Contrary Talk
Anybody have any experience with the online magazine Contrary? I'm finding them a little bit contrary considering the way they deal with submissions.
Okay so they pay $20, which is better than nothing, but man their submission guidelines are convoluted. Here goes: "The deadline for each issue is the first day of the month prior to that auspicious solar event. In Spring, for example, our deadline is March 1, and the issue appears with the vernal equinox on or about March 21."
Maybe it's just me, but that's tremendously confusing. So it would be nice if they responded to your submission in a timely manner, right? Wrong. You have to contact them. (The reason they don't just automatically respond to your submission is because so many writers "spam" them with submissions, at least that's what it says on its guidelines page.) However, they do say on their guidelines page that they're happy to respond if you email them to ask the status of your submission.
So yeah, the $20 swan song apparently lured me to submit. The solstice crap confused me so once summer started, I emailed them to ask what the status was. Response? Zilch.
Yep, this is one of my famous rants. I know it's annoying that the Internet has made it possible for writers to "spam" magazines (send to what, fifty publications at once? I guess that's what they refer to). But I get a little irritated when magazines are quick to note the shortcomings of writers and then don't follow up on their own promises (like, we'll email you back if you ask about your submission).
All righty, rant ended. Thanks for reading and keep on writing!
LLB
Okay so they pay $20, which is better than nothing, but man their submission guidelines are convoluted. Here goes: "The deadline for each issue is the first day of the month prior to that auspicious solar event. In Spring, for example, our deadline is March 1, and the issue appears with the vernal equinox on or about March 21."
Maybe it's just me, but that's tremendously confusing. So it would be nice if they responded to your submission in a timely manner, right? Wrong. You have to contact them. (The reason they don't just automatically respond to your submission is because so many writers "spam" them with submissions, at least that's what it says on its guidelines page.) However, they do say on their guidelines page that they're happy to respond if you email them to ask the status of your submission.
So yeah, the $20 swan song apparently lured me to submit. The solstice crap confused me so once summer started, I emailed them to ask what the status was. Response? Zilch.
Yep, this is one of my famous rants. I know it's annoying that the Internet has made it possible for writers to "spam" magazines (send to what, fifty publications at once? I guess that's what they refer to). But I get a little irritated when magazines are quick to note the shortcomings of writers and then don't follow up on their own promises (like, we'll email you back if you ask about your submission).
All righty, rant ended. Thanks for reading and keep on writing!
LLB
posted by LadyLitBlitzin at 3:40 PM
3 Comments:
What they meant to say was, "The deadline for each issue is when Venus aligns with Mars and the Moon is in the Seventh House."
Ha!!! I think you're right. That actually makes a little more sense to me. ;)
I don't think their submission guidelines are all that confusing. They publish an issue with each change of season (solstice or equinox), and their deadline is the first of the month. Deadline March 1, Publish March 21. Deadline June 1, Publish June 21. Deadline Sept. 1, Publish Sept. 21. Deadline Dec. 1, Publish Dec. 21. What's so hard about that? It sounds a lot harder for the editors than the writers, since the editors only have three weeks to produce a magazine. And according to Duotrope, they have responded to 94 percent of submissions, most of them with personal letters rather than form letters. Maybe there's something wrong with your email. How do you know your emails reach their destination? Anyway, you needn't be mystified by problems like this. That's what Duotrope is for. There's a submissions tracker. Give it a shot! Good luck! (and send Contrary another email before you judge so harshly).
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