The Morning Reading: Don Lee

The Hayden's Ferry Review blog clued me in to this interview with Don Lee, editor of Ploughshares for some 19 years. He offers the view of a longtime editor of a literary journal - and useful insights about rejection and publication. Published in The Review Review, it's worth a look.



excerpt:

So when editors find anything with a modicum of craft or originality, they are grateful—yes, grateful. However, they can’t publish everything, and not every piece is appropriate for a given magazine, regardless of its merits. And something else—a hard truth: a submission might be good, but not good enough. This is what writers have problems swallowing. After getting a rejection, instead of taking another look at the story or poem and perhaps revising it or spending a little more time thinking about the most suitable venue for it, it’s much easier to rail against these editors and magazines and believe [see all of the aforementioned]. I know this, because, as a writer myself, despite my past experience as an editor, I do exactly the same thing.

To read the rest, click here.