Writing for Suite 101: My Guilty Pleasure

There are always people out there telling you what you should and shouldn't do as a writer. When I first started out new writers were criticized for writing for free. If we all stuck to that model now, most of our work would never see the light of day. Some will tell you never to pay for anything related to submissions, but then you 'd limit yourself to contests that carry little prestige and even less in prizes.

A while back I wrote about my experiences with a pay-per-click site, and how some writers think they are a bad idea. Well, bad or not, I've decided to go back to writing for Suite 101 and I am loving it. No, writing for pay-per-clicks will probably not get me a job with The New York Times or maybe not even with my community newspaper, and despite anomalies like the Suite writer who made almost $5,000 in one month, it probably won't put my daughter through grad school or even pay my grocery bill–-at least not the topics I write about. What it does get me is the opportunity to write on subjects I love but for which I do not have a "platform" as they call it in the business, and the chance to earn a few dollars while I'm at it.

When I delve into a subject, I go deep. While I never advanced beyond a BA in History, my studies imbued me with a need to go well beyond the surface. What started 10 years ago with Mari Sandoz's biography of Crazy Horse has grown into several hundred books on, not just American Indian and US Western History, but an understanding of current issues and the ability to argue some of the finer points of American Indian Law––that's what happens when you cross a wannabe historian with a wannabe lawyer. I've written book reviews for scholarly journals like Montana, the Magazine of Western History (which did feel pretty cool), but with no advanced degree or teaching position at a university, I'm not likely to get much published on that subject. That's why I took up writing on Native American/First Nations History  on Suite a few years ago.

Unfortunately the 10 article per month requirement for a Feature Writer (one who writes for and maintains the topic site) became onerous, especially for a meticulous researcher and fact checker like myself. Plus, even my deep well began to run dry. However, now Suite has something called a Contributing Writer. Not only are the production requirements less but CWs can contribute to any topic, meaning I can also write about writing and publishing–-think I know a wee bit about that––politics, healthcare, running a small business or any other topic on which I have something of value to contribute.

For me, Suite fills several needs:

• My need to write and express myself on various topics.
• My need to learn, because I always learn when I am researching details for an article.
• My need to be read, because otherwise what is the point of writing.

Maybe with more articles up on topics of greater interest, my earnings will increase too, but really the pittance I make is icing on the cake. I know that drives some professional freelancers nuts, and I won't even try to defend it except to say, I love it. I'm hooked, and others can jump up and down and scream until they are blue in the face.

Call it my guilty pleasure.

Social Networking: Do You Do It? Where, Why, and How?

Do you frequent social networking sites?  If so, which ones? Why, and how do you use them? To keep up with friends? To make professional contacts? I'm curious because this is one aspect of the Internet I just can't warm up to.

My readers must know by now that while I am old, I am not an old fogey. I have embraced the internet from the days when it took its first baby steps beyond the world of cyber-geeks. I joined the very earliest reviewers on Amazon back when they sold only books and public reviewing made them unique. I jumped into discussion forums in a big way, and I'm sure I don't need to mention how I championed online publications long before they cut into print's bottom line. I would also say I do a lot of networking online, but not at networking sites. I blog and visit and comment on other blogs. I've gone through several different website formats. I advertise my editing business, CROSSxCHECKING online, but there's something about those social sites I just can't get into.

First there was Facebook, begun by college kids to help other college kids stay in touch with high school friends and meet new people. It began just around the time my daughter left for college and remained the purview of the younger set until about a year ago when it suddenly exploded with adults posting profiles and searching for old friends. MySpace is pretty much the same though my daughter tells me it originally attracted the younger or non-collegiate set. I hadn't quite gotten used to either of those when everyone, young and old, started using Twitter, where you can gab the day away by keeping it down to 140 characters.

I have a profile on all these sites by default. Some group, organization, or publication I was associated with posted a profile and in order to become a follower or friend I needed to join. Search my page and you will find, almost exclusively, messages about political causes I support where the organization sent me an e-mail where all I needed to do was click on the link for the message to appear on my site for my handful of followers to read. Or at least I think that's how it works. For all I know my Tweets may be going out to the entire world.

It really isn't that I have anything against these sites per se, but there are several things keeping me away. One is the learning curve. They never seem to provide simple instructions on how it works. Mostly you learn through trial and error. When the Rose & Thorn went on Facebook I sent out more requests than a needy kindergartener to become a friend thinking it somehow didn't take because I wasn't informed immediately. And Twitter, don't even get me started about how arcane that system is.

The main reason though is, I haven't quite figured out why I should. In the past months I've received messages from acquaintances or former acquaintances who want to be my friend on Facebook. Some of them have my e-mail or phone number, so, um, why do we need to go to some other site to communicate? As for those with whom I've lost touch, like maybe there was a reason? Now I'm reading all the time about how Twitter provides a great tool for writers. You can advertise your own work, and it's supposed to have taken the place of classifieds for finding jobs. But I can't figure out how my ads are going to stand out in the cacophony, and as for the search end, that's another whole thing to figure out. I'm sure I could if I spent enough time, but, frankly, I don't know that I particularly want to. As a writer I already spend enough time I could otherwise use writing on Internet activities someone has convinced me are necessary like, yes, blogging and maintaining my website, and chatting in forums.

But there's a side of me that feels a little guilty about this. Am I falling behind? Have I really made a  reasoned decision or am I just afraid of the unknown? Is shunning Tweets the middle-aged equivalent of my Mom shunning e-mail? Am I turning into a curmudgeon or simply trying to make better use of my time?

So, what do you think?

Read and Submit Your Favorite Reviews

This is a great site brought to my attention by John Gorman author of Shades of Luz. Reviewers, authors, and readers (with permission) may submit one review per month. The nice thing is it gives books published by smaller presses a chance. For example, you'll find reviews of poetry chapbooks. While I usually prefer sites that link back to read the entire article, in the case of reviews by small presses and self-published authors, the more publicity the better. If readers prefer going to one site for their reviews, it's better than not reading them at all. Plus reviews do include a link to your site, so they make a good introduction.

The Writing Sweat Shoppe

At the end of an earlier post about submission fees I mentioned a site that claimed to send you writing assignments for which you'd be paid a minimum of $150, but they first required a $20 deposit. That was an obvious scam, but today I came across something legit, but almost as bad––a site I'll call "The Writing Sweat Shoppe". 

I found the ad in a respected newsletter that advertises only paying markets. I have no quarrel with the newsletter as I know from my time at The Rose & Thorn, you can't investigate every advertiser. That's why newsletters and writing magazines always include a disclaimer telling you to use caution. Besides, this was a paying market, but there's pay and then there's pay.

First, some explanation. I think I am every bit as good––in fact probably better––at writing nonfiction articles and opinion pieces as I am at fiction. My first editing job was craft articles, and what I didn't already know about article writing I learned from the excellent writer and editor I worked under. However, with the exception of The Philadelphia Inquirer I don't have really valuable published clips because I hate researching markets and sending query letters. It's one thing to read literary journals to find a match for your work, it's another to slog through Fence Post Manufacturers of America. The majority of my clips are on pay-per-click sites that, while they may demonstrate my writing ability, don't count for much in the scheme of things.

That being the case, my interest was piqued by an ad for a site that assigned contract work. The writing jobs ranged from topics needing to be researched and written to putting completed research in readable form. You could take on as much or as little work as you liked. Most of it was ghostwriting, but that didn't concern me. Ghostwriting is a legitimate business, and while my name wouldn't appear on the article, I wasn't looking for name recognition, just some income to support my expensive fiction habit. The company owner offered "if your writing is good, I'll write a letter of recommendation."

That "if" should have raised my antennae. How could they run a ghost writing service with bad writers? Instead, I sent an e-mail expressing my interest. The reply came back immediately, asking me to return the attached nondisclosure agreement on any information I might be writing about and include two writing samples.

Worrying that my pay-per-click samples might not be good enough, and refusing to get my hopes up, I waited until I had some time to carefully choose the pieces I thought best illustrated my writing and research capabilities and e-mailed them with the agreement (which I read carefully to ensure it put me under no obligation and required no sensitive information), then settled in for a long wait or perhaps no reply all. After that I trekked to the mailbox to post the required extra hardcopy of the agreement calculating, along the way, how many articles I could write in a week and how much I'd make at what I assumed must be a minimum of $50 per piece.

To my chagrin a reply awaited me on my return. The owner was ready to take me on (had this person even read my clips?), if I was satisfied with the rates––$3.00 for 375 words and $6.00 for 650 words and as much work as I wanted to take on.

I was and remain dumbfounded. Needless to say, I turned it down. Considering even my blog posts often take more than an hour to write, what kind of hourly rate could I make at that scale? True, my pay-per-click articles pay a pittance, but they are topics I chose to write about, and I have the byline, which, I might add, has paid off handsomely from time to time with requests for re-prints. That couldn't happen here. This is mostly ghostwriting.

What really boggles my mind is knowing there are people out there who will take this on. They are so desperate to have their writing accepted, even if they can't claim it, or to receive some kind of pay for which they can now officially call themselves "writers" that they will jump at the chance.  Of course, one has to wonder how much this contractor gets paid on her end for these articles––ten times at the least, I'd imagine, or it wouldn't be worth it. She sounded pretty desperate to add more writers, so if no one accepted her offer, she'd have to turn over more of her take. Sadly, I'm going to guess she'll fill all the slots plus have some writers in the wings she can call on later.

Then again, we should be glad she wasn't offering the work for free, 'cuz I bet she'd get some people to do that too.

Online Publishing at the Crossroads

My friend John Gorman author of Shades of Luz very kindly returned the favor and invited me to guest on his blog Paper Cut. The article deals with how the original literary zines will fare now that so many top-tier print journals have gone online. I warn you, it's a little long, but all those pioneering zines are near and dear to my heart.

Corvus by L. Lee Lowe

Chapter 1 of l. lee lowe's most recent serialized online Fantasy/Sci Fi novel is now live. Click on the title of this post or on the image in the sidebar to go directly to the site where you can begin reading the novel or listen to it as a podcast. Feedbooks are also available for iPhones and ereaders.

Corvus by L. Lee Lowe

My blogger friend, Lee Lowe just announced she will begin the serialization of her new YA novel, Corvus on August 14. Don't forget to stop by and check it out.

Issue # 3 Sotto Voce Now Live

Issue #3 of Sotto Voce just went live. I just received the notice and have to dash off to work this morning, but I hope Managing Editor Emily Thorp doesn't mind my quoting her note to staff that due to our "disparate tastes" it is "varied and unusual," which is a tribute to their fantastic review system and what, I believe, will keep readers coming back.

As most of you probably know––or will if you click the link to my interview with Emily––all submission remain anonymous during the review process and each is rated by about twenty reviewers. So two things I especially enjoy about a new issue are seeing if any of the stories I liked made it in and the bios of the writers. It's fun to see if I guessed right on gender.

This seems like a good time to also mention that starting with the next issue I will be an Assistant Fiction Editor at SV. That means I'll be helping with the editing of accepted pieces.

Please visit Sotto Voce, and don't forget to vote for the stories you'd like to see in the annual print anthology. Oh, and––ahem––if this is your first visit, check out the archives where you'll find one story of mine in the spring and fall issues, and it's not too late to vote for them too!

And the Winner Is (Are)....

Angie Ledbetter of Gumbo Writer has announced the winners of the first-ever Gumbo Writers Contest. The entries were so good (and I can attest to that), there was a tie for first place. The winners will receive a free edit/critique from CROSSxCHECKING  and a little prize of my own thrown in––10% off their next edit or critique and 15% if they refer a friend.

It was so much fun, I'm thinking of running my own contest when things calm down around here in the fall. So stay tuned.

Maybe our contest expert, Angie, will help out!

Congratulations to our winners and to all who took the time to polish their work and send it in.

And don't forget, you can now sign up for our monthly newsletter on the  CROSSxCHECKING site.

"One Lovely Blog" Award

Many thanks to Kimberly Davis of Kim's Craft Blog for awarding me the One Lovely Blog Award.
I agree it is a great way to bring attention to our favorite blogs, and I especially appreciate being nominated by one of my very favorite bloggers.

So, in keeping with the tradition, following are my nominees:

Gumbo Writer

Tender Graces

Open the Vein

Innovative: A Word for the Writeen

These are the blogs, in addition to Kim's, that I frequent regularly, because they are fun, informative, and have a clever twist.

Adnan Mahmtutovic Has a New E-Book Out with Cantara

How exciting. This is the second time in as many weeks I get to announce the release of a book written by one of my friends. Adnan Mahmutovic's new e-book, Illegitimate, is now available for download at Cantara Books. I blogged about Adnan's writing in a Getting to Know Us post last month. Since his short fiction blows me away, I think I can recommend a download of his novel even before I have a chance to review it, which I promise to do on Cross Reference asap. Adnan's characters and settings are always rich and compelling.

For another sample of Adnan's writing, you'll find his essay "Homecoming" in the current issue of The Rose & Thorn. I also noticed that a $10 donation will get you a free copy of Refuge[e].(Be sure to scroll down). Two Mahmutovic books available at the same time––an embarrassment of riches.

Money Matters for Writers: New Submission Service

From time to time I post about "Money Matters for Writers." Generally these posts cover services that writers pay for as opposed to being paid for. The purpose is not to tell readers what services are worth the money, but to point out the pros and cons writers might want to consider before making their own decision.

Several months ago I posted about submission services in general. Recently a new submission service called WordHustler came to my attention, so I checked it out.

The first thing that hit me was the difference in pricing from, say, Writer's Relief. Last I checked, WR was charging anywhere from $125 for a la carte services (a list of 25 targeted markets along with mailing labels and cover letter) to a few hundred for keeping your work in constant circulation. WordHustler fees for submitting by post or online run from $.99 for under four pages to $8.99 ($.10/page over 50). This includes printing and copying, postage, and SASE. They also boast a database of "more than 3000 literary markets" available for free.

So what does WordHustler provide for the fee? It appears that writers upload their work, then peruse the database to find markets (as opposed to a service that targets markets for you). Writers then choose the markets they want to submit to and WordHustler does the rest. WH estimates that a 120-page screenplay would cost approximately $52 to submit, the largest part of which is $29.99 for a "directory service" (like Writer's Market?) The second largest portion of the cost is printing at $18.

In evaluating the service I went by what I normally submit, which is a short story of about 20 pages. Postage usually runs me about $1.89 plus an SASE for the reply (why do I need the entire ms back when I have it in Word files) is 42 cents. That's $2.31. I've never calculated the cost of printing out the story, but if my algebra still serves me, if 120 pages costs $18 to print then 20 pages costs about $3.00. Office supplies, again based on estimates for 120 pages, would be approximately 17 cents. I haven't paid for a database in years. So far we're up to $5.48 for a submission. Time saved waiting in line––priceless.

Well, maybe, but I usually use the postage machines at my PO and there are rarely more than a couple people ahead of me. More significant though, I submit maybe 3 ms per year by post these days. Mostly I submit via e-mail or online submission systems, which are absolutely free.

WordHustler's database is free (so is Duotropes and I get that in my e-mail each week). WH advertises that you can target markets by searching the Market Finder. I wasn't able to target more than genre, however more could be available if you register. I didn't bother to do that as I'm not interested in the service and I don't need more e-mails from services I don't use. They also advertise that the database is kept up-to-date, though when I went through the list (which is extensive I'll admit), I came across a couple of dead links.

So, is it worth the price? That's a personal choice. As a purely business decision, submission services aren't very cost-effective. Consider that, even if you get that one submission to the famous journal that pays $150 using a service like Writer's Relief, you'd have to get two of those a year, just to break even. If you go the WordHustler route and send out 4 submissions a month of 20 pages, you're talking about $192 per year––but remember, the markets aren't targeted.

Of course, in the writing game money isn't always the sole form of profit. (In fact, if you are in it for the money, you may just as well quit right now.) You may need that one publication to build your self esteem, or paying for a service that gets you into a well-known journal could provide a credit that opens doors at others. For some, writing is a hobby they engage in at the end of an otherwise lucrative workday. They may have money to spend for a service but not the time to prepare and send submissions and track them on a spreadsheet. That's another case where a submission service might be valuable.

As with anything you spend your money on, value is in the eyes of the beholder. Just make sure your eyes are wide open when you evaluate the benefit a service might have for you.

Useful Sites for Writers

Here are some useful sites for writers I've come across lately.

BookFox ranks literary journals by competitiveness. As the blogger notes, this isn't exhaustive ( I didn't see Salmagundi the lit journal of my daughter's alma mater, Skidmore) , and one could argue with some of the rankings, but it's a start.

Needless to say I wouldn't necessarily agree with his zine rankings. It's been my experience with the Million Writers Award that winners usually represent print journals that have either moved totally online or have an online counterpart.

From the Writers Relief Newsletter, scroll down to see the average submissions some of the better-known journals receive. I found these numbers a little surprising since Emily Thorp, Managing Editor of Sotto Voce mentions over 1,000 short story submissions for their first issue, and I know it has been going up steadily as she recently needed to hire more reviewers. Barbara Quinn of The Rose & Thorn always estimated at least 400 submissions per month. So if you've been accepted to a zine, you may not be competing against the biggest names, but don't let anyone have you think you didn't compete against big numbers.

If you think you'll never make a penny on your writing, check out Funds for Writers and consider subscribing to one or more of Editor Hope Clark's free newsletters (if you get the one for small markets in the next month, you'll see my cool new add for CROSSxCHECKING). These include nonfiction as well as fiction markets.

Back to the literary scene, a great site I discovered (forgive me if I've mentioned this before by it's worth it), reviews Literary Magazines for fiction writers. Click on one of the mags listed in alpahbetical order and get some great info including the type of story they usually publish. This can save loads of money on sample issues. Not that I wouldn't suggest reading a journal before submitting, but this helps you eliminate the ones that aren't a match for your style.

If you have sites you find helpful in your research or that have helped you achieve success, let us know in a comment.

The Barcelona Review: Some Good Reading

I really enjoyed this issue of The Barcelona Review.  Asa market it is non-paying, can take up to 4-5 months for response, and it looks like they don't want sim subs, so as a submitter rather than a reader, you might want to think on it. 

I liked the interesting plots of these stories, though.

Getting to Know Us: L.Lee Lowe

Sorry, I'm a little behind in my "Getting to Know Us" post. I usually pre-post for 8:00 AM, but what can I say. Yesterday was bookkeeping day, I'm working on my taxes, and life has gotten a little crazy here, with some good things and some not so good.

Anyway, without further ado, let me reintroduce blogger L. Lee Lowe. I say reintroduce, because those of you who have been following my blog for a while may remember her guest post Self-Publishing Online. If you haven't read it, go back and check it out.

If you don't know it already, Lee is not your average blogger. Yes, she maintains a personal blog, Lowebrow, (how I envy people with names that can be made into catchy titles), but she has also serialized one YA novel online––Mortal Ghost––and has just begun the second––Corvus.

Besides being a good writer and an interesting blogger, L.Lee Lowe could serve as the poster child for online publishing. Her decision wasn't made after years of unsuccessful shopping of her work. She had an agent but decided she would have more control and could reach more readers––especially her focus audience of young adults––online. She has also made use of the all the venues available, like podcasts, PDF, e-book, and downloads to ereaders and iPhones.

Very impressive stuff. I encourage you to visit all three sites as soon as you can!

Independent Lens

Check out my sidebar and you'll see a new addition to the blog. Now you can view video previews of the PBS program, Independent Lens. If you aren't familiar with it, the program airs indie films made by a variety of people on a variety of topics. I really enjoy both the creative approach and subject matter that often isn't tackled anywhere else.

If you see something you like, check your local listings.

Narrative Magazine: Paying to Be Read

Narrative Magazine has taken an interesting and novel approach to publishing. The magazine is free to readers. They pay a healthy sum to published writers, but they charge a reading fee for each submission––$20 for a short story and $10 for five poems.

Not so long ago when I first began submitting, experienced writers were scandalized at the proliferation of publications––online and small print start-ups–-that didn't pay. Now paying markets are more the exception than the rule, and online publications are more likely to pay than print, though payment is usually a "token" of $25 or less. Add to this that many novelists published by the standard houses often put more money into marketing their work than they get out of it. You may say that paying to have your work read was the obvious next step.

Narrative is hardly a small start-up publication. No less a writer than Rick Bass chose to serialize his novel in the online magazine. For writers like Bass and Oates and Lahiri, for whom publication is pretty much guaranteed, $20 amounts to a very small charitable donation to keep literary magazines alive. But for the rest of us, it's like playing the slots. So, is it fair? And more important, is it the model for the future?

I'm on my third submission to Narrative, but one was a contest and just about every contest charges a reading fee. Plus the fee included a three-month subscription to Backstage––a $50 value. So for these purposes, let's say I've spent $40 on submitting and stand to receive $150 if my "Story of the Week" is accepted. That would put me $110 in the black for that particular publication, though for my entire writing year I would still be far in the red.

As the costs of being a writer go, the return value for submitting to Narrative is at least calculable. Even better than slots or the lottery, when I pays my money I know exactly how much I stand to gain if I "win." Based on that I can make a quantifiable decision that works for me, and I've decided on two submissions per year. When I compare that with my other expenses––conferences, workshops, writing magazines––with no quantifiable return, it begins to look a lot better.

More apropos to the topic is the "several sample issues" you are encouraged to read before submitting to any literary publication. You can read everything in Narrative for free, so in a sense, the reading fee covers what those other magazines make on samples. Of course, more and more print journals, even if they don't maintain an online counterpart, make sample work available online. As a writer I see this as only fair, since many of these journals don't pay and sample issues can add up to hundreds of dollars per year. However, what will happen to these journals if writers don't have to buy them? I'd venture to say prospective submitters make up the lion's share of most literary journals' readers.

In a world where literary publications just can't make money and more people are reading online and expecting it to remain free, something is going to have to give in order for these publications––online or print––to survive. For my part, I think I'd rather make an upfront payment on the chance of making several times that if my work is published than being nickeled and dimed with no chance of payment and, eventually, fewer and fewer places to submit my work.

What do you think? Cast your vote in the poll.

Grammar Rules for the Unenlightened

Here's a really fun page on writing from the University of North Texas.

Grammar Humor by Paul R. Hensel

Brought to my attention on the Writer's Relief Blog.

WritingRaw.com and Other Post Your Own Work Sites

Every time I start thinking I've run out of topics to blog about, something drops in my lap. In forums on The Writer Magazine site I came upon a post about a new site, WritingRaw.com. 

According to their website,

Writing Raw is a a literary sharing website where writers can upload, review and share their writing.

Another poster asks,

This sounds fine, especially for a beginner. Get your work seen and read. But what happens if you then want to submit the same piece to a paying publication....Does [this] count as published?

That's a great question, Jimmy (or whatever your name is), and one that comes up often, though I'd refer to any selective publication, paying or non-paying. I'd also add variations on that question that often arise. Does posting your work in a forum where writers exchange feedback count as "published?" What about work you post on your personal website.

Writer's forums

Generally speaking publications are not going to consider drafts posted in a forum for feedback as having been previously published. This is really no different than distributing photocopies of your work to the writer's group that meets at your library every Tuesday or reading your work in a workshop setting. True, the piece posted online may be available to more readers, but, presumably it isn't finished, and it's not the final draft you are planning to submit. Furthermore, participants don't  go to the site to find reading material. They go to exchange feedback. So, no problem there.

Work posted on your website

If you are planning to submit a piece elsewhere for publication, it is a good idea not to post the entire work on your website. You can post excerpts as a means of advertising your style and voice and perhaps enticing a publisher to take a look. You can also, provided you retain the rights, post previously published work on your site. However, an editor might not be pleased to learn that the piece he just published had already been available on your website for a couple of years.

Work posted in non-selective zines

From what I could tell from a visit to Writing Raw* it is not selective. That is, any writer can post his/her work there. It doesn't need to be reviewed and accepted. Readers can provide feedback, but the purpose of this feedback does not appear to be critique. It's more of an opinion. For example, Narrative invites feedback on their Story of the Week, but one would hardly consider it the same as feedback in a workshop or writer's forum.

So, to answer the poster's question, yes, work posted at Writing Raw and other similar sites would be considered to have been previously published and therefore would not meet the guidelines for most publications and competitions. Furthermore, it is not something you can brag about in a cover letter, because it isn't selective. In fact, mentioning it could go against you. So, until you've lost all hope of publishing in a selective venue, this isn't the best type of site to publish your work.

*This is not meant to be a criticism of Writing Raw. From what I can tell the owners of the site have no ulterior motive but to provide a site for writers to post work for others to read, and there is nothing improper or illegitimate about that. I simply refer to it here as an example of a site where writer post their own work with no vetting. This is the only site I mention by name because others I've known from the past (and considered posting on once upon a time) are no longer around.

Sotto Voce Interview Clarification

Apparently some misunderstanding arose in zine writer's recent interview with SV's Managing Editor, Emily Thorp, regarding feedback on rejected submissions.

Emily says:

Quite a few people have expressed their disappointment that we “no longer provide” candid feedback.

Clarification: I did not mean to imply that we no longer respond with frank criticism. We still do honest, and we still do candid. We just started removing criticism from reviewers if it was mean-spirited and/or completely unhelpful (e.g., "This sucks"). While certain pieces may, in fact, "suck," we realized that including that in our feedback did not help anyone, even the author, and that it engendered needless bad feelings from contributors who, after all, took the time to send work to us.

In the spirit of authentic feedback, however, if the feedback says, "This sucks because ..." and goes on to detail the issues with the piece, it stays in!


Emily Thorp
Managing Editor
Sotto Voce