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DRAFT DAY 2025
Honesty is My Cardinal Trait, and It’s Not Always Popular
We’re not talking ‘those pants don’t look good on you’
I reviewed my emails to the writer, a young woman from Australia. My brief notes to her were kind and supportive, because it’s hard to submit work to a publisher. It’s also hard to be an editor or publisher, so I keep every piece of correspondence between myself and writers. While I’m not planning litigation — ever, touch wood — I review back and forth fairly routinely. Often, I’ve mailed back correspondence to writers who insist they submitted their writing to me a month ago (check the date — it’s been five days).
The young writer was professional in her email, too, as she explained the problem. The young woman had an altercation with a member of my team. She wrote me to apologize. Basically, said the following:
Like you, I’m not into drama — a member of your team and I had a disagreement, and he over-reacted.
My team member, who she named, was an even-tempered fellow. He reacted? I doubted that.
As I read the email, I thought about Stephen, an incredibly diplomatic communicator on the team. He often was much more attentive to writers than most. If he had an altercation with anyone, it was not his fault.
