Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Six Questions for Jarrett Haley, Editor, BULL Men's Fiction

From the web site:

"We're looking for good stories that address men's issues, span male perspectives, or otherwise appeal to a male audience." Read the complete guidelines here.


SQF: Why did you start this magazine?

JH: Because I wanted to edit stories. Because I looked forward to "meeting" writers and working on their work with them. Because I was curious about what we'd get. Because no one was doing what we now do.


SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a story and why?

JH: There are two big ones:
  1. that I want to (or at least can) read the story through to the end, and 
  2. that I can (and ideally, want to, or can't help but) remember the story a couple of days later.
And since we have a specific aesthetic, I guess there's a 3--relevance to that aesthetic.

SQF: What are the top three reasons a story is rejected, other than not fitting into your answers to the above question and why?

JH: Sometimes I feel like too much pleasure is taken in answers to this question. I don't like rejecting stories, for as many reasons as there are reasons for rejections. I'd rather not try and rate them, I'm sorry; it's part of this "job" I'd just as soon pretend doesn't exist until it has to.


SQF: What is it about the characters in a story that makes them pop off the page and grab hold of you?

JH: "Popping off the page" seems specific to a certain type of character. In general, I'd prefer they draw the reader into the page, that they are so interesting and true that one wants to grab hold of them.


SQF: Will you publish a story an author posted on a personal blog?

JH: We have in the past without incident. I'm not averse but I'll admit to a moment of hesitation.


SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?

JH:
Q. Can I offer you a backrub?
A. Oh, yes, please. Wow. You're too kind.

Thank you, Jarrett. We all appreciate you taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.

NEXT POST: 11/29--Six Questions for Jim Harrington, Flash Fiction Editor, Apollo’s Lyre

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