Last week, I was browsing potential markets for a story (that will probably never find a home because it is too long and too Australian) and in the submission guidelines for a particular journal was the claim that it was “disrespectful” for an author to submit fiction to a magazine that he or she hasn’t read.
This sort of thing is not uncommon in small press guidelines, but it is usually more of a suggestion – “To get a feel for what we publish, why not buy a copy of the magazine?” It’s understandable. Editors get floods of inappropriate submissions from neophyte writers, and anything that will stem the tide is worth a try. It’s also a soft way of upselling the publication – and when the potential audience of readers must sometimes seem smaller than the list of potential contributors, anything is worth a try.
But submitting to a magazine you haven’t read is “disrespectful”? Give me a break.
If there is an example (or just a sample) of a magazine’s published work on its website, then an author would be stupid not to read it. But usually you can discern enough from the website and the submission guidelines to ascertain whether a market is appropriate for your fiction.
In the past 15 years, I have submitted to literally hundreds of magazines and anthologies. I have bought copies of some – such as Aurealis, Andromeda Spaceways, The Fiction Desk – because I wanted to buy them. But if I had purchased a copy of every magazine I’d ever submitted to, I’d have had no time to read the never-ending list of books I wanted to read, and I’d be broke.
Insisting that every author who wants to submit fiction to your magazine must also buy a copy is just arrogant. Not to mention delusional.
But then editors are, on the whole, an arrogant and inconsiderate breed. I know this because I’m a magazine editor in my professional life, and over the years I have been astonished at the number of freelance writers who have said, “It’s so nice to be paid on time for once,” or “You’re the only editor I’ve ever worked for who actually responds to emails.”
Seriously? It’s just not that hard. It takes 30 seconds to email a contributor and either respond to the query or tell him or her that you’re onto it and will be in touch soon. I have no tolerance or sympathy for editors who claim they're too busy.
While I’m shitting where I eat, I might as well raise a finger to McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern. I recently withdrew a story from consideration with this publication. McSweeney’s uses Submittable, which asks for a reason when you withdraw a story. So I wrote: It's been more than two years. I’m patient, but even I have my limits.
I don’t care how busy you are, it doesn’t take two years to read and accept or decline a story. That’s disrespectful.