Carolyn,
it was miserable. Awful. A version of Hell but without any hot demons offering us iced tea.
There I was avoiding writing by being on Twitter. And there she was. You know... an editor. Not just an editor but an editor from one of the two houses where we sent our latest piece of shit for consideration.
So what did this editor do? Well, she commented about a submission she was reading and she complained about it. She didn't like it. And what she said in complaint meant it might have been ours.
Oh, it might not have been ours. But I think it might have. And so I replied to her and asked but she didn't answer. And I thought how awful. If it was our submission, I sure don't want to hear how lousy it is on Twitter.
Anyway, I was proud of us for writing it. I still think it's a good story. But I'm kind of depressed to have seen that and I'm hoping it wasn't us.
I just feel like maybe there might have been a nicer way to get the feedback, if it was us.
Maybe editors should be more careful on social media?
There's no 'maybe' about it. I wondered why my ears were burning.
ReplyDeleteThe internet seems to have severely damaged professionalism and common courtesy. The Yahoo pages appall me. People feel free to say things they'd never have the balls to say face to face. Racism and bigotry abound.
So yeah, if I make my living screening potential stories for a publisher, let me complain on a popular social media for the whole world to see. Because it's all about me, isn't it? I have no face, no need to be discreet, they'll never physically find me, so who cares? Oh, and it's even better if I can make it funny.
The internet has given me a real low opinion of humanity. Sometimes I think the human race is just not worth the trouble.