Haven Speculative publishes fiction to 6,000 words, non-fiction to 3,000 words, poetry of any length, translations, and art. “We welcome writers from around the world, and for our two issues focused on the climate crisis, we're particularly interested in publishing stories from people displaced by or threatened by the climate emergency. For our other four issues, we're open to a wide variety of stories across the SFF and weird spectra.” Read the complete guidelines here.
SQF: Why did you start this magazine?
Leon Perniciaro: First and foremost, I wanted to start a magazine that focuses on the climate crisis, one that imagines the past, present, and future of this and other worlds and that grapples with the changes such a crisis will bring. As a New Orleanian displaced by Hurricane Katrina, I got a glimpse of the world that awaits us, and it's my hope with Haven Spec that the fiction and poetry that we publish in our two climate-focused issues each year might offer readers food for thought as they prepare for a future less fit to support us on planet Earth.
SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?
LP: We need a strong hook—something that grabs us in the first few sentences and doesn't let go. We get a large number of submissions, and if a story doesn't set the hook on the very first page, it's too easy to set it down and move to the next story in the queue. We also look for clarity in the writing—character motivations, world building, word choice, and structure that all make sense in the context of the story. If the middle is muddled and the elements of the story aren't building in a way that we can follow, it's hard to keep reading. Finally, we look for an ending that sticks with us—an ending that is set up by the building story but that we don't necessarily see coming. The ending has to answer the questions asked by the start of the story, and without that, we usually don't feel like we've gotten a sense of completion. There are other things, of course, but those are the first three steps that keep us reading through the end.
SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?
LP: Assuming we've got a good hook, a clear middle, and a satisfying end, the things that are dealbreakers are usually poor characterizations, slow pacing, and repetition (whether in word choice or in concepts getting covered again and again). There are also usually questions about whether the descriptions in the story are vivid enough or if the emotional core is deep enough. With all of these things, though, if enough of it has come together in the first draft, usually the rest will in rewrites.
SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?
LP: For me, the ideal opening paragraph of a story has a clear setting, character, and conflict. For example, one of my favorite writers of all time is Ursula Vernon, and I just finished her “A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking”, which opens: "There was a dead girl in my aunt's bakery."
Another example that I come to again and again is Philip K. Dick's "The Hanging Stranger," which gives us the line at the end of the first page: "From the lamppost something was hanging. A shapeless dark bundle, swinging a little with the wind." This is after 200 words of tight introduction to the character and setting.
A less obvious but no less brilliant opening for me comes from another of my favorite stories, this one by Cassandra Khaw: "I wanted to tell you, in case opportunity absents itself forever, that it doesn’t matter" from "Monologue by an unnamed mage, recorded at the brink of the end." From the title and line, we get the character and two conflicts, big and small.
For me, though, a story can knock my socks off in other aspects, and this all breaks down!
SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?
LP: Hard sells for Haven Spec are basically anything that relies on a cliché to tell its story. Common feedback I give is, "for me, this story isn't quite taking its tropes in a new enough direction," and that basically means that I feel like I've seen some core element of the story too many times. Other hard sells for me are violence against children and sexual violence.
SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?
LP: Maybe, "What bugs you the most as an editor?"
It takes a lot of time and effort to edit a story—hours, usually, and that's just for the first pass. The worst thing you can do to an editor is have them get excited about your story and put time into editing it, only to find out that you've already sold the story but neglected to let them know. This only happens occasionally, but it makes my head explode (which is very messy).
Thank you, Leon. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.
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