A guest post by Paula Panich
Fueled by frustration and a manuscript of unpublished culinary essays with recipes, I spent two years writing letters to agents.
Silence.
Only one wrote back with regrets: She hadn’t heard of M.F.K. Fisher.
Fit to be tied, I swore I’d never write again. Then I thought: The literary magazines! Why not make a game of getting published?
Hundreds of small magazines buzz under our radar. These publications—some print, some online, are known as literary magazines and journals. They’ve been quietly present since least the nineteenth century; for example, the North American Review, launched in 1815, is America’s longest continuously published magazine.
The heart of the personal essay is life itself. Think of the work of M.F. K. Fisher and Laurie Colwin. (If you’re curious about the form, read The Art of the Personal Essay, edited by Phil Lopate. His introduction is invaluable.)
Why in the world would I want to submit essays to (mostly) nonpaying and (always) fiercely competitive magazines? After all, each receives hundreds, if not more, submissions monthly. Undeterred, I sent out ten essays to 65 publications. Most accept simultaneous submissions, but a handful want an exclusive right to think about their decision — and it may take six months to get an answer!
The research is daunting. I looked hard at each publication. Does it publish literary nonfiction? Of what sort? What length? What is the submission period? What are the formatting requirements? Do I send electronic submissions or postal?
Many of my essays had recipes. Eventually I lopped them off — anything to make them more publishable on pages that have never seen an ingredient list (Alimentum is an exception).
My goal: At least 85 submissions by December.
My score so far: More than half rejected, less than half pending, one acceptance.
A few delightful rejections have tided me over, to wit: “We love love the piece and love love your writing. But we’ve decided to pass.”
I’ll take it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to do more research.
* * *
Teacher and speaker Paula Panich holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from Warren Wilson College. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, theWashington Post, Gastronomica, Better Homes and Gardens, and other publications. She is the author of Cultivating Words, and was editor of DiRT: A Garden Journal from the Connecticut River Valley.
Great to read! Thanks for sharing your story ~ it’s something all writers deal with – food writers and the rest of us. Love the sassy ending!
Dear Debra — There are only two reasons to write: for love or for money. If you are a person who can not NOT write, you know where you stand in this equation. And what I know about you, your tenaciousness is a beacon of light to all.
Always,
Paula
Sometimes I work for plants!
ha ha! me, too!
Dear Deb and Lydia —
My fiction mentor and teacher, Ron Carlson, always said: The most you can hope for is a PLACE in which to write, and TIME to write. I often think of those gifts from life — on a good day.
Paula
Wow this is fascinating research you are doing Paula. Dianne I hope you do a follow up piece on her conclusions! It supports what I’ve been saying on here for years. Forget about pitching and/or hoping to be noticed. The industry has contracted to a point where they really can’t hire anyone anymore. The owners of these magazines, bless their hearts, have to do everything on a shoe string and are constantly faced with cutting costs. They can’t add to them by hiring new writers. Some probably have to sweep the floors themselves, let alone hire writers, to keep the lights on. There are no opportunities for writers here anymore and you’ve proven it!
What’s more writers need to think twice about giving their content away to these new aggregation websites based on the Huffington Post model in hopes of exposure. Your study hopefully results in writers asking the question. Exposure to what?
In my view writers need to completely rethink their strategy in today’s environment. Or more accurately the environment we’ve had for the last decade. We are in a unique point in time where writers can go directly to the audience and forget the gate keepers. The net at least for now allows you to go direct. If you can get a large enough audience for your work you can monetize it by advertising. We’ve been doing this very successfully for a decade and we don’t have to deal with rejection after rejection or all the political games people have to deal with to hopefully be noticed. I not going to say it’s easy, it’s not, but at least it can work! Sadly though this model is rarely discussed. I wonder why?
Dear Rick,
Thank you for your comments — you’ve raised some interesting issues. Seems that writing opportunities for unpaid online work are especially abundant if one is writing either journalism or topical commentary that may or may not be framed by a personal story. That’s the Huff Post model, it seems to me. But if the work is literary and more complex, even that pipeline is closed. (Of course this is a big generalization.)
Far more literary journals exist now because of the Net; yet however “published,” they are a huge amount of work for everyone involved. I read that Zoetrope receives a thousand submissions a month! (I wouldn’t want to read them!)
Most colleges and universities have literary journals; they serve as training grounds for undergraduate writing students and for MFA students. The work of mature writers may have first readers young enough to be not only their children but perhaps their grandchildren. There is a natural chasm there if not antipathy. Our concerns can’t be similar.
But so what? What can we do but to keep on going on, because we just don’t know what might happen. It’s a lottery, and for at least the year 2014, I will keep buying tickets.
Thanks you for weighing in!
Regards, Paula Panich
I love this post. This doesn’t make me look that bad after all. In fact, this is truly encouraging. Thanks for sharing, Dianne. Thanks for a great read, Paula.
Thank you, Ms, Quirino — One of the most difficult things about writing, in my opinion, is the ease with which we writers jump to compare ourselves with others. It is a long haul, this business of writing and uncovering who we really are and what we actually think about ourselves and the world around us. It’s the task of a lifetime, I’ve noticed.
Thank you for responding.
Paula Panich
Paula, keep at it. I like your attitude, and I hope this process is more enjoyable and educational than it is frustrating.
The website Full Grown People runs wonderful first-person essays, and the quality and authenticity of the writing on there keeps me coming back. There’s no pay, but my experience with the site has been rewarding enough that I am now a regular contributor. It’s my reward to myself for the more straightforward writing I do to make a living. An essay of mine which ran on there will be in “Best Food Writing 2014”, and some of my favorite essays from the site have had a food focus. http://www.fullgrownpeople.com
Dear Sara Bir,
I will definitely look up this publication – and congratulations on your inclusion into Best American Food Writing 2014! Thank you for taking the time to write. I will look forward to reading your essay.
Every piece of writing is an education, I do think. A puzzle to be solved. Likewise, my year of submissions.
Paula
Hello Sara Bir,
Congratulations on your essay to be included in “Best Food Writing 2014”!
I took a look at Full Grown People; it is an interesting model — essentially, a twice weekly curated essay-blog. The literary journals publish one to four issues a year; this model raises the ceiling of the possible for writers. I’m sure there are more like it!
Thank you so much for writing, and letting the rest of us know about this!
Regards, Paula Panich
What an inspiring piece, Paula! I love your tenacity and great sense of humor.
Christina! Thanks so much for taking the time to read this and for your comment.
(Full disclosure: I sent it to her!)
I’m so glad you are part of this season’s series of workshops, “Seeing is The Seed: Writing at the L.A. County Arboretum.”
See you on October 26!
All best, Paula
I recently said to a food writer friend that it is a wonder that anything gets published at all these days. It is truly like a shot in the dark sometimes. Heartening. Thanks for sharing this experience. I’ve been wondering about this approach, too.
Dear Carrie —
I think Dianne’s blog must be a lifeline to many, many writers — she is the real thing, a trained writer; she is an excellent coach and offers practical and learned advice.
I read David Bayles and Ted Orland’s book, ART & FEAR, again and again to remind me that I write because I can’t survive otherwise. I’m hardwired. No one can ask or answer these questions for anyone else.
The kinds of writing are endless, and the kinds of writers, too.
All best — Paula
P.S. The first edition of WALDEN was self-published.
Well your post gives great hope to any if us that have thought if giving up, and a reality check to anyone who thinks getting published would be easy. Your sense of humor through it all is very uplifting.
Dear Susan —
Thank you for writing — I was just thinking there is something so American about all of us, acculturated as we are to wanting/expecting reward for our long and difficult labor. I think of Suzuki-roshi, who writes in Zen Mind/Beginner’s Mind about doing something so thoroughly that we leave no trace of ourselves. On a very good day, I might have that feeling. Or as Ron Carlson used to say — when he is cooking along while writing a story, he’s a man with a secret — completely in love.
Cheers, Paula
I thought about this study some more and while the results are fascinating I wouldn’t want bloggers to think that the odds of getting published are like winning the lottery. The problem is that this test doesn’t take into account a major factor bloggers often bring and that is a large and loyal audience. It would be an even more fascinating test to see what the results would be if Smitten Kitchen did the same submissions. I believe there would be a lot of takers because she brings a large and loyal audience that would be very valuable to a magazine. That has clearly been the case with her cookbook and in my opinion it would be the same here.
So I come back to the same conclusion as in my previous comment. Build an audience and you become more valuable to yourself and to publishers whether they be cookbooks or magazines. But you can’t put the cart before the horse, you need the audience first for it to work and that takes time and hard work. Now in the end you may conclude like we have that with a large audience you don’t need publishers, but that is a whole other discussion. I think if bloggers can build the audience that either makes them income on their own or makes them valuable to a publisher then it is no longer a lottery, it’s a valuable brand that allows you to get paid for doing what you love.
Hi Rick — I think you are absolutely correct (meaning, at least, I agree!) in your assessment of practical ways for writers/bloggers to build an audience before branching out. It has been accomplished with some rather spectacular successes– “Julie and Julia” all started with a blog after all.
But I urge caution in assuming all blogs/online magazines/magazines and literary journals have similar concerns when considering a piece for publication. Apples and oranges are flying through the air here. Editors of well-established literary journals look at one thing: the quality of the piece in front of their eyes. (That’s not to say hearts don’t beat faster when something comes in from Richard Russo or Donna Tartt or Alice Munro.)
Thanks so much for thinking this through!
All best, Paula
Thanks for sharing, Paula. I know very well how you feel. I’ve been on the long and winding road of pitching and rejections, and it’s exhausting. Keep going–you’ll get there.
Roberta, thank you. You know full well that one has to love the road itself! The best of luck to you. ~ Paula
Paula,
Your tone and voice are light and refreshing.
I love your one accepted article “What God Hath intended.” The recipe from A True Gentlewoman’s Delight is TWO sentences! Wow. I can see why you are obsessed.
Thank you for the “small magazines” list and the reference to Lopate’s The Art of the Personal Essay. (Mine just arrived in the mail.)
You are an inspiration.
Dear Maureen — Thanks so much for taking the time to read “What God Hath Intended.” It’s an essay from The Cook, the Landlord, the Countess, and Her Lover, my so-far unloved ms. (I like it, though.)
Delighted you have the Lopate book now — I’ve had it for years and still learn from it. The forms of the personal essay just astound me.
The best of luck to you — Paula