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Editor Interview: Clockwise Cat

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

A: Poems Polemics Appraisals

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

A: Exquisite Corpse, Counterexample Poetics, Outsider Writers, Up the Staircase, The Battered Suitcase, Word Riot

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

A: Arthur Rimbaud, Jorge Luis Borges, Tristan Tzara, Pablo Neruda, e.e. cummings, Andre Breton

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

A: I publish a triangular theme of Poesie, Polemics/Satire, and Appraisals (Reviews). This sets me apart because many others focus mainly on poetry and fiction, and maybe reviews. Very few indulge in political polemics. We have a very progressive slant.

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

A: Please read a couple of issues first to absorb what we are all about, and please please PLEASE follow the guidelines.

Q: Describe the ideal submission.

A: One that follows the guidelines!

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

A: They submit too many pieces.

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

A: I prefer writers to say SOMETHING rather than just submitting without some sort of introduction. But the writer need not go into great detail about the submission. Previous pubs are fine and give me an idea as to what that writer's style might be.

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

A: I do read every piece to the end, but I can also usually tell very quickly if the piece is not right for us.

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

A: Sometimes I might put it aside for a day or two, if I am not feeling good about it, but yet something is nagging me about it, as well. Otherwise, it is accepted or rejected, and that's that.

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

A: I usually respond right away to a submission, acknowledging receipt of it, and then I tell that writer that I will be in touch within a few weeks. Once I have accumulated a bundle of submissions, then I go through them and make my decisions. It's a pretty dry process. I am constantly receiving submissions so I just kind of glide along like that.

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

A: Well, it's a balance. I think it's important but not imperative, if that makes sense. Sure, embrace them, but don't squeeze them so tightly that there is no room for more traditional modes of publishing. But then, my mag is ONLY online... we don't do a print version. As far as it being ultra-modern/technical, it's really pretty basic.