Hi John, I admit to being one of the rejected authors looking for feedback. I sympathise with your dilemma and as I am a new fiction writer, I am scouring all the the sites with advice for better writing. Back to our one drop fallacy and the CGD path of finding a middle ground between providing (a) detailed feedback (and the angst it can generate) and (b) no feedback, perhaps a middle path would be workable for all. I was thinking of very simple feedback options, (a) storyline is interesting but quality is not there (b) storyline isn't interesting and quality is not there (c) storyline isn't interesting but quality is reasonable and (d) storyline is interesting but not appropriate for volume.
This could be a simple form filled out when reading a submission, and making it very clear that its not up for discussion. As second thought is for people who would like more detailed feedback, charge a editorial consulting fee for your time($50-$60). There are a lot of people who would pay for an hour of your time.
In the end, you and the editorial team are the publishers and get to make the call on what you like and what you choose and that's fair. What disturbed me the most was the lack of ANY feedback, even a automated "thank you for your submission". It doesn't encourage you to go back and work on your writing and stories when they go into a black hole. You got some of us excited to write and it may take us a few rounds to get something to the level needed.. The simple form feedback is enough for most of us to see where to focus and detailed feedback option becomes an extra source of income. Anyway, just my two centimes ;-)
feedback
This could be a simple form filled out when reading a submission, and making it very clear that its not up for discussion. As second thought is for people who would like more detailed feedback, charge a editorial consulting fee for your time($50-$60). There are a lot of people who would pay for an hour of your time.
In the end, you and the editorial team are the publishers and get to make the call on what you like and what you choose and that's fair. What disturbed me the most was the lack of ANY feedback, even a automated "thank you for your submission". It doesn't encourage you to go back and work on your writing and stories when they go into a black hole. You got some of us excited to write and it may take us a few rounds to get something to the level needed.. The simple form feedback is enough for most of us to see where to focus and detailed feedback option becomes an extra source of income. Anyway, just my two centimes ;-)