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Editor Interview: Levitate Magazine

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

A: conveys ideas & passion

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

A: Kenyon Review, december magazine, Cincinnati Review

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

A: (I am only one editor; I don't want to speak for the entire team on this personal issue.)

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

A: Our magazine is edited by students but publishes work from contributors of all ages and from all over the world. Our project is part of the pre-professional arts training at The Chicago High School for the Arts, itself a unique institution created to promote access to the arts for underrepresented communities. Our publication is likewise interested in showcasing work by emerging writers and artists and those from underrepresented communities, though we are open to all contributors.

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

A: Follow the guidelines! We have tried to clarify the language but are still seeing contributors disregard our instructions, which makes our work much more difficult. Then give us work that shows off your passion and your craft.

Q: Describe the ideal submission.

A: (This is a very limiting question, so I prefer not to answer it.)

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

A: Contributors are still sending us submissions longer than our limits, and are not using the titles of their works as the titles of their submissions, all of which makes our work more difficult. Artists need to pay special attention to the requirement for an artist's statement, identification of media used, and specifications for the quality of the image.

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

A: We do care about cover letters, because we are trying to showcase emerging artists and writers as well as those from underrepresented communities. But we want to publish these contributors side-by-side with more established writers and artists, so we are also interested in publication and exhibit credits.

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

A: If contributors follow our guidelines as to length, we read each piece to the end--and each piece receives more than one reading.

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

A: Our editors review submissions independently, then meet weekly to discuss what they have read.

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

A: (I believe this question was answered in my previous answer.)

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

A: We are a print journal, but we use our website and social media to reach out to the wider community. We are aware of the limits of print publication but we value the magazine as a creation in its own right, an object with heft and permanence. We are grateful for our online submission manager, which makes the work of recruiting, reviewing and tracking submissions much more feasible.

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

A: We try to edit with a light hand, but occasionally request revisions. We do copy edit the manuscript with care, and have revised our calendar this year in order to leave time to reach out to contributors for approval.

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

A: We have nominated work for the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers.