Recently I withdrew a sub. from a publication called Vancouver Review. In return I received a personal note from its fiction editor, Zsuzsi Gartner, congratulating me for placing the story elsewhere.
I'm so impressed and encouraged by this small act of courtesy. What an change from many of my publication experiences! My goal for the next few weeks is to reduce my own jerk quotient by half until I'm at an acceptable level.
Cool yer jets, sister...
Who you calling sister, mister?! Do I look like...okay wait.........it was nice of you to notice that my jets needed cooling. I will look into that matter right away!
:-)
(it wuz my other brother said that)
I received such a congratulatory confirmation from Drunken Boat on a hypertext piece. I think that's the height of class for a publication.
Cynthia Reeser at Prick of the Spindle is my nominee for the Editors' Hall of Fame. Speedy responses, unstinting attention to every nuance of the manuscript, and personal notes reflecting how much she cares, about her magazine and the work lucky enough to be chosen to grace its pages.
I second the nomination of Cynthia Reeser - she is a class act. I've also really liked working with Roland Goity at LITnIMAGE and Erin Fitzgerald at The Northville Review - very supportive, positive editors.
Tim Green from Rattle practically INSISTED that I let him come over and clean all the windows (inside and out!) in my house.
I thought it was kind of odd, but I eventually agreed after a lengthy email exchange, and he ended up doing a pretty good job, so it was okay.