Nice piece, Ross, thanks. Back in the day, manuscripts were returned with rejection slips. When I was about 15 I submitted a short story to well-known magazine. When it came back the reader, probably sensing my age, had scribbled "Sorry!" in a margin. Even then, that felt like a quasi-kindness. Today's "void" sounds awful. Good for substack.
I could see it being harder then - doing everything by mail - but there was definitely more of a personal touch. The email age has made it more debilitating in a lot of ways.
I appreciate this essay, Ross. I'd add Tobias Wolff to your list. Master of the form. Apologies in advance for a windy reply.
This line seems exactly right and also presents a paradox: "Editors were empowered to cultivate lists to their tastes, and the profiteering bosses of the old era seemed to be able to stomach more artistic risk." Some publishers, like Alfred Knopf, were also ambitious about taste. Knopf lured Cather away from Houghton Mifflin, where she had an embattled relationship with Ferris Greenslet, who didn't value her craft very much. I wonder if what's true of higher ed might be becoming true of publishing, that attempts to predetermine the results (employability, ROI, book sales) have eroded the value of the enterprise.
The paradox is that many of us who care deeply about craft were shaped by that traditional model built on taste. An aspiring writer depended on discerning gatekeepers to recruit talent, as you say, but also to define craft itself. I don't think it's possible to undertake a literary apprenticeship without a long past, without all those books, without some sense of a school or tradition that gives shape to your work.
You are likely right that building a following organically is the only way now. I am one of those rubes who believed the slush pile always got read and that you always had a chance, no matter how small. Credit Substack for connecting me to those who know better. I also came of age at the end of the lit mag era, when it was possible to make gains by plying journals. It's a heady kind of magic for a working class kid from rural Montana to catch the eye of someone at The Hudson Review. But I also learned that some of my biggest scores were flukes. An essay in the Kenyon Review was the result of a guest editor who happened to be Amish and have some connections to the corner of Montana I was writing about. David Lynn & Co had all the predictable urban bias against my piece on firefighting, and that editor had to really go to bat for me.
I'm wondering now if the moral of that story wasn't what I thought it was at the time. It is humbling to feel, at age 49, that I'm at the beginning of a new apprenticeship.
Thank you for the insights and the kind words. Wolff is one of the greats and I need to read him.
I am down on Big Publishing but I do think there are opportunities in these alternative channels, like Substack, and in the smaller publishers that can reach readers organically. It's a new era. We will see where it all goes.
Ross, what a lovely and evocative piece, with which I myself and, I am sure, many other aspiring but as yet undiscovered authors, self-published and otherwise, can identify. Keep up the writing: Your voice reverberates with authenticity!
Wonderful essay. I love the short story as a form, and great authors have specialized in it: Chekhov, Hemingway, Carver, and many others. I think it will persist, in spite of everything, even if it's no way to make a living.
And thanks for the shoutout to "Major Arcana." I'd read Pistelli's reviews for a few years, and I was impressed enough to grab the book in its self-published form. It amazed me enough that I wrote a very laudatory review of it. The more attention it gets, the better!
I have written a handful of short stories, but mainly I’m a poet. I started a Substack to try my hand at personal essays. I write the essay, work it over some, then post it. I have been at this about a year. Each month brings a new subscriber or two. My stats say half of my subscribers open the essay.
My husband of 30 years died in May. I kept writing. Maybe that helped?
I started sending poems to literary magazines in the mid-80s. I burned out on that for a decade, mid-90s until the literary world really moved online. My ambitions for my poetry career have settled far below a starry-eyed kid imagined, but my standards for my poetry remain high, despite what the rejections of editors seem to indicate. The friends who have made relative names for themselves have something I don’t have — sociability.
Thanks for the article, Ross, and congrats on the book deal. I came to Substack after trying other mediums, like Medium, or a few fledgling lit mags that would host guest posts. Nothing ever came of all that.
I occasionally post here and I don't charge. I was hoping that this way I could build up a readership and then charge a small fee. But I've only managed to garner 60 followers. I usually include a plea to at least look at my books on Amazon, but that has resulted in zero sales there via Substack.
I have thought of maybe publishing some of my short stories FREE on Substack. But I have reservations about that that maybe you can advise upon.
Everyone knows writers 'borrow.' Nowadays, it's not just writers lifting a phrase or character or plot device, it's greed-bag foreigners hoovering up whole novels and putting false names on them, etc. What about that?
Another concern, if you 'publish' your stories on Substack, 'Publishers and magazines consider them 'published' and therefore, will not accept them for 'Publication.' So, your ability to perhaps put together a collection of short stories is dead in the water. What about that?
Thanks for the article, Ross, and congrats on the book deal. I came to Substack after trying other mediums, like Medium, or a few fledgling lit mags that would host guest posts. Nothing ever came of all that.
I occasionally post here and I don't charge. I was hoping that this way I could build up a readership and then charge a small fee. But I've only managed to garner 60 followers. I usually include a plea to at least look at my books on Amazon, but that has resulted in zero sales there via Substack.
I have thought of maybe publishing some of my short stories FREE on Substack. But I have reservations about that that maybe you can advise upon.
Everyone knows writers 'borrow.' Nowadays, it's not just writers lifting a phrase or character or plot device, it's greed-bag foreigners hoovering up whole novels and putting false names on them, etc. What about that?
Another concern, if you 'publish' your stories on Substack, 'Publishers and magazines consider them 'published' and therefore, will not accept them for 'Publication.' So, your ability to perhaps put together a collection of short stories is dead in the water. What about that?
Thank you for this piece Ross, quite insightful. Also, I can't help but take note of a point where you mentioned that writing for you - "at times I feel like I am running out of time," to kind of imply that you might not have enough time to really write everything you would want.
I miss that feeling, and constantly submitting to the void ribs you of that, you at times get this engrained feeling that you are not good enough; so thank you for this piece.
Nice piece, Ross, thanks. Back in the day, manuscripts were returned with rejection slips. When I was about 15 I submitted a short story to well-known magazine. When it came back the reader, probably sensing my age, had scribbled "Sorry!" in a margin. Even then, that felt like a quasi-kindness. Today's "void" sounds awful. Good for substack.
I could see it being harder then - doing everything by mail - but there was definitely more of a personal touch. The email age has made it more debilitating in a lot of ways.
I appreciate this essay, Ross. I'd add Tobias Wolff to your list. Master of the form. Apologies in advance for a windy reply.
This line seems exactly right and also presents a paradox: "Editors were empowered to cultivate lists to their tastes, and the profiteering bosses of the old era seemed to be able to stomach more artistic risk." Some publishers, like Alfred Knopf, were also ambitious about taste. Knopf lured Cather away from Houghton Mifflin, where she had an embattled relationship with Ferris Greenslet, who didn't value her craft very much. I wonder if what's true of higher ed might be becoming true of publishing, that attempts to predetermine the results (employability, ROI, book sales) have eroded the value of the enterprise.
The paradox is that many of us who care deeply about craft were shaped by that traditional model built on taste. An aspiring writer depended on discerning gatekeepers to recruit talent, as you say, but also to define craft itself. I don't think it's possible to undertake a literary apprenticeship without a long past, without all those books, without some sense of a school or tradition that gives shape to your work.
You are likely right that building a following organically is the only way now. I am one of those rubes who believed the slush pile always got read and that you always had a chance, no matter how small. Credit Substack for connecting me to those who know better. I also came of age at the end of the lit mag era, when it was possible to make gains by plying journals. It's a heady kind of magic for a working class kid from rural Montana to catch the eye of someone at The Hudson Review. But I also learned that some of my biggest scores were flukes. An essay in the Kenyon Review was the result of a guest editor who happened to be Amish and have some connections to the corner of Montana I was writing about. David Lynn & Co had all the predictable urban bias against my piece on firefighting, and that editor had to really go to bat for me.
I'm wondering now if the moral of that story wasn't what I thought it was at the time. It is humbling to feel, at age 49, that I'm at the beginning of a new apprenticeship.
Thank you for the insights and the kind words. Wolff is one of the greats and I need to read him.
I am down on Big Publishing but I do think there are opportunities in these alternative channels, like Substack, and in the smaller publishers that can reach readers organically. It's a new era. We will see where it all goes.
Ross, what a lovely and evocative piece, with which I myself and, I am sure, many other aspiring but as yet undiscovered authors, self-published and otherwise, can identify. Keep up the writing: Your voice reverberates with authenticity!
thank you Joseph!
Beautifully written, so much I can understand and personally relate to.
Thank you for the kind words!
Wonderful essay. I love the short story as a form, and great authors have specialized in it: Chekhov, Hemingway, Carver, and many others. I think it will persist, in spite of everything, even if it's no way to make a living.
And thanks for the shoutout to "Major Arcana." I'd read Pistelli's reviews for a few years, and I was impressed enough to grab the book in its self-published form. It amazed me enough that I wrote a very laudatory review of it. The more attention it gets, the better!
Yes, Major Arcana is great, excited to see it published anew next year
Excellent
I have written a handful of short stories, but mainly I’m a poet. I started a Substack to try my hand at personal essays. I write the essay, work it over some, then post it. I have been at this about a year. Each month brings a new subscriber or two. My stats say half of my subscribers open the essay.
My husband of 30 years died in May. I kept writing. Maybe that helped?
I started sending poems to literary magazines in the mid-80s. I burned out on that for a decade, mid-90s until the literary world really moved online. My ambitions for my poetry career have settled far below a starry-eyed kid imagined, but my standards for my poetry remain high, despite what the rejections of editors seem to indicate. The friends who have made relative names for themselves have something I don’t have — sociability.
On the other hand, I do have a book out this year. It’s either poetry or it’s not. https://glenningersoll.substack.com/p/autobiography-of-a-book
This piece was enlightening. Thank you!
I guess there's hope for us yet.
Stony Brook - Class of 1996
Thanks for the article, Ross, and congrats on the book deal. I came to Substack after trying other mediums, like Medium, or a few fledgling lit mags that would host guest posts. Nothing ever came of all that.
I occasionally post here and I don't charge. I was hoping that this way I could build up a readership and then charge a small fee. But I've only managed to garner 60 followers. I usually include a plea to at least look at my books on Amazon, but that has resulted in zero sales there via Substack.
I have thought of maybe publishing some of my short stories FREE on Substack. But I have reservations about that that maybe you can advise upon.
Everyone knows writers 'borrow.' Nowadays, it's not just writers lifting a phrase or character or plot device, it's greed-bag foreigners hoovering up whole novels and putting false names on them, etc. What about that?
Another concern, if you 'publish' your stories on Substack, 'Publishers and magazines consider them 'published' and therefore, will not accept them for 'Publication.' So, your ability to perhaps put together a collection of short stories is dead in the water. What about that?
Again, thanks for your thoughts on all of this.
Thanks for the article, Ross, and congrats on the book deal. I came to Substack after trying other mediums, like Medium, or a few fledgling lit mags that would host guest posts. Nothing ever came of all that.
I occasionally post here and I don't charge. I was hoping that this way I could build up a readership and then charge a small fee. But I've only managed to garner 60 followers. I usually include a plea to at least look at my books on Amazon, but that has resulted in zero sales there via Substack.
I have thought of maybe publishing some of my short stories FREE on Substack. But I have reservations about that that maybe you can advise upon.
Everyone knows writers 'borrow.' Nowadays, it's not just writers lifting a phrase or character or plot device, it's greed-bag foreigners hoovering up whole novels and putting false names on them, etc. What about that?
Another concern, if you 'publish' your stories on Substack, 'Publishers and magazines consider them 'published' and therefore, will not accept them for 'Publication.' So, your ability to perhaps put together a collection of short stories is dead in the water. What about that?
Again, thanks for your thoughts on all of this.
Thank you for this piece Ross, quite insightful. Also, I can't help but take note of a point where you mentioned that writing for you - "at times I feel like I am running out of time," to kind of imply that you might not have enough time to really write everything you would want.
I miss that feeling, and constantly submitting to the void ribs you of that, you at times get this engrained feeling that you are not good enough; so thank you for this piece.