Issue 4 of The Lakeshore Review is now live and available for purchase here. It’s a beauty. Read on for my editorial.
This practice can be disheartening.
There’s the writing itself which is tortuous even under optimal motivation and inspiration. Should the character turn and say something? Should they scream? Should they scream in the first-person? In italics? And don’t even start with poetry. If fiction is slaloming through a blizzard, then poetry is floating naked in space. Writing is the often frustrating and generally unrewarding process of transmuting ideas and emotions into physical form. It’s harebrained alchemy or something like it.
Then there’s publishing. It might be tempting to imagine the process of selecting, editing, and printing as akin to browsing in a bookstore. And it’s not an unfair comparison, because after all, it’s all just reading, right? But what perhaps is most overlooked is the strain. Leaving aside the actual effort and time-cost, adjudicating work that is so optimistically and earnestly created and submitted feels at best calculating and more often cruel. “Dear Submitter, we liked the heart’s blood you have spilled on this page, but it isn’t a good fit for us at this time.” It’s like telling a new mother her baby is ugly. Might as well say nothing at all.
The worst part is that, often, in works we have to pass on, we find much to be admired. Frankly, there are very few pieces that are submitted to us that don’t have at least some kernel of originality or insight or genius. With a little direction and polish, most of the poems and stories we receive would be a great fit for us eventually. Which makes it all the more frustrating that there’s nothing we can do. With a limited staff, budget, and hours in the day, we are tied to template responses for 90% of the work we receive. Disheartening to say the least.
And yet.
Here we are with Issue 4. Issue 5 submissions are already rolling in. Issue 6 glimmers on the autumnal horizon. If there’s strain in writing, if there’s strain in publishing, it’s worth it. It’s worth it to write and alchemically share a piece of yourself. It’s worth it to bring these pieces together in one house, under one artistic roof. It’s worth it because of you, reader. We’ve got some great stories and beautiful poems in here. Thanks for dropping by; I hope you enjoy your stay.