The Deafening Silence

There’s a disturbing trend in magazine writing these days – silence. There are rumblings from writers about the lack of communication of any form from our editorial counterparts. From ignored queries to equally ignored invoices, editors seem to have adopted this code of silence that has many a writer scratching his or her head.

What gives? Let’s look at it practically. It’s no secret that publications have suffered financial crippling of one degree or another thanks to free information via Internet. That has staffing slashed right alongside budgets. Editors are often doing the work of two or more people (I was once the entire editorial department for a month, but that’s another story). Their time is precious and already has a thousand demands. Could that be the answer?

Maybe. But it helps you none if you’re sitting there months later wondering if anyone has even received your query, and your follow-ups appear to have fallen into that same black hole. I’m sitting here looking at seven queries I sent out in January, none of which were every responded to beyond one who said he’d received it. What to do?

I hate to say it, but the old days of editors and writers following agreed-upon protocol are over. The new order is this – if they want it, you’ll hear about it. However, that’s not to say you shouldn’t still try to get a response. It used to be frowned upon to call an editor and interrupt a busy person. I’m of the opinion that if the courtesy to respond to me has to be foregone for other things, my courtesy in not disturbing this editor must also be foregone. Yes, I’m advocating calling and seeing what’s up. Mind you, if the publication clearly states no phone calls, honor that. If you get no response the usual way, that may be your answer. Move on to a more responsive publication.

And sadly, this may mean more diligence on our parts. For there’s another disturbing, albeit infrequent trend in publishing today – the use of a freelancer’s ideas by a staffer. Ideas are not copyrighted, yet the editor who uses those ideas verbatim has acted unethically and could owe you some money.

As this trend and its effects shakes out, we may come up with an alternative solution that will relieve overworked editors of too much protocol and still give us the answers we deserve. For now, I say a quick call isn’t going to kill your chances. I’d suggest calling after business hours. That way, your editor can listen and have another reminder to at least follow up on the email you’d sent (and don’t forget to leave your email address on your message). Remember – you’re a busy person, too. You took the time to send a well-crafted query. That deserves a response. Keep that in mind as you’re dialing.