Six Questions for Jack Hill and Ana Maria, Editors, Crossed Out Magazine

Crossed Out Magazine publishes short stories on a quarterly schedule.

(ceased publication)

SQF: Why did you start this magazine?

COM: Crossed Out Magazine is our effort to promote independent literature in an accessible, free of cost, and DIY, format.

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

COM:

1. We're snapped up by the story immediately. 

2. Social/political/environmental themes.

3. Shows more than tells us things, ideas, philosophies.

SQF: What common mistakes do you encounter that turn you off to a submission?

COM: We don't encounter "mistakes," maybe. We receive many stories that we'd like to publish, but our budget is too small. We publish possibly 1-3% of the submissions we receive. 

SQF: Do you provide comments when you reject a submission?

COM: We reply to as many submissions as possible with comments. Possibly 25%. It varies.

SQF: Based on your experience as an editor, what have you learned about writing?

COM: There are more writers actively submitting short stories than I imagined.

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

COM: "How important is biographical information/do you require it?" Not important and no. Long biographies are generally skipped over. Possibly 90% of the time. 

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

NEXT POST: 8/16--Six Questions for Jamez Chang, Flash Fiction Editor, Counterexample Poetics