Forum / Open Letter to The Fiddleback

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    MaryAnne Kolton
    Aug 31, 04:51am

    Matt,

    This is not a complaint, but I am curious. This afternoon at 2:40 PM EST I sent a 4265 word short story entitled A House With Perfect Spaces Case #2698215 to Fiddleback for consideration. At exactly 3:10 PM EST I received a rejection. One of five from Fiddleback received within 24 hours or less.

    Duotrope lists your average rejection time as 7.5 days. I also noticed that you have no female fiction editors and all of the fiction in Issue 5 is by men.

    My curiosity comes into play as to how you managed to read a 4200+ word piece immediately upon receiving it and why are there no women fiction editors?

    In addition, I just did a quick survey if issues 2 through 5 and find that out of a total of 20 fiction pieces, 5 are by women and 15 are authored by men. 75% seems on the high side when we are talking about publishing men versus women.

    I'm going to ask Duotrope for help in continuing this research, but I would like your input.

    Thank you,

    MaryAnne Kolton

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    Susan Tepper
    Aug 31, 04:32pm

    Nero fiddled while Rome burned.

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    Susan Tepper
    Aug 31, 04:47pm

    Want to add something here. As an editor, I never pick by gender or even notice how many women vs men per issue. I would have to go on the site to look now in order to tell you. I just pick what I like. If Fiddle-faddle picks mostly men, and is staffed by men, then you should just bypass them and submit elsewhere rather than using up your precious time, because you won't change their mind or their preferences. There are also mags out there catering to women's fiction and staffed exclusively by women. As to the response time, most ed's won't read an entire ms unless it grabs them hard. I read the first para. If I like it, I read the second, and so on. Otherwise ed's would never get thru the enormous amount of submissions. Unless you are an editor at the New Yorker, you aren't getting paid for doing this. It's a labor of love and the desire to be part of the makings of contemporary literature.
    So if I get dissed, or whatever, by a mag, I just move on to the next. Hope this is somewhat helpful.

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    Susan Gibb
    Aug 31, 05:05pm

    Pretty much agree with what Susan said above. I wouldn't expect any editor or reader to go much beyond the first paragraph if they're not compelled to read further, nor would I argue against their individual personal tastes in content or style.

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    MaryAnne Kolton
    Aug 31, 07:25pm

    Hi Susans,

    James brought this to my attention.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/vp/44338921#44338921

    It's not getting dissed that bothers me as much as the stats. I don't expect every editor to to like everything (or anything, for that matter) I write. It just seems that the odds seem to be stacked against women in general.

    I keep forgetting when I write these things that there are so many editors here. I love you both and don't mean to step on any toes.

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    MaryAnne Kolton
    Aug 31, 07:27pm

    Wait! Wrong link.

    right link:

    http://lunaparkreview.com/cate-marvin-discusses-the-vida-count/

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    Susan Tepper
    Aug 31, 07:30pm

    Mar, You didn't step on toes. But I have to say that in all honesty I don't think it's stacked against women in the small press world. I've heard that said about commercial publishing, which may or may not be the case. I think in small press there are so many places for the writer to send. I personally tend to avoid sending to the so-called "manly presses", the ones who beat their chests and dress in loincloth. Loincloth isn't my shade. Ha ha!

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    MaryAnne Kolton
    Sep 01, 12:33am

    Susan, Ah, so that's the trick. Avoid the frat boys and manly presses. I think it's time for me to stop submitting for a time and start writing seriously again. . .And yes, I have run across some wonderful women and men in the small press venues. Hugz, Mar

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    James Lloyd Davis
    Sep 01, 01:14pm

    MaryAnne, I view that link mixup as somewhat Freudian. Rick Perry ... chauvinism in the publishing world. Not so far apart.

    The concepts (and, trust me, Rick Perry is only and ultimately a concept) come from the same sort of people who brought you ... Dick Cheney.

  • Jeff Simpson
    Sep 03, 07:11pm

    Dear MaryAnne Kolton,

    I was going to handle your complaint (yes, it’s a complaint) with a professional and private email, but since you felt the juvenile need to trash-talk us on Fictionnaut, I figured I’d give you a full account of the story in question while also giving the forums a peek behind the editorial curtain. We all love a spectacle, right?

    First, the timestamp of your rejection: Just as Susan Tepper suspected (thanks, Susan) no one on staff is paid for his or her time. The Fiddleback does not have sponsors, we don’t sell ads (yet), and we have zero benefactors. Every month I take a personal financial loss to keep our magazine up and running. Since my editors are unpaid, they work on their own schedule, meaning if a submission comes in while they’re in the system, as was the case with your story, then it’s very likely they’ll read it, and, if it doesn’t give them that punched-in-the-throat feeling, reject it immediately. Your story came in, and my editor disliked and dismissed it after the first paragraph because the writing was tame, predictable, and boring. I can understand how the short turnaround might sting, but it’s a hell of a lot better than holding your story for 6-8 months before sending you a form rejection in the mail, which may never arrive.

    As for our overwhelming sexism, I find it interesting that while you’re quick to point out that all fiction editors are male, you conveniently ignore the fact that our literary editorial staff is split 50/50 by gender. You see, when you can’t pay editors a salary, you rely on staffing your magazine with friends and colleagues who want to edit because they love the work. My real crime is that I pulled an Andrew Jackson and hired friends, a spouse, and former classmates to help steer the ship because I trusted their aesthetic judgments and knew, as friends, they’d want to help me succeed in starting a magazine. But I’m sure this fact never occurred to you, just as you’re seemingly unaware that while we may have published more male fiction in Issue 5 (we’re still in our inaugural year), we’re pretty balanced on all other fronts. Let’s be real, MaryAnne. We’re not sexist. If anything, we’re ageist. If you really wanted to make us feel like a bunch of misogynist frat boys, you should have at least pointed out that our music section is a veritable sausage-fest staffed with not one, not two, but four men all in their 30s and most of them sporting beards. Don’t let that positive Beyonce review fool you. They’re all manly men who moonlight as lumberjacks.

    But I guess to catch all those details you would’ve had to actually think about the situation and investigate further. Had you gone all Sherlock Holmes on our ass, you would’ve also discovered that we rejected your husband, Mr. James Lloyd Davis (the man with the papa-Hemingway beard pretending NOT to be your spouse in the comments above) the day after we rejected your story. If his bio is true and he’s not only a Vietnam veteran, but also a “former electrician, shipfitter, pipefitter, boilermaker, ironworker and engineer,” that’s pretty manly stuff to get rejected by us. I’ll talk to our deck-stacking team and make sure all cogs and gears are in working order.

    Just out of curiosity, what was it about our magazine, specifically, that made you think we even care about politics in the first place? Had you actually read our guidelines or spent time reading what’s been published---had you even LOOKED at our site, I think you would’ve seen and easily understood that we don’t give a shit about politics. We publish work that moves us in the moment. Period. Yours, my dear, did not. My suggestion is to spend less time trolling on the internet and more time on your craft---you know, doing what writers are supposed to do: write. I guarantee this method will improve your chances of getting published twofold.

    I tell ya, MaryAnne, I’m going to hate losing you as a reader, especially when you hear about all the great women writers we’ve got slated for Issue 6. Maybe one day we’ll make nice and be friends, and you’ll continue to love our magazine. Until that day, please do your homework before ranting on the internet again, and do spend more time writing. We’re all waiting in anticipation.

    Warmly,

    Jeff Simpson
    Found/EIC, The Fiddleback

    PS: Unlike the IRS, we don’t report all of our numbers to Duotrope. I don’t why you think they’re such an authority, but they’re not. They’re helpful, but not absolute. Any editor will tell you the same.

    PPS: James, I meant no personal insult with my “papa-Hemingway” reference. In all honesty, I think you have a magnificent beard. I’m a little jealous. Truly.

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