mosh lit publishes fiction to 1,000 words. “We like work that is unclassifiable, something that bends genres, and twists preconceptions.” Read the complete guidelines here.
SQF: Why did you start this magazine?
Patrick Trotti: I started this magazine for a couple of reasons. My main reason was selfish. Being a writer as well I wanted to find a way to almost force myself into reading fiction on a daily basis in the hopes that it could improve my own writing. I always found that the more I read, the more differences I'm exposed to in terms of style and point of view and themes, the more well rounded I become with my own process. The other reason I started mosh lit was because I noticed a lack of venues that responded to submissions within the matter of a few days. I understand that most places are a labor of love and resources are thin, to say the least, but I wanted to create a place where writer's submissions aren't held hostage or in limbo for months at a time.
SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?
PT: The top three things I look for in a submission are a distinctive and unique voice, a vision or a sense that the author is trying to tell me something important, and the willingness to experiment in form or style or point of view etc...
SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?
PT: What usually turns me off to a submission other than not following our admittedly vague guidelines is the writer clearly not having read any of the prior published stories before submitting. I can tell within a few sentences if the story is going to be an aesthetic fit. After that it's just a matter of the author holding my attention.
SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s) of a submission?
PT: I look for a question to be posed implicitly or otherwise within the first few sentences that the author then works towards answering, resolving, or dealing with in a tragic/funny/weird/etc... way.
SQF: If mosh lit had a theme song, what would it be and why?
PT: I named it mosh lit as a play off of a mosh pit so I'd have to say anything loud and fast but technically proficient as well.
SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?
PT: I would just end by saying that I like to keep the submission process informal and let the writing do the heavy lifting.
Thank you, Patrick. We all appreciate you taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.
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