There’s an interesting, heated conversation going on at this blog about whether editors of literary journals solicit work instead of digging from the slush pile. Then, the writer from the aforementioned Writer, Rejected (which is fast becoming one of my favorite writing blogs, I must say) questioned whether editors should be soliciting work in the first place, saying, “The answers may make you start to think that getting published is who you know, not what you write. Seriously, some of the candid responses will make your hair curl.”

Well! That made some editors very angry, including Ellen Parker, editor of FRiGG, who Word Pirates interviewed awhile back. There’s some interesting commenting going on.

The way I see it, there are two kinds of solicitation:

A. The editor reads work she admires and asks the person to submit to the journal. I don’t see a problem with this. There’s no rule that a literary journal has to take from the slush pile. In fact, it’s good that these relationships exist because most likely, there is some sort of aesthetic connection between the writer and editor, and that can lead to great artistic partnerships and even, in the best cases, entire shifts in the literary landscape.

B. The editor solicits from friends and people she wants to network with to promote her own career. Naturally, this brings up issues of nepotism and favoritism, which go on in every industry there is. In the worst cases, it turns the lit journal into little more than a vanity publication for the editor’s friends.

In the case of A., the solicitation is based on writing. In the case of B., it is based on who the person knows. However! It gets further complicated, because most literary journals want to publish big names, which means soliciting writers based on their reputation, which is a little from column A. and a little column B. But you know, even that is understandable, as long as the journal doesn’t become something that is built purely to chase reputation and prestige.

As a freelance writer, it’s much easier when an editor and I have a working relationship. Trust is built. If they have an assignment, they come to me first because they know I can do it. If I have a great idea, I go to them first because I know they will be receptive. I don’t have to work so hard, neither does the editor. Does that mean that no other writers can write for that magazine? Of course not. It’s true that I am taking up a slot that keeps other writers out. The editor knows that my work will be clean, well-written, and turned in on time, so taking a chance on a new writer is more of a risk than using me. However, if a new writer approaches the editor with a pitch that is a great idea, fits in with the publication, and clearly demonstrates the ability to write the piece, the majority of editors will take that pitch.

Lit journals are similar. The editor is concerned with finding writers who not only can write a good story, but who can write a story that fits in with the journal’s aesthetic tone. It’s natural, then, that the editor would be more concerned with finding those writers through whatever means–solicitation, relationships based on respect (not favoritism), what have you–than digging through the slush pile for the one or two good stories that are in there. However, that doesn’t mean that when she does dig through the slush pile, and your story stands out, she’s not going to take it. It sucks that the odds are so low, but that’s the writing life. And really, if I were in that editor’s place, I would probably do the same thing.

~ Joy