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Editor Interview: Neon: A Literary 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: Uncanny prose and poetry.

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

A: Among my favourite litmags are Strange Horizons, Bare Fiction, Popshot and Litro. All of them are doing amazing work both in terms of publishing great writing, and in terms of publishing innovatively. There are many other literary magazines that I absolutely love, of course - too many to list.

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

A: I've been very fortunate to be able to feature some of my favourite writers in the magazine over the years. The front page of the website has links to some of my current favourites from the archive.

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

A: Neon's been around for a long time, and it's developed a really unique tone and feel. There's a texture to the work that makes up the magazine that I just don't find anywhere else.

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

A: Definitely to read the magazine. You can set your own price for a digital copy, so there's really no reason not to. Submissions where the writer has taken some time to read and understand and target their work stand out a mile from the rest.

Q: Describe the ideal submission.

A: I love a boring cover letter - the work is the most important thing, and so the cover letter (while important to include) doesn't need to impress. It's there to convey functional information, such as if the piece is a reprint. Something short, polite, and to-the-point is perfect.

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

A: Many submissions are sent without any other information - no name, no cover letter, no bio. This makes it very difficult to respond... or even to determine if the email is meant to be a submission at all!

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

A: Not much - a brief cover letter and a third-person bio are all I ask for. These things don't influence whether or not a piece is accepted, but serve to provide some context and allow me to balance issues with a mix of new writers and established ones.

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

A: Almost all pieces are read all the way through at least once, usually twice. I say almost all, because in a small number of submissions it's very clear from the start that they're not right for the magazine - something that's usually a result of someone not reading the guidelines.

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

A: Submissions are read three times before being accepted. If I still like it after a third reading, it's in.

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

A: Publishing the magazine is something that I fit around other projects. I usually read submissions and work on some part of the magazine (perhaps the blog, perhaps organising the next issue) each day, with more concentrated periods of work whenever an issue is due.

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

A: It depends. Modern technology certainly makes publishing much easier, and allows small publishers to reach a much wider audience. At the same time, there's also value in doing things in a more traditional way. What's right for a given publisher will really depend on what they want to achieve.

Q: How much do you edit an accepted piece prior to publication?

A: Most of the time I make only minor edits - corrections to spelling, punctuation and grammar, or changes to fit the text with house style. If I think more substantive changes might be helpful, I'll consult the author about making these. Of course, proofs are sent out before publication, but by that stage the text has been reviewed so many times that last minute corrections are pretty rare.

Q: Do you nominate work you've published for any national or international awards?

A: Yes - I nominate work featured in the magazine for a range of awards.