Q: Describe what you publish in 25 characters or less.
A: Short, wow, jaw-dropping.
Q: What other current publications (or publishers) do you admire most?
A: I'm always impressed with the range of work that comes from Keyhole, Featherproof and Future Tense. I'm really jealous of Greying Ghost chapbooks and Brave Men Press. Lately I've gotten turned on by Annalemma, Nightboat, Canarium. I order lots of books all the time and the one that most recently stopped me in my tracks was Black Life, by Dorothea Lasky, from Wave.
Q: If you publish writing, who are your favorite writers? If you publish art, who are your favorite artists?
A: My favorite writers include (but are not limited to): Stephanie Barber, for the completely unself-conscious way she subverts almost every narrative convention, and Blake Butler for the knowing way he does the same thing. I love Mairead Byrne because of the unreal ability she has to join hilarity and pathos in fetching poems. And Rachel Glaser floored me with the delightfully unconventional spin she brings to storytelling. I read her and think, "Wait, no, this cannot be done."
Q: What sets your publication apart from others that publish similar material?
A: If it isn't the chapbooks that we distribute electronically for printing at home with the Chapbook Genius series, then it's probably isReads, which posts a poetry journal to telephone poles in cities across the US.
Q: What is the best advice you can give people who are considering submitting work to your publication?
A: At Publishing Genius, we like unexpected juxtapositions, whether it comes in the prose or in the ideas. Straight stories, literary or genre or whatever, usually don't do the trick.
Q: Describe the ideal submission.
A: Good question! We run poems, short stories, vsf, and books, so there's no easy answer. I do appreciate any indication that the writer is familiar with the work Publishing Genius has put out, and that he or she is familiar with our objective.
Q: What do submitters most often get wrong about your submissions process?
A: Sometimes people submit their full-length books, which is unfortunate because submissions for books are closed while I go through all the wonderful manuscripts that are already in the pile.
Q: How much do you want to know about the person submitting to you?
A: I've started looking at the cover letter only after reading (or starting to read) the manuscript. I like having that info just to confirm my guesses about what kind of credits a writer already has. Usually I'm correct when I say, "Oh, I like this. I bet this writer has been published in Mud Luscious."
Q: If you publish writing, how much of a piece do you read before making the decision to reject it?
A: Right now I'm reading through book submissions just to find one manuscript for the 2011 list. Right away I found one that I love, love, love in every way. That means everything else has to be better than that, and I can usually tell pretty quickly if it will be. However, it's not unusual that I'll become so interested in a manuscript that I'll keep reading just to find out what happens. I enjoy this but it drives me crazy, because I wish PG had more resources to do these books, too.
Q: What additional evaluations, if any, does a piece go through before it is accepted?
A: For books, I don't commit to anything until I send it to a couple trusted friends for their opinion. They've never recommended against a book, though. I just do this so that, halfway through the project, when I'm exhausted and frustrated at some quirky detail, I remember that it's all worth it, and I'm not the only one who thought so.
Q: What is a day in the life of an editor like for you?
A: I probably read submissions for 5-10 hours every week. I do it mostly in my downtime at my day job, which is strangely where I can concentrate the most. Since I started using Submishmash, a totally excellent and free submission manager, I have been a lot more efficient, and the whole process has become a lot more enjoyable. If I'm really considering a piece, I'll download it to my Nook and read it in a lot of different settings.
Q: How important do you feel it is for publishers to embrace modern technologies?
A: This is a huge question because there are so many different modern technologies to consider. It isn't just e-zines anymore. At this point, new directions are coming up all over the place, and it will take a few years to sort out which are effective and worth the effort. But speaking generally, putting these tools into the hands of anyone with a little energy has created an incredibly vibrant publishing world that drives innovation in not just writing, but publishing methods. And that is exciting. It's all exciting.