Six Questions for Kailee Wakeman, Founding Editor, long con magazine

long con magazine publishes fiction, poetry, audio, video, visual files, and hybrid forms of art. All submissions must be “artworks created in response to other works of art and culture.” Read the complete guidelines here.

SQF: Why did you start this magazine?

Kailee Wakeman: We started long con because we had an original idea for an online magazine ("art about art") that excited both Andy and I. We plotted what elements we would like to see in an online mag: aesthetically beautiful, a digestible number of pieces per issue, a mixture of forms and genres, and (most importantly) we feel it is vital to pay our contributors. 

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

KW: 

1. Submissions must be on theme ("art about art"). 

2. Submissions that get our attention are often funny, odd, or original. 

3. Submissions that do best have a clear, concise, sincere artist statement.

SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?

KW: It's hard to give time to a submission that is riddled with errors. It shows us that this is in "first draft" stages and not ready for publication. 

It goes a long way if you show us that you understand the concept of the magazine. Often all this takes is simply looking at a few pieces within any issue. 

The artist statement is a big piece of the puzzle as well, so take time in telling us how your artwork is responding to another piece of art or culture. We don't love having to coax an artist statement out of a person. 

SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?

KW: I don't think we look for anything in an opening paragraph or stanza. Get weird! Do your thing! If it makes you happy, we want to see it.

SQF: You offered a number of workshops in 2021. Do you have plans for more in 2022?

KW: Yes! We plan on offering workshops every year. We have a bookbinding and zine workshop coming up in March as well as workshops from John Barton and Angie Quick to look forward to. 

We encourage workshop proposals from all past long con contributors. It is another way we offer artists a venue for making money, and it is also a key way we pay our contributors. 

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