Do Editors Check Up on Submitters

Outofcontext

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 2, 2013
Messages
67
Reaction score
2
Location
High desert Southwest.
I suspect this is a question with a multitude of possible answers and could lead to a lot of speculation, but I ask anyway: When editors suggest (often strongly) you purchase their publications before submitting, do they ever check to see if you do before deciding on whether or not to accept your submission?
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,429
Reaction score
25,447
Location
Snow Cave
I've had at least two rejections, both many years ago, that said they were rejecting all submissions from people who were not on their list of subscribers.

At the time of my submissions, my genre-focused writing group was fairly large at a dozen. We'd pooled our funds to subscribe to a half dozen magazines that still ran fiction in our genre, passing them around so we could all see what they were buying.

I wasn't even a little sorry when both these markets folded. It's not a viable acquisitions requirement for every writer who subs to also subscribe. It's elitist as hell, too.

Of course, publications have no way of knowing whether I strolled down to the local news stand and bought an issue, do they?

Maryn, who also reads some a libraries and buys used magazines, too
 

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
I doubt that most magazines check the names of submitting authors against their lists of subscribers. But it's easy to tell if someone hasn't read the magazine prior to submission, as the styles will usually be way off.
 

Denevius

Banned
Flounced
Joined
Jun 26, 2016
Messages
2,474
Reaction score
337
Location
Seoul
They don’t have the manpower for stuff like that. A lot of places are operating on a shoestring budget and have reader volunteers.
 

fenyo

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 17, 2018
Messages
96
Reaction score
7
I would stay a way from editors that suggest to you to purchase their publications before submitting.
 

frimble3

Heckuva good sport
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 7, 2006
Messages
11,574
Reaction score
6,396
Location
west coast, canada
Reading their publication seems reasonable, as Old Hack says, buying a copy is useful if there are no copies available near you, but implying that they'll only take submissions from subscribers seems way over-the-top.
 

Polenth

Mushroom
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 27, 2007
Messages
5,017
Reaction score
735
Location
England
Website
www.polenthblake.com
I've not been rejected for not being a subscriber and I've never been asked if I've read previous issues. It's not that it couldn't happen, but I don't think it's common enough to worry about.
 

Outofcontext

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 2, 2013
Messages
67
Reaction score
2
Location
High desert Southwest.
I would stay a way from editors that suggest to you to purchase their publications before submitting.

Unfortunately, there are some fairly well-respected publications that do suggest you read them first before submitting. A few of these offer samples, but not all of them.
 

Ellis Clover

watching The Office again
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 8, 2013
Messages
560
Reaction score
124
Location
Darug and Gundungurra Country
At least a couple of Australian lit journals accept subscriber submissions only. It's not great on the accessibility front, I agree - but I have some sympathy. I'm sure it's tough to keep a magazine afloat here.
 

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
I would stay a way from editors that suggest to you to purchase their publications before submitting.

It's important to at least read publications before submitting to them, as if you don't read them you won't know what sort of work they publish, and are likely to send them something unsuitable.

And I disagree that it's bad form for publications to ask readers to buy copies prior to submitting. You want them to support you by publishing your work, but you're not prepared to support them by buying a copy or two? That's unreasonable, in my view. Literary magazines exist on very little money. If writers don't support them they will close.

A friend of mine used to run a good literary magazine. It won awards, it did very well--but financially it was a nightmare. She was inundated with submissions but had very few subscribers. She said that if even half the writers who submitted their work to her had bought a copy she'd be able to keep going, but as they didn't, her magazine closed.
 

veinglory

volitare nequeo
Self-Ban
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
28,750
Reaction score
2,933
Location
right here
Website
www.veinglory.com
I don't think limiting the scope of your possible contributors, in a manner not associated to the theme of your publication, is a great way to stay afloat.
 

Sagml John

figuring it all out
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 18, 2015
Messages
315
Reaction score
22
Location
Colorado
Website
johnbeaverspen.wordpress.com
I doubt that most magazines check the names of submitting authors against their lists of subscribers. But it's easy to tell if someone hasn't read the magazine prior to submission, as the styles will usually be way off.

That is so true. You may think you offer something different but every mag has its flavor.
 

Outofcontext

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 2, 2013
Messages
67
Reaction score
2
Location
High desert Southwest.
It's important to at least read publications before submitting to them, as if you don't read them you won't know what sort of work they publish, and are likely to send them something unsuitable.

And I disagree that it's bad form for publications to ask readers to buy copies prior to submitting. You want them to support you by publishing your work, but you're not prepared to support them by buying a copy or two? That's unreasonable, in my view. Literary magazines exist on very little money. If writers don't support them they will close.

A friend of mine used to run a good literary magazine. It won awards, it did very well--but financially it was a nightmare. She was inundated with submissions but had very few subscribers. She said that if even half the writers who submitted their work to her had bought a copy she'd be able to keep going, but as they didn't, her magazine closed.

I submit frequently to a large number of publications. Some of them I am already familiar with because I did purchase a copy, but to do so for every piece I want to submit gets expensive in a hurry. That said, I rely on their stated requirements, along with whatever I can glean from Duotrope or other sources about their leanings. (The vast majority of rejections have been personal and requested further submission). When I receive an acceptance is when I'm more than eager to purchase several additional copies for colleagues, family, libraries, etc. So, I do, in fact, support several publications generously.
 

Polenth

Mushroom
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 27, 2007
Messages
5,017
Reaction score
735
Location
England
Website
www.polenthblake.com
I used to submit stories because I needed the money, so buying copies wasn't usually an option. Nor were mail submissions. I sent work by post a handful of times, and only flash fiction, because anything else would've pushed the price up too much. If I'd done anything else, I'd have spent more on submissions than I'd have earnt back from selling work. I'd offer a few pieces of advice in this situation:

1) Look for reprints of things that were originally in the market. In almost all cases, I managed to find some work that had been previously published by the market. If that's not possible, read other work by the authors they've published. Some authors tend to have a very stable style, so you can get a feel for what they do, and what the market evidently liked about their work. (Some authors will do everything from comedy to graphic horror, so they're not as helpful as a guide.)

2) If you're a writer who can't afford to spend money to submit, there will be little understanding of that. Writing is mainly a middle to upper class industry, where people don't really need the money, and can afford to spend money until they're successful. I realised early on as a working class writer that people wouldn't understand my situation, and would judge me harshly. It's important to remember that this is their problem, not yours. Do what you need to do. If that's finding free samples from a market and submitting for free via their online submission form, that's what you do.

3) You don't have to tell people what you're doing. All discussing it does it lead to people trying to discourage you from submitting work. They'll say you're not a real writer, because if you were really dedicated, you'd gladly spend money on stamps/subscriptions/submission fees. Constant rejection is hard enough as it is, so this is one thing you might want to consider not sharing in public if you're feeling down about your submissions.

4) When you do start selling stuff, you might have some money you can use to support projects... but you can't support all of them. Don't feel bad about that. If a market fails because the business plan targeted people with less disposable income who couldn't afford it, rather than people who could pay the money easily, that's an issue with the business plan. The fault isn't with the people who couldn't afford it.

5) Also don't feel bad if you use that money for others things. That includes buying nice things sometimes, because that can help you get through.
 

WendyN

8-armed cyborg tree
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
1,904
Reaction score
181
Location
in the mountain's shadow
IMO, this is one of those "money should flow toward the writer, not AWAY from the writer" situations. Yes, it's usually a good idea for writers to check out the publication to see if what they're submitting is suitable for that market, but for a subscription to be required would make me cross that market off my sub list.

And it doesn't seem likely that an editor would be able to accurately track this, even if they tried. Between people sharing subscriptions, people subscribing under a different email/name... I can't see how this would be worth their time.
 

Denevius

Banned
Flounced
Joined
Jun 26, 2016
Messages
2,474
Reaction score
337
Location
Seoul
I constantly research markets. Most have weak sales, some have decent sales, and a few do quite well. I think the latter has little to do with people who submit being encouraged to buy a copy, and more to do with the fact that those few doing quite well are publishing books that people will pay for to read.

If your site gets hundreds of hits for writers looking for the submission guidelines, but you can’t get a significant portion of those visitors to buy some of your offered titles solely because the content entices them to spend their hard earned money, then that’s probably more your fault than the visitors’ fault.