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Editor Interview: Conclave

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

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

A: the essence of humanity

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

A: Philippa Gregory, Jeanette Winterson, Sylvia Plath, Edward Hirsch, Betsy Tobin, Bernard Cornwell

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

A: We purposely seek a wide variety of authors and poets, from world-renowned to never-before-published. If the work is excellent, credentials do not matter. We publish, I believe, some of the most unusual emerging work--including photorgraphy and artwork--in print today. We try to remain on the cutting edge, while never once sacrificing high standards of excellece.

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

A: Please read our website. If you are not familiar with our guidelines, or our preferences, please do not submit. I realize, in this highly hectic world, that is asking a person to read through a few web pages, but in all it should not take more than a few minutes and will increase editor reception of your work with a minimum of confusion.

Q: Describe the ideal submission.

A: Read issue three for the best examples of what we are seeking now. The ideal submission should, of course, be clean and easily read and properly formatted, but beyond that it should be daring, it should grip the reader and plunge into its world. It should delve into depths of the human psyche.

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

A: People need to include their biographical information and address. This is so that we can print something about the author, upon acceptance, and mail a contributor's copy.

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

A: It's the work that interests us at Conclave. I can tell you honestly we read the work first and the credits only as an afterthought. They make NO difference to our acceptance or rejection of work. We have a few first-time poets coming out who wrote amazing work, while at the same time we have world-renowned names appearing in Conclave.

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

A: We have a large staff, and each reader has his or her own style. I think in most cases I read to the end. Only a few times have I ever been able to tell immediately that the piece wasn't for us. Writers have tremendous talent today (and if they are rejected, I can tell you, it probably isn't that their talent was lacking!).

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

A: Our pieces often go through a full formal staff review.