tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061623550817048162024-03-15T10:13:21.558-04:00Six Questions For . . .Where editors and publishers discuss writing flash fiction, short stories, poetry, and novels.Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.comBlogger962125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-49263963447908113372024-03-15T08:58:00.002-04:002024-03-15T10:12:30.208-04:00Six Questions for C. E. Hoffman, Editor-in-Chief, Punk Monk Magazine<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 17.33px;"><i>Intro updated per editor’s request 3/15/2024.</i></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;"><i>Punk Monk Magazine</i> publishes poetry, flash fiction (micro considered), creative non-fiction, reviews, op-eds, and more!</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">“We are excited to elevate femme/queer voices, though all (within the realms of moral sanity) are welcome. We're especially interested in a feminine perspective w/ edge- that which our EIC has dubbed "femmepunk" in reference to their own work.” Read the <a href="http://punkmonkmagazine.blogspot.com/p/submissions.html" target="_blank">complete guidelines here</a>.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><p><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">C.E. Hoffman: </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">My motivation has changed over time! </span><span face="Arial-ItalicMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-style: italic;">Punk Monk</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;"> began as </span><span face="Arial-ItalicMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-style: italic;">Visceral Uterus Magazine</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">, launched by me and an internet friend. We were co-EICs, and had no clear vision on what kind of work we wanted to publish. When my pal left the Masthead, I re-invigorated the publication as a strictly feminist, strictly poetic zine. Since rebranding as </span><span face="Arial-ItalicMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-style: italic;">Punk Monk Magazine</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">, we publish poetry, flash fiction, CNF, music features, and more, and recently have begun accepting review requests! </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.33px;">I try to publish things I actually want to read (or wish I’d written!) Above all, I want to cultivate a space for writers like me, who don’t quite belong anywhere, but sure as fuck have something to say.</span></p><p><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><p><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">CEH: </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">Lack of pretentiousness. Simplicity. Sincerity. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.33px;">We like things that are easy to read/relate to.</span></p><p><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">CEH: </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">Pretentiousness. Wordiness. Obvious refusal to read the guidelines/figure out what we’re about. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">CEH: </span><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">Simple words. Raw emotion. Real life. Femme experiences written by femmes! </span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">SQF: If </span><span face="Arial-BoldItalicMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Punk Monk Magazine</span><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;"> had a theme song, what would it be and why?</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">CEH: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuLfnONTX9M"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(17, 85, 204); color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: normal;">Rock n Roll</span></a></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;"> by Avril Lavigne. Laugh if you want: </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.33px;">“I don’t care about my makeup/I like it better with my jeans all ripped up/don’t know how to keep my mouth shut/you say so what/I don’t care if I’m a misfit/I like it better than that hipster bullshit/I am a motherfucking princess/you still love it” </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">C</span><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">EH: </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">I’m content! </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span face="Arial-BoldMT" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">Thank you, C. E.. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-12883188914296063422024-03-11T09:47:00.000-04:002024-03-11T09:47:07.032-04:00Six Questions for Suzanne Craig-Whytock, Editor-in-Chief, DarkWinter Literary Magazine<p><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial-ItalicMT; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-style: italic;">DarkWinter Literary Magazine</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;"> publishes short fiction (under 2000 words) and poetry (500 words max) with a twist. “Whether you're emerging or established, we want your weird, your traditional with a twist, your humour, your dark thoughts, or your elation.” Read the <a href="https://www.darkwinterlit.com/submit-literary-magazine"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(17, 85, 204); color: #1155cc; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">complete guidelines here</span></a>.</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial-BoldMT; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial-BoldMT; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">Suzanne Craig-Whytock</span><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">: It's often difficult for emerging writers to get their work published--many literary journals around here only publish a couple of issues each year or once a month, and have limited space. We wanted to create a platform where anyone with a strong story or poem could see their work out there in the world for others to enjoy, despite perhaps not having a resume full of publishing credits. We feature two different writers twice every week (Mondays and Thursdays), so there's lots of space for a wide variety of stories and poems.</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><br /></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial-BoldMT; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial-BoldMT; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">SC</span><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">: The top three things we look for are first, an original story. We don't publish fan fiction, or "the true story of" an existing character (unless it's REALLY different), or stories that have already been explored </span><span style="font-family: Arial-ItalicMT; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-style: italic;">ad nauseum</span><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">. We're interested in weird and twisty tales, or stories with a strong emotional arc. Second, we're suckers for a punchy ending--we love a story where the last line makes us sit back and say, "Wow." For poetry, we like pieces that aren't so personal/abstract that only the author understands the references; other than that, we publish free verse, rhyme, prose poetry, and so on--again, anything that leaves us with a powerful reaction. Third, clean copy. We're willing to do some editing, but we appreciate it when submissions aren't full of typos and obviously haven't been given a second look before being sent.</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><br /></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial-BoldMT; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">Our inclusivity statement makes it very clear what we don't publish (no racism, sexism, homophobia, or transphobia), so anything that contravenes that policy would immediately be rejected. We also don't like anything with a lot of gratuitous violence, anything with gratuitous animal cruelty in it, or anything explicitly sexual.</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><br /></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial-BoldMT; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial-BoldMT; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">SC</span><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">: A really strong hook--something that grabs our attention right away and makes us want to engage in the story. For poetry, we look for vivid images or compelling ideas.</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><br /></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial-BoldMT; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">SQF: You also host two presses, <a href="https://www.darkwinterlit.com/darkwinter-press"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(17, 85, 204); color: #1155cc; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">DarkWinter Press</span></a> and <a href="https://www.darkwinterlit.com/post/introducing-baxter-house-editions-a-division-of-darkwinter-press"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(17, 85, 204); color: #1155cc; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">Baxter House Editions</span></a>. Please explain how these differ.</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">DarkWinter Press is our main imprint and we publish new work (poetry collections, short story collections, novels, and novellas) from both emerging and established writers. Baxter House Editions was launched at the beginning of February to support some writer friends whose publisher dissolved and their books were "unpublished". It's our reprint press; that is, Baxter House republishes valuable work that through no fault of their own, are no longer available. Baxter House has reprinted three different publications already and submissions are always open to anyone whose work has gone out of print.</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><br /></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial-BoldMT; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial-BoldMT; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial-BoldMT; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">SC: </span><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px;">A lot of people ask if they have to pay to publish with us and the answer is no. We're a small press but still traditional. We have a Frequently Asked Questions document on our Press submissions page that addresses any concerns a potential submitter may have and explains our processes.</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial-BoldMT; font-kerning: none; font-size: 17.33px; font-weight: bold;">Thank you, Suzanne. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-14896086745804736472024-01-19T02:00:00.009-05:002024-01-19T02:00:00.256-05:00 Six Questions for Veronica Kirin, Cofounder, Anodyne Magazine<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anodyne Magazine</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes poetry, flash fiction to 1,000 words, long-form fiction, and nonfiction to 5,000 words, artwork, photography, video, and music/audio. “We are a magazine focused on personal health experiences, including (but not limited to) physical health, doctor visits, mental health, chronic illness, and more.” Read the </span><a href="https://anodynemag.com/submit/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Veronica Kirin: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Katarina [Yepez] and I both struggle with medical conditions that are not well-recognized or well-supported by the medical establishment. We both have experience with two health systems — the American and the German system. While general access is improved in the German system, we both found that the same gaps in treatment applied. Frustrated, but also wanting to use our situation to the benefit of others, we decided to create </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anodyne Magazine</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. We know FLINTA* (female, lesbian, intersex, nonbinary, trans, agender) people all over the world face similar problems, and we believe the community will find relief in seeing their concerns, discoveries, and wins published in a compassionate periodical. We are delighted to find the community supportive and hungering for this kind of discourse!</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VK: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, we look for a fit with our theme. We exclusively publish work by those identifying as FLINTA* and addressing the topic of our health in some way. Then, we consider quality. At </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anodyne</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, we believe everyone deserves support, and work with some contributors on fine-tuning their pieces within reason; still, there is only so much guidance we can offer when processing 100+ submissions each round. We ensure all selected works adhere to our guidelines and meet our quality standards. Finally, we consider the content. Does the piece have depth? How does it make us feel? Does it linger on the inside of our skulls and compel us to tell all our friends about it?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VK: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It drives me nuts when people don’t look to submission guidelines. We try really hard to be supportive and provide information if a new submitter needs it. But we also worked to make the basics clear so busy creatives can submit quickly. For example, a recent submission was 1,500 words </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">longer</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> than our guidelines allow. I didn’t even read it (Katarina believes I’m a bit of a stickler that way). I’ve been on both sides of the process and know sometimes mistakes are made, but I view disregard for guidelines as disregard for the effort we’re making to publish and promote your work.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VK: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Are we hooked? Is the basic thesis clear early in the piece? I don’t need to know everything that’s going to happen, but a well-thought-out piece will seed their idea very early, and then build it throughout the piece. I love that!</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VK: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, if it’s not on the theme of FLINTA* health, it doesn’t fly. If the work is extremely explicit, we may be weary of publishing the piece. Otherwise, we’re pretty open to whatever we’re sent. We understand that it can be difficult to encapsulate the emotions of health conditions and related experiences, and we’re a diverse community. Put together, we get some pretty creative stuff and love it.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why do you pay in dividends?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VK: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First of all, </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anodyne Magazine</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> represents an underserved community, not just in healthcare, but in all walks of life. We firmly believe that creative endeavors ought to be paid, and paid well, and perhaps we can play a role in changing the way money flows in the literary world. We pay in dividends so we are able to pay even our first contributors and guest editor. But it also means that we can </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">continue</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to pay them, even years into the future. As long as the issue they worked on sells, they will receive payment for it. If we the founders of </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anodyne</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> do our jobs well, everyone will benefit. Here’s to hoping!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Veronica. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-26224176489346890032024-01-05T02:00:00.001-05:002024-01-05T02:00:00.145-05:00 Six Questions For: A Farewell<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They say you’ll know when it’s time. December 31 marked the end of my 15</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> year of providing editor interviews on Six Questions For. . . (</span><a href="https://sixquestionsfor.blogspot.com/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://sixquestionsfor.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). It’s been a grand run, but it’s time for me to move on.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want to thank Randall Brown (</span><a href="https://www.randall-brown.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.randall-brown.com</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) for planting the seed for the project. He responded to an online rant of mine suggesting I “publish a series of interviews in which editors list, in excruciating details, all that each editor desires in his/her stories.” I don’t remember my response the first time I read this. I know it wasn’t positive. I spent a few weeks attempting to talk myself out of passing go and posting interviews. Obviously, I failed.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also want to thank all the editors who participated. Over the course of this project, I contacted 2,409 editors and published 955 interviews. That’s a 40% return rate, which remained steady throughout.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WHAT I WILL DO BEFORE COMPLETELY STOPPING </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are still a few editors who expressed an interest in participating but haven’t responded yet. If/When they do, I will post those interviews.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ll also consider posting an interview from an editor who contacts me directly.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perform a final scan to mark publications that have ceased publication.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WHAT I WON’T DO</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Solicit new publications.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve received many kudos over the years from editors and authors. I considered including a few here, but the greatest testimony would be for someone (or a group/class) to take over the project. I’m willing to assist in the transfer and share what I’ve learned over the span of the project. In the meantime, the current site will remain active for as long as Google allows.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks for all your support over the years.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jim Harrington</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><a href="mailto:SixQuestionsFor@gmail.com" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SixQuestionsFor@gmail.com</span></a></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-54315093685078134422023-12-29T02:00:00.012-05:002023-12-29T02:00:00.141-05:00Six Questions for Marina Kraiskaya (Brown), Managing Editor, Bicoastal Review<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bicoastal Review</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes poetry, nonfiction, photography, and art. They especially welcome ekphrastic writing that imitates, borrows, challenges, or is otherwise in conversation with work they have previously published. Read the </span><a href="http://www.bicoastalreview.org/submit" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: arial; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this journal?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Marina Kraiskaya: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The concept for</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Bicoastal Review</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was the brainchild of my friend and fellow poet Luis Torres, who is working on his MFA. We wanted to create a unique, community-building publication that bridged the coastal and cultural divide between New York and California/Oregon – but that did not subscribe to the typical elitist implications that come with the word “bicoastal.” To this journal, “bicoastal” refers to the peoples, cultures, art, and ecology of the East Coast and West Coast – but also to the community of writers that we have connected with in the vast states in between. We accept submissions from all over the world and do not base each issue around mentions of particular U.S. states.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> We also wanted to straddle the lines between edgy, modern narratives and traditionally beautiful, quiet writing. Hopefully, we are accomplishing that goal.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I was brought on to the project because I have been a professional editor for years. I am now BR’s managing editor. I value the little things that (would) mean the world to me if extended by other publications – like emailing back and forth with writers, workshopping poems that we believe in and have a vision for, or sending snail mail to our contributors and hearing about how they’re doing in life and in their careers. I put a LOT of thought into how poems are arranged and how themes speak to each other in each issue.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As a poet, I know exactly how overwhelming and vulnerable it is to submit to even one publication. I respect every person who has taken the time to share their work with our journal and try my best to respond in a timely manner and offer what I can. I don’t like the phrase “slush pile.” I also want anyone reading this to know that rejections from journals are not a reflection of quality or of your passion; most often, an editor is hoping to fill a very specific content gap, and your mutual needs simply didn’t align on that day.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MK: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Authenticity of voice, cohesion of conceit, and a sense that nothing is missing – that the poem has pushed as far as it could and dug up some gem from the depths of the unconscious. That it makes us feel something. That it can be read more than once to a greater effect. My common test of a submission that I am on the fence about is whether I remember it after 48 hours. If I do, that is a sign that the voice is strong, which is more important than the poem being perfect. If I have an edit for the poem, the writer is usually willing to hear me out and revise. As a small journal, we are able to value potential over perfection and build those relationships.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We receive many submissions of what is popular at the moment – narrative/prosaic poetry about self-identity. I would love to see more nonfiction submissions, critiques of anything going on in the literary world, examinations of history, ekphrastic writing, and lyrical ecopoetry.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MK: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, we want everyone to read our guidelines, purchase print issues, and maybe even write us a little note about why they are submitting. When a submission is completely different in subject or tone from our usual vibe, it seems like the individual is just shooting blindly at too many journals. We also prefer to see at least 3 poems in one document, in 11-14 sized font.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I have a strong aversion to cliché, ripe fruit as sexual allusion, casual bashing of the feminine (why is this so common?), poems that could have been short stories and accomplished the same result, childhood memories that are meaningful only to the writer, AI or bot poems, Instapoetry, poems that rely on aphorisms or proverbs, blunt rhetorical questions, lazy use of the word “thing,” poems that poorly use the word “dust,” and poems that explain themselves rather than letting an image speak.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We also do not accept any form of hate speech.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MK: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first line of a poem can tell you so much about what is to come. Perhaps the writer establishes a conflict or presents a mystery. The first line also determines how the rest of the lines will be formed, or how they will begin to deviate from this particular line to convey a message. Scene-setting can be important, but tone-setting is even more crucial. Too many first lines are either too vague and ethereal, or try so hard to shock that they push their reader out. Hyper-elevation in this way is the poetic equivalent of a fiction book’s main character immediately being “the chosen one” with magical powers and golden eyes.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Of course not a necessity for an excellent poem, but it is also beautiful and masterful to have an end-stopped first line that reads like its own tiny poem. Titles can function in much the same ways. I love a unique title that adds some new information or tone to the poem.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our second and third issues, for example. include these great first lines: “Last night, my wife mistook me for a ghost.” (Rosalind Shoopmann). “The first one thousand days, eat nothing” (Aimee Lim). “</span><span style="color: #434343; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My gun and I meet. It’s for freedom” (Francis Bede). And “</span><span style="color: #2d2d2d; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the desert labors like a postmenstrual woman” (Annie Lure). Those all make me want to read more!</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MK: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Political poetry is very difficult to do well and to write in a timeless way; to not overdo the emotion and to use “cold hard facts” toward a purpose that truly serves the poem. Political poetry is like sexual poetry in that it is not the subject matter itself that is a hard sell. It is not that journals demand nice, clean political correctness. The issue lies in the way people approach these topics: subject-first, rather than conceit-first. The result is often an overly intense, crusading, somewhat hollow “journal entry” type of poem that is reliant on cliché or feels closed off. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MK: </span><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a wonderful project and conversation. If I was the interviewer, I might ask about processes of communication, audience, and community. I believe a journal should not exist if its main purpose is to elevate the names of its staff, to be shocking, to be a gimmick, etc. Poets and editors (and I am both) usually are aware that their reader is at work on the material right alongside them – turning, interpreting, empathizing, responding, breathing, being with their stories, symbols, and rhythms. So, we serve our audience – end stop. We create art, arrange it, and present it to add to the deep meaning of the collective, rather than to feed our own egos or resumes. We should be in this world to coax out and encounter new truths and perspectives about what it means to be human. We should be in this world because we can’t live without it.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thank you, Marina. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-64690896606186587072023-12-22T02:00:00.007-05:002023-12-22T02:00:00.129-05:00 Six Questions for Alan Perry, Managing/Poetry Editor, RockPaperPoem<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">RockPaperPoem</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is an independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit poetry journal run by an all-volunteer team of poets. It publishes three issues per year, requires no fee to submit, and nominates for Best of the Net annually. It welcomes submissions from anywhere in the world, and encourages work from under-represented, marginalized individuals. Send up to 5 poems for consideration, with a maximum of 2 pages per poem, fee-free during any of our three reading periods. Read the </span><a href="https://rockpaperpoem.com/submit.html" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alan Perry: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We wanted to fill what we perceived as a niche in the poetry journal market: an independent, non-university-affiliated journal that was no fee, easily accessible to all (online), targeting a high-level of poetry from experienced published poets, as well as poets seeking their first publication. We wanted to push the boundaries of contemporary poetry without sacrificing strong, emotional depth for experimentation. We also wanted to enhance the experience of encountering each of the poems we publish with an image indicative of each poem's theme or imagery, i.e. a visual introduction to poems.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AP: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We look for a well-crafted poem that is grounded in humanity, including a deftly-conceived turn, strong theme, and poignant ending.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</b></span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AP: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A submission that looks and feels like it's an early draft: rough, not polished, not ready for publication. Also, a poem that belabors well-established themes without showing us something unique.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AP: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first few lines of a poem—much like prose—should intrigue us, want us to follow a path the poet has created, engage us with interesting language, scenery, or perspective. Bring us into the poem and make us want to stay.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Are there any styles/genre of poetry you’d like to receive more (or less) of?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AP: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our strong preference is for fresh, new free verse work with multi-layered meaning. We do not have themed issues, so we are open to any subject that connects with readers, whether lyrical, narrative, or confessional style. We generally shy away from rhyming, overly simplistic, and shape poems.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AP: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"What is your vision for the future of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">RockPaperPoem</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">?"</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our long-term vision is to become a leading U.S. online poetry journal recognized for its high-quality content, attractive design, reader accessibility, and contributor friendliness. We want to be known for promoting a wide variety of poetic styles, diversity in poetic voices, and a welcoming, inclusive community of poets in our publication. We look forward to bringing new poetry programs and opportunities to our contributors, submitters, and readers in the near future!</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Alan. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-69988372091653437532023-12-15T02:00:00.002-05:002023-12-15T02:00:00.129-05:00Six Questions for Cloē Di Flumeri and Christina Giska, Co-Founding Editors, The Q&A Queer Zine<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Q&A Queer Zine</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes poems, flash fiction (250-1,000 words), short stories (1,000-2500 words), and art work. Read the </span><a href="https://theqandaqueerzine.com/submission-info/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cloe </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Di Flumeri</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We started the Q&A</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as undergrad students at Widener University. Christina and I didn't know each other well outside of the publication we both were readers for, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Blue Route</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I remember going through one of the packets we had received and realizing that our university had no defined platform of expression for queerness. Two good friends of mine were students at Boston College at the time, and had been working for their publication, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Laughing Medusa—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">which spotlights the work of women and nonbinary artists. I remember having a lightbulb moment where I realized, THAT'S what we're missing. It came at a time when I was also taking a classics class and asking all sorts of questions like—why do we teach what we teach, whose voices are missing or silenced... think the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Iliad and the Epic of Gilgamesh,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> two texts with an abundance of queerness which has historically been filtered by heterosexism-- as well as gender violence that goes largely uncriticized when such texts are taught in the classroom.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CDF</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: In no particular order- Authenticity, technical skill, thematic novelty. To me, this is the trinity of ingredients I look for in a submission-- and which come up frequently in our reading meetings. As a writer, I know it is hard to find a balance between the three and that works embodying these traits are a demonstration of skill and attention to craft. I do believe the thematic novelty piece can be harder to sus out because if you are unfamiliar with a magazine and haven't done your reading, you might not know what stories they are telling in their issues. I will say we get an overabundance of coming-of-age stories, and we assess those stories differently because we know we have to limit the amount we publish. I love receiving speculative fiction pieces which build entire worlds for us to explore, or poems that reflect on unconventional aspects of the queer experience. This is not to say any one story is more important or better because of what I like, but we do need to consider including a multiplicity of topics to ensure that we aren't telling "one" queer story—which could be easy if we published ALL of our lovely coming of age tales (there are A LOT!)</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CDF: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">THANK YOU FOR ASKING THIS QUESTION—NOT READING OUR SUBMISSION GUIDELINES! People have submitted works and retracted them when finding out that we do not offer compensation, people have sent us works previously published, people have sent us works that were pages upon pages longer than our word count. Ignoring or not engaging with submission guidelines is a dead giveaway that you do not truly value our time or consideration. Works ignoring our guidelines are not considered and are removed from the pool.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Christina Giska</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I'm looking for something that grabs your attention as a reader. Any piece will have stronger and weaker parts to it, and while we want to minimize the weaker parts overall, the opening is definitely not where you want the weak parts to remain. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Are there particular topics/genre you’d like to see addressed more (or less) in the submissions you receive?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CC: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I love pieces that are a little more out there and explore unusual paths, but I know there are others on the masthead who don't. As a queer zine, we get a lot of pieces centered around love and sex, and while I love them, I also enjoy pieces that explore other aspects of the queer experience and queer community. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CC: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What are your goals for the zine? </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want the zine to be a place where people feel comfortable. We're a small, volunteer-run zine and to me, the whole point of the zine was to have a place where people felt like they could be themselves and be respected. If the zine makes even one person feel more secure or happy, then I'm glad the zine was created.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you Cloē and Christina. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-34670113063901855582023-12-08T02:00:00.007-05:002023-12-08T02:00:00.130-05:00Six Questions for Samantha Lee Curran, Founding Editor, trash to treasure lit<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">trash to treasure lit</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes poetry, prose, personal essays/memoirs, creative non-fiction, and micro/flash fiction. “</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">trash to treasure lit</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> wants the writings that you self-rejected, deemed ‘not good enough’, trashed, binned, or have forgotten about.” Read the </span><a href="https://www.trashtotreasurelit.com/submissionguidelines" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Samantha Lee Curran</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: I started </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">trash to treasure</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> because of how 'elitist' and intimidating the publishing industry can be. When I first started submitting my writing, I was overwhelmed by the calibre of work in the journals/magazines I was submitting to, and was discouraged by their submission guidelines, which often cited to 'only send us your best work'. That request often had me doubting whether or not what I was hoping to submit was my 'best work', and if not, did I even have something better in me? It's difficult to get your work published, especially as an emerging writer with no publications to their name. I wanted to create a space for writers (emerging and established) to celebrate the work they had deemed 'trash', which may not fit the guidelines for any other journal/magazine. I believe that every writer has 'trash' that others can treasure. You may have a piece of writing that you read and think "Why the hell did I write this? No one will care about it", but a reader out there will find a purpose in it, someone will appreciate what you have written and that you have put it out into the world. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SLC: </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Emotion. Emotion is crucial in any piece of writing. Even if a submission doesn't necessarily evoke an emotion in me, if I can tell that writing it meant something to the author and that they've poured themselves into it, then that's what I'm looking for. Why else write? </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Intent. Every piece of writing should be written with intent. There are submissions that I receive where I can tell it was written for the sake of it; the author had an idea and ran with it, even though it had no substance. A poem/short story/personal essay, isn't going to stand out if it isn't written with intent and it will fall flat. When you're writing a piece, always ask yourself why.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Clarity. It can be easy to get lost in something that you're writing. The details can be contradictory, the story can become muddy, and you can end up somewhere that doesn't connect to the beginning. I look for clarity in anything that is submitted. When the author is confused and unclear on what the piece is saying, then the reader will be too, and you won't reach anyone.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SLC: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What turns me off to a submission is when someone is submitting work that is obviously trash; meaning, they have put no effort into the piece, they do not care about the piece they are submitting and are only submitting for the sake of it. Also, if someone does not include a reason as to why they trashed the piece then I am inclined to decline - the whole purpose of the journal is to open the conversation around why we as writers doubt or 'trash' our work.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SLC: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Honestly, nothing in particular. I make sure to read every submission wholly without allowing the opening paragraph or stanza to steer my opinion. I think that making a decision based on the opening can taint your view on the remainder of the piece, and you may miss out on some incredible writing/storytelling due to that. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>SLC: </b>I haven't come across any hard sells for trash to treasure as of yet. We are open to anything that comes across our submission inbox, but that doesn't mean there might not be a hard sell in the future! What </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> completely off limits, though, is racism, antisemitism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, bigotry, xenophobia, sexual assault, abuse, or hate speech of any kind. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SLC: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can't think of anything at the moment, I believe the questions you asked covered the most pressing topics on the subject. I will say that </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">trash to treasure</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> exists to encourage and cheer on writers and is honoured to be a home for any 'trashed' pieces. Thank you Jim for creating this space for editors to explain their publications and for writers to gain a better understanding of the process.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Samantha. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-29418306129091707202023-12-01T02:00:00.030-05:002023-12-01T10:52:23.287-05:00Six Questions For Naomi Simone Borwein and Chun Hyon Lee, Angry Gable Press<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7fc8fb4e-8217-0cab-f78f-c8f54ab5aa99" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Angry Gable Press</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes speculative poetry to 100 lines, and short stories of 500-6,000 words. Issues are themed. “Embracing experimentation in technique, form, perspective, and subject matter at the boundaries of the speculative, we welcome a spectrum of aesthetics.” Read the </span><a href="https://angrygablepress.com/submissions/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7fc8fb4e-8217-0cab-f78f-c8f54ab5aa99" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7fc8fb4e-8217-0cab-f78f-c8f54ab5aa99" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this press?</span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7fc8fb4e-8217-0cab-f78f-c8f54ab5aa99" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7fc8fb4e-8217-0cab-f78f-c8f54ab5aa99" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Naomi and Chun: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We conceived of the idea for </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Angry Gable Press</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to fill a niche at a time when many publishers and magazines were signaling their impending closure, including iconic ones like </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fantasy Magazine</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. As an indie press, we have the opportunity to spotlight talented writers who might not otherwise be heard. We hope to showcase styles and approaches that are unusual.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was by no means a sudden decision. We considered this undertaking for quite a while, and once we knew we were doing it, there was much deliberation on the character and name of the press. As two English literature PhDs, we settled on </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Angry Gable</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> because gables have a long literary tradition—muliebral and macabre—enmeshed with writing, and angry was included to emphasize a preference for writing that straddles the passionate and the strange, the absurd, or the weird. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">We envisioned publishing a theme-based anthology series. This was borne out of a desire to allow for a variety of unusual manifestations, or representations, of speculative fiction and poetry: from innovative voices, to jarring styles, and unexpected exploratory perspectives. Such writing tends to experimentally push the boundaries of aesthetics and our own apprehension of the everyday in new, non-reductive, exciting ways.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The poetry anthology series, </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Katabatic Circus</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, has a literary mandate. The term Katabasis suggests katabatic arctic winds, as a geomorphic process with metaphysical concerns tied to the katabatic narrative and poetry form. It evokes a sojourn to the underworld. The aim of the anthology is to bring together thought-provoking, complex poetics that move beyond contemporary trends.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Naomi and Chun: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The top three things we look for in a submission are as follows</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Number 1. Overall signs of a well-crafted piece. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A well-crafted piece has many parts, whether it is a story or a poem. We want to see writing that is carefully balanced, exuding originality in themes, voice, and/or style, and exhibiting dynamic tension and pacing.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Number 2. Good Bones. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A piece should start with a great hook that follows through and is properly sustained, bookended by a compelling original conclusion with, if possible, a deeper overall meaning. This can be applied to poems as well. A good ending haunts readers and makes them return to the story. If we finish a story (or poem) and it ends the way we think it will end, we are sadly disappointed. Surprise us with the unexpected. Excluding flash, we also expect a turn or hint to the premise of the story within the first half. If we don’t know what the story is about by then, we wonder if the author has anything to say or if it is just filled with things. Not that things are bad. We love things, but we need more.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Number 3. Adherence to theme. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We receive a lot of amazing work, but if it doesn’t conform to the theme of the anthology we cannot accept it—no matter how good it is. Sometimes writers submit non-speculative work, which can be brilliant, but we want speculative. That said, </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Angry Gable Press</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> aims to push the aesthetics of speculative genres to the limits and muddy the line between what is traditionally thought of as pulp (the space of genre fiction and poetry) and literary. In this way, as editors, we aspire to create anthologies that subvert or help establish new trends, actively rupturing stylistic norms.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Naomi and Chun: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While we remain open-minded when reading submissions, certain things do decrease the likelihood of an acceptance: unpolished, poorly conceived pieces; well-worn or unoriginal tropes, overused themes, or cliches; specifically for stories, a lack of balance between setting, dialog, and the overarching concept framework. Poetry must be powerful, and at a higher level should show signs that the poet has an awareness of craft and poetic tradition. Upsetting, gratuitous situations or messages just for the sake of being offensive are not particularly appreciated. Shock factor is not enough. It must be used as leverage to propel the story or poem to a conclusion. We have no problem with a political message, but heavy-handed political messaging or agendas are not nuanced enough to be accepted.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Naomi and Chun: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Extending our earlier comments, we look for pacing that pulls you through the story, that makes you want to read on from the very first sentence. From the first sentence, a story, for instance, should grab the reader and draw them into the narrative and its landscape. The initial hook must occur quickly and be balanced by an overarching concept. It should be driven dynamically, and be in some way unique, inventive, or captivating. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first paragraph lets us know what kind of prose to expect, so it should be strong. It is easy to get caught up by great characters, plots, and interesting themes and elements, but clean purposeful prose is the first hint to the abilities of a writer.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Poems need to be both evocative (stylistically, aesthetically, or thematically) and focused from the first line: think about form, content, and meaning. The title should resonate with or build on the subject matter.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex’s sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Naomi and Chun: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hard sells include graphic pointless violence, graphic depictions of sex that are not integral to the story, sexual violence or rape. Hard passes include animal cruelty; anything problematic in terms of bigotry, racism, sexism, and ableism; any attempt to mitigate the offense of child abuse; political or religious manifestos.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Naomi and Chun: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is weird to you?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">We’ve said we like weird, absurd, or ‘strange’ stories above, but we really love them! A story that we did notSQF-Angry Gable Press expect is like a surprise gift. As editors, we talk excitedly with each other about the unusual ones for days. Give us the one story that is so bizarre that you weren’t sure anyone would like it, but you wrote it because you were so passionate about the material. Make it a great story. Then send it to us.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Naomi and Chun. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p>Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-70305044202848037352023-11-24T02:00:00.008-05:002023-11-24T02:00:00.149-05:00Six Questions for Vivian Huang, Editor-in-Chief/Founder, The Cloudscent Journal<p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Cloudscent Journal</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes fiction and creative nonfiction to 2,000 words, poetry (up to three), and art. “We only accept work from young artists ages 12-25.” Read the </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.cloudscentjournal.com/submit" id="docs-internal-guid-03ed0f00-eb77-2df4-b393-889e3dee2761" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;">complete guidelines here</a>.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vivian Huang: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our start was a wild ride, to be honest. I started </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Cloudscent Journal </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in 2022 on my own, with nothing other than an Instagram account, a Twitter account, my limited Wix knowledge, and no direction other than a sole mission to do something for the young writers in our community. As a young writer myself, it was difficult seeing that there was still a lack of a space that was fully and definitively for us and thus wanted the opportunity to create one myself. Since then, our journal has grown as a space where artists can express themselves in any way, shape, or form, and a place that dedicates itself wholeheartedly to young creatives.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VH: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When we evaluate submissions, there are no criteria in particular that we check for. No checklist, no rubric, no score. But if there were three elements that are in pretty much every single piece we accept, they would be </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fearlessness</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">honesty</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">originality</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Our journal prides itself in being a space of expression, and these three elements are what we believe to encapsulate the core of what that is. We want work that is unafraid, brave, and genuine. When a work is unabashedly created in any way including structure, subject matter, or even in little ways like the title, it intrigues us. In every world, there is always a good and a bad; a black and a white. Here, we want the spaces between, the gray nobody talks about. Because those are the places where people find themselves being the most honest; there are no rules to follow, no expectations, no limits. We love a piece that can give us everything it can; we want to see everything an artist can offer. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(An honorable mention to the word "voice." We were itching to include it but we believe that if a submission is brave, raw, and completely the writer's own, the voice will emerge itself inevitably.)</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VH: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When a submission is reckless and doesn't follow our submission guidelines. A reckless submission often includes anything on this limitless list: consistent grammar errors, spelling errors, exceeds our word limit, visually difficult to read (I've received countless submissions that I had to dissect for them to be decipherable for my editors), work that is completely untranslated, and anything that makes it obvious they did not spend any time on our website at all.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VH: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anything that evokes curiosity. An opening line serves to draw readers in, and I'm not exempt from that. I want to be the reader that is drawn in by just one line, or even one word. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: If The Cloudscent Journal had a theme song, what would it be and why?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VH: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ooh, I've never thought of this before! I want to be cheeky and say "Nuvole Bianche" by Ludovico Einaudi (literally Italian for "white clouds"), but I'll go with "blue" by keshi because that's just the vibe of our journal: calming, desperate, and limitless (and very blue).</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VH: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I would have loved to have been asked about our future plans with our journal. The biggest thing we're planning on doing in the next few months is creating a new "Resources & Features" section to our website. We want to include opportunities and advice that are made for young writers like other literary magazines, inspiration, competitions, submission tips and more! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Cloudscent Journal</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> hopes to expand its mission, and we believe this is a vital step to do so.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Vivian. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p>Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-62996259123434829032023-11-17T02:00:00.008-05:002023-11-17T02:00:00.149-05:00Six Questions for Willem Doherty, Editor, Concord Ridge<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-185695af-dcd9-241f-f8a0-5b9ea380e090" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Concord Ridge</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes poetry to 40 lines, visual art, and photography. Each issue contains six poems, one photograph and one piece of visual art. Read the </span><a href="http://www.concordridge.net/submissionguidelines" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Willem Doherty: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It really all comes back to the form. In the summer of 2023, I started an internship at Chillsubs, the online submissions aggregator, which was and is—I still work for them—a wonderful experience for me. That internship got me familiar with a wide breadth of literary magazines, who were all doing different things with their format. I started to think about what I could bring to the table. I have a background in copy editing and Adobe InDesign, specifically working in newspaper formats. I had heard of broadsheet format magazines, and I began to think about what my take on that would look like. And, once I started mocking it up and really looking into the printing process, that’s when it jumped from pipe dream idea to a real, actionable thing.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WD: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><ol style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Timelessness</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This is a weird one, and very hard to describe with words, but I know it when I see it. When I say timeless, I don’t mean a story without modern elements—a work I consider timeless can still have a cell phone in it. A timeless poem is something that appeals to the basic senses, that transcends the zeitgeist and has deep roots in the human experience.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eloquence</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: To me, poetry is about fitting the most meaning into the least words. So, as an author, you should always be looking to distill more, make higher-proof poetry. One thing that’s a huge poison to that is common turns of phrase, idioms, and general clunkiness.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Format-Fit</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: As an editor, I’m always looking for work that fits our form. We are especially unique in our limited space, and as a result, we have to take into consideration technical things, like line length and kerning. As I’m reading something, I’m always thinking about how we’re going to fit it on the page. Are we going to have to ask the writer to cut a couple of lines? Is this poem literally too long for our magazine? Could we put this into two columns? We only publish twelve poems a year—if you’re in that special club, we want your poem to look perfect on the page, and that process starts from our very first reading.</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most turns you off to a Submission?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WD: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I never want to read something that’s paint by numbers. As a person, sometimes it's hard to understand that the vast majority of our experiences are not particularly unique. A writer’s job is to pick out those moments of bespoke experience and capture them for everyone to view. What is special about your voice and view that you have to share with the world? Everyone has an answer, they just need to find it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A special caution to young writers—when I was a kid, I had a habit of assuming that, when I discovered a new feeling or a way of being, I was the first one to discover it. Obviously, that was not the case, and a lot of my writing from that time comes off as derivative or immature. Writing stuff like that is part of your journey as a writer, and you shouldn’t feel bad about that! But it’s something to be aware of.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WD: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Running a lit mag is a numbers game. We try to give every submission its due, but we’re naturally drawn to stuff that catches the eye. That means innovative use of language/syntax, a strong voice, and striking images, as well as everything we talked about before. If you give us something we love, we’ll run with it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Are there any genres/topics you’d like to see more of (or less) in the submissions you receive?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>WD: </b>I’m always looking for more formal poetry! I’m not a stickler for rules, but I really do believe that, in writing, constraints breed creativity. Honestly, if you want to instantly up your chances of getting published in </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Concord Ridge</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, send us a villanelle or a sestina! Formal poems have a soft spot in my heart, plain and simple.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a corollary to that—poetry, like I said, is about distillation. A lot of free-verse poetry respects that rule, but there is also a tendency to run long, to use five words when you really only need one. I have nothing against prose-poetry, but if you’re going to go that route, make every word count.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Willem. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p>Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-3422600047844771002023-11-10T02:00:00.005-05:002023-11-10T02:00:00.141-05:00Six Questions for Meadow Sherif, Founding Editor/Editor-in-Chief, Where The Meadows Reside<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where The Meadows Reside</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes prose to 5,000 words, poetry to ten pages, art, music and hybrid works. “We want innovation, exploration, and the enigmas of the outdoors and the world from established and emerging writers.” Read the </span><a href="https://www.wheremeadows.com/submit" style="text-decoration: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meadow Sherif: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a literary artist and creative, I was always fascinated in writing work that intertwines personal experiences and my reveries of the world—the enigmas of the outdoors. In this premise, the bounds for creation become endless and intriguing at every point, and while critiquing and analyzing my work is a singular pursuit, I wanted to see how others would write similar or in-theme to this concept. This uncomfortable awareness of the world—a square of land with the sweet fury of small life—the origins of beauty and chaos. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Meadows</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MS: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where The Meadows Reside</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> seeks beauty and urgency, original writing and its relation to the outdoors. We love sensational awareness, desire, and unfamiliarity in all of our genres. We want to feel as much as you do. Take that and create as you may. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We also seek work that, visually and thematically, compliments the collective. If you can look at our visual concept, website and issues, and put a similar tone into your submission—it’ll be a wholehearted yes. We don’t just want great art, we want work that fits our designed collage. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, we prefer personalized cover letters, standard formatting, and attention to detail to our Submission Guidelines and the premise that you’re engaging in what we promote. For more information, you are more than welcome to send a correspondence and we’d be glad to help.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MS: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Odd enough, improper conventions. It’s an iteration that editors can agree on time and time again. You can write in whatever font or color you choose, though if you’re writing traditionally, stick to TNR 12-point. No Calibri or Arial. And while having every line in your poem capitalized can be great when done artfully, more often than not it reads autocorrected. We want poetry that is just as beautiful on the page as it is in reading. Formatting is the first impression of your submission, so make it count.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Second, we encourage balancing the pretty with more imagery, specificity and nuance. We don’t want poems inherently on the basis of love or its design—give it flair, hatred, meaning. For prose, get to the point and have an innate plot or story to follow. For hybrid, art and music, we want liminal creations, the dull or high contrast. We want precise and original work that only you can recount, to be challenged and in awe through every read. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, and again, work that simply does not fit the collective. Oftentimes we have to reject great submissions that don't meet our housed concept. At that point, it’s simply a matter of finding the right publisher rather than the submission, which is a bittersweet judgment among the plethora of rejection notes in publishing. Again, ensure you read past submissions and note conceptual cues before selecting, writing, and submitting your work. Look at past issues—our web-design, Instagram posts, re-tweets—as precursors. If you want the best chance, ensure your cover letter is detailed, thoughtful, and meets the Submission Guidelines. I get it, we skim the Guidelines—but come on. It’s the first, fixated thing we desire in your submission, and relatively succinct. If you don’t meet those requirements, you’ve immediately put yourself in the wrong “unsure” pile. So, be sincere and thoughtful with your submission as a representation of yourself, and it’ll make the difference.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MS: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Set a liminal scene or open with an intriguing thought—a theory or anecdote of the world. Don’t get too philosophical and search aimlessly. Be fleeting, on theme, and keep going. That’s really all we desire. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For poetry, I am especially fond of clean and proficient language, its awareness and how it appears on the page. If I’m intrigued after the first line(s), the next question would be if the intrigue is molded and composed for the rest of the submission, filled with theme and preserving the tight language. For prose, lengthier introductions with great imagery—when done well, it is really the caliber of a great submission. For artwork, music, and hybrid—liminal scenery that pulls at the heart and the mind. For those trio-genres in particular, we offer plenty of room to play around with what you create, so send us something stunning. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MS: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’d have to agree. Erotica isn’t a topic that our collective houses and doesn’t desire in the future. If it’s right there, bright and proud in the first line(s) or paragraphs for that sole purpose, it’s an immediate rejection. Again, hinting on what the collective publishes, simply send us work that is in our best interest. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On another note, we don’t want aimless philosophies. We don’t want love. We don’t want just pretty words. We also don’t want excessively profane or derogatory work. Try expressing that in-theme with specificity, originality, and nuance, not in direct deliveries of the like. Again, each publisher has their own preferences in what work they like, so be sure to follow those cues. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On an informal note, keep writing and exploring new styles. Writing is expression, and it should be for you, not for the immediate pleasure of a publisher. The literary world is changing everyday, but your writing is uniquely </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Always keep it close, make this voice inevitable, and without a doubt, there will be at least one person who is truly happy with what you've created.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MS: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What’s next?”</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While simple, I began this collective in May with the goal to house explorative work from creatives across the globe. Now, and having interacted with so many other lovely magazines, presses and artists, </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Meadows</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> seek to expand—whether that’s hosting contests judged by contributors, print issues, seeking out payment for contributors, among others. Ultimately, we want to become a space that channels notes of surrounding beauty and chaos, a timeless feeling at heart. We hope that others will seek to become part of our vision, and look forward to all that awaits for the future.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Meadow. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-71744629740446420432023-11-03T02:00:00.006-04:002023-11-03T02:00:00.136-04:00Six Questions for Claire Guyton, Suzanne Farrell Smith, and Cheryl Wilder, Editors, Waterwheel Review<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Waterwheel Review</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes three pieces of writing on the first of each month, without labeling by genre. We welcome a range of writing, which may include “a fiction that has no shape but feels complete and leaves a hole in your stomach; a nonfiction layered in obvious lies; a recipe that works like a poem.” We present the writing with other art forms, including photography, painting, sculpture, music, and film. Read the complete guidelines here - </span><a href="https://waterwheelreview.com/submit/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://waterwheelreview.com/submit/</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Waterwheel Review: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We first came together as a team in 2012, when we co-created the essay series </span><a href="https://7sinswriting.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #954f72; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“7 Deadly Sins of the Writing Life”</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #954f72; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">at </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hunger Mountain</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the literary journal published by the low-residency MFA program we all attended at Vermont College of Fine Arts. The writing community the three of us formed around that project has sustained our writing lives ever since, and gave birth to </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Waterwheel Review</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in 2020. We launched the magazine to bring something new to the literary landscape, a journal that ignores genre and celebrates connection among all forms of art. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WR: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><ul style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shape</span><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: A form or frame that supports the central idea of the piece.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Coherence</span><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: All details, including smart asides or diversions, build on the core idea.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Originality</span><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: The voice is distinct and resonant, and the language is fresh.</span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WR: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pieces that have not been edited, rely on commonplace ideas and language, and/or do not meet our guidelines are sure to be rejected. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WR: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We look for a way in, something that signals this is fresh, compelling, and worth our reading time. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex’s sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WR: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sex for sex’s sake is definitely a hard sell, as is anything for its own sake: overwrought vocabulary, obscure references, overt violence, and so on. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WR: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“How do you put your issues together?”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We take great care with each issue, as we consider the combination of writing, companion pieces, and background images to be a piece of art itself. From our accepted pieces, we draw three that speak to each other and we order them deliberately. We look for themes and images in the writing and let our minds wander—within our community and beyond—with those themes and images until we hit upon something that feels familiar, something that deepens our understanding of the piece. Nothing is off limits—we’ve presented writing with a film of underwater sculptures, a medieval painting, the sound of frogs, a Nina Simone classic, a pas de deux, astronomic images, and so much more. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you Claire, Suzanne, and Cheryl. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-19381271464808245562023-10-27T02:00:00.005-04:002023-10-27T02:00:00.158-04:00Six Questions for Lee Pearson, Editor, God’s Cruel Joke<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God’s Cruel Joke</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is looking for works of fiction, poems, essays, memoirs, reviews, and visual art that explore the stranger, possibly more dangerous waters of the human condition.” Read the </span><a href="https://www.godscrueljokelit.com/submissions" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-0c6eacd8-7fff-46ee-5f29-a8493e687b2c" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lee Pearson: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’d been stuck in limbo submitting my personal work to other publishers for well over a year, and I couldn’t figure out if I was just a bad writer or if nobody wanted to publish the kinds of stuff I tend to write about. I figure now that it was a bit of column A/column B, but I still felt there was a big gap in the ‘market’ in regard to publishers that focus very broadly on the more out-there, transgressive, anti-high-brow side of literature.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LP: </span></p><br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Connection. I always look out for things that have something to say about the maze that is human connection. It’s enough to write about this or that, but I really crave things that dig into emotional connection in unexpected ways. Words that weave the reader through the depths of that human experience and have us in tatters once we’re out the other side.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Insight. Profound introspection, things that evoke complex emotions and takeaways. I love reading work that provides an author’s real life experiences and insight into things I know next to nothing about.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Subversion. Meaningful bending of form and theme into unique shapes. I especially look for work that explores cultural underbellies and taboos, as well as work in which the writer’s vision in some way opposes the reader’s expectation. I think the way author intention and reader bias synthesizes in very subversive work is what makes it so unique and special—it draws a reader into altered ways of thinking and perceiving that requires a deeper engagement with the work.</span></p><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LP: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aside from things that don’t align with the mag aesthetically,and reactionary BS that only exists to cause harm, I try to steer clear of blunt ideological work because it often comes off as very dry and preachy. The mag is overtly left-wing politically,and accepts a lot of politically charged work, but I’m not interested in stuff like political satire or propaganda. I very much value advocacy and representation, but the mag isn’t a pulpit.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Any writing that tries way too hard to be smart at the expense of authenticity. That isn’t to say I don’t like ‘smart’ writing, but one can kinda feel when the writer is trying to convince the reader of how intelligent they are, and it’s just hard to connect with because it makes me want to tear my hair out more than anything else.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I might have doomed myself to receive these types of submissions forever by naming the mag </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God’s Cruel Joke</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but I get plenty of very surface-level refutations of religion, and I just don’t really dig that for a lot of reasons. There isn’t anything particularly revolutionary about flatly stating that God isn’t real.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve never found myself, or anybody else, to be enthralled with writing about writing. A lot of people write about their creation process as if the process is more interesting than the creation itself.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LP: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I make sure to read every submission from beginning to end, so a catchy first paragraph isn’t super important. In short fiction I generally believe it’s pretty imperative to get to the point quickly, so maybe something that draws up the mood or rhythm of a piece immediately, starts up a pace that will carry on for the whole thing. But that varies from piece to piece.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Are there topics/genres that you would like to see more (or less) of in your submissions?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LP: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’d like to see more experimental and just totally out-there batshit insane stuff, things that play around with presentation and forces the reader to warp their perception outside their comfort zone to try and understand it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I get quite a bit of horror and sci-fi—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God’s Cruel Joke </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">doesn’t generally put out speculative fiction. I’ve occasionally accepted work that is somewhat adjacent to the genre, but never spooky monster stories or dystopian poetry. That isn’t to say I don’t occasionally dig those things personally though. I try to take a little time to redirect submissions I find particularly interesting towards other publishers I know are open for those types of submissions.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I’d asked that I didn’t? And how would you answer it?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LP: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I thought all the questions were open-ended enough to allow a pretty robust rundown of what </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God’s Cruel Joke </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is all about. A question I often ask myself whenever I submit to someplace, especially a smaller operation, is: how long will this magazine actually be around? It’s a sad fact that lit mags are hardly ever lucrative in any way whatsoever, and a lot of publishers end up falling apart as soon as they start. I’ve recently come to terms with the fact that </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God’s Cruel Joke</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> will never not be a massive money drain. It’s okay that the mag doesn’t make any money because I don’t really care to make any money from it. Being able to read and feature work I’m really into and putting it all together in issues to share with others is what gets me stoked to keep going with the project. So long as I can keep paying people for their work and not go broke, the mag will continue to exist in one form or another.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the mag approaches its second year of existence I’m having to really, really consider how it’s going to keep going while being sustainable both in regard to money and the massive amount of work it takes to keep it rolling as a one man operation. I’m probably going to have to make some pretty substantial changes to how I’m operating in the coming months,and I’m equal parts optimistic and utterly terrified. But it’ll all work out—probably.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Lee. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><br /></span>Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-52403305528167590422023-10-20T02:00:00.014-04:002023-10-20T02:00:00.129-04:00 Six Questions for Celeste Piercey, Publisher/Executive Editor, The Violet Hour<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Violet Hour</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes fiction and nonfiction to 500 words, poetry to 500 words, or a collection to a max of 5 pages, and art. The editors welcome submissions from all age groups. Read the </span><a href="https://theviolethourmagazine.com/fiction-nonfiction-art/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Celeste Piercey: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I started this magazine partly because I have always loved the arts and literature space, and wanted to take on an active role within it. Most especially though, I was thrilled at the opportunity to provide another platform for the work of new and experienced creatives alike.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a writer and artist myself with only a handful of publishing credits to my name to-date, I know that it can be a tough space to break into, particularly for the less established. Though of course there are many publishing options out there these days thanks in no small part to the opportunities opened up by the internet, there’s still naturally a lot of competition within every publication’s slush pile, where it can be tough for one voice to stand out amid so many. I was eager to provide a place where a contributor’s resume doesn’t make their work any more or less likely to be considered above any other.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CP: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The top three things myself and my senior editors look for in submissions are the following:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">clarity of purpose (where there is a clear intent in a written or visual narrative, even to an extent with more abstract works, rather than having something that looks pretty but is aimless)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">honesty of voice (with work that expresses your own voice and perspectives, rather than clearly recreating the ideas and tones of the latest industry trends or notable creators), and</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">an ability to trim the fat while still being artistic (with work that creates a narrative that pulls people in, while avoiding excessive use words/visual elements that don’t add to the finished product, only bloating a piece that could stand stronger without them—less is more, nine times out of ten)</span></li></ol><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These things are our guiding lights; everything we have enjoyed tends to travel along those lines, while the quality of submissions that run counter to one or more of those points noticeably suffers</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CP: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The biggest things that turn us off to submissions could safely be categorized as the exact opposite of all of those top three things we’re looking for!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apart from that, we usually have a hard time stomaching overuse of obvious and well-worn metaphors, but particularly, any submission that presents something shocking just to be shocking will sink itself pretty quickly. That’s part of why our guidelines warn against erotica or extreme violence—partly, we want to remain accessible to a wider age range of reader, but additionally, it’s just an incredible turn off when a creator throws lurid imagery at us with the only purpose clearly being to simply shock. All it does is come across as unnecessary and exploitative, in most cases.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span><br /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CP: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Set the stage for the story you want to tell us, with whatever combination of setting, action, sensory input, dialogue, monologue, or metaphor will give us the clearest first looks at what you’re aiming to deliver. Don’t worry so much about a more obvious hard-hitting “hook” that needs to be captivating within the first few words or sentences for us to keep paying attention. We have good attention spans (we promise!) and we want to come along on whatever journey you’re taking us on. Be as succinct as possible in getting there of course, but focus first on creating interesting and well-phrased momentum that the unfolding piece can build on.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CP: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are definitely not the venue for sex for sex’s sake, or violence/taboo topics for the sake of shock value. Don’t get us wrong: topics of sexuality and uncomfortable, frightening, or violent things are worthy subject matter. However, we won’t be the ones who are interested in material that wants to exploit shocking things just for the sake of being shocking, or because a creator wants to get credit or attention for pushing the envelope even though their pushing isn’t in the service of having anything of real creativity or substance to say in the process.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CP: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The question that comes to mind is similar to the one that asked what we look for in the openings of submissions, just slightly expanded to “What will make my submission stand out?”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The answer there is that we have good news: there is no big secret to it! We read and review every single submission we receive, and they all receive equal consideration, regardless of genre, topic, or the person submitting. We have a great team with an enormous span of interests in the art and literature we each consume. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Create work that is authentic to your voice and vision, and if it connects with us, the quality will speak for itself, no matter what approach you take.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Celeste. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-33820462114973784782023-10-13T02:00:00.001-04:002023-10-13T02:00:00.143-04:00Six Questions for Mira Mason-Reader, Founder/Editor-in-Chief, Apricity Press<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apricity Press</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes poetry, fiction/prose, visual arts, and dance. “Embodying the obsolete word it was named after, </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apricity</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> aims to manifest the feeling of the warmth of the sun in the winter in all that it publishes.” Read the </span><a href="https://www.apricitypress.com/submissions.html" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mira Mason-Reader: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I started </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apricity</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in 2015 the summer after graduating from Mills College and earning my BA in English, Creative Writing and Dance. I’ve always loved being in creative spaces, and I felt really sad to be leaving the incredible art scene at Mills. I was heading off to earn my MA in Creative Writing at University College Cork in Ireland in the fall, but I wanted to ensure that I always had a connection with other artists, and starting a literary magazine felt like the right way to do that. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The publishing world felt really small and insular, with a few magazines reigning supreme and acting as the arbiter for what art “should” be. I wanted to help create a space for art that wasn’t viewed as a commodity or based on pedigree, but instead based on experiencing art together, enjoying art for art’s sake. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a dancer, I felt like dance was so often left out of publishing opportunities even though dance films have been around for decades. Dance can be so fleeting, and if it’s not recorded, it’s just gone. I wanted it to be able to keep on living through the page, and to show the inherent connections between dance, visual art, and literature. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apricity</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> continues to be one of the only magazines that publishes dance works, and we’re so proud to be a part of that micro cohort. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We’re launching submissions for our ninth issue this fall, and we continue to be honored, humbled, and in awe of getting to experience and share all of this incredible work with the world. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MM: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We look for work that's sure of itself, work that has its own presence, whether it’s literal or abstract. We don't conform to outdated notions of what art should and shouldn't be, and instead look for work that purposefully does whatever it wants to. Whether that's a traditional sonnet or an abstract dance film filmed upside down and backwards, if you're doing it on purpose we want to see it!</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MM: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Someone who clearly did not read our submission guidelines. If you submit a 15-page piece of fiction we will immediately disregard it, as you clearly didn’t read our very simple submission guidelines. Running and creating </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apricity</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a labor of love for myself and all of our editors as none of us get paid to do this, and if submitters don’t show a base level of respect for our time by reviewing our guidelines (which again, are very simple) we can’t be bothered to review their submission. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MM: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We look for a clear, distinct voice that feels sure of itself, regardless of the subject or genre. It can be from the perspective of an unreliable narrator or a distant star in the universe, but it must love being its own thing. From a less abstract perspective, we look for your BEST work! Work free of grammatical errors (unless they’re very clearly intentional and a part of the work), work that has been edited and nursed into being, work with love and care and adoration for itself, work made on purpose. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MM: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We don’t have many taboos or hard sells we won’t consider publishing, as we believe first and foremost in art for art's sake and freedom of expression. However, if work features unquestioned themes of sexism, racism, and indoctrination, we won’t consider it. We look for maturity of thought, and if you’re spouting secondhand, stale concepts we’re not interested in providing any platform for them. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MM: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not a question so much as a statement: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apricity</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is here because of YOU, not the other way around! We would be nothing without your incredible work, and we are beyond proud we get the opportunity to share it with the world. Not to get too preachy, but we need art more than ever right now; to help us connect, make us ask questions, and find some true joy. Keep sharing your work with the world!</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Mira. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p>Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-10375197766175654882023-10-06T02:00:00.007-04:002023-10-06T02:00:00.131-04:00 Six Questions for Katherine Schmidt and Natalie Wolf, Co-Founders/Editors, Spark to Flame<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spark to Flame</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes collaborative poetry (preferably to 300 words). “We pair poets to co-author poetry anonymously through submissions of poetry fragments (sparks). If a fragment is accepted, it is then sent to another author, who turns it into a cohesive poem (flame).” They just published their first issue and are open for submissions from August 15, 2023 to October 15, 2023 for Issue Two. Read the </span><a href="https://www.s2fjournal.com/submit/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Katherine: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We started </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spark to Flame</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to elevate and create space for collaborative poetry. Natalie and I had written collaborative poetry together in the past, and it was just so much fun. One day I suddenly thought: what if there were a journal that not only wanted to publish fantastic co-authored poems, but also had a mechanism to get more collaborative poetry out in the world? That’s why we run a process where poets can submit poetry fragments–or “sparks”–and can sign up to write a final poem–or “flame”–off of a different poet’s spark. We are as much about the final poem as we are about the process! We want poets to play with ideas and language they may be unfamiliar with, to lean into their creativity, to really embrace the improv concept “yes and…”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Natalie: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think Katie pretty much said it, but what I’ll add is that, when I had thought about starting a literary journal before, I hadn’t felt like I really had anything novel to contribute. But when Katie mentioned her idea for </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spark to Flame</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I hadn’t heard of anything else doing something similar (although we now know that </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Icebreakers Lit </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">also runs a similar process). I thought that it was a really cool idea and was excited to help her with the journal!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Natalie: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I look for vibrant and surprising imagery, interesting language choices, and ideally (although not always) something of a narrative/through line. They’re things that I enjoy when reading poetry, so hopefully our readers will enjoy them as well. And for sparks specifically, I look for things that feel like they have enough substance (in terms of language/imagery, ideas, and actual word count) for flame writers to work with, but that don’t feel like they’re already complete poems. For our first issue, we received some sparks that were nice but felt like they were already complete works.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Katherine: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I love co-authored poems that surprise me, use inventive language, and play with form. I love playfulness and rhythm. I love thinking about new things in old ways or old things in new ways. For sparks, poets need to give their co-author something to work with! Often that looks like interesting imagery or a clear theme. We have a word count suggestion of 50-100 words for the spark because, like Natalie mentioned, there needs to be enough ideas for the flame writer to really work with it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Katherine: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We had a couple of submissions of single-authored poems, which is just silly and leads to an automatic rejection (we don’t publish single-authored poems!). Other than that, for our first issue, I was really touched by poets’ willingness to take part in our process. We can tell when poets sincerely want to be part of what we are creating and we are here to help that process go smoothly.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Natalie: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ll second what Katie said about single-authored poems. Also, if sparks seem like they’re too short to provide much for a flame writer to work with (sparks that are only 2-3 very short lines, for example). Or if a submission doesn’t have anything that makes it stand out in terms of language choice, ideas, imagery, etc. Make it interesting! Make it you!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Guideline pages are often long and boring. Is it really necessary to read them?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Natalie: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes! For me, it’s about communication and respect. If you submit something that doesn’t meet the basic guidelines of what a journal is looking for because you didn’t read the guidelines page, that wastes your time and yours. Everything is a lot smoother and more efficient if everyone’s on the same page (metaphorically and literally). Also, if you took the time to read and follow the guidelines, that shows you are invested in your writing and the submission/publication process. With that said, journals rejecting work just because of small formatting errors seems a little silly to me personally.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Katherine: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reading the guidelines is 100% necessary. We not only accept submissions of sparks, which themselves are a new concept (how many poetry journals do you know take not-yet-fully-formed poems?), but we also have a process to pair sparks with flame-writers. The process relies on back-and-forth between us as editors and the spark and flame writers. Think of it in two ways: our guidelines are our way of being upfront with poets about the type of communication and pacing we need from them; our guidelines also let poets know what they should expect from us as editors. Setting these expectations is how we attempt to build a foundation for trust and respect, which our whole process relies on.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Katherine: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For co-authored poems, anything NSFW, in addition to excessive violence. We welcome tough themes, but they must be handled sensitively and appropriately. For sparks and flames, even more sensitivity is needed. Spark-submitters should think about how their sparks will be given to a stranger. And I want to see flame-writers respect and honor their sparks.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Natalie: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ll basically just second what Katie said: graphic/unnecessary violence, graphic sexual content, and anything promoting bigotry, hatred, or violence. We’re open to submissions on difficult themes, but they need to be handled with care. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Natalie: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What would we say to people who may not have submitted to journals before and are nervous about submitting? And I would say go for it! We want to read work from poets of all levels of experience and backgrounds. And if you have any questions, we’re here to help. We’re excited to read your work!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Katherine: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who should submit to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spark to Flame</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? Our answer: everyone. The only requirement right now is 13 years old or older. Like Natalie said, we want to be a place where both new and established poets connect across backgrounds and cultures.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Katherine and Natalie. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p>Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-87260248307336389642023-09-29T02:00:00.006-04:002023-09-29T02:00:00.132-04:00Six Questions for Kristen Csuti, Founder/Editor, The Lit Nerds<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-cd3aeec7-0a17-85a9-1672-7f31d6e08a90" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lit Nerds</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes fiction (no word count limit) with feel-good or hopeful elements and nonfiction articles on writing and pop culture. “Send us your happy endings, your good triumphing over evil, your stories where the dog doesn’t die. Romanticize everyday life until we have no idea how we never saw the magic ourselves. Make us laugh, give us hope, restore a little bit of our faith in humanity.” Read the </span><a href="https://thelitnerds.com/submit/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kristen Csuti: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I started </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lit Nerds</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> years ago to feature articles about writing, literature, and pop culture. Over the years, as I spent more time exploring other literary magazines, I realized there was a hole in the market for short fiction that wasn’t gritty, wasn’t dark, wasn’t centered around a sad protagonist getting sadder—for fiction that cared about all the technical aspects of writing and storytelling but was also fun to read. The final straw came for me when I found a story in a respected magazine that featured a plot point involving a man making puppies into coats. I knew there must be people out there writing stories with the same attention to detail and quality prose who focused instead on hope and friendship and joy. So I decided to start publishing those, and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lit Nerds</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> shifted into a fiction magazine that also occasionally publishes articles on writing and pop culture.</span></p><p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KC: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Technical proficiency, a compelling voice, and an interesting concept.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pretty obviously, I initially look for whether or not a submission shows proficiency in the technical aspects of writing: does the word choice seem intentional? Is all the punctuation in the right spot? Does it show more than tell? Does the piece make sense? etc. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since most people who are submitting fiction have a decent grasp on writing craft, the next two things that will pull me in are a compelling voice and an interesting concept. An interesting concept doesn’t necessarily have to be a new concept, it just has to be an author’s unique take, whether that’s accomplished through a vivid world or authentic characters or some other twist. A compelling voice is harder to define. I’m looking for pieces that don’t sound like all the other pieces, whether that’s through unexpected metaphors or word choice, musical language, or just a compulsively readable narrative.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KC: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Weak writing and bad vibes.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The best story in the world can be ruined by unintentionally repetitive sentence structure, poor grammar, confusing dialogue, an abundance of telling, too much or too little worldbuilding, etc. I want to be immersed in a story, not told that this thing happened and then this thing happened and then suddenly this other thing happened while characters stand around either overreacting or underreacting.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bad vibes is definitely more subjective. Since <i>The Lit Nerds</i> is focused on feel-good and hope-filled fiction, any piece that prioritizes pain, anger, hate, sadness, death, etc. is going to be a hard sell for me. There are definitely stories that can feature bad things happening or people experiencing negative emotions that still focus on hope and strength and love, but it’s a rarity. The key for me is if a story is going to include negativity, it can’t dwell there and it can’t glorify it.</span></p><p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s) of a submission?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KC: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Similar to what I look for in an overall piece, I want the opening paragraph of a submission to show me that the writer has a unique and compelling voice and a proficient grasp of the technical aspects of writing. Do the opening sentences draw me in? Do the details matter to the story? If there’s a character in the first paragraph, are their actions/thoughts believable? If there’s not a character, is there a good reason for it? Is the word choice intentional or does it feel like the piece is regurgitating what’s popular in the genre?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also want the first few paragraphs to give me a good idea of what the piece is about. This isn’t to say that I want to be able to predict how it ends or know exactly what’s coming, but if I’m confused about the setting or characters or conflict at the end of a few paragraphs, it’s going to be a hard sell.</span></p><p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: If </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lit Nerds</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> had a theme song, what would it be and why?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KC: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was way too hard to only choose one, so here’s a trio of songs that encompass the vibe of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lit Nerds</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and the vibe of the types of stories we’re looking for:</span></p><ul style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2pgTqtXo6Y" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Life’s What You Make It</span></a><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> – Graham Colton</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxSIUxVXxVM" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We Battle Giants</span></a><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> – Bandits on the Run</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKpV939ZR9M" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cheers! </span></a><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">– Jukebox the Ghost</span></p></li></ul><p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KC: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s your stance on literary fiction vs genre fiction?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There seems to be a misconception that fiction that deals with the dark depths of humanity is somehow more important or necessarily of better quality than fiction that deals with romance or magic or joy. When reading for </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lit Nerds</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I hold all stories, regardless of genre, to the same standard: is it well-written? is it interesting? </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I love stories that bend genre and can’t be neatly classified. I love stories that fit perfectly into genres and are masterfully written. I think the world needs more romantic short stories, more cozy short stories, more quirky, fun, and fantastical short stories. I think the world also needs more literary short stories that don’t dwell on the horrors of humanity but instead glorify the strength, resilience, and compassion of humanity. That’s why </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lit Nerds</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> exists.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Kristen. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /></p>Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-12783067402316230942023-09-22T02:00:00.003-04:002023-09-22T02:00:00.136-04:00Six Questions for Cristina Deptula, Executive Editor, Synchronized Chaos<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synchronized Chaos</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes “diverse work in a variety of styles – photo essays, travelogues, digital artwork, dance, theatre, formal and free verse poetry, short fiction and nonfiction, humor, memoir, and critical theory. We accept work of all styles from people around the world and then develop our monthly theme based on what we have received. That way, people come back to read the issue after they are published to see how their work fit into our theme! ” Read the </span><a href="https://synchchaos.com/submissions/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cristina Deptula: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I launched </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synchronized Chaos</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> during the financial crisis of 2008, when many people were struggling. I wanted to see what I could do to help others during that time and found that many people were grateful for a place to be able to express their thoughts and be heard. We can't pay people and are simply offering them a platform, but we receive an overwhelming number of submissions each month from people of many countries and backgrounds and walks of life. I initially thought that another lit mag would be far down the list of things that the world needed, but people continue to submit and to read </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Synchronized Chaos</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, so it must be fulfilling a purpose. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What makes us different is that we determine our semi-monthly theme after we've received the submissions. That way, we have a theme and aren't just a copy of the many other magazines that publish whatever the editors define as quality literature, but we don't have to turn away work we like simply because it doesn't fit a predetermined theme. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CD: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We look at work in context rather than simply looking at pieces in themselves. For example, we have a semi-regular contributor who's an Egyptian national and she reviews movies and TV shows from both the Western and Arab worlds. I find it fascinating what she identifies as worthy of review and commentary in Western culture, what resonates with her across the world. Another editor might go recruit someone with more experience or credentials, but I find the international cultural concept intriguing, educating me and the readers about the culture of different parts of the world as well as touching on the idea of what might have universal resonance. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So as for three things we love? Some kind of interesting or unique context and awareness of not just what you're writing, but what it means that you're writing that particular piece at this particular time. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also, we appreciate attention to craft. Not in the sense of following someone else's standard, but of understanding of the piece you're trying to create and creating the best version possible of your own vision. We'll publish gumdrops as well as four course meals, but we love to see the best examples of both. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And, we're about building community on our site and feedback for the writers and artists. So if you read the issues and comment on the published work, or even contact another writer and craft something in response to or in conversation with one of their pieces, that would definitely catch our attention. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CD: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We don't get turned off by much, honestly. I'm human and have my own artistic preferences, as does our co-editor Kahlil Crawford. But I figure that if something doesn't resonate with me, then perhaps it wasn't written for me. We're all in different places in our life journeys, and maybe something will resonate with someone else if it doesn't do much for me. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We don't publish work that "punches down" or otherwise supports racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, or any other "ism" or that is straight up porn with no literary or artistic value. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s) of a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CD: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Opening paragraphs? I'm a trained journalist so I always look for a hook to catch my attention, then an orientation to who/what/when/why/where/how. That may come more naturally for nonfiction than fiction, but even in fiction, too many nagging minor questions or plot holes can be distracting. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, we understand that different places have different writing conventions and we don't impose styles or craft on our contributors. I've been surprised by pieces that leave me wondering or go in unexpected directions. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CD: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sexual content without a literary or artistic purpose would be a hard sell, not because I'm opposed to sex, but because that sort of work has a different purpose than what we intend. Would be the same thing if someone sent us a highly detailed advertisement for dental floss. If the advertisement were written in a clever way or designed with impressive artistic graphic design, great. However, we don't exist to sell either sex or dental floss. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CD: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sure. I'd like to share what I'd do with a blank check of time as well as money. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We'd love to provide writing coaching and basic/developmental editing for students and emerging authors from around the world. There are plenty of people who find their way to us who have interesting ideas or worthwhile things to say but don't have the craft or promotional support to reach a larger audience. We'd love to provide them with the support they need to learn their craft and get published without having to change their voice or style or point of view. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ideally people could contact each other through our site and offer to mentor each other, and we'd love to see people do that! But I'd love to become more intentional about that, set up some kind of connecting message board where people can ask for and volunteer and be matched with mentors in their genre. Being able to offer a stipend would enable many more non-wealthy talented writers around the world to be able to serve as mentors. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Cristina. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-55074636219394103172023-09-15T02:00:00.005-04:002023-09-15T02:00:00.146-04:00Six Questions for Jill Khoury and Jen Stein Hauptmann, Editors, Rogue Agent<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-fce39b08-fa75-5ae8-eebd-b36a910bbaf0" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rogue Agent </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">publishes poetry to 10 pages. “What is it like to live in your body? We want work that answers this question.” Read the <a href="http://www.rogueagentjournal.com/" target="_blank">complete guidelines here</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jill & Jen: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We believe that sharing embodied experiences with each other across gender, race, sexuality, dis/ability, and other identities increases understanding between those with disparate experiences. At the time we started, there were very few literary journals that dealt with embodiment. Now I feel like there are many more.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jill & Jen: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Does it conform to our theme “what is it like to live in your body?” Using fresh language / taking risks with language. Strong and surprising imagery.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jill & Jen: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Besides the obvious things like racism, homophobia sexism, ableism, and other hate speech— we don’t like when people send writing about somebody else’s embodied experience. Like when you write a poem about your father’s Alzheimer’s or your son’s autism, that may be fine for other journals, but we are looking for your embodied narrative. Secondly, objectifying women. From our end, it seems like men write women as sex objects so frequently that they don’t even notice they’re doing it. Lastly, when embodiment isn’t evident… like someone writing metaphorically about Sisyphus or a more obscure Greek mythic figure. Those poems never make it in.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jill & Jen: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We just want to be invited into the poem to read the rest of it. There has to be something that piques our interest. If you have to spend two stanzas explaining the situation of the poem, it’s less likely to be published by us.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jill & Jen: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think the example of gratuitous sex is a good one. The same with over-the-top violence. Fatphobia is also a hard sell.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jill & Jen: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What do you wish submitters would pay special attention to? And the answer would be our theme. Please read some back issues to get an idea for how we define embodied poetry. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Jill and Jen. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.767273; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p>Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-86431300630294990642023-09-08T02:00:00.006-04:002023-09-08T02:00:00.137-04:00Six Questions For Halle Merrick, Editor-in-Chief, Haunted Words Press<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Haunted Words Press</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes short stories of 1,000-5,000 words, flash fiction of no more than 1000 words, poetry, and visual art. Any and all genres are considered. Issues are themed. The audience is young adults and middle grade readers. Read the </span><a href="https://www.hauntedwordspress.com/submit" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Halle Merrick: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Haunted Words Press</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was started, amusingly, to procrastinate. Well, amongst other things, but it started as I was mid-dissertation season for my undergraduate degree, writing a middle grade novel about witches. To take a break from it, I started </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Haunted Words Press</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the idea for which came earlier in the year. Whilst looking at the possible dissemination and publishing routes for my projects, it was difficult to find the kind of small press publisher that would publish the strange and peculiar stories for young adults and middle grade (9-12 year old) readers that I wrote and wanted to see on the shelves. So I started it!</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">HM: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We’ve started getting a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lot</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of submissions for recent issues, which is fantastic, but it means there’s a lot to read and a lot to shortlist and go through and respond to. So when I first read through a submission, I like to look for characters that are going to stay with me after I’ve read the piece. Characters from our first issue still exist in my head because they were so well written and felt real to me, and I wanted to read more about them. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want a plot that will grab me, something I’ll remember and be able to recall when I go back to the second read-through of submissions. Can I see the submission email and title and know what the story was - has it made an impression that I can pick it out and know that it should go onto the shortlist? Good endings are also key - the scope of the story needs to be right for its length. It should be a fully contained story in its length when it’s submitted, not an extract from a novel or the first few stanzas in an epic.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also, in much less academic and professional terms, the vibe of the piece. Does it fit with the issue that it’s been submitted for? I get a lot of really great pieces but they just aren’t the right fit for that issue, or they don’t fit the dark and strange and witchy atmosphere that I try to create across the pieces in each issue.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">HM: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A piece that doesn’t know the audience it’s for. We publish for both young adult and middle grade audiences and I need to be able to categorise the pieces so that I know which part of the issue they’ll fall into. A piece that knows which audience it’s catering for, and can do that well, is great. If it’s a middle grade story, how old are the characters? What are their lives like? Is this something a 9-12 year old with a penchant for darkness and the ghostly side of life would read and enjoy? The same goes for a young adult piece - are the characters in this fully grown adults, and does that fit the audience it’s being published for? What are the concerns of a teenager or young adult and how are these made tense and dramatic without feeling like a melodrama? What’s the dialogue like? Do teenagers really speak like this?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">HM: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A hook, especially in the opening paragraph of a story/flash piece. I think short stories need to be able to hook their reader in, in a different way to novels, which have a lot longer to be able to set out their characters and settings. It needs to be believable too - it’s a story likely with some form of the ghostly or supernatural or occult, but I like for it to still be grounded somehow in what people can relate to.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why did you decide on a target audience of young adult and middle grade</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> readers?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">HM: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Quite selfishly, because I write about witches and ghosts for young adult and middle grade, and I wanted to find others that did too to build up that community.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I’d asked that I didn’t? And how would you answer it?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">HM: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m not entirely sure, actually. Maybe something about what plans </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Haunted Words</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> has for the future? I’d love to be able to move more into print and physical spaces, and to publish novels and single-author short story or poetry collections, whilst still keeping our themed digital issues so that we still have our free-to-read, free-to-submit model that I think is really important, because people should be able to read about the gothic and the dark and the things that go bump in the night even if they don’t have the money to order a physical copy. I’d really like to do some more middle-grade work with schools eventually, which is a project I’m working on at the moment.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Halle. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-1261143832569495422023-09-01T02:00:00.003-04:002023-09-01T02:00:00.138-04:00Six Questions for Amanda Niehaus and Jessica White, Editors, Science Write Now<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Science Write Now</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes poetry, short stories, book reviews, and literary or personal essays. “We believe that truth comes in many forms, some of which—like fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and memoir—help us translate complex or remote ideas into everyday lives, build spaces for empathy and change.” Issues are themed. Read the </span><a href="https://www.sciencewritenow.com/submissions" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amanda & Jessica: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Too much science is paywalled in academic journals, written in complex language, or simply lacks the context folks need to understand what it really </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">means</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This is where creative writing and the arts come in - science is part of our everyday lives, and the arts show us how. We started Science Write Now as a space to celebrate science in all its forms. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A&J: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Originality - something that feels new, that sparks something when you read it. SWN is about bringing science and creative and reflective ideas all together in a common space. Yet we’re all working with the same essential building blocks, and we get used to the same metaphors and imagery. Original combinations of ideas pulls us out of our comfort zone and makes us think.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clarity - a concrete idea, solidly executed. We do work with our writers on editing their pieces, but to edit effectively we need to feel a deep sense of the writer’s vision and believe in that vision enough to back it with our (mostly unpaid!) time. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Science - everything we publish needs to connect to science in some way, and we’re trying as we grow as a magazine to make these connections more visible to readers. This is the heart of what we do.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A&J: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometimes we get submissions that just aren’t related to the theme we’re publishing, or don’t connect with science at all - and that just feels like the author hasn’t taken the time to understand what we do and why.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A&J: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A well-formed world (real or imagined) with a voice we want to spend more time with.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What is The Learning Studio?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A&J: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We run online writing courses that weave science, art, and writing - we have four great courses so far, in which you can write a whole braided essay or story with Australian legend Kris Kneen; work with arts and nature writers; and even have a crash course in evolutionary biology as a means to deepen conflict in stories. Watch this space - we have more in the works! (And a new website due to launch next month)</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A&J: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How do you work?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the things we didn’t realise before we started SWN is that many (most?) literary journals are passion projects - run on very tight budgets with small numbers of staff. For example, we are 3 people with full-time jobs and PhDs on the go, spread across three cities on two continents. We prioritise paying our writers, artists and Managing Editor, so currently we do most of our editorial work in-kind. We feel new empathy for turnaround times on our own submissions11!</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Amanda and Jessica. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-21393387231926772252023-08-25T02:00:00.003-04:002023-08-25T02:00:00.145-04:00 Six Questions for Jennifer Cox, Editor, Illustrated Worlds<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Illustrated Worlds</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> publishes fiction to 5,000 words and art. Submissions “should contain an element of fantasy, dark fantasy, horror, whimsy, magic realism, mythology, folklore or fairy tale type inspiration.” Read the </span><a href="https://www.illustratedworldsmagazine.com/submission-guidelines.html#/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jennifer Cox: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I started the magazine for a variety of reasons. On a personal note, I was looking for a sense of purpose after losing my job at the start of the pandemic. I wanted to do something that was important to me. I've been a writer and artist most of my life and had always wanted to combine the two. Storytelling with both words and illustrations has been my passion and goal. Then it hit me, and I didn't know why I hadn't thought of it before. Maybe because I never had the funds, but when my mom passed away in 2021, she left me a small inheritance. Not enough to help me buy a house or anything but enough to put it toward starting the magazine. Suddenly, I felt alive again.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also loved the idea of helping other creators find an audience and give them a chance to be heard and seen. I've been helped along my path by a variety of editors, art instructors and other authors, and I wanted to give back by supporting creators' dreams of publication. I believe in the power of fiction and art, that it can encourage people to ponder, think things they never thought before and sometimes even transform them. Truth and beauty is worth sacrificing for, and even though the magazine still isn't breaking even financially, I'll keep working to build it into a successful venture. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, yeah, for myself, for the creators and finally for the world! I will conquer all obstacles yet! (Giving myself a pep talk there.)</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">JC: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first thing I look for is fairly mundane - a decent understanding of basic grammar and spelling. There's nothing harder to read than a 5,000 word manuscript with no paragraph breaks, where the main character's name is spelled five different ways and none of the dialogue has quotation marks around it. Maddening. And honestly, I sometimes give up halfway through submissions like that. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also look for some knowledge of what a story is. I've received submissions that are essentially a list of things that happened to an imaginary someone we have no reason to care about, manuscripts that lack description of any kind, or the opposite, all description but nothing happens. Don't send me five pages of world-building exercises, a play by play of a video or role-playing game or endless beautiful paragraphs about what the Renaissance Fair looks and smells like. Unless there's a character who acts or reacts, possibly developing as a person, learning a lesson, changing in some way, etc it's not really a short story. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the third requirement is for the artists out there. I prefer traditional artistic mediums - pencil, ink, paint, photography. I have accepted a piece or two created digitally, but I'm picky about it. Don't submit digital collages of known characters that might violate copyright issues and unskilled Photoshop creations. If it looks like a computer made it, I don't want it. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">JC: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Besides not following the above mentioned requirements, I don't trust art and stories that aren't submitted by the creator. I thought it was a fluke the first time when someone claimed to be the artist's mother submitting her son's work, and when I rejected it and asked out of curiosity why he wasn't submitting his own work, I received a rude response full of anger. Okay. Then it happened again with someone who just claimed to know the author. Unless it's from an agent who tells me they are representing a client, I'm not going to entertain a story that may be stolen or sent under false pretenses. Abusive emails in response aren't going to change my mind. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">JC: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's such an ordinary thing, but the first paragraph has to grab me and mentally pull me out of the chair I'm sitting in to immerse me in the author's world. It's hard to say exactly what that is. Some start with dialogue, some with description, but all have the magical ability to transport me. If I forget I'm reading a submission, if it inspires me to feel or think, if I'm sorry it ended but there was something satisfying and/or poetic about the end, you've got me hooked and likely have an acceptance. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">JC: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Traditional high fantasy or Dungeons and Dragons type story lines. It's hard to make those sound fresh and original, because the market is overrun with Tolkien knockoffs and gamers who think their campaign will be interesting enough to entertain others who aren't playing, and that's rarely the case. Erotica would have to be fantasy or horror based, but sex for no reason doesn't fit this particular publication. I have readers that are teenagers, and though I'm not easily offended, I do keep in mind that this publication isn't really the right market for that sort of art or writing. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">JC: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I suppose I would have liked to be asked about stories and art containing humor. I enjoy writers and artists that can turn dark fantasy and horror themes upside down, and instead of shivering at my desk in frightened delight, I'm laughing at the sheer ridiculous audacity it takes to make fun of serious topics. There's something quintessentially human about humor, and as long as you have a sense of the comedic, all hope can't be lost.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Jennifer. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-52156065612034897582023-08-18T02:00:00.004-04:002023-08-18T02:00:00.128-04:00Six Questions for Lynn Mundell, Editor, Centaur<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Centaur</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a quarterly online journal that publishes up to eight hybrid works of 400 words or fewer and one piece of art depicting a centaur in each issue. Hybrids at </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Centaur</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> are experimental writing that push beyond genre definitions, including prose poems and stories that may or may not be memoir. Read the </span><a href="https://centaurlit.com/submissions/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">complete guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lynn Mundell: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over the past few years I noticed that some of the journals I loved that were more open to fiction that blurred the edges had closed up shop, including </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Threadcount</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thread</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (a totally different journal than </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Threadcount</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vine Leaves</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (but the press is still open!), </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Paper Darts</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Waxwing</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Connotation Press</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Crack the Spine,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">matchbook</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (which did a series of elegant and intriguing side projects including a postcard series that on one side depicted a piece of visual art or a poem and on the other held the artist or author's note), and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The A3 Review</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (literature and art on folded maps), to name just a few.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These were places that were more open to non-standard fiction rather than strict hybrid as some may think of it, such as hermit crabs, in which stories are told in the shell of something totally different, like a shopping list or a bank statement. As a writer, I felt sad to see these great journals go. As a publisher at </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">100 Word Story</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I thought it may be my chance to fill the void by retiring from that journal and starting something dedicated to the less standard writing. Since I would be working solo on this new venture, I limited </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Centaur</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">'s word count to 400, a cap that I really like when writing and reading, and that would also enable me to nominate the stories to the annual Best Microfiction anthology series.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: How do you define “hybrid”?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LM: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have a pretty loose definition of it, really. For some it means the work you would often see in the great journal </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Diagram</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which might be a true marriage of words and art into something wholly unique. For me it is inviting writers to send me their non-traditional stories. I have a real soft spot for prose poems. I also like creative nonfiction that is very experimental. I like it when people may tell a logical narrative but it is done in an inventive format. I really do like hermit crabs, too. I just don't have the bandwidth and skill, frankly, to get into the design needed for very involved hybrid word-art pieces, as much as I enjoy those.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LM: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Three months in, I am a bit surprised at how often writers are not following the guidelines. I am getting pieces that are 2,000 words, that are attachments, and that start with overly long bios. I am also getting pounded by multiple submissions when the guidelines direct writers to only send in one piece every three months. I urge writers to read the submission guidelines very carefully. They are there for a reason.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LM: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think I join a lot of editors when I say that I don't need a big introduction or fancy bio. I want to look right away at a piece that a writer dug deep to produce and then polished with a lot of pride. I don't care if someone is a high-schooler or a writer with 10 published chapbooks. I just want to know that they sent me the best nontraditional writing they have in them. Since </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Centaur</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> only publishes a few dozen pieces, max, per year, nominates the best for anthologies and "best of" contests, has a relatively quick turnaround on submissions, and pays its writers and artists, I really do want the best.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LM: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don't like to read either of these because they are sometimes distressing and ultimately boring. I don't think this kind of work is really in service to the reader, which is what writing for publication should be. If writers read the first two issues of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Centaur</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I think they will get a sense of what I am looking for. Stories that sing. Plots that surprise. A love of language. Humor. Melancholy. A mood caught precisely right. What I really love so far is that I am receiving writing from around the world! As someone who lived in the Middle East as a teen, has travelled a lot, and who is fascinated and enthusiastic about different cultres, I encourage writers and artists from around the globe to submit their work to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Centaur</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LM: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"What is your overall vision for each issue of your journal?" </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A: I am really just getting started since it has not been a year yet with the journal, but I am realizing when I put the issues together that I am almost thinking of them as literary dinner parties, where a handful of varied, unique pieces, ideally from around the world and very diverse and different perspectives, are speaking to one another and each other. I'd like readers to take away at least one--but hopefully more--piece that really moves or delights them. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Lynn. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Jim! This was fun! -- Lynn</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506162355081704816.post-25653262350042250942023-08-11T00:45:00.000-04:002023-08-11T00:45:00.129-04:00Six Questions for Tejaswinee Roychowdhury and Ankit Raj Ojha, Editors, The Hooghly Review<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">The Hooghly Review </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">publishes fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, plays, essays, comics, and art/photography in biannual regular issues published twice a year: April and October. In the Weekly Features section published every Sunday, there are humour pieces, culture essays, craft essays, travelogues, photo essays, book reviews, and interviews. The magazine is designed to offer readers a wide variety of work to choose from. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">The Hooghly Review</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> is a non-profit, has been created with love, and is cultivated with passion. </span>Read the </span><a href="https://www.thehooghlyreview.com/submissions/regular-issue-guidelines" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Regular Issues guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and the </span><a href="https://www.thehooghlyreview.com/submissions/weekly-feature-guidelines" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Weekly Features guidelines here</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can follow our progress on </span><a href="https://www.thehooghlyreview.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">our website</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, on </span><a href="https://twitter.com/HooghlyReview" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and on </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thehooghlyreview/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instagram</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: Why did you start this magazine?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tejaswinee: </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been saying that I started this magazine to fill a void in the world of lit mags, something that is reflected in the magazine’s mission statement. That’s the idealistic part. However, I realised after the magazine took off that our “space for creative expression by all individuals including rebels, free-thinkers, outcasts, and fallen angels”, while, for practical intents, limited per issue, is a free space and not a competitive one, because until now we've worked on curating good work as soon as we receive them instead of collecting and eliminating like most magazines that operate on the issue model. This certainly adds the most important dimension to why </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hooghly Review</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> exists. When I started the magazine, I did not foresee this. That credit goes to Ankit and his insistence that we respond lightning fast lest good and simultaneously submitted pieces be scooped up by other magazines. As the magazine grows older and we receive more and more submissions, we may need to shift certain gears and adapt but our focus will always be on curating the good work that pops up in our inbox, including often, work that is not fully cooked but shows potential.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ankit: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tejaswinee was kind enough to ask me to join THR. I second her vision and values on how to run the magazine.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tejaswinee: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Intrigue is the keyword. Can you pique my curiosity and draw me in? For prose specifically, craft is important but I can tell when the writer is more focused on the work being attractive on the outside than promising a good time and delivering it. I like a writer who lets go of control and flows, both in narration and language, but still knows where the brakes are and when to apply them.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ankit: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every reader likes to have their time rewarded. If you can manage to keep the one with the shortest attention span entertained (I, too, am one), you have my vote. Next comes the writer's belief in their work. The reader, very often, enjoys a work immensely if the writer had a great time creating it. Half-hearted writing, or one trying too hard to impress rather than enjoying its own being into existence loses me eventually. (Think of the musician face: how an artist just having a good time on stage infects audiences with sheer bliss! That is what I look for in a submission.) Third thing I expect is a balance of beauty and justness. If a work indulges in issues beyond aesthetic, I would like it to have its heart in the right place. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tejaswinee: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t like work that preaches. That is not to say that a work cannot be rooted in beliefs, whether personal or political or even religious, but there is a fine line between expressing one’s convictions and attempting to impose them on the reader. That said, I also don’t like language that works on pushing the reader away as opposed to inviting them in.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ankit: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Work that is pretentious, preachy or unjust turns me off. Thankfully, I haven't encountered any of that yet in the THR submission pile.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tejaswinee: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Again, intrigue. If I am curious, you’ll have my attention. If I’m left skipping over words, phrases, or sentences, it's a no.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ankit: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As an editor, I consider it my duty not to let my readers feel that they have wasted their time. Since we are living in an age of content overload, our magazine is at the readers' mercy for its existence. So, for me, the opening lines of a submission should promise an engaging time.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: You recently published your first issue. What advice can you offer others interested in starting their own magazine?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tejaswinee: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think it is important to have a general sense of direction. You need to be mindful of your budget, time, style, and preferences. But it is also crucial to be spontaneous, and unless you are comfortable and confident being solo, this is where you better have a good partner/team. By good, I don’t necessarily mean skilled or diligent, though both are important and non-negotiable qualities. It is important to establish a rhythm, and have shared values and visions. For me, Ankit and I just clicked in inexplicable ways. We are a good team. Period. There is more spontaneity than planning in the way </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hooghly Review</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> operates. We are willing to stumble, get back up, learn, and grow, over and over again.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ankit: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think Tejaswinee has covered almost everything I had to say. I'll add a bit more on the heart of the matter. There are innumerable magazines out there. Thanks to the ease of starting and running websites, submission systems and social media handles, a magazine today can be a one-person-show, although doing that comes with its own challenges. We at THR are only an issue old and no experts in the field, but I feel that to keep a magazine up and running you have to make it as much about your contributors and readers as it is about you as showrunner. I have come across submission guidelines, emails and viral screenshots of emails from some magazines that, maybe inadvertently, tread dangerously the line between instruction and frustration. I understand that submitters do not always follow the guidelines nor do they treat editors with professional courtesy. But these are exceptions and must not taint an editor's outlook in print or person. There are many editors I look up to; naming all of them is not possible here. These gentlefolk, while maintaining their magazines' integrity, are kind enough to write encouraging notes—acceptances or otherwise, give shout-outs on social media, accommodate requests, and be a positive force in the publishing industry. My advice, therefore, to those starting their own magazine is this: keep the technicalities tight, work hard, treat your audience as you would your friends, and hope for the best while being prepared for the worst.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tejaswinee: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’d like a question about the reader base, actually. I want </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hooghly Review</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to expand beyond being read and circulated amongst literary circles. I want to tap into the large pool of readers that exists outside this circle. I remember, after our first issue was released, someone on Twitter commented: “There’s something for everyone in this magazine.” And there really is. We’re still new and it is a healthy dream to have!</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ankit: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'd like a question about what more can </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hooghly Review</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> offer amidst a flood of outstanding publications. We would love to take suggestions from all on how to make our magazine more fun and worthwhile. We started the Weekly Features for this very reason: to do more than the usual issue model. Although the weeklies are our own idea, we are open to ideas from everyone. We did receive some exciting suggestions a few weeks ago. We are contemplating those, looking forward to more, and then, maybe, we will pick one or more that we think best serves us and our readers.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you Tejaswinee and Ankit. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Jim Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467182228068339233noreply@blogger.com0