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Q: Describe what you publish in 25 characters or less.
A: Voice of the Underground
Q: What other current publications (or publishers) do you admire most?
A: I love what Scumbag Press (Martin Appleby) Analog Submission Press (Marc Brüseke) and Between Shadows Press(Tohm Bakelas) are doing with chapbooks. They're putting out some really high quality chaps with phenomenal writers, most of which the mainstream audience have never heard of.
Horror Sleaze Trash (Arthur Graham) has a large online presence as well as publishing a quarterly journal. They publish full-length collections of poetry and short stories as well.
There's also an up and coming Press called Pure Sleeze, ran by Antoine Ball that I'm keeping my eye on. The Grind Stone is an Anthology journal run By Jonathan S Baker and Snow Matthews that looks phenomenal.
Q: If you publish writing, who are your favorite writers? If you publish art, who are your favorite artists?
A: To be honest, my favorite writers are as diverse as my interests. I love literary fiction, poetry, haiku, as well as science fiction, horror, transgressive fiction, even dabbling in some Splatterpunk.
My influences include the usual suspects: Charles Bukowski, Jack Kerouac, Kurt Vonnegut, Hunter S. Thompson, Fyodor Dostoevsky. Bukowski blew my eighteen year old mind. His writing is the main reason I strive to be/stay authentic as a writer, Publisher, man. Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky hit like an atom bomb around the same time in my life. I think about what it taught me about those subjects quite often.
Favorite contemporary authors of mine include, but are not limited to the following and encompass all genres: U.V. Ray, Frank Bill, Donald Ray Pollock, Brian Evenson, Aron Beauregard, Bret Easton Ellis, Jeremy Robert Johnson, Ron Whitehead, Sam Pink, Stephen Graham Jones, Rudy Fransisco, Chuck Palahniuk to name several.
Q: What sets your publication apart from others that publish similar material?
A: I believe after starting a few years back, having published close to 20 authors, the press has developed a certain feel and flavor that sets itself apart from some other smaller presses.
Look, I'm a one-person press.
I have a full-time job as well as the day to day operations of Laughing Ronin Press. As well as running the press, I read all submissions, format, edit, layout, and design everything for the most part all by myself. I come up with the cover designs as well most of the time.
All the presses I spoke of earlier do the same. Some of them staple and fold the books at their kitchen table.
You want to know the definition of authenticity? All you have to do is pick up a book from any of those presses and you'll feel the love, sweat, blood, and work that was put into it. We Live it, breathe it, suffer for it. There's very little to no money in it, so you better be doing it for the right reasons. If not, you'll burn out quick.
Q: What is the best advice you can give people who are considering submitting work to your publication?
A: The guidelines for what to do and how to submit are on the LRP site, so definitely check that for the specifics of when and how to submit. Deeper than that, it doesn't matter if you've written before or not, if it's good writing, it stands on it's own.
Q: Describe the ideal submission.
A: The manuscript is formatted well, the title is good, you've taken the time to proofread it for misspellings or errors. You've read the submission requirements, and done what's been asked.
A cordial message explaining yourself and your work. As equally important as any of that, in my opinion, is when you get rejected, you respond back.
I can't even begin to explain how bad of a taste it puts in mouth when I thoughtfully consider an individual piece or collection, and with equal amount of care weight response to the piece, only to have the person never respond back. It's not personal.
Although it is a bit obvious to me when a rejection isn't handled well.
Q: What do submitters most often get wrong about your submissions process?
A: The submission window—when to submit.
Q: How much do you want to know about the person submitting to you?
A: I do my homework. I try to get a feel for the piece through the Author and vice-versa.
Q: If you publish writing, how much of a piece do you read before making the decision to reject it?
A: It differs from piece to piece, but bad writing will show itself as quickly as good writing. Exceptional writing makes itself known immediately. I read and reread pieces to make a decision sometimes.
Q: What additional evaluations, if any, does a piece go through before it is accepted?
A: I'd say the usual things: zero tolerance for hate, racism, bigoted views. You have the freedom to feel how you feel, but I'm not at all interested in giving you a platform or a mouthpiece to express those views.
Q: What is a day in the life of an editor like for you?
A: My days are spent at my day job, but depending on where I am on the project, my evenings are usually spent working on some aspect of the project. Then there's advertising on other projects, reading submissions, networking...there's always something to do!
Q: How important do you feel it is for publishers to embrace modern technologies?
A: Not only is it important, it's integral to the success of any business to embrace new ways to get your name/product out there for your customers to see. It will always be a challenge, but it's worth it.
Q: How much do you edit an accepted piece prior to publication?
A: It depends. Some manuscripts come to me in such a state of polish, that the editing/formatting is neat complete. Others, I have to totally redo.
As far as editing content?
I do not. I may suggest punctuation or spelling changes, but I don't redo the work itself. It's your work, not mine. My work is to highlight your work so as to draw attention to its merit.
Q: Do you nominate work you've published for any national or international awards?
A: I'm fairly new to the publishing scene, but I have made a handful of nominations. I wouldn't be opposed to doin so in the future, either.