Q: Describe what you publish in 25 characters or less.
A: Poetry, prose, and art.
Q: What other current publications (or publishers) do you admire most?
A: I especially admire nature-themed publications, particularly Canary Lit Mag, EcoTheo Review, Ecotone, and others.
I also admire haiku journals like hedgerow, Cold Moon Journal, Wales Haiku Journal, and Akitsu Quarterly.
Q: If you publish writing, who are your favorite writers? If you publish art, who are your favorite artists?
A: Some of my favorite writers are Mary Oliver, Ellen bass, Robert Hass, and May Sarton. Also love the work of haikuists Issa, Basho, Tu Fu, and Li Po among many others. When it comes to art, there are too many talented painters, photographers, and other artists to name, and we love discovering new ones every day.
Q: What sets your publication apart from others that publish similar material?
A: We are unique in that we focus on nature-themed work, and tend to use a lot of white space to keep the focus on the page. We do our best to match the writing with imagery. We are also available in both digital and print formats.
Q: What is the best advice you can give people who are considering submitting work to your publication?
A: Our best advice is to thoroughly read our submission guidelines. Following simple directions can be key when submitting. We also highly suggest perusing past issues and sample work posted to our website. All of our issues are available in their entirety on our website.
Q: Describe the ideal submission.
A: The ideal submission will follow our guidelines exactly. We like it when submitters send the maximum amount of work allowed to give us the best range of your talent. When it comes to written submissions, we like all of the poems or prose in one document, and we prefer high resolution art.
Q: What do submitters most often get wrong about your submissions process?
A: Not paying attention to the seasonal nature of each issue, and to our overall nature theme. We also don't like any submissions that are "too human." That's to say we don't publish art that features people, or anything man-made, like cityscapes, buildings, etc. We also receive submissions via email which we do not accept. We need submissions sent through our online submission manager.
Q: How much do you want to know about the person submitting to you?
A: Honestly, we ask for a brief bio, but we prefer to let the work speak for itself. Previous publication credits have no bearing on whether we choose a submission or not. We love discovering new writers and artists and it's wonderful to be someone's first publication and to share their work with the world.
Q: If you publish writing, how much of a piece do you read before making the decision to reject it?
A: We give each submission a thorough review, and read each piece in its entirety. We are turned off by work that doesn't fit our guidelines or preferences, and of course typos matter. A piece should be edited prior to submission.