An author queried Realms of Fantasy with a question. When he didn't receive the answer he wanted, he proceeded to tell me what was wrong with the magazine, and complained we were too fussy. My answer? "You shouldn't argue with the policies of a magazine's editors, no matter how fussy you think we are. All it does is make us fussier." To illustrate my point, I told him to scratch us from his list of potential markets.
*Throws back head and raises fists to the heavens* "The power! The power!"
:)
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douglascohen- Douglas Cohen
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Comments
Greetings, oh great and powerful Oz! Err... Slushmaster!
10) They think they're being helpful
9) They're trolls
8) They know for certain they're the next J.K. Rowling, so who gives a shit what some assistant editor thinks?
7) They clicked "Send" accidentally
6) If they can't write their way into publication they'll argue their way in
5) Not enough years of bitter frustration to start drinking yet
4) How dare you tell me no. Do you know who I am?
3) I've spent the last 5 years working on this story. You have to give me my way!
2)I was drunk
1) And the number one reason authors do this: THEY DON'T KNOW ANY BETTER!
It's funny because it's true.
As to the back and forth ...shrug. I'll let people make their own decisions about who was the jerk. I made a post that boiled it down to the bare essentials (as I saw them). He gave more of the details (but still edited them, I might add).
It is what is. I am sympathetic to the plight of international mailings, but I don't make the rules at ROF, nor do I have the power to change them. Holding me accountable gets you nowhere. And for the record, I do prefer to read off the page. Not only is it less tiring on the eyes, but I like the tactile pleasure of turning the page to learn what will happen next. It's a far more engaging experience. Cost aside, I'd think most authors would want editors to consider their work in the manner in which they're the most comfortable.
It seems like a lot of effort over a rather small issue, when you compare it to all the other, more serious problems prevelant in today's world.
Second, he was planning on submitting to us in the first place, assuming our answer suited his purposes. Otherwise he never would've emailed us to begin with. What I ended up doing was telling him that if he had a change of heart about snail-mailing us in the future, his manuscript was no longer welcome at our publication.
Lastly, if you want to talk about "petty," most bloggers will tell you that trolling falls into this category.
How many people go to the Baker's and demand they open an hour earlier/on Sundays/on Christmas??? We let other people have their own business models; why are magazines any different? I'm betting there's a bit of the S&SF fan mentality coming through. People don't think of mags as businesses, but as a nexus to a community that they own.
It's great that we're all fans of the genre, but really, do these fans all have to be, like, thirteen?