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Editor Interview: HeartWood Literary Magazine

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

A: Anything that has heart.

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

A: We are staffed by grads of WVWC’s low-res MFA program — all serious poets & authors & editors ourselves (as well as some teachers/professors) who seek to publish work that is nuanced and well-crafted, as well as intentionally revised and publication-ready.

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

A: Read the guidelines closely — they matter.

Q: Describe the ideal submission.

A: Clear cover letter and short 3rd-person bio. Submission meets all guidelines and is properly formatted.

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

A: All of it unless there are obvious problems (guideline violations, formatting issues, not publication-ready, etc.) within the first couple pages.

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

A: Requires little to no revision or copy-editing to be publication-ready.

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

A: HeartWood produces two issues per year; Genre Editors read for two months per issue, so they are reviewing submissions for four months of the year. Their final recommendations are reviewed by the Managing Editor, who accepts or declines all active submissions, and the issue is prepared over the following 6-8 weeks.

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

A: It’s important to be present & engaged on social media.

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

A: Hopefully not at all. Only if our editors absolutely love a piece will we volunteer to copy edit it before publication. We may ask for a revision & resubmission if it would require too much time & effort.

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

A: No.