— Coffee Break —
 
What Do Editors Want?
  
by Cynthia Sabelhaus

I’m currently taking another ‘marketing’ course, this one from Zoetrope/Gotham. I’m not sure why I signed up except I was bored one Saturday and the class was relatively inexpensive and short—only four weeks. The only work required of me: two 1-page query letters. I can handle that, even with an issue of Calliope due and my work obligations heating up.
        This class is taught by a successful New York literary agent, so I’m gaining insight. Most of the writing classes I’ve taken over the last couple years were taught by writers. One of the insights I recently stumbled upon surprised me. As I read ‘what editors want’ I was struck by the thought, hey, I’m an editor…what do I want?
        What I want is to do as little work myself as possible while finding and publishing good work. I’m astounded by the behaviors of many writers. I receive 20-50 Calliope-related emails a week and from 2-6 items of snail mail. Most should never have been sent.
        When I taught at Auburn University, I had a standard lecture for the first day of class. Part of that lecture was my Shit List—things to avoid doing, like calling when the weather turned foul to ask, “Are we going to be doing anything in class today?” or calling at midnight and asking, “Were you asleep?”
        So I thought I’d provide you with my Calliope list and describe how some writers go wrong, annoying an editor and (in more competitive markets than Calliope) closing the door to future publication.
 
1.  Check the guidelines and then follow them.
        Lately, much of my mail should have been directed to the poetry or fiction editor. Why is this a problem? Because it delays consideration of the work and risks my losing track of it until I find a