Thanks, But No Thanks-- Or, Having To Say No

Saying no is something that doesn't come easily to me-- but, as a publisher, its something both Willy and I have to do every day--whether we like it or not. Although our submission requirements and our mission statement are posted clearly, in bold on our website, every day we get queries from people who haven't bothered to read them. This results in an inbox clogged with submissions we wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole--not because they're not viable projects in their own right, but because its just not what we do. We publish no genre function at all-- and that includes mysteries, thrillers, romances, chick-lit, and adventure fiction. Oh, and by the way--we don't publish non-fiction either. Or poetry--a fact which doesn't adequately explain why I got a package of handwritten poems in my Post Office box last month . . .

Often times I leave the rejections to Willy, as he's far more tactful than I (I'm a New Yorker. And a bitch. So sue me). There's also the added issue of the fact that when I write rejections, no matter how nice I am, many, (usually male) writers decide to respond by being complete and utter assholes. Now, I don't know when this whole "let's be rude to publishers to get some attention" thing came into Vogue--probably around the time Gerard Jones became infamous for his website Everyone Who's Anyone. I actually really like Gerard, and respect what he does, but I can't understand how some writers think its a good idea to send threatening, insulting, or harassing emails to prospective publishers. Its going to get you remembered all right--but for totally the wrong reason. Maybe its a gender thing--and I suspect it is. Because I can, and often do, write rejections on Willy's email account (hey, there's only two of us--sometimes we have to multitask), and I have never once encountered rudeness in doing so under the guise of a male persona. I'm also willing to believe it might simply be a coincidence, but I have a sneaking suspicion its not.

The point is, we hate having to say no--we want Impetus to be this alternative space for writers who have no real place in the market. And when we take said writers on and say "Welcome home," we mean it. But, we can't take everybody in--we don't have the financial resources to do so-nor would we want to. That being said, we have to limit what we publish. And, if I'm going to put my hard-earned dollars into backing a book, I really HAVE to love it. And I'm a picky bitch--I don't naturally love everything I read.

However, I'm reading Heidi Julavits's book The Uses of Enchantment right now, and am loving it. This could be because it fits perfectly into a chapter of my dissertation on Freud's Dora that I'm currently working on--or it could be that its just a damn good book. I'm also multitasking by cooking butternut squash soup, cracklin' cornbread, and chocolate-peanut butter-chip cookies right now. Having the time to be a kitchen whore gives me deep domestic pleasure, but I guess that's neither here nor there.