Mid-Level Management Literary Magazine (MIDLVLMAG) publishes short/flash fiction, poetry, prose, and creative nonfiction that explore the intersection of the professional and personal. Issues are themed. Read the complete guidelines here.
SQF: Why did you start this magazine?
Tim Batson: I'd been wanting to do something creative that dealt with my professional experience (much of it spent in leadership/management positions in retail and operations) for a long time, but didn't know exactly what that would look like. The literary world is overflowing with writing that covers every angle and approach on professional leadership, management, organizational development etc. It felt like anything I wanted to say, was already being said.
Cut to late last year, and I had been poking around on twitter and discovered the writing community there. It felt like I had struck gold seeing the variety of publications that exist in the digital space, the dedicated writer/readership relationships, and the positive energy behind all of it. It immediately felt like this was an avenue I could marry my professional experiences with my creative ambitions. And shortly after, the idea came to me, Mid-Level Management Literary Magazine! It would be an exploration of the absurd, the comedic, the serious, and how these deeply intertwined parts of our lives (work, non-work) impact one another. It's a Venn diagram of joy and sadness. It's a bunch of buzzwords that immediately bring on a migraine. It's burnt coffee, stale donuts, and excessive scrutiny of your time-off request. It's a means to express, unpackage, and dissect the things in our lives that seem so disparate from one another, but are not. The tragedy that is work/life balance for so many people deserves its day in the sun, and MIDLVLMAG is here to help that.
My own writing over the pass 20+ years has often touched on the horrors/trauma of work, and all the expectations that revolve around working and surviving the daily grind. I wanted to read about this from others, provide a venue for writers to process their own experiences and hopefully, in that act, all of us could find a new resolution and relationship between these two aspects of our lives.
SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?
TB: Voice, voice, and voice!
The technical craft of writing is a learnable skill and many people write technically and successfully. That does not equal writing that is enjoyable to read. Finding and capturing one's voice is a bit trickier and takes more than just hard work and revision. Tapping into your personal perspective, your sensory input/output and translating that to the page is where magic can happen.
SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?
TB: When a piece is suffering from exhaustion. This happens when I receive writing that has pretty clearly made it around many other magazines/presses with nothing but rejections and no obvious effort to improve it.
It is ok to let a piece sit, to let a piece go, to rework it until it is the strongest version that it can be.
First draft does not often equal best draft.
Having been here myself as a writer, learning hard lessons, it's great to believe in your work, love it fully beyond anything else, despite the odds of publication. It's even better to be objective about one's art/craft and know when it's time to move on if you aren't successful with an idea/piece.
SQF: What do you look for in the opening paragraph(s)/stanza(s) of a submission?
TB: A hook, a spark, a feeling. Anything that sets a mood and atmosphere unto itself and asks the reader to enter and observe the story unfolding before them.
SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?
TB: Mid-Level Management would be hard pressed to publish anything we didn't fully believe in.
I am not inherently opposed to styles of writing like erotica, but I'd have to really feel conviction for why the use of it was
writing on theme for the issue being submitted for, and
does it expand and deepen the conversation around the personal/professional, as intentioned by the structure of the magazine.
This goes for anything that is submitted, not just typically passed-on styles like sex or erotica. That's a bit long winded, but I believe good writing, good art, good expression etc. is no respecter of genre/medium. Quality art will always be quality, no matter the venue.
Also, anything that is clearly exploitation and designed to harm the vulnerable, innocent, incapable etc. is a HARD pass.
SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?
TB: What do you want for your birthday? The answer is a fancy, customizable standing desk from Uplift (not a sponsor) 😂. In all seriousness, these were all great questions and I appreciate your asking me to participate.
Thank you, Tim. We all appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.
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