Selcouth Station publishes short stories, memoir, interviews, non-fiction/essays, and reviews to 3,500 words, flash fiction, and poetry. “Selcouth Station is a small press dedicated to supporting and promoting the work of indie artists, writers, gamers and any other creative entrepreneurs who want to get their work out there, both online and in print.” Read the complete guidelines here.
SQF: Why did you start this magazine?
Haley Jenkins: We have only this last month started the Selcouth magazine and we are currently preparing our first issue. We have been publishing work online for just over four years and we decided to look for different ways to showcase the beautiful, brilliant and memorable work sent to us by writers, poets and artists. While the webpage publications have been successful, something always niggled at the back of my head: is this the best we could do to really promote this gorgeous work? Even though the format will be the same – as a digital magazine – it would give the work more prestige, a little more shine, and may lead readers to enjoy those works they may have otherwise skipped over when they popped up on Twitter and Facebook feeds. It is also a great opportunity to promote other presses and small publishing outlets, opportunities and events in one place.
SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?
HJ:
1. Something different – at Selcouth we really enjoy work that pushes boundaries, something that makes us sit up and pay attention. Even if the content is traditional – say boy meets girl – we love to see writers put their own spin on it and really bring out their characters.
2. Language – Last year’s winners of our chapbook call-out all had something in common: they used evocative, potent and well-placed language. Whether it was Mab Jones’ description of a Welsh kitchen or Stephanie Staab’s poems about UFO-believers; or Mandy-Suzanne Wong’s descriptions of sound recordings of wild animals – every one of them used the best language they could to convey their imagery, characters and voices. We enjoy writers who aren’t afraid to play with language. This boils down to three rules for me: 1. Show don’t tell 2. Be concise (don’t say in 100 words what you could have said better in 10) and 3. Be daring.
3. Characterisation - this is more a fiction one but it often sneaks into poetry too. I adore character-focused stories, where I am made to feel that this character is a living, breathing human-being who has personality and whose journey I want to follow. I have read so many stories and books (some published by big presses and "critically acclaimed") where the characters are so bland, so run-of-the-mill, that I don't care about whether they live, die, get what they want or not. I personally love complicated people. I adore characters who aren't 'good' or 'bad', but who are a complex mix of both because that is what we humans are. I want your characters to be human. I want imperfection. What matters is that your character acts in accordance with who they are, not suddenly do something out of character because it is convenient for the plot. The plot should be dictated by your character, not the other way around.
SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?
HJ: The initial gut-kick comes in the email the submitter sends us: a generic Dear Sir/Madam/Editors with a basic biography and missing or incorrect elements from our guidelines. If you want an editor to take the time to read your work, then take the time to read their guidelines, it is common courtesy. We try not to say “do a cover letter” because I think whether a writer does one or not and how they write it says volumes about their commitment and respect. While I will never judge a submission by the email, there is nothing like a good first impression. Am I going to look more favourably towards a writer who mentions us by name, shows they know a little about us, includes all the things we ask for from subject heading to an author photo; or the blank email with an attachment with the heading “for your kind consideration”?
Also bland characters and rhyming poetry (I have been convinced a few times). Also poetry that is very self-indulgent: I have no issue with poems that talk about the writer, their relationships etc, however I have already had my fill of angst, teenage, HE/SHE NEVER LOVED ME, I AM ALL ALONE IN THIS WORLD, I WILL PROVE I AM STRONGER THAN ANYTHING, Disney-style dramas. Yet, the content is not the issue, it is how the poet/writer describes it. Any theme or idea can be triumphant if the writing is true and well-thought out.
SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?
HJ: I try not to put too much pressure on the first line, because many of the books and poems I love have pretty run-of-the-mill first lines, but then the poet/writer builds up that foundation and sucks me in. I would advise not making it too gaudy, too whizz-bang with literary techniques, sometimes there is nothing better than a good, simple, clean first line. I would rather you write 100 good lines than 1 fantastic one followed by 99 mediocre ones, because the writer is convinced that the first line will carry all the weight.
I also look for detail. I love detail, adore detail and it is surprising how many writers/poets miss the opportunity to be intimate with detail. For example, when I have a poem/story about a heartbroken girl, I want to know what is special about this girl, what sets her apart and this can be as simple as: she raided the fridge and devoured the leftover, tomato-thick spaghetti her little brother cooked two days ago. This tells me so much about the girl: she turns to food for comfort, she isn’t picky, she has a little brother and she also doesn’t necessarily care that she is eating all of it and not leaving it any for the rest of her family. That is a great detail-filled line as opposed to: she grabbed leftovers from the fridge.
SQF: Will you publish a work an author has posted on a personal blog?
HJ: It is a tricky area because the copyright isn’t necessarily with the author. Everything we post on Facebook, is technically owned by Facebook (it’s in the fine print). The same can go for other blog sites. So, depending on where it is coming from, we may consider it, but as a rule we don’t accept previously published work, simply to avoid this minefield.
SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?
HJ: What word would you use to describe us at Selcouth Station?
Community-focused (alright it is technically two words!): we share other presses’ events, work, we review their books, we promote working together and looking after authors. We’re not about competitiveness or shooting for those big-buck ideas, we are little, intimate and passionate. We do not make a profit, we don’t even try that hard to get more money, because we always want the focus to be on the writing, on the authors and on the community. We will always keep a book in print, we’ll always make sure it is available digitally and we strive to not charge anyone for submissions. Our books range between £5.00-8.00 as we had to bring up the prices so we weren’t always having to dip into our personal funds. This is our only source of income for the press.
Thank you, Haley. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.
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