Editorial: A Thankful Responsibility

it is impossible to anticipate every outcome. or maybe it is possible, given enough time, enough facts, to predict the future. to do so would take how long? how many days, months, years? Athena and I first talked of starting a literary magazine back in 2007, then mapped out the framework in 2010.

sooner or later, however, we knew we had to ship, to deliver, to either launch the magazine or stop talking about it, stop fretting over every conceivable outcome, risk, success and failure. at some point, we had to move. only in movement, akin to jogging for the first time, will you learn the proper technique, the correct pace. along the way, there will be pain, one of the best teachers in life.

we are in the middle of Issue One. not the first issue: that was Issue Zero. even our numbering system, our method of cataloguing our issues, is off. i don’t consider this a mistake. Issue Zero, our preview issue, was our answer to the question, “what do you mean by the modern experience?” it served its purpose; to us, it was a success.

this past July and August, we got people engaged. primarily through Twitter, we encouraged–and sometimes harassed–writers to submit. that was a minor mistake. not our excitement, but our over-exuberance. we recognized that lit mags come and go every day, some without publishing a single word, without catching the interest of a single writer. we went hard to the rim, so to speak, but we’ve since pulled back. we’ve since determined that our magazine, not our Twitter account, should speak for us.

along the way, we attracted a motley crew of writers who wanted to join our staff full-time. Ghost+Blog was born and began to develop its own identity. another mistake: creating a literary blog alongside a literary magazine. the two threatened to reject each other, cancel each other out, create two separate audiences. maybe that’s still the case now, even after combining the blog and magazine into one publication.

some people disagreed with the decision to merge the sites: the blog would overshadow the magazine, or vice versa. i wavered at times. another mistake. i know nothing of being an editor in chief, but i know more than enough about leadership.

my day job, the bane of my existence, taught me how to lead, how to waver in private…to consult trusted people…and to decide. be done with it. uncertainty, and its expression, is a human act and one absent of shame or guilt. but decisiveness means just that: to live with one’s decisions, to know each decision has a consequence, a risk involved.

as i type, someone i know–someone whose work i’ve come to respect–frets over the start of a new magazine. i think about this someone and wonder, “what would I say to a would-be founder of a would-be magazine, literary or otherwise?”

two pieces of advice

1. be certain
2. begin

with respect to literary magazines, one better be damn sure. i can’t lie and prop myself up, or insult those who’ve helped and supported Specter thus far, and say, “this is a thankless job.” no. no, it is not a thankless job. and it is not a job. it is a responsibility. when you sign on to publish writers (that is, when you sign on to publish some writers while rejecting the vast majority of other writers), you better love writers. the written word. literature.

you’re responsible for the tone and tenor of your publication. you’re responsible for spelling and grammar errors (yes, i’m serious). you’re responsible for your staff, should you gather one. and god help you if someone cries “plagiarism”–or simply cries–it is you who must address the issue, no matter how large or minor.

there’s no glory in starting a literary magazine–another mistake of mine, a humbling one–and there is no “fame” if “fame” is to be had in, of all realms, literature (to say nothing of the niche market called “literary magazines”). the reward is introducing a writer to a reader. we are thrilled to publish all the writers who’ve appeared thus far, and will appear soon, here at Specter Literary Magazine.

additional reward, though not guaranteed: people will see your efforts…not everyone, but some…and a few will want to help, and they will say “thank you.”

…now, if all of this sounds good to you…

begin. just as we did. begin. stumble. prepare for mistakes, for pain, but move. begin.

time will tell: the adage of patience. another mistake i’ve learned, and continue to learn, but one that is true, so true, in this thankful responsibility. be patient.

i wish you luck. if you ask, i will help if i can. but not until you begin.

if you’re certain.