Blind submission report….

Blind submission report. My editors had mixed responses to the idea of doing blind submissions; we're trying it for the first issue, to see how it goes.

I have to say, now that I've read the first submission, I'm finding the blind submission process surprisingly exhilarating. It's freeing, being able to look at the work on its own, without all the baggage of author's name, experience, and reputation.

4 thoughts on “Blind submission report….”

  1. The American Mathematical Society tried this with its journals for a while in the 1970’s. The first paper I refereed under this protocol was written by my Ph. D. advisor. I recognized his style and content immediately. So I am skeptical that this is really de facto feasible, even though it is a wonderful idea in principle.

  2. Mary Anne, why would an editor be actively opposed to the idea?

    David, I would think it would be different in creative writing, because there’s likely a bigger pool of people submitting. And even if you do recognize some one prominent writer by style, so what? I’d still think most submissions would be anonymous.

  3. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    Joe, because many editors are control freaks. 🙂

    Seriously, though — I think they want to know if a big name is submitting to the magazine; for magazines that depend on circulation or advertising, that may matter for keeping their budget going, even if it means compromising on quality.

    And I also think some editors don’t necessarily trust their own artistic judgement? So the big name can serve as proxy for ‘this must be good’.

  4. Yeah, I can see how it can make sense to try harder to find value in stories that can sell issues.

    Come to think of it, I guess I relate to not trusting one’s own artistic judgment as well. *g*

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