Editors Do Not Hate You. Really.

Insights from Ploughshares Former Editor

Welcome to our weekly column offering perspectives on lit mag publishing, with contributions from readers, writers and editors.

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By Don Lee

I’ve always been puzzled by the antipathy a lot of writers have toward editors. I have a biased perspective on this, of course, because for nineteen years I was the principal editor of Ploughshares. I left the journal in 2007 to teach full-time, and, I have to say, it’s a relief not to be the target of such enmity.

I noticed this at the AWP Conference in Chicago. Whereas before, I had always dreaded attending the conference, this time I actually enjoyed myself. Why? Because for the first time I was merely another writer/teacher, just like everyone else. I was no longer an editor, and, at such conferences, editors can count on being addressed in one of two uncomfortable ways—with sycophancy (“Oh, I love Your Magazine!”) or utter disdain (“Oh, Your Magazine. You just rejected a story of mine”). The latter, incidentally, is not a smart method of introduction, not a good way to make friends and influence editors. For some reason, this needs to be pointed out.

What most writers don’t realize or believe is that, on the whole, editors are on their side. Indeed, quite a few editors are writers themselves.