In traditional publishing, there is often a hierarchy of editors. When a piece gets chosen by one editor, it usually moves on to the editorial board, and the editor-in-chief makes the final call. More often than not, the piece won’t make it to the final stage. Neon Door is a team of working artists, writers, mothers, and professionals who have all been through this brutal process in finding homes for our own work. We know how hard it is to find just one editor who connects with a piece, let alone having to convince an entire team. We do not pretend to have unanimous taste. In fact, our team works because we are all so different from each other. Our editors in their genres have complete autonomy over what to accept/reject. In that sense, we are a truly collaborative team. At Neon Door, there is no editor-in-chief.
We want to empower our editors for many reasons, one of which is that this project would not be possible without them. For each exhibit, editors are allotted a set amount to offer and commission artists, starting with $25 for an image, $50 for a poem, and $75 for prose. However, the offer may be more due to a variety of factors, including experience, the amount of submissions we receive for a particular exhibit, etc.
As much as we want to empower our editors, we also want to encourage artists to know their worth—you may make a counter offer. We cannot promise that we’ll accept it, but we may, and you should try. As writers and artists ourselves, we have had to learn to advocate for our work, and we want to empower you to do so. We look forward to reading your work!
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