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Editor Interview: Scribes*MICRO*Fiction

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

A: 100 word fiction/poetry.

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

A: Bewildering Stories for its feedback to authors.
Verse Virtual for its openness to poets.
Glenn Lyvers at Prolific Press for developing fiction writers and poets.

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

A: Micro fiction and poetry is ephemerous, we have a favorite or two in each issue, and then shift focus to the next batch of writings.

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

A: Interesting question. We probably receive much the same submissions as other micro pubs, so the distinction would have to be the predilections and biases of we editors. For better or worse we set the tone, the curtain in front of which the authors are on display.

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

A: Complete the thought. It's damned hard to get an emotion or idea across in a hundred words, and too often we receive good but fragmentary writing.

Q: Describe the ideal submission.

A: One that I wish I'd been capable of writing.

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

A: Assuming that writing only a hundred words is easier than writing a thousand or ten thousand. To paraphrase Mark Twain: 'I'd have written you a postcard but I didn't have the time.' Concision takes work.

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

A: Laundry lists of credits are boring. My personal bias is to judge a piece only on its merits. Ax murderers and anti-social gnomes are equally encouraged to submit. Just make sure the cover letter specifies the title and your name.

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

A: N/A. Excellent or awful, we read all hundred words.

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

A: None.

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

A: Like many others, I both write and edit. The editing tends to get done in the evening.

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

A: The best technology serves to connect with readers. Beyond that it's just efficiency.

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

A: Damn little.

Q: Do you nominate work you've published for any national or international awards?

A: The Pushcart Prize, and other relevant awards.