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Editor Interview: Duck Lake Books

This interview is provided for archival purposes. The listing is not currently active.

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

A: Image driven literature

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

A: Copper Canyon Press, Red Hen Press, and Folded Word.

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

A: Kurt Vonnegut, JD Salinger, James Baldwin, Emily Dickinson, Samuel Becket, Sylvia Plath, Langston Hughes, WB Yeats, WH Auden, ee cummings, William Carlos Williams, Maya Angelou--to name a few of the past-on greats. For contemporaries--Claudia Rankine, William O'Daly, Tyehimba Jess, William Heyen, Allison Joseph, and honestly--the next great writer waiting to be discovered.

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

A: We regard quality over marketability. If it is good, we will publish it.

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

A: For fiction--tell the story you want to tell, but do it in a distinctive narrative voice. How it sounds should be just as important as what it says.
For poetry--accessible language that is image driven. Free verse is great, but don't lose the musical quality of language. It may not rhyme, but the rhythm, tempo and cadence should drive the language. Don't just write prose broken into lines.

Q: Describe the ideal submission.

A: First, it should follow the published guidelines. Second, don't use a cover letter to tell me how great it is and that I love it. That's my job. Third, don't be pompous by comparing yourself to great writers.

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

A: Education and most recent publications/awards are nice to know, and it is good to mention web and/or social media sites. But the cover letter does not influence the selection process. In fact, I always read the manuscript before reading the cover letter.

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

A: It's just like reading a new book. If the writing is good, it will keep me reading to the end. Once I realize that I am not engaged by the writing, I stop.

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

A: After coffee and waffles, I begin working on my current publication job. I stick to a rigid, deadline-driven production schedule. This usually takes me up to lunch--a green salad. After which, I answer emails and spend the rest of the day working on marketing projects. Then after an evening meal of stir-fried vegetables, I read submissions for a couple hours.

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

A: Modern technology makes small press publishing possible. I am very traditional in my approach to publication design, and maintaining a clear in-house style, but this is done in the real-life digital world.

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

A: We edit ver little. It is the author's work and we are not going to change the substance. We do basic proofreading and copy-editing.