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Editor Interview: Pantheon Magazine

This interview is provided for archival purposes. The listing is not currently active.

Q: Describe what you publish in 25 characters or less.

A: Greek myth themed fiction

Q: What other current publications (or publishers) do you admire most?

A: Clarkesworld, Nightmare Magazine, Lightspeed, One-Buck Horror, PANK, Swamp Biscuits & Tea, Bartleby Snopes.

Q: If you publish writing, who are your favorite writers? If you publish art, who are your favorite artists?

A: Stephen King, Cormac McCarthy, Junot Diaz, Larry McMurtry, Laurance Gonzales, Michael Crichton, Haruki Murakami, Neil Gaiman.

Q: What sets your publication apart from others that publish similar material?

A: We publish theme based fiction based on a God or Goddess from Greek mythology. We encourage authors to let it inspire their pieces. We publish everything and anything you can think of: Horror, Sci-Fi, Noir, Fantasy, and a mish-mash of other pre-existing genres so long as we feel the theme in the writing. So far this has meant well rounded collections of fantastic fiction, and we hope to continue doing that. Hopefully that's enough to set us apart.

Q: What is the best advice you can give people who are considering submitting work to your publication?

A: Click around our site and read:
1. Our "About Us" page.
2. A couple stories.
3. Our submission guidelines.

Q: Describe the ideal submission.

A: Every story we've accepted has been able to keep our attentions from the moment we've begun reading to the last word. This means fun stories that do not take too long to get set up, or require a lot of backstory for us to get invested. Sometimes this doesn't mean the story is action packed, or is completely bizarre, it just means the writing style is fun and interesting.
If we read your 30 page piece, finish in one sitting, and then think it flew by as though it were a flash fiction piece, you're more than likely getting in.

Q: What do submitters most often get wrong about your submissions process?

A: We get submissions that are obviously not related to any of our open prompts. Usually this is due to the author attempting to submit to as many markets in as little time as possible in order to boost their odds at getting accepted somewhere, anywhere. This usually makes our heads explode, and more than likely we will remember you if you choose to submit again, and this is not a good way to be remembered.

Q: How much do you want to know about the person submitting to you?

A: We don't require any info, and it's not often read prior to diving into the story itself anyway, but it's always nice to read a bit about the authors. Prior publication credits don't play any part in our decision. We've been proud to feature previously unpublished authors. If you choose to list your credits, that's cool but not required.

Q: If you publish writing, how much of a piece do you read before making the decision to reject it?

A: All of it, but normally we can tell pretty early on if we are going to accept it. Normally within the first few paragraphs, honestly, but we give each piece a read till the end. It just seems wrong to us to leave it unread.

Q: What additional evaluations, if any, does a piece go through before it is accepted?

A: We evaluate each submission as readers, mainly. If the piece is fun, interesting, original in some way, and is a good fit for the issue it was submitted to we'll accept it. Obviously too many typos and sentence structure mistakes will turn us off, though.

Q: What is a day in the life of an editor like for you?

A: Drink coffee. Read 1-3 stories per day. Consider them. Send out notices of rejections/acceptances. Send payments. Edit. Commission artwork to accompany accepted pieces. Check site stats.

Q: How important do you feel it is for publishers to embrace modern technologies?

A: I think it's essential. Technology has made the whole process less grueling and time consuming, and has allowed small publications like Pantheon to thrive thanks to social networking services, ease of marketing, and streamlined submission and tracking databases like Submittable and Duotrope. It's also helped keep readership alive and thriving through the ability to access great literature online with relative ease.