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LRTs the reason I want transparency from short story markets on how much of what they publish is solicited versus slush is because submitting short fiction is already an at-times demoralizing grind even when sending stories to markets that are actually interested in them.
And I think there being markets that secretly have zero to only slight interest in their slush actively makes that grind worse. It dangles a false hope in front of people already engaged in a difficult task.
Be honest with people about their chances of getting into your market.
Be honest with people about their chances of getting into your market.
(Also I think readers deserve to know if and to what extent something that purports to be interested in stuff like "new voices," etc, is really giving brand new voices a chance but maybe that's just me. 
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And I want to be clear: I am in no way saying that soliciting stories is bad or wrong. I am certainly not saying it's evil to have written for a solicitation. I've done the latter myself, and I sure enjoyed putting that money in my checking account!
There are plenty of reasons a venue might want to solicit stories, ranging from wanting to make sure they have a diverse array of voices, to just having a particular vision of an issue, to needing a sepcific kind of story ASAP and knowing a writer who can do it. It's not a crime.
Hell, there's a good argument to solicit stories from big names so they'll compel people to buy the thing, and then sneaking in new writers in their wake! I think that's actually a great use of solicitation!
But because it's somehow A Thing We Don't Talk About Openly, it warps everyone's understanding of a) their slush chances, and b) what they can even actually write for. And that's especially shitty for new writers, the very people who NEED slush to work.
Be transparent. Be honest. Let writers decide if they like their odds if you only slush one story an issue or will only take two stories for your antho or whatever. We're adults who can decide from information.
Several venues have stated openly how things work for them:
Several venues have stated openly how things work for them:
https://twitter.com/wzrdsinspacemag/status/1286734497212444672?s=21 https://twitter.com/wzrdsinspacemag/status/1286734497212444672
https://twitter.com/kaleidotrope/status/1286829116721946626?s=21 https://twitter.com/kaleidotrope/status/1286829116721946626
https://twitter.com/translunartl/status/1286821241949749249?s=21 https://twitter.com/translunartl/status/1286821241949749249
https://twitter.com/_vajra/status/1286867770618064896?s=21 https://twitter.com/_vajra/status/1286867770618064896
This is a short thread https://twitter.com/metaphorosismag/status/1286415687716544512?s=21 https://twitter.com/metaphorosismag/status/1286415687716544512
Note that this is a HISTORICAL entry. https://twitter.com/ShimmerStories/status/1287063065419296770?s=20
