Q: When is it okay for editors to retract publication offers?

"After careful consideration we decided we won’t be moving forward with your work."

Welcome to our weekend conversation!

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Earlier this year, I wrote about a writer named John. John had work accepted at a literary magazine. The editors were “delighted” with his essay, promised a contract soon as well as an honorarium, and said they were “excited to publish this piece and we couldn’t be happier to have you as a contributor.”

Three weeks later, the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief wrote with “bad news.” The magazine would no longer be publishing John’s essay. The editor said that, “as I have spent more time with it, I think it…runs contrary to the vision that [our journal] has for its content…”

Naturally, John asked for explanation. The editor replied, saying he felt John hadn’t handled a delicate subject in a manner to suitable to their publication. “I understand this is disappointing and I am sorry to rescind our offer to publish your work,” the editor wrote. “I do think the work has a higher ceiling, though, and hope you can reach it.”

John asked for further explanation, specifically how the editor “found it non-inclusive and disrespectful,” as implied. The editor did not respond.

My piece, How solid should publication offers be?, focused on the experience of one writer at one magazine. At the time of writing, I considered this a fairly uncommon occurrence.

This past week, I began to wonder, how uncommon actually is it?