Editorial Feedback: You Get What You Pay For

Recently, I wrote a post about the editorial feedback services that many journals now offer, exploring how to ensure you get actionable feedback to improve your work. Now I’m going to dig into what you can expect to pay for this feedback, what’s reasonable, and why.

Let’s put the cost of editorial feedback from journals in perspective.

Think about how much time and effort it takes an editor to read your work. With an ideal editorial feedback package, an editor will identify what’s working and what’s not, consider how to improve the piece, and communicate all of that with a supportive letter and comments at the sentence level.

The amount of time this will take depends, in part, on the length of a piece. A flash piece of prose—1,000 words or less—will take an editor five minutes to read, a 2,000-word piece will take ten minutes, and so on. A page-long poem might take two minutes, less, or longer; it really varies depending upon the complexity and density of the poem. Of course, people read at different speeds. But let’s assume a slower-than-average speed for an editor who is reading with care.

In their first read, an experienced editor is looking for writing that draws them right in. They will quickly spot any first-draft issues, which break down into the Three C’s:

Content: Themes or writing that are not a fit for the journal.

Clarity Issues: When the piece doesn’t make sense overall, or the writing is inconsistent.

Coherence Problems: When there isn’t a clear narrative arc—a beginning, middle, and end—and throughline. In other words, the dots don’t connect.

After this top-line review, editors will do a second, closer read to address specific craft elements and give comments at the sentence or line level. This takes more time.

After that second reading, the editor will provide editorial guidance and actionable feedback, pulling together a supportive and craft-focused response. This part of the process takes the most time: For a piece of flash prose or a few one-page poems, reading, reviewing, and writing a feedback letter with line edits could easily take an editor an hour or more. An independent editor would charge a minimum of $75–$200 for this service. Longer work equals more time and more cost.

Journals that charge a modest amount for an editorial review are likely spending less time with your work, so the feedback may be more limited. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing: Sometimes, a single paragraph from a sharp editor who identifies an essential problem or way forward might be all you need. The key is to know what you are getting and what you are paying for it—who is giving the feedback and what that feedback will include. From there, you can decide if the deliverables and fee work for you.

Editorial feedback for free—is that a thing?

Yes! There are journal editors who provide free feedback. Not many, but some. Let’s look at four examples.

1. Under the Sun, which publishes creative nonfiction of 7,500 words or less—including essays and memoir excerpts that stand alone—is known for providing feedback to help writers improve their work. The journal’s editor, Martha Highers, frames what they do this way: “Our goal is to let submitters know they have actually been read. We're all writers and submit ourselves, and we know how it is to receive mostly form letters.” She adds, “We always send the feedback out with the caveat that we're just one group of readers, who frequently don't agree even with each other, and all of our reactions are just the reactions of flawed humans.”

So I gave Under the Sun a try and submitted an essay, not quite 3,000 words long, that had been declined a handful of times and had gotten positive, personalized feedback from a few journals. The essay was about my relationship with my mother, a commonly explored topic—mothers and daughters, I know, but I felt I had used a unique framework.

I received one to three paragraphs of feedback from five readers, each focused on what they found was working and what was not. The first reader said, “The writing is good.” Phew! That simple, four-word sentence showed respect for my work and gave me encouragement. “Okay,” I thought. “Maybe I don’t suck at this.”

Not all of the readers agreed with each other—and that’s not uncommon, as readers and editors have different tastes and aesthetics which impact their choices—but they tried to be specific, and some asked questions. Three of the readers said they liked the unique way my mother-daughter story was told, which supported what I believed about the piece. Overall, as “not accepted” goes, this was a pleasant interaction and a fairly useful experience. I made a few tweaks to the essay afterwards, and not long after, the piece was accepted.

What you get from Under the Sun readers is limited in depth and doesn’t focus on revision opportunities. But it’s honest, thoughtful, and free.

2. Rattle, a well-regarded, top-tier poetry magazine, provides free feedback using a workshop format. Every Friday at 4pm PST, Tim Green—who has been the editor of Rattle for over 20 years—hosts Critique of the Week, livestreamed on YouTube. Green randomly chooses and reads poems submitted through the journal’s Submittable page, providing the poet with craft-based feedback on the spot. The feedback is free, but the poems are not considered for publication in Rattle.

Each week, Green reads two poems from each submitter and offers feedback for a full hour. It’s a lively program: Viewers comment and ask questions in real time, and Green shares lots of other poetry content and insights. Tip: Attend the livestream for the best chance for Green to select and review your poems.

3. And at Brevity Blog where I work as an editor, we occasionally provide feedback and work with writers to move their work toward publication. For essays with potential but that aren’t quite there, the editor may follow up with supportive feedback to help the writer with revision—this depends on the editor’s available time. The feedback is “on the house,” and we hope the writer finds it useful. Sometimes our editors will encourage the writer to consider the feedback, and if it resonates, to make changes and resubmit. This doesn’t guarantee publication, but we engage in editorial conversations with our writers when we can.

Submitting your writing to journals can be scary. Asking for editorial feedback from a journal may feel even scarier. But you and your writing are worth it—especially when it’s free.

Andrea A. Firth is an essayist and editor for Brevity Blog. She often teaches and writes about submitting and publishing in literary journals and on the web. On the first Wednesday of each month, she leads a co-working session called Submit It Now! hosted by Svetlana Litvinchuk, Chill Subs Director of Events, which gives you time to work on submitting your writing with the support of peers in the Zoom room. Plus, Andrea starts each session with a review of a topic or questions related to the submission process. Last month, she reviewed editorial feedback for a fee, and in December, she’ll talk about writing contests. You can register for Submit It Now! here. It’s FREE!