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Editor Interview: Cascadia 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: Pacific Northwest Lit

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

A: We have a deep admiration for organizations that understand the importance of lifting up and supporting regional voices. Local literary magazines like Moss and Tahoma Literary Review, independent papers like The Stranger, and groups like Jack Straw, Artist Trust, and Hugo House.

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

A: We’ve had the privilege of working with some of the region’s best authors, such as poets Robert Lashley, Shin Yu Pai, EJ Koh, and authors Valerie Trueblood and Corinne Manning.

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

A: Cascadia Magazine is about crossing borders. We publish work focusing not on a particular state, but a culture that developed in our specific bioregion, including Oregon, Washington, Idaho, British Columbia, and the Alaskan panhandle. We’re also the only publication in the region with an equal focus on journalism, literature, and visual art, and with a commitment to pay all of our contributors without exception.

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

A: Please consider the geographic and cultural focus of the magazine. It’s always heartbreaking to have to turn away beautiful works because either the author or the work doesn’t pertain to our focus. As an author, you need not come from the region to publish with us, but the work must be an honest reflection or product of the region’s culture; simply setting a story in Portland that could be set anywhere does not suffice.

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

A: We are working to change our submissions infrastructure, but as of right now you MUST put your contact information in the BODY of your submission. We’ve had to turn away so many wonderful pieces simply because we can’t find a way to contact the submitter.

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

A: I personally read every submission we get from the first word to the last word. If I’m leaning towards a rejection earlier in the piece, I still read on to the end in all cases.

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

A: I do the first read-through of all submissions. From there, the pieces I don’t reject I forward along to the relevant editor to make the final call.

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

A: Cascadia could only exist through modern publishing techniques. We operate online only, and use electronic and email submissions, which allows us to have as small an overhead as possible so that the money we raise through donations and grants can all go directly back to the authors.

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

A: It depends on the piece, but we run all major edits by the author before publishing.