MumberMag publishes fiction/poetry/nonfiction/translation that is good enough to share with your family or friends or secret friends on the internet. We pay our writers and attract excellent talent. Work with us! Read the complete guidelines here.
SQF: Why did you start this magazine?
Harry Leeds: I wanted to read a sleek magazine you can read on your lunch break at work, because in my current reality that’s the only time I have to read for pleasure. And I imagine, many others. I feel like paying writers makes our authors feel accomplished. I was a luddite for a while in terms of digital literature and the future. But I decided to embrace it. THE FUTURE IS HERE.
SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?
HL: Tell me something I don’t know. By far the vast majority of submissions are either cliched or simply telling a story I’ve heard a million times before. I read because I want to learn something new. If I wanted to have my convictions reinforced I’d watch network TV.
Making America mature. I was talking with a friend, and we felt that one thing we really want is for America to become an adult. Come on, America. If you can grow the minds of our readers, then you are something we want.
Be really predictable and forgettable. Yeah, cause we don’t get enough of that. Just kidding.
Ah yes, and though we are very open to everyone, we do try to keep things diverse. But quality is the #1 thing we’re looking for.
SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?
HL: If there’s something that’s like, really questionable about the whole situation. I had one person send a story and then send another e-mail through a pseudonym saying that someone had been copying their stories and submitting them to online literary magazines without their permission. A quick google search proved these two people were in fact one and the same. We did not publish that story.
The piece has no heart. So many submissions try to imitate some other author or poet, or are written to gain points in a workshop or something. If something is written with soul we will know, and we can clean up the little things in the editing process.
SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?
HL: An author who has voice. If the voice is clear, developed, mature, that is a good sign. We want poetry that is new, and true, and different, and good. Our poetry editor D.A. Powell can spot a good poem a mile away. So send good ones.
SQF: You recently published your first issue. What surprised you the most about achieving this goal?
HL: It took a really long time to get the website up and running and designed well. Once we got that, the rest fell into place.
SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?
HL: What are you spending your $1,200 government bailout check on?
A: Paying our writers.
Thank you, Harry. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.
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