Thank You, But No Thank You: Thoughts on Electronic Submissions
Years ago a mentor told me, “always have something under consideration.” I took her advice seriously and for the past several years I have always had quite a bit of work under consideration at quite a few magazines. Until the last year and a half, nearly all of those were print submissions.
There was a tangible excitement to getting the mail everyday—the predictable time and, with the quantity of work I was sending out, the predictable flow of mail. Sure, it was mostly rejection, but I was once again holding that envelope, laboriously self-labeled, with the knowledge that it had been in the hands of someone whose decisions had a real impact on my life.
Some journals consistently wrote personal notes, mentioning a specific poem that came close, or at least encouraging me to send again. And without any sense of masochism, I have saved all of the rejections I have ever received. They stand as the physical representation, however slight, of my tenacity.
When a few, then many, journals started offering, then encouraging, the option to submit electronically, I bit. It was more efficient, less wasteful and usually free. Responses arrived more quickly, though unpredictably, and my tracking system became streamlined. And yet, these rejections almost never include a personal note. I have continued to see the varying tiers in rejection, but the absence of the personal touch is troubling.
Some of the journals that finally took me on after years of rejection encouraged me along the way, letting me know I was at least aiming in the right direction. Of course, this wasn’t always the case, but it seems with electronic submissions there is an ever greater distance from writer to editor.
Even so, I’m still a sucker for the convenience, so much so that in the past year I have nearly submitted work entirely to magazines that accept work electronically. I’ve been busy and broke, and trying to follow my mentor’s advice has been a challenge. “Like” isn’t the right word for how I feel about rejections, but I do appreciate them and believe they are as valuable as acceptance. One needs to continually recommit to this often thankless practice and for me rejection has strengthened my devotion.
Seeing as I’ve been on the other end of the stick, turning other writers down, I know it doesn’t take too much to send a bit of hope when earned. I’ll keep up my end of the deal sending in any form possible and hope that editors might learn to bring along their old practices to this still-new digital medium. After all, writers and editors depend on each other to do good work—and we all know a few words can go a long way.


