An update

My previous post, about the editor who rejected me and accepted computer generated text from a friend, has been very popular. It's a great anecdote I suppose, and obviously people would like to know who the editor is, what the magazine is, and what the accepted words are. Sorry to disappoint, but I think it is entirely up to the hoaxer himself to reveal. I can however copy from beat comments Mr Hillbilly Greeker made, and reveal the news that the editor has been in touch again, and asked for more of his work!

I'm the "writer friend" mentioned on asalted - just thought I'd set a bit of context here, anonymously because the editor in question has actually asked for four or five more pieces for an e-book (seriously), so I'm going to string this along for a little while.

This didn't begin as a stunt. It became so after the event. The editor had responded so vehemently to a polished, workshopped piece, that I wanted to see how he would respond to a random collection of words (and there was no way I was going to waste any of my own work on him). I expected either a stronger rejection, or no response at all. The possibility he might publish never occurred to me. But when he replied, he was in awe of the 'work'.

I certainly didn't set out to prove anything. Whether an exercise like this could ever prove anything is debatable. It began as a bit of fun to waste the time of a man who had been needlessly rude to a friend. Perhaps a childish impulse.

You were spot on with the greeking generator you linked to - it's the same one I used, with the Hillbilly option selected. The text generated there is pretty much identical to what was published, with a little added coarseness (certainly no added craft). It has no more intrinsic value than any other random collection of words.

Or perhaps that last statement is open to debate. If any of your readers disagree they could likely have a novel or two completed and published on lulu.com before bedtime.

Posted by: Hillbilly Greeker

Edgy fucking litzine bollocks

I don't rate Duotrope as much as some do, and I don't often look at it, but this week I did, to see what's new. And I came across a magazine looking for subs, and if I am honest, it was the title of the magazine that appealed probably. I sent a flash piece that I had worked in an online writers group (which I mention only so you know it wasn't just some random spewing), and I got a very fast response.
The editor said he didn't like it, he thought it was unrefined and sloppy writing that needed revision. Right. Cheers. Anyway, I thought he was a bit rude, but assumed he is a young dude trying to make a name as a fearsome editor of scrupulously worded fiction.

I told a writer friend, who went to a greeking generator and mixed up some chunks of random text with expletives, and sent it to the editor along with a preposterous bio.

You know what happened right?

Yup, accepted with thanks, and published.

I'm not gonna give this Ed and his mag any more exposure by naming them, but I really don't feel so sad about my rejection now that I understand the quality of the work he is aiming for.

It's one thing to have high standards, but to mistake words from a generator for experimental literary fiction is really very funny.