howdya like that?
about a week ago i submitted a short nonfiction story for the first issue of the Big Ugly Review, and today i received an email that they want to use it pending some changes!
Here's what the editor wrote to me:
Thanks for submitting "First, Second, First" to The Big Ugly Review. We enjoyed reading it, and liked both the narrator's voice and the story she has to tell. You pull off using the second person very well.
We are interesting in publishing your piece in our upcoming issue, but we would like you to consider making a few changes.
Our primary concern is that although you submitted this in the nonfiction category, it really reads like fiction. It may be based on real events, and it may even portray them exactly as they happened. But the use of the second person, the emphasis on the wry thoughts inside the girl's head, and the tongue-in-cheek tone (which is as important to the story as anything that happens in it), all make it come across as a short story, rather than an essay or work of creative nonfiction.
So -- our proposal to you is that we run the piece in our fiction section, as a short story.
She also gives me some specific points that need clarification, and an April 3 deadline to get a revision back to her. But this is pretty exciting... I've been really thinking I need to get my work out there more... so this is a nice start. :)
Here's what the editor wrote to me:
Thanks for submitting "First, Second, First" to The Big Ugly Review. We enjoyed reading it, and liked both the narrator's voice and the story she has to tell. You pull off using the second person very well.
We are interesting in publishing your piece in our upcoming issue, but we would like you to consider making a few changes.
Our primary concern is that although you submitted this in the nonfiction category, it really reads like fiction. It may be based on real events, and it may even portray them exactly as they happened. But the use of the second person, the emphasis on the wry thoughts inside the girl's head, and the tongue-in-cheek tone (which is as important to the story as anything that happens in it), all make it come across as a short story, rather than an essay or work of creative nonfiction.
So -- our proposal to you is that we run the piece in our fiction section, as a short story.
She also gives me some specific points that need clarification, and an April 3 deadline to get a revision back to her. But this is pretty exciting... I've been really thinking I need to get my work out there more... so this is a nice start. :)