I hate it.
Maybe it's because it seems a bit too American Idol to me: C'mon everybody, stand right up in front of the world to expose your dreams, fragile ego, and quite possibly your hopeless inadequacy, for a too-public humiliation and 99.7% chance of heartbreak.
Er, pass.
Or, maybe it's too reminiscent of high school on Valentine's Day, when the popular kids sifted through their piles of cards and flowers during Homeroom, while the rest of us sat waiting through it second by painful second, mortified by our empty desks.
Rejection's one thing. It's a part of every writer's life and you get used to it. But a rejection this drawn-out and public? Sheesh, just give me my spear and net and toss me to the lions instead, until the cheers or jeers of the crowd decide whether I live or die, 'k? Same thing, only less degrading.
Of course there's always the rare chance to hope for: that somehow, someday, one's entry would be among those floating to the top. Then what? The privilege of guilt as we watch our own favourite writers fall away—especially if they're fellow writers whom we know personally? Ouch. Although, I suppose it's marginally better than watching an old rival climb the ranks right past us to glory... oh no...
No, I don't like it at all. It used to be that this only happened after publication, when the critics got their mitts on your book. Getting it from both ends of the publication timeline just doesn't seem fair. Unfortunately, it seems to be a trend I might need to get used to.
...Like social networking! And oh no, not another one; as if Facebook and Twitter weren't enough, I've done it again:
Visit Writer's Digest Community
If you're interested in writing or publishing , it's actually quite helpful and friendly. There's even a group discusssing The Future of Publishing, a fine place for discussions of these public
17 comments: join in!:
Susan;
I wouldn't like it either.. rejection in public is a zillion times worse then a single idiot editor! Of course if the editor likes what you've submitted the he's a genius.
Maybe it's the internet ... of course it has something to do with this new policy. This way certainly helps the editors... I would think.
I don't think my skin is thick enough for this. I hated making speaches in public too.
I feel your pain!
That idea sounds awful. It’s bad enough having something you have submitted being read by one person for evaluation, to have it put in front of a baying Idol style mob? No ta.
Peggy, LOL over the idiot v. genius! But it's true; when we're rejected by a single editor it's easy to soothe with "well, we're just not a fit". When a whole crowd boos you off the stage, oh, OW!! Definitely I'd prefer sticking with the editor's desk, not the audition stage!
Dan, YEAH! Just the being read and evaluated is difficult, never mind the scores. *sigh*
Oh dear... my tender ego would send me out to the beach to drown myself. I don't like this at all. I think I'd have a hard time with rejection letters, too. You are definitely made of strong stuff, Susan since you've told us that you've fielded a few of those nasty editor letters.
Kay, it's *definitely* a deterrent--I'd be on the beach for all the wrong reasons too! But it certainly is an easier way for editors to deal with an ever-increasing number of submissions, so I'm afraid this *might* be a wave of the future. I hope not.
Oh no. Reality TV has made it to publishing. What's next, Geraldo interviewing the losers?
Good grief! Honestly, that was the kindest thought I could come up with in an um....public forum. ;)
Not for me either. Ego wounding is difficult enough when only one spear is being thrown at you. Don't need a tribe [who probably don't even read on a regular basis unless their computer game calls for it] of barbs hurled at me.
But thanks for giving me a heads up. I'll keep off that path. :)
Quilly, ROFLMAO!!
Hope, exactly. There's a big difference between a gentleman's duel and a firing squad, isn't there? In one you can shake hands afterwards and say no hard feelings, and move on.
In both cases, I'm thinking of the *second* editor I'd want to approach. At least with a succession of editor's desks, you always have another chance... but who wants to send out something knowing that the editor can google your name and title and discover your whole sad public failure of this very manuscript? no thanks!
Sounds like being back at school :0
What we endure for a moment of expression ... to be heard.
Akelamalu, maybe THAT's why I've broken out in hives...
Sande, hello and thanks! I suppose it's a contradiction that I publish my thoughts free on this blog and *enjoy* rather than dread the comments... but my fiction's a very different matter. This bears thinking on...
I agree with you about this. All it does turn into is a popularity contest. It's a bunch of BS if you ask me. :)
Thanks Thom, that was exactly my phrasing when I first saw it happening. I can see why editors would want ways to whittle down their slush piles, but I really hope *this* method fails spectacularly. Will wait and see...
Oh, goody, more popularity contests.
Book Review #5 - Merle's Door
Must be tough although I know writers who have been at it for years and constantly revising and being rejected by publishers despite being told their manuscripts are marketable. Maybe there's some merit in knowing before you go through the publication route whether your book is 'popular' or not.
Nessa--exactly.
:-P
But Baino, when that IS the publication route, it sucks. If I work all year on a book and it's not marketable, I'd rather know in a few private editorial letters, than the ol' public point-and-laugh. But I do have to wonder if this isn't the publishing industry's answer to being swamped with so many manuscripts, many of them frankly quite bad? Or, as your friends have found, just bad timing with what's hot now, v. tomorrow or yesterday?
It does seem that there should be a better way, but boy I hope this isn't it.
A single person is, more often than not, a reasonable and compassionate individual. People, however, are stupid, often cruel, and always bring harm upon themselves if left alone long enough. This is why one person can be a hero but it takes a large group to elect a politician...
As a group, people don't know what they want. As an individual, a smart person can usually get the people what they want.
So, of course, editors are the way to go rather than the dancing, chanting, ranting mob that is the internet.
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