Editor Interview: Skipjack Review

the water and the gills.

As far as publishers we love who are doing a similar thang, Reckoning, Bracken, Willows Wept, and Ecotone come to mind. But many of the publishers we love most aren’t doing what we (or anybody else) are doing—and that’s what we love about them.

Our tastes are eclectic, but some of our favorite writers include Kurt Vonnegut, Italo Calvino, Anne Lamott, Philip K. Dick, George Saunders, Neil Gaiman, Mark Twain, Bill Oakley, Charles Simic, Jillian Tamaki, Craig Thompson, David Small, Lynda Barry, Joy Harjo, Ada Limón, Louise Erdrich, David Small, Zadie Smith, Daniel Woodrell, Laura McHugh, and on and on and on… Like writing, we adore visual art of all kinds too.

We are a journal about environment in every sense of the word. Beginning at birth, each of us is bound to our environment. From pollution of the earth to pollution of the mind to server farm statistics to gardening on Mars… We’d publish a modernized rendition of War and Peace, follow that up with a pretty haiku about flowers, and the next minute release some weird sci-fi in the vein of Flowers for Algernon—so long as at the heart of each is a deep concern for the world around us. That’s what we want to highlight: stories and poems about "Us" and not "Me". It’s "We", in any case. We are in this together, for better or worse. Our approach (and what we look for in the work we publish) is thinking outside of one’s self, beyond the immediate, considering the future our actions today dictate. Additionally, we aim to highlight the Midwest United States and the Ozarks region, specifically. We are environmental advocates who wish to start a conversation the world keeps putting off having—and would keep putting off until it’s too late.

Do it! The fact is, we don’t know what we want to publish until we read it. That said, read what we’ve published up until now to get a bit of an idea what we’re after. Submitted work doesn’t need to be nature writing (in fact, we wish we received more nature writing), but there should at minimum be an inherent fascination with the chance to be alive and breathing at a certain time at a certain place.

Our ideal submission is simply clean copy with a clear idea of what it is and what it’s doing. Beyond that, we’re open to just about anything—as long as the piece has an environmental angle, a spiritual emphasis, or displays concern for the natural world. Bonus points when a piece balances otherwise seriousness with elements of humor, satire, and/or oddity. Additionally, we are eager to see more creative nonfiction and graphic narrative submissions. We’d love to receive more work in the vein of author J.T. Robertson’s “No Spoilers” from our first issue. Surprise us!

We don’t receive too many things that feel outright wrong. One thing that makes for a quick rejection is clarity. If the piece is riddled with errors or lacks the horse sense of good writing, we are quick to pass. Similarly, if a piece doesn’t share our mission, at least in some small way, it probably isn’t for us.

A cover letter is always nice since we receive email submissions, but a bio is totally optional. Even then, we usually don't look at bios until after we've made a determination on a piece. Whatever the case, we aren't going to publish anything based on an author's or an artist's bio. If it's not a right fit for us, it's not a right fit.

We usually read every submission in its entirely. However, our M.O. is to not accept anything that would require substantial revisions—so, in such cases, we might reject something without finishing reading it. To us, it's the submitter's responsibility to send us a publishable manuscript. (If you're seeking notes, revisions, or edits, M.M. and Jim offer editing services at reasonable rates. Details can be found on their respective sites or via email inquiry.)

We don't like to impose our own will on submissions. If we love it, we want it, but if it’s a work in progress, it’s a pass. Easy peasy.

We are very busy people. Between the three of us we have four jobs, five music projects, six calls on hold, and a partridge in a pear tree. Additionally, we’re writers, too. So, in the interests of our mental health, we often alternate taking steps back from editor duties so not to overwhelm ourselves. That said, at least two of us are always actively reading and voting on submissions, if not daily, weekly. Our response time is between four minutes and four months.

If we notice any minor, mechanical errors, we correspond with the contributor about corrections. Otherwise, we prefer to maintain the writer’s vision.

Yes, we nominate for Best of the Small Presses, Best of Net, and Best Spiritual Literature. Additionally, our "Dead Herring Prize" is awarded annually to "staggering works which slay real-world red herrings in our day-to-day lives." All accepted stories, poems, prose, comics, notes, doodles, whispers, and whimsy published by Skipjack Review during the calendar year are considered.