THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER: A guide to working with editors and publishers for the prospective writer.

 THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER: A guide to working with editors and publishers for the prospective writer.

By Wils Hosken

Writing is a hard thing to do, even for seasoned writers and editors. It takes dedication, regiment, creativity, and practiced skill, but it’s also a very emotional thing to do. This is largely in part because by putting words to a page, you are, willing or not, putting yourself on the page. The emotions felt by the characters have been felt by you at some point, the sensations of fear, love, excitement, and anger are all yours as well. To be a writer means that you are exposing yourself, and that’s scary and hard to do, and in doing so, you also open yourself up to being vulnerable to criticism and critique. However, as you develop as a writer, a huge part of understanding the profession isn’t just writing, it isn’t just the story on the page, but the publication process as a whole. I originally sent Sally Port Magazine three stories, and of those three, only one made it to publication, and that’s ok, because ultimately those decisions helped form those three stories and gave them a place to call home, including St. Bernard’s Apostles, a piece that has been in the works with Sally Port for a year now, and has been a wonderful experience to learn from, and a wonderful experience to work with the team on.

First things first, as a prospective writer you need to understand some works aren’t good fits for every publisher, and that’s ok. I submitted my first story to Sally Port and it was rejected because it veered a little too into science fiction at the end, and publishing it would create a bad precedent, and that made sense. By communicating with the publisher I could understand why it wasn’t a good fit, and understood that it isn’t the fault of them or myself, but sometimes things just don’t work out as planned. From there, I submitted the story elsewhere and it was published with another magazine who felt it fit better with their catalog. When entering into the publication process, you’re gonna face a lot of rejection, and it’s important to understand that it’s not always going to be something you can edit away. The best thing to do is communicate and understand the people you’re working with and their expectations, both as a writer and as a publisher. Be professional, be polite, and take rejection with stride. Sometimes you may even try to make edits yourself and discover a piece isn’t a good fit on your own terms, which is what happened with my second piece.

With Sally Port’s input, I sought to expand on my pieces, making them more comprehensive and digestible: the odd sentence that needed clarification, or perhaps some transitions between scenes that needed work. If a publisher and an editor want to work with you, then the first thing to understand is that they like the story. If you are a writer, you are going to get a lot of rejections, and if a publisher didn’t want your story, they would reject it. By communicating the issues to me, I was able to make adjustments to both stories, trying to make it the best it could be. In doing so, I came to realize the second story was better not as prose, but as a longform poem, and it was ultimately my own decision to remove the submission since I didn’t think the magazine was a good fit. This is also ok, by working on the piece you discovered it wasn’t a good fit and no matter what happens or who publishes it, you have improved your body of work to make it of better quality and more comprehensible. This means that even if Sally Port or another prose magazine isn’t a good fit, then there could be someone else out there who is a better choice and would enjoy having your work in their catalogue.

Finally, there was only one story left: St. Bernard’s Apostles. The story was simple, sweet, and heartfelt, and the changes suggested were minimal, just some options for expansion. I resubmitted it with some of the changes, and I heard back from Sally Port with some more changes. This went back and forth for a month or so before an editor was put onto my work. I had never worked with an editor before, and while some may be hesitant, I saw it as an opportunity. Someone was actively taking the time to care about my project, my work, my thoughts put to the page, and in doing so, not only was I working to improve it, but they were as well. Writing is primarily a solitary process, but publication is a group effort, an understanding between peers to reach a common goal. 

I was contacted by the editor and asked for any difficulties that I was personally having with the piece, any changes I needed help with, and where some disconnects were. I confess that some of those disconnects were as a result of some of the changes made to appeal to the publication office, but they were in large part caused by a lack of understanding on my part. A suggestion had been made to include flashbacks and I wasn’t sure how to implement it or why, so I tried to take the easy way out rather than taking the time to develop the story further. This was a bad call from me, and now I was confused by my own work. I explained that to the editor, and she found a solution that worked for both me and Sally Port by expanding on the setup for the adventure. This helped further Sally Port’s goal of helping improve my protagonist’s characterization through interaction with other characters, while also allowing me to expand on my world and understand it better myself. I not only took the time to follow suggestions, but also characterized the mythology and other characters more, even though it wasn’t part of the requirements. By being open to new ideas and suggestions, and knowing when to ask for help, you allow yourself room to grow and improve.

The magazine approved of the changes, the editor approved of the changes, and it was in large part due to communication and understanding. Sally Port wanted my story to thrive, they wanted me and the editor to work together because that’s what this career is, that’s part of writing. If you want to become a writer, or an artist, you must accept some changes that need to be made. You’ll have a first draft, and a second draft, and a third draft, but with each one you’ll discover more about yourself and the story you’re telling, more about the industry and the people within it. Only by approaching it with the willingness to accept editorial notes and work on improvements to your story can you make changes for the better, improving and expanding in ways you never thought possible. To write is to put yourself out there, and by being willing to improve, it opens up more opportunities for growth for your story, and your writing as a whole, as you take each note as a lesson to be used in the future.