Encouragement from the Desk of Eddy
For your motivation, below are a few positive notes Eddy, as an acquisitions editor, has made re: submissions she has received over the last few years. The bold type words concern the major elements most editors pay attention to (if the narrative is intriguing).
- I really like the voice in this work. Reminds me of Larry Brown and his vignettes in Tiny Love. With the following edits addressed, I’d like to publish this in our quarterly: Page 6 needs a tag or a beat during the dialogue to make clearer. ‘Bed’ is repeated too often; last graph p6. Typo; p 7- you’ve seen ‘he’ around?. ‘Coin of the realm’ overused.
- Yes, absolutely great submission—thumbs up! A fresh, intelligent voice, full of delicious sensory detail, external AND internal! Best work yet. Need to fix the following: Typo p 5, graph 6.
- Genuinely nice to see an author who knows how to submit! This is a fun, easy jaunt into CNF and well-written on a theme most folks can identify with these days – internet ad frustration! The author’s (southern) humor shines and is refreshing to this gentle reader. I give this story a definite thumbs up!
- I am particularly taken with the author’s use of sentence structure in this piece and think it smartly done. The staccato nature of a few sentences takes us into the mind of the main character. The author relaxes this when outside of that close-up view. I particularly like the sentence on p. 5 that is 63-words long. It suggests the author knows how to write cumulative sentences effectively, which to this gentle reader means the author is an accomplished writer. The editor in me would further advise, however, author watch intruders such as wordiness. Example: The boy could see… instead of a more direct, The boy saw. Still, thumbs up!
Here’s hoping you receive many acceptance emails from all your 2023 submissions!
See you next time!
Eddy
