This interview is provided for archival purposes. The listing is not currently active.
Q: Describe what you publish in 25 characters or less.
A: 200 word riff-raff
Q: What other current publications (or publishers) do you admire most?
A: DZANC
PUBLISHING GENIUS
STORYGLOSSIA
WIGLEAF
PANK
FEATHERPROOF
LIT N IMAGE
PRICK OF THE SPINDLE
WORD RIOT
ANOTHER SKY PRESS
Q: If you publish writing, who are your favorite writers? If you publish art, who are your favorite artists?
A: FICTION
Sam Lipsyte, Davy Rothbart, Junot Diaz, Kyle Minor, Stefan Kiesbye, Suzanne Burns, Jonathan Safran Foer, Jayne Ann Phillips, Elizabeth Ellen, Lydia Copeland, Scott McClanahan, Sam Pink, xTx, Brandi Wells, Andrea Kneeland, Jeff Parker
POETRY
Uncle Walt, Peter Schwartz, John Berryman, Stephen Dunn, Robert Hershon, Daniel Bailey, William Carlos Williams, Scott Oliver, Mike Young, Donald Hall, Ezra Pound
Q: What sets your publication apart from others that publish similar material?
A: Nothing. We are not trendsetters. We just keep bringing it and we hope people keep feeling us.
Q: What is the best advice you can give people who are considering submitting work to your publication?
A: Don't try to second guess what you think we'll like. Always send your best writing, your best representation of yourself.
Q: Describe the ideal submission.
A: We're looking for a meaningful glimpse into a specific moment in time. Think small space, claustrophobia. Like we're being exposed to something intimate, literary voyeurism if that makes sense.
Q: What do submitters most often get wrong about your submissions process?
A: There isn't much to get wrong. All submissions are welcome. Multiple subs. Simultaneous subs. Send one story or a thousand stories. Just make sure they are 200 word or less. Yeah, that means you, you aren't special. Yes you are, we love you, but still. Keep it 200 words or less.
Q: How much do you want to know about the person submitting to you?
A: Everything we need to know we figure out when we read the story.
Q: If you publish writing, how much of a piece do you read before making the decision to reject it?
A: It's 200 words max, so we read them all the way through, several times, never less than three, and at least one of those times is out loud. If we're still on the fence after four or five reads we'll put on some headphones and let the music decide for us.
Q: What additional evaluations, if any, does a piece go through before it is accepted?
A: We may pick at it, trim here and there, squeeze it, make suggestions, but nothing drastic, and nothing without the author's consent. Except Cicily Janus. And yes Cicily, we're still sorry.
Q: What is a day in the life of an editor like for you?
A: There is no typical day. Everything is so casual and sporadic. When we feel like reading submissions we do, when we don't we don't. We are teachers and writers ourselves, so we're trying our bestest.
Q: How important do you feel it is for publishers to embrace modern technologies?
A: Very very important...