Relief: A Quarterly Christian Expression

Reading for Relief

Written by Deanna Hershiser

Friday, 18 July 2008

Relief would like to welcome guest blogger Deanna Hershiser as she shares with Relief readers a little about her experiences reading for Relief.

Early in my writing experience I received a gift from an editor who read and rejected my work.

A mother of young children seeking to write between naps and peanut butter sandwiches, I’d begun sending out manuscripts. One article to a Christian parenting magazine remained suspended for months in whatever ether existed at the publishing house, before that dreaded SASE finally appeared in my mailbox with the form letter enclosed. Like an auditioner on stage, I longed to know just what had made those big shots dismiss me.

During the same summer I attended my first writing conference and made an appointment with the parenting magazine’s managing editor. I had nothing new to show him, but I decided to ask questions about processes behind the scenes where he worked. Graciously the editor explained to me that an article must pass before several readers’ eyes and then it might end up in a final editorial meeting, only to receive a “no” decision for various reasons.

“What sort of article did you submit?” the editor asked me. I told him the gist of it.

“Oh, I remember that one,” he said. “We liked the humor. It reached the final decision-making round, but the subject was deemed too controversial.”

I floated away from our appointment. Even though rejected, my words had been read, noticed, and they’d even stirred controversy. What more could a writer desire?

An acceptance, of course, wouldn’t have hurt.

Many years and several “yes” letters from editors later, I’m still curious about what goes on behind and within publishing domains. So I agreed when asked to be a Relief reader, someone who reads submissions as they come in and recommends or doesn’t recommend them to an editor. Already the job reminds me of my limitations—I operate by instinct, not on academic or editorial know-how. Whether or not I like an essay is purely a subjective decision.

But that’s okay with the editors, who always make the final choices. What they get from readers like me is another reaction to each submission, complementing (or creating controversy with) an editor’s point of view. The result is multiple facets to the editing process for every Relief submission.

How does this process benefit you writers toiling over manuscripts, trying to keep PB&J crumbs off your keyboards? For one thing, you can relax a bit. If you’re like me, after submitting you imagine all sorts of malignant perils thwarting your piece’s journey through cyberspace. But once you see on Relief’s RWN that your work has been received, you needn’t obsess over whether your literary progeny will be summarily dismissed, lost, or worse, laughed at.

I find the Relief editors and readers committed to taking care and being genuine with each submission. That doesn’t guarantee anybody’s manuscript an acceptance, but I notice that even when everyone is saying no to somebody’s work, we’re not tromping the rejected piece into the dust. It doesn’t fit, or the writer needs to mature in their craft, or it’s good but enough submissions are better this time that the editors can’t use it.

I can now see why many submitted pieces prove tough to sort out. I’ll read one, thinking, Hmm, starts okay, loses me here, and so on till by the end I’m sure it won’t work. Then I read the next reader’s comment: “Yes! Wonderful!” Or I find myself grinning, laughing, charmed, or moved by another piece, only to see someone comment that it didn’t do anything for them. The positive point in these cases is I’m compelled to go back and read again, to make sure I didn’t blink and miss something critical.

What can you do to ease the process for readers like me, paving the way for a quality read of your material? Start by carefully considering your cover letter. I know, I’ve rushed through them, too, especially when I forgot I had to do that part, because I’m submitting online. Oh, wait! They want something about me to lure them into reading mine first, or liking me before they read. Rest assured your cover doesn’t need to be pushy, because we read through submissions in the order that they arrive. I do like to see a word count; that way I can gauge whether or not I have time to read one more before my rice finishes cooking on the stove. A short message is fine: Here’s my manuscript. Thank you for considering it.

At this stage I don’t need your bio (that will be requested after your piece is accepted). I’d rather not wade through rambling introductions, especially when peppered with typos. I definitely will groan if you tell me this was your Creative Writing class assignment. Not that I've come to think no one should submit to a journal one of their papers from class. I just recognize in such essays I've read (and I remember too well from personal experience) a sense of, Wow, I finished a piece of writing! Sure, a teacher prompted me to do it, but she said it's good, so, let's see, I'll just send it right out for publication!

You’ll do well to become a Relief reader yourself before submitting. In other words, get an issue and read every selection. Take time here on the website studying what the editors say. Ponder what you’re trying to express and decide whether it might fit. If you think your ideas come anywhere close, work on them and send them. Do your simple, genuine best, and I’ll be eager to read it.

Deanna Hershiser learns more all the time about creative nonfiction and hopes to complete enough essays for a memoir she’s calling Deep Water, Bright Mercy. Her second Relief essay will appear in issue 2.3. She comments on various blogs and updates her own at storieshappen.blogspot.com .

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