Backlog
Well, seeing how I have a few short stories that are late in responses, it brought to mind one of the themes of the last year or so -- where lit mags will say that they are on hiatus or have long response times (recall my post about McSweeney's with my 20-month wait), which means they take much longer to respond than posted.
Are there more fiction writers out there now? Is it that so many now have electronic submission processes? I guess my biggest theory is that during the recession, lots of writers got back to writing as opposed to concentrating on their day jobs. During the recession, I was out of work twice, and then underemployed for a year, which resulted in a steep curve of productivity for me, fiction-wise.
I also think it's arguable that during the recession, lots of people transferred loyalty from the companies they worked for to the things they enjoyed with their free time -- whether that might be families or loved ones, or something they feel close to, like writing fiction.
Anyway, my sense is the competition is steeper than ever, despite the fact that the Internet has spawned a lot of new markets for short fiction.
Thanks for reading,
LLB
Are there more fiction writers out there now? Is it that so many now have electronic submission processes? I guess my biggest theory is that during the recession, lots of writers got back to writing as opposed to concentrating on their day jobs. During the recession, I was out of work twice, and then underemployed for a year, which resulted in a steep curve of productivity for me, fiction-wise.
I also think it's arguable that during the recession, lots of people transferred loyalty from the companies they worked for to the things they enjoyed with their free time -- whether that might be families or loved ones, or something they feel close to, like writing fiction.
Anyway, my sense is the competition is steeper than ever, despite the fact that the Internet has spawned a lot of new markets for short fiction.
Thanks for reading,
LLB
posted by LadyLitBlitzin at 3:53 PM
4 Comments:
An interesting theory. My own biggest output was definitely when I was unemployed a couple years ago. My underemployed status pushes me to do other things, both the reviews and fiction. And probably the blog as well. It makes sense to me.
I also think it has to do with the ease of electronic submissions. A lot of submissions we get don't seem to have much contemplation associated with them; it's too easy to attach a file (that's likely not been proofread) into an e-mail to an anonymous site. I think mailing something physical is more deliberate; presention is more important and, since it costs money to print and post, one is more judicious about what one sends.
Also, because there are more journals now, there is more accessibility. No longer is the literary journal the property of some elite university's writing program. Many people from many different walks of life can get published on the Internet, so traditional writers have to compete with even more people who "had a story in their head" they wanted to try and get published. But that's another argument altogether, quality vs quantity of voices in the publishing realm.
Hebdomeros, sounds like you and I have had similar experiences. Now that I'm no longer underemployed, I'm happy to say that I'm still fairly prolific, which is a relief -- I guess I got used to the amount of fiction output and time spent that I can still do it in my free time... knock on wood.
Jen, that's an interesting theory too though. It kills me to think that people would put so much less effort into an electronic submission, but maybe you're right. And since the Internet is democratizing the written word in many respects, which for the most part I'd consider a good thing, I'm sure that there's also the fact that lots of amateurs as you say feel that they want that little story in their head heard without knowing about the importance of the mechanics, like proofreading and putting together a well-thought out submission. Sigh...
Hebdomeros, sounds like you and I have had similar experiences. Now that I'm no longer underemployed, I'm happy to say that I'm still fairly prolific, which is a relief -- I guess I got used to the amount of fiction output and time spent that I can still do it in my free time... knock on wood.
Jen, that's an interesting theory too though. It kills me to think that people would put so much less effort into an electronic submission, but maybe you're right. And since the Internet is democratizing the written word in many respects, which for the most part I'd consider a good thing, I'm sure that there's also the fact that lots of amateurs as you say feel that they want that little story in their head heard without knowing about the importance of the mechanics, like proofreading and putting together a well-thought out submission. Sigh...
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