When an error leads to opportunity

When Jessica first approached me about starting an online literary magazine, I actually giggled. She probably doesn't know that, but the thought seemed ridiculous. Not the concept (because that's brilliant), but the idea of me editing it.

What did I know about literary writing?

Turns out I have a deeper appreciation for the style than I realized, and going through the submissions for our inaugural issue was immensely satisfying. Kind of like I'd found one of the missing pieces of my giant writerly puzzle.

Of course the opportunity to work on anything with Jessica was exciting, but the more submissions I read, the more excited I became. So excited, in fact, that the magazine went out without the anal (and I do mean, anal) review I'd normally have given it.

Mistakes happen. I've been in and out of the magazine business for enough years to know that almost no editorial project launches without a few glitches. Some errors are bigger than others, and the impact of those mistakes have varying consequences.

Lucky for our readers, our boo-boo in this first issue will now net someone a $40 gift card to the store of his/her choice.

Want to know more? I'm not surprised. Get the details here.

And while you're at it, why not check out our submission guidelines? The second issue launches this April, and in addition to all of your wonderful written vignettes, we're hoping to see some submissions from illustrators, photographers and designers. Go ahead, floor our inbox - we can handle it.

- Dawn

The Book In My Bag Today: Survivor in Death, J.D. Robb