Comments on: Of simsubs, autosubs, and slush http://cvillewords.com/2007/12/06/of-simsubs-autosubs-and-slush/ Reading and writing in the heart of Virginia Mon, 09 Jan 2012 01:34:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Where you stand with VQR « Charlottesville Words http://cvillewords.com/2007/12/06/of-simsubs-autosubs-and-slush/#comment-8623 Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:47:38 +0000 http://cvillewords.wordpress.com/2007/12/06/of-simsubs-autosubs-and-slush/#comment-8623 [...] It turns out that VQR has a surprisingly low x-factor — only 4.6%. Submit to VQR, and you’re in a pool with people who know what they’re doing. Better sharpen your pencils, it’s going to be a tough [...]

]]> By: Waldo Jaquith http://cvillewords.com/2007/12/06/of-simsubs-autosubs-and-slush/#comment-8105 Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:21:50 +0000 http://cvillewords.wordpress.com/2007/12/06/of-simsubs-autosubs-and-slush/#comment-8105 One of our hopes at VQR is that by having such an efficient process for declining work, we’ll be able to eliminate the chaff quickly enough to be able to spend time on the good stuff. (Though “chaff” might not be a fair word. Yes, we get some really terrible stuff, but we also reject some really good work every day, in what we label as “good but not great.”) We’ve got a great many submissions that have been sitting on Ted’s (virtual) desk for 70, 80, 90, even 110 days. Why? Because they’re good. So Ted’s living with them for a bit, seeing how they’d fit in with upcoming issues, deciding whether any have a place with in our pages.

Anyhow, Cliff, you’re right, there’s a lot of junk out there. But I think lit mags can adapt, making the time to properly consider the good stuff while quickly eliminating the scented chalk-scribblings. :)

]]> By: Catherine http://cvillewords.com/2007/12/06/of-simsubs-autosubs-and-slush/#comment-8020 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:31:25 +0000 http://cvillewords.wordpress.com/2007/12/06/of-simsubs-autosubs-and-slush/#comment-8020 Yes ma’am!!

]]> By: Cliff Burns http://cvillewords.com/2007/12/06/of-simsubs-autosubs-and-slush/#comment-8018 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:55:17 +0000 http://cvillewords.wordpress.com/2007/12/06/of-simsubs-autosubs-and-slush/#comment-8018 It’s a bit depressing (and daunting) to old time scribblers like me who see the proliferation of so-called writers out there inundating editors with their amateurish jottings and making it difficult for the editors to devote proper time and attention to genuinely talented and gifted authors. As Will Self has said, “Everyone thinks they have a novel in them and they’re WRONG”…

]]>