when you took a look, you found that to be the case.

2. The file were in Word, and new files were uploaded by Kristen on 10-22 (original files loaded 10-19)

3) then we were told the ad pages were missing. In fact, they were not, and when you took a look, you found them to be there.

3. Correct, the pages were in fact here, and a mistake was made by the planner of the title. The issue was addressed with the planner, to investigate a little further in the future

4) then we were told that the ad pages had to be rebuilt since they were in PDF, which is the way we had submitted them to you in March, with no problem. And then it took three days to rebuild them.

4. When we need to "build" a file, the work takes an entirely different path through the company. One file for the text, with the adds placed would solve this for future titles. Anytime that we need to make adjustments to a file, it will ad time to the schedule, as we are not set up for design work

5) we asked for the buckslip is to be blown into the middle of the book, but instead it was (in many cases) blown inside the front cover or in the ad pages

5. The quotation stated that the buckslip was to be placed randomly into the books, there was also a notation that the slip was to be placed near the center of the book. If an exact page placement is needed in the future, that information needs to be addressed with the page number, and the quoted charge for insertion is increased, as we have to have someone open each book to that page and place the card

6) at the bottom of the back cover "editor@zyzzyva.org" was missing

6. The "editor@zyzzyva.org was not in the file that we received, nor on the proof that was approved

7) the gluing (on my copies) was uneven and scuffed

7. I have reviewed the 2 copies that I have here for the glue issues, and did not see anything out of the norm. But please, if there are copies with an issue, send me the samples and I will have them reviewed as well

8) the [name deleted] ad on p. [deleted] was blurry

8. The [name deleted] ad on page [deleted] is a low resolution graphic that was OK'd at preflight stage, along with many other graphics. Low res graphics will print blurry

9) you inserted page number on pages 10-29 (none of the earlier ad pages have numbers, because we don't put numbers on ad pages)

9. The pages 10-29 were numbered in the files that we received. With PDF we would not be adding or removing page numbers

10) on p. [deleted], the lower half of the [name deleted] ad (on many copies) is spotted

10. I to noticed some spotting, I checked the file, and there is some broken areas of the black background as well, but the inking could have been better on our end as well

11) the line in the bio blurbs (p. 39, etc.) and in the art captions (p 40, etc.) is heavier than the one we specified

11. The line weights on the Bio blurbs are in the files that we were sent, we would not be adjusting line weights in PDF files, and actually cannot adjust them

13) the frames of many images are wrong, in a variety of ways: p. 42, etc.

13. The frames of the images are the way that the files were submitted, and approved at proofs. We do not adjust the pdf files

Twain Chats

I love Mark Twain. I frequently start out to read every word he ever wrote, but I never get far. He's like pecan pie—you think you'd like a whole one, but a slice-and-a-half suffices.

With Mark Twain: The Complete Interviews (719 pages, University of Alabama Press)—258 interviews from 1871 to 1910, again, I started out roaring, but got bogged down.

In his mid-thirties, he was a great banterer; it's sad to see him get tired of it all—playing himself. And he had his share of woes.

I loved the revelation (to me) that when he first went to Europe it was on a sidewheeler! And, since, he declared, Cunard still operated as if under sail, prunes were served "21 times a week."

In his lecture tour of '84-'85, he read 103 times in 80 cities, grossing $16k, yielding, of course, many (uncounted by me) interviews.

He considered T.B. Aldrich "the wittiest man I ever met." Such praise may have been merited, Aldrich was a popular poet and he edited The Atlantic during the eighties, but the remark may also have been in the way of repaying a debt: Aldrich wrote The Story of a Bad Boy, a model for Tom Sawyer.

The way to read this book is to treat it like snuff, not pie, dipping into it now and then, never gobbling.

Frost on Friday

There was frost on the ground Friday, and I was to meet a prospective board member for lunch at Postrio—it's a tough life.

On the way, I stopped by the John Pence Gallery (an advertiser), currently showing Randall Sexton and Jacob Pfeiffer, who was on the cover of Winter '04.

John is president of the board of regents of the Point Foundation, which funds LGBT scholars: 84 at the moment, eight, for example, at Harvard.
Proceeding down Post St., I passed the Bohemian Club, with its memories of Shakespeare, Bret Harte, et al.,

and the Olympic Club, with its admiration of physical culture.

Off-shore Schmattas

I've heard about globalization—what could be better than our polyglot cuisine—but somehow it came as a shock to see a two-pallet shipment on the sidewalk outside my local GAP:

World AIDS Day

What can I say about the grizzly..........................? [click on image to enlarge]