neodoering
Minstrel
I have published about 20 short short stories in the token and semi-pro magazines, and I'm having a devil of a time breaking into the pros. Most of the editors at the professional level do not give personal feedback, so you don't know what they like or don't like about your stories.
There is an exception to this, and that is C.C. Finlay over at Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. He almost always gives personal feedback. The problem is, his feedback is usually rather cryptic. For example, I recently sent him a story about a young Buddhist woman who becomes an alien god, and C.C. said the story was "too direct and on-the-nose." He didn't say if the plot was too direct, if the Americans resort to nuclear weapons too fast, if the character is too direct, or what? In the past I once sent him a very polite response to his critique, asking what he meant by some of the feedback he had given me, and he sent, perhaps in jest, a form rejection.
Does anyone here have experience with this editor? It's nice that he offers such feedback, but without more details, it's worse than a form letter, because you are left with the feeling that you have been given something valuable but empty, like a set of Russian dolls with no chocolate in the center. How do I interpret this man's feedback? Anyone?
There is an exception to this, and that is C.C. Finlay over at Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. He almost always gives personal feedback. The problem is, his feedback is usually rather cryptic. For example, I recently sent him a story about a young Buddhist woman who becomes an alien god, and C.C. said the story was "too direct and on-the-nose." He didn't say if the plot was too direct, if the Americans resort to nuclear weapons too fast, if the character is too direct, or what? In the past I once sent him a very polite response to his critique, asking what he meant by some of the feedback he had given me, and he sent, perhaps in jest, a form rejection.
Does anyone here have experience with this editor? It's nice that he offers such feedback, but without more details, it's worse than a form letter, because you are left with the feeling that you have been given something valuable but empty, like a set of Russian dolls with no chocolate in the center. How do I interpret this man's feedback? Anyone?