Editor Interview: Small World City

While there are a number of magazines that have inspired us, these are the ones we most frequently go back to: Strange Horizons, Desh, S-F Magazine, Daily Star Books, Slant Magazine, Slipstream, Mithila Review, Star*Line, Sticky Rice Magazine, New Gothic Review, and COEVAL Magazine.

Shirley Jackson, Salman Rushdie, Mariana Enríquez, Kelly Link, Leesa Gazi, Margaret Atwood, Charles Burns, Mashiul Alam, Kim Bo-Young, Kazuo Ishiguro, George Saunders, Ursula K. Le Guin, Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, Alan Moore, and Mahmudul Haque, to name a few.

We are in a unique situation in that English-language literary journals are a rarity in Bangladesh. Add in the fact that we are the first English-language speculative fiction magazine of the country, it feels as though we operate within a niche of a niche. But the response we have gotten has by and large amazed me. We have received such amazing submissions and support from our community, that it confirms to me that there is something universal in the love and consumption for speculative literature—a genre that has seen a decline in Bangali writing over the last few years.
One of my main goals as an editor has been to bring this genre, which has always been so dear to me, back up to where I feel it belongs. I love nothing more than when the distinctions between high art and low art become impossibly blurred. What I feel sets Small World City apart truly is our distinctive voice in this matter. The goal I just stated is one shared by virtually all spec-lit magazines, but every voice has to be its own; and through our magazine I'd like to think Bangladesh and the Bangali people are starting to raise theirs.

The simplest, and best, advice would be to familiarize yourself with our submission guidelines. Being aware of the word limits, maximum submissions, email header preferences, and other information listed on our submission page goes a long way.

If you have read our submission guidelines, following them strictly goes a long way. But additional suggestions are:
- include an introduction of yourself and your submission when you email us
- format your submission consistently; a serif font is preferred with the font size 11 or 12, double spaced
- if you have art or illustrations you want included, please provide them as SEPARATE files and not within the document
- let us know why you want to publish with Small World City and how you see your work fitting in with our speculative literary magazine
- include your author's bio and photo in your email, NOT within the document
- ensure that your author's bio is less than 200 words, not including your list of publications. You have room to be quippy or fun if you want!
- and a necessary reiteration: mention if the work is a simultaneous submission

They tend to ignore the word limit.

While we do not need or expect cover letters, an introductory body in the submission email is highly appreciated. My recommendation is to introduce yourself, where you're from and your literary background. You do not need to have previous publications to be published by us, but if you have them, please provide a short list. Most importantly: introduce your submission in the email, provide the word count, and describe it in a sentence. Describe it so we understand how you see your submission fitting in with our magazine.

For submissions longer than 2,000 words, we make our decision within the first two pages whether it's a Yes, Maybe or No. Submissions within the 2,000 words mark, we read the entire piece if it fits our submission guidelines and then decide. Those that go into the Maybe pile gets read by either the editor-in-chief or deputy editor for a second opinion, and this time is usually read completely before a final decision. Of course, no author will be emailed an acceptance without being read completely.

The average routine involves reading submissions every day; updating and maintaining our submissions trackers; creating social media posts; selecting/commissioning illustrators; writer outreach; responding to submissions and queries across email and social media accounts; strategizing and planning future events; and editing accepted works to strengthen the piece or fit our in-house style.

For the most part, we provide line editing and copy editing to ensure the accepted stories and essays are free of any glaring mistakes and reads smoothly. On occasion, we do provide substantive editing through structural edits where we believe the piece could work harder at addressing its theme or thesis, but these edits are done in collaboration with the author. Final edits are approved by the editor-in-chief.