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Editor Interview: Codhill Press

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

A: experiential space

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

A: Parabola Magazine, Tupelo Press, Copper Canyon Press, Pedestal Press, 2 Rivers. Also: ginosko and Black Lawrence Press, Alehouse Press, Nimrod, Field

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

A: Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, Laura Riding, Linda Hogan, Mary Oliver; Rilke, Holderin.

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

A: Its regional character plus its focus on the literary space of experiential endeavor.

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

A: Read a portion of our title list first. Always query.

Q: Describe the ideal submission.

A: One that doesn't wear the dress of a submission, as if coming from a friend or acquaintance who suddenly had a brilliant literary idea.

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

A: submission without prior query.

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

A: The proposed work needs to stand on its own feet. Name recognition doesn't hurt.

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

A: Usually, the first few pages are sufficient for making a decision. Occasionally I am completely wrong about a piece.

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

A: There are associate editors whose opinion I often consult. No one person knows everything, or even a lot.

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

A: Since the editor also makes coffee, buys toilet paper, delivers packages to the post office, and reads Publishers Weekly, reading a submission must takes its place in a busy, one-man operation. In a way it is neither the most nor the least important of the activities.

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

A: It's very important only if the publisher wishes to stay in business. If he or she does not, then it's possible to remain with the older technologies, not open a website, read snail mail daily, utilize the long-run printers, et cetera.