Cherry-Picked on That!

My poetry was cherry picked a few times, but I couldn't tell you why some were or weren't. none of my story stuff has been picked, but I didn't really think it would be.

I think if you slip up in your writing you get a banana. But I could be wrong. lol. Rich

Love it. Very funny. Rich

I agree. As much as I like getting the occasional cherry, I'd much rather have the comments. Positive or negative. It's very discouraging sometimes to write something that gets read and the reader doesn't bother to comment. I usually take a non comment as a negative. Or simply that it was so long the reader didn't bother to finish. lol. Rich

Hello Ewan, I agree with you mostly, I could not and would not want to do the editing job because it is too much of a commitment, a thankless task at times and one that I imagine leaves little time for said editor's own writing. But I resent your inferrence that erotic writing is all I do. 75% of my work is not in that genre so maybe you ought familiarise yourself with that fact before you make that kind of accusation in future. I put lots of effort into my work and do endless editing before I submit and writing does not come easily to me. I have to work at it. I may not use fancy words like you (I don't even understand some of them) but I think I communicate my ideas pretty well using simple language. As to you being a former editor, I remember your comments on my work were more often than not in the form of sarcasm (to me, anyway, I cannot speak for others) and never helpful. Because an author occasionally writes EROTICA there is no need to take a dim view. And that was the trouble with you, all your comments on my work seemed to be designed to belittle, whether I had written poetry or prose. You may remember I gave my share of sarcasm back at the time, which I regret now because it is not my way, but I was furious with you - someone who was should have known better being in a privileged position and making poitive suggestions. I know editing is hard work, I too have held that position, (for a provincial newspaper), it was a paid job and I expected flack, especially when I didn't get things right. ABC editors do the job voluntarily and fair play to them for that, but there is absolutely no reason why they should be so obviously biased. Out of 250 submission I have been 'robot' cherry picked nine times, so I don't think anyone could blame me for feeling the way I do. I've given up worrying about it because editorial's message to me is clear, but I do believe they should show more parity and be less mean-spirited even so. There are numerous authors on this site who write well within their comfort zone but seem to acquire cherry orchards nonetheless. But like you say it's a very subjective thing and all editors are different. It's just that they don't seem to like my work, or perhaps it's me. I'd be pleased to carry on this argument with you if you like, but I'd sooner bury the hatchet and start over. I think you are a good writer, but you should have consideration and show a little more compassion to your fellows who are trying their best too. sd

Thanks for responding, Ewan, and for your honesty. I’d like to draw a line under this now, but I do have a few more points to make beforehand if you can bear with me. I’m not interested in garnering cherries per se. It reminds me of school days when teachers used to award gold stars for good work. It would always be the same kids regardless of efforts made from less talented pupils. There will always be favourites in life, and while ABC is a good site, it is also very ‘clicky’. If you are not part of these cliques you have the feeling of being ostracised. I feel the currency has been devalued anyway by the constant awarding of cherries to the same people regardless of the quality of the submission. And the serialisation of stories where every single chapter seems guaranteed to receive a cherry is ridiculous and makes a mockery of the whole system. You are an intelligent guy and I’m sure you don’t need me to name names of the people (editors) involved – you will know who I’m talking about. It goes back to the back-scratching I mentioned previously. I once contributed a 5000 word story to ABC and the editor concerned picked out a duplicate full stop after one sentence, that’s all the comment involved. I knew my story was reasonably well-told and included most of the elements of what a good short story should contain, but that was the thing that caught his eagle eye – a typo. Fucking brilliant! What was the point? Not a word about the story or its elements at all. I edited the story, removing the offending stop and resubmitted, thinking this was a definite cherry winner, but only received a rebuke, saying they failed to see any difference in the re-submission. I think it was at that point I lost all respect for ABC editors, sorry to say. You make a point of saying the very few cherries I have received have gone to non-erotic stories with the inference that this must tell me something. Erotica is a legitimate category on ABC and if it is frowned upon by editors then it should be removed as a category. I know some of my content is very controversial and I like to make people think and sometimes even feel uncomfortable about things. I think writing should move people and if I can do that I am doing my job. But even if content is considered ‘dodgy’ it should not detract from the fact that the story itself it is well told and involves believable characters and good dialogue etc. I prefer writing non-erotica but the smutty stuff is always the most read it seems. Don’t ask me. There have been many examples of poorly written erotica on ABC but that hasn’t always been a barrier to them being awarded cherries. As I’ve said, I’m not really worried about the cherries, I’ve risen above it now, but I do hate obvious bias and unfairness in life. Good luck with your writing too, not that you need it. Best wishes. sue