I'm all in favor of blind submissions, perhaps because I'm a person with many biases. I think especially for a publication system aspiring to reflect a feminist community, blind submissions are necessary to ensure that we really are offering spaces based on the merit of the work as opposed to the author's personal or career history. In addition to influencing the decisions of the submissions team, sometimes submissions attached to a particular name can deeply impact the experience of reviewing and editing.
For example, I used to work at a publishing house in Wisconsin. My boss was good friends with an old professor of mine. I had known my professor for years - and when he submitted his novel to the editorial department, I was shocked to find scenes that featured (pearl-clutching...) graphic sex, violence, and extreme situations. It was very difficult, initially, to work through the manuscript while maintaining an attitude of professionalism. Fortunately he had already been published with our company and his book was a follow up, so the responsbility of accepting the piece for publication was out of my hands. But it was very challenging to make editorial suggestions when I knew the same professor had been over my work a thousand times..
Also, in the MFA program, it's occasionally difficult for me to separate a writer from his or her work. Ie: when I'm reading one of Chris's submissions, I can hear him narrating in my head. This is problematic when the voice that Chris has constructed is a child, a female, or a raspy old woman. So yeah, sometimes knowing the author prohibits my absorption in the story's reality, based on my relationships with my peers. Sometimes this positions me as more of a critic than I would otherwise be - simply because the glamour of reading a short story is tempered by the knowledge that is has not yet been published and belongs to one of my friends. Maybe sometimes that makes me more critical than receptive... Either way, blind submissions are the way to go for DIN. And maybe for all smaller literary magazines that don't pay.
Your comment that "Sometimes this [knowing the author] positions me as more of a critic than I would otherwise be" really struck me. Especially when I'm reading something from a family member,I find myself trying to ferret out the pieces that reflect the author's life/views--which isn't the point, and makes the whole experience uncomfortable. Blind submissions are definitely helpful.
ReplyDeleteI think especially in today's world it is important to use blind submissions. It's so hard to get published when your name is not recognized, so if we took that away then it level out the playing field and create more competition with better outcomes.
ReplyDeleteHaving blind submissions also takes the pressure off the editors. The editors can select works that actually fit their magazine without worrying about hurting someone's feelings that they know because they can honestly say that they didn't know which work was submitted by that person during the process. Just another way to look at it. I have found that family and friends expect me to just tell them something nice about their work, so I come off as overly critical if they ask for my opinion about a particular work.
ReplyDeleteI liked the fact that we had blind submissions. That way, when I asked people to submitt to DIN, I could tell them we had blind submissions so no one would know who they were. Thay way they wouldn't expect me to publish them just because I asked them to submit.
ReplyDeleteBlind submissions was the right way to go although I do not think that it is faultless.
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