Comments on: THE EDITOR’S DESK: The Price of Rejection

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:01:28 +0000

I am absolutely not famous and this bothers me too. 20$ is a lot of money for me to spend on something that’s not edible or otherwise necessary. I was pretty sad to take Narrative off of my list of places I’d like to send work.

By: Andrew Altschul, Editor, Rumpus Books

Andrew Altschul, Editor, Rumpus Books — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:04:33 +0000

Having been a reader for some story and manuscript contests with cash prizes, I feel it’s justified to charge an entry fee, since a contest is likely to generate far more submissions, and thus far more clerical work, than open submission periods. Plus, contests often have “celebrity judges” (present company not included), which usually means the judges have to be paid. Plus, there’s the prize itself, which can amount to five or ten times what a journal normally pays for a story or poem.

But I think charging for open submissions is indefensible, except in the case of negligible fees to support an on-line submission system, like the Missouri Review’s. I don’t mind paying $3 for a chance to be published in the Missouri Review. But when a magazine that publishes mostly famous writers asks me for $20 just to read my work, the first word that comes to mind is “scam.”

By: Stephen Elliott

Stephen Elliott — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:39:42 +0000

That’s true. Zyzzyva built their reputation on taking the slushpile seriously. They’ve published lots of great stuff over the years.

By: Edmond C.

Edmond C. — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:04:36 +0000

I’m very glad Stephen called Narrative out on this, especially because it’s more typical for writers to mute such criticisms once they’ve got an established reputation. Then they join the “It’s all good!” chorus, taking a break now and then to enjoin struggling writers, “Gosh, yes, it’s tough – just keep plugging away!” When the blog-level writers make such criticisms it’s easier for the gatekeepers to dismiss them as merely the sour grapes of someone who has been, say, rejected by Narrative.

PS. I have been rejected by Narrative.
PPS. Apologies to Stephen for accusing him of having an “established reputation.”

By: mike

mike — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:14:02 +0000

ZYZZYVA also takes the slush pile seriously (see the righthand column @ http://zyzzyva.org/zy-subs.htm)

By: Kristen

Kristen — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:55:35 +0000

I used to work in scientific publishing, where the reading process does work a bit differently and is more time-consuming. There was always a big-picture debate going on, of whether to read/peer-review for free and charge subscribers, or, in the interest of accessibility, charge the submitting authors and therefore make the publication free to readers. I’m surprised that we don’t look at literary journals in the same way, since submitting authors are often encouraged to subscribe in the interest of supporting the publications that provide them with outlets. I.e., why is it bullshit to spend $20 to submit to a magazine we can read for free, but not bullshit that we can submit for free to a magazine that wants us (and strongly encourages submitting authors) to subscribe for $20? Submitters and readers of literary mags are often the same group/target market and these mags have to survive somehow.

By: Ryan Boudinot

Ryan Boudinot — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:37:26 +0000

I agree charging for the opportunity to be read is bullshit. And I get skeeved out by literary journal contests that involve a fee as well, and refuse to submit to any. Writers who submit $20 to have their work read by Narrative would be far better served by pooling their money and starting their own journal.

By: Stephen Elliott

Stephen Elliott — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:21:38 +0000

No, HTMLGIANT rules!

By: Blake Butler

Blake Butler — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:06:21 +0000

I am really happy to see you picked this up and thought about it out loud, Stephen. It seems just insane to me, and something that should not be allowed to go on uncommented in the background.

As for the SXSW comparison, I don’t think it is apt, as what we’re dealing with here is an online magazine, whose cost is only dictated by what they make it. They could just as easily pay a token or even medium sized amount of $$ to their writers (who, it should be said again, seem almost entirely solicited: while SXSW every year is more and more packed with new, and the costs of which are likely much higher than, oh, running a website?).

The submissions process for writers, especially lesser or not-at-all known ones, is frustrating enough. To make it into a bleeder event where you are essentially dumping your $20 in the name of the event that you might slip through into the pocket of a friend of the journal.

It’s even more strange to me, in that I know that when the journal first came out it was $5 for a reading. Even then that seemed strange to me, but a 4x jump? It’s almost like shouting: “We are tired of reading all you scraggly paupers’s ‘notions’ of ‘Narrative.’”

Sigh.

The Rumpus rules.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:58:10 +0000

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I’m sorry I compared Narrative to Music Festivals, maybe it was a bad analogy. I made the comparison because the same thing happens at festivals. Big name talent fills festival slots and clearly doesn’t have to pay to submit. A festival like SXSW charges $35 per submission. Like short stories, music submissions can be rejected fairly quickly. I was curious to hear your opinion because I work for a much smaller festival and I could relate to what you were saying. Thanks again for the response.