"Someone who's submitting themselves directly
Daniel Radosh"Someone who's submitting themselves directly to the fiction editor probably isn't all that savvy about publishing and probably not about writing either." The Morning News' faux-unsavvy John Warner throws down a challenge to the snobbish new fiction editor of The New Yorker.
As I was halfway through Warner's piece, I thought of a different (meaner?) challenge: Submit previously published, but not famous, short stories from well-known writers (perhaps even ones that have appeared in the New Yorker) under different names, and offer a cash reward to the staff member (likely an intern) who either spots them for what they are or doesn't but wants to publish them. This would ensure that at least someone would be going through the slush pile looking for quality, and maybe they'd find something authentic while doing so. One way or another, there's a reality show in this.