tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post1710738646836527889..comments2024-01-10T04:32:03.578-05:00Comments on Literary Rejections on Display Now Has Long COVID: The Bioethics of RejectionWriter, Rejectedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17241982229214057815noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-39832168737010592662008-06-01T11:48:00.000-04:002008-06-01T11:48:00.000-04:00To be fair though, literary magazines sow the seed...To be fair though, literary magazines sow the seeds of their own demise. Stephen King was talking about how he went into a bookstore and had to really search out the magazines. He bought four of them. The total? Over $80<BR/><BR/>When a magazine costs $12-$20 and they are not paying contributors or are paying them less than the cost of a single issue, something is amiss. To be honest, the journals are responsible for the decline and ghettoizing of short stories. In this day and age of decreased attention spans and full schedules, interesting stories of less than 5,000 words should be in demand, but marketing sucks. <BR/><BR/>Most journals are pretentious (I’ll go ahead and include anything named (insert) Review) when it comes to popularization; there is really no excuse to continue to run print magazines. Special print editions are nice, but the circulation is so low and the price tag so high, that print-only journals harm the artform. If they aren't paying contributors more than an honorarium, then they have no excuse to not publish directly to the web, maybe even allow a small ad or two.<BR/><BR/>It's just not worth it to buy journals if you are on a fixed budget, when you can get short story collections and anthologies at the library. It sounds a bit shady, but literary journals are worth nothing but a publication credit. <BR/><BR/>Web-based lit journals are the wave of the future. Why wouldn't contributors read web-based journals or support them? Simply click a link and read. No need to search in vain for a print mag, or cough up half a day’s wage, or wait weeks/months for an issue to arrive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-90951297587200160082008-05-31T22:17:00.000-04:002008-05-31T22:17:00.000-04:00Because something works for one person, doesn't ne...Because something works for one person, doesn't necessarily mean it works for someone else. <BR/><BR/>One key point Appel makes, though: being addicted to literary magazines. If you want to publish in them, you have to absorb them wholesale into yourself. It helps, anyway.rmellishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133206908895131438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-30257074772073558712008-05-31T13:52:00.000-04:002008-05-31T13:52:00.000-04:00It depends on your writing personality. That is wh...It depends on your writing personality. That is when one really starts a new day, when it is a day of creation. If you feel different tomorrow, yet are still bound by today's work, then that can be problematic for some. <BR/><BR/>The thing I've noticed about Hemingway, Appel, and others is that their writing hours are word count (in Hemingway's case he wrote 500 words per day) are somewhat limited or low. <BR/><BR/>John Gardner, for instance, wrote upwards of 12 hours a day. <BR/><BR/>Flow State:<BR/>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-88518753449972074542008-05-31T11:14:00.000-04:002008-05-31T11:14:00.000-04:00Completely agree with the notion of not writing un...Completely agree with the notion of not writing until you're spent - who wants to start the day with a blank page staring at you? I had heard it was a Hemingwayism.Leigh Purtillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00477635525179050959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-49456678286139806502008-05-31T10:00:00.000-04:002008-05-31T10:00:00.000-04:00Wow, I live in that neighborhood, too. I didn't re...Wow, I live in that neighborhood, too. I didn't realize until you mentioned Appletree and Toast.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-19147834731946922312008-05-31T00:30:00.000-04:002008-05-31T00:30:00.000-04:00Okay, you know how sometimes you learn a new word,...Okay, you know how sometimes you learn a new word, and then suddenly you see that word everywhere? Well, suddenly Mr. Appel is everywhere. I was just looking up body modifications on Wikipedia (don't ask), and I surfed over to the article on tongue splitting (really, don't ask), and what do I see at the bottom under references?<BR/>"Appel, Jacob M. In Defense of Tongue Splitting, Journal of Clinical Ethics, Fall 2005. Pp. 236-8"<BR/>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongue_splitting<BR/><BR/>Seriously, he's everywhere. It's spooky. Furthermore, I Googled him to make sure it was the same JMA, and according to his website (http://www.jacobmappel.com) he lives a few blocks away from me. So now I suppose it's only a matter of time until I start seeing him at Appletree or Toast.<BR/><BR/>Thanks, WR, for helping to remind me that the literary world is disturbingly small.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-72655911363600127822008-05-30T18:50:00.000-04:002008-05-30T18:50:00.000-04:00There are two-schools of thought on stopping at th...There are two-schools of thought on stopping at the peak. Some people, like Hemingway, who made the quote, can pull it off, especially if they have an active life outside of writing. Hemingway was a drunk and also used alcohol to take the edge off. <BR/><BR/>Personally, I get into a flow state and stopping before I've exhausted myself is usually a recipe for severe depression and insomnia.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-59719882298707080112008-05-30T18:42:00.000-04:002008-05-30T18:42:00.000-04:00Stopping at your peak. Wasn't that the advice of s...Stopping at your peak. Wasn't that the advice of some famous writer who also recommended you stop mid-sentence, so you can start your writing where you left off without having to start from scratch each day?<BR/><BR/>What it greatest about this post is that it adds a whole new dimension to this blog, which has largely been about bitching and moaning albeit humorously about editors, agents and rejections. Jacob is infusing a very positive and constructive element that might inspire a change of tenor to this blog altogether: how to live with and persevere despite rejection, which is inevitable.xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17866348942612559536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-86438417118140016112008-05-30T15:11:00.000-04:002008-05-30T15:11:00.000-04:00Is he single or wot?Is he single or wot?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-3019539850392026692008-05-30T14:10:00.000-04:002008-05-30T14:10:00.000-04:00I love the idea about stopping writing when you're...I love the idea about stopping writing when you're just passing over the zenith of inspiration. That's something I've never considered... no wonder he's our hero!<BR/><BR/>The QuoibetteThe Quoiblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13632853309100258560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-30567888716625193002008-05-30T11:36:00.000-04:002008-05-30T11:36:00.000-04:00Jacobean week. I like it.Jacobean week. I like it.Writer, Rejectedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17241982229214057815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-52525206198238289322008-05-30T11:20:00.000-04:002008-05-30T11:20:00.000-04:00I like the way his writing economy works -- you ge...I like the way his writing economy works -- you get some money from contests, selling stories, and you plow it right back into journals -- they could certainly use the cash. You write because you like it. I haven't read his stories yet, but I certainly think his attitude about his work is terrific. Here's to Jacob Uh-Pell! I'm going to dedicate my next round of submissions to him. In fact, I think a good, healthy week of getting work out there should be referred to as a jacobean week.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com