I was looking into a few calls for submissions and browsing some websites of online journals and literary anthologies when I came across this weird phrasing in the submission guidelines. In the very first paragraph, there it was—the F word! I felt insulted and immediately moved away from the website. Even though the random insult wasn’t aimed directly at me, it still tarnished my quest to find a place to publish my short stories.
I understand the need to set boundaries or express the editorial policy of an anthology or magazine. I can appreciate that they want to cut down the slush pile as much as possible. But why insult your visitors, who are most likely writers and/or editors themselves?
This begs the question: is there a way to communicate submission guidelines among writers in a courteous and professional manner? Or is it impossible because of the vast diversity of writers from around the world? I think we can communicate without insulting one another, even when there are differences in opinion, political ideas, ideologies, or even matters concerning the craft and the industry.
The first thing we can do is eliminate words that are considered hurtful and impolite, like the F word. What really bugged me about that submission guideline was that they could have kept the angry tone of their message without using a word that didn’t serve their cause one iota! It just left me thinking, “I want to remember the name of that magazine so I never go there again.” I don’t care what they publish, even if they have the most wonderfully curated stories in the world. With this mindset, I’d rather keep my distance. If this is how they greet me at the door, how would they react if we collaborated and hit a wall or had a difference of opinion?
I’m not calling for any regulations, just saying that common sense would serve us better. Whether we keep a casual tone or a professional one, professionalism is a must among strangers, in my humble opinion. If we lose that, we’ll be at each other’s throats, pointlessly, with no real outcome.
Now, back to writing more stories!