Editor Interview: Soul Poetry, Prose & Arts Magazine

Real, Raw, Relatable

Tipton Poetry Journal, Cholla Needles, Paperboats, The Orchards Poetry Journal, Rat's Ass Review, Ambidextrous Bloodhound Press, Zest of the Lemon, North of Oxford, The Woodside Review, Verse-Virtual, Contemporary Haibun Online, and Drifting Sands Haibun.

For writing: John Grey, Veronica Tucker, Ken e Bujold, Oleg Daugovish, Elly Katz, Margaret Anne Kean, E.C. Traganas, Madeleine French, Vivian Faith Prescott, Sara Eddy, W. Barrett Munn, Jacob Friesenhahn, Janet Rives, Kathy O'Fallon, Kathleen Goldblatt, William Doreski, Sara Stegen, Margaret Taylor-Ulizio, R.H. Booker, Naomi Stenburg, Marla Dial Moore, Darrell Petska, Elizabeth Gunn, Robert Harlow, and many more!
For art: Camellia Paul, Anne Mesquita, Lita Marie Bonciolini, Sean Ewing, Kim Sosin, Channie Greenburg, Katie Hughbanks, & Rachel Turney.

Soul Poetry, Prose & Arts Magazine seeks to publish work that is real and relatable to everyone. There are too many people who think poetry isn't "for them" or who think poetry is too hard to understand. I want to see work that connects us to each other as human beings, work that says, "I see you. I feel you."

Read the guidelines carefully. When work is submitted where it is obvious the writer did not do his/her homework, it's almost always rejected. Pay attention to the season of the issue. Even though there are no hard-set themes, winter based poems will most likely appear in the winter issue, summer based poems will most likely appear in the summer issue, and so forth. Read the past issues! Get a sense for the vibe of Soul Poetry. I want to see pieces that have a clear message or story, that are relatable to others in some way, and that leave an impression on the reader long after he/she has left the work.

My ideal submission is error free -- meaning no grammar, spelling, or punctuation mistakes. For poetry, I want to see line breaks that make sense and do not appear random. Line breaks should be very intentional and purposeful. I rarely publish rhyming poetry, but if the rhymes do not seemed forced or contrived, I love rhyming poetry! I also love haibun, tanka, and haiku. Overall, I just want to see honest, heartfelt writing that seeks to find connections to the reader. For short stories, I want to see the whole arc of a story--clear beginning, middle, and end with plot resolution, strong, believable characters, and a good setting. Make the story mean something. Ask yourself -- what will the reader take away from this story. As an avid photographer myself, I love art that showcases color, lighting, contrasts, and cool angles. I'd love to see more paintings, drawings, and photos.

1) Word length. I do not take fiction over 2,000 words, and yet I have had writers submit as many as 4,000 words.
2) Subject matter. I will reject anything that is overtly sexual, violent, hateful, filled with obscene language or political. We have enough craziness in our world, and I want to set Soul Poetry apart from that. We need space to breathe!
3) Entering too early or too late. Just take note of the submission dates.

I love knowing about the person submitting to me. However, a long list of publication credits really are not that important. I'd rather have contributors list maybe 3-4 publication credits then tell me something unusual or fun about themselves. I like quirky. I like something that makes me smile.

For poetry, I read all the way to the end. I can sometimes tell that the poem might not be a good fit, but because the pieces are usually pretty short, I'll read through the whole submission, especially if the writer has submitted several pieces.
For fiction, I will often stop reading after the first 2-3 paragraphs and reject it because of poor writing or horrible subject matter (such as extreme violence, sexual references, or political diatribes).

If I see "potential" in a piece, and I know there are just a few minor changes needed, I will often contact the author and suggest edits. If he/she accepts, we proceed with the piece. I might suggest things like a different way to break the lines, the deletion or addition of a line, or swapping out a weak word for a stronger word.

I'm most often sitting on my couch with my two dogs, Max & Scooter, by my side. I start with any daily submissions, giving each a read through before making any decisions. If there are any entries that are really awful, I'll send a formal rejection letter with no feedback. If there are any entries that are sort of good, I might offer a line or two for how the author could improve the work--although I will not ask for him/her to submit that piece again. I try to make all decisions within 24-48 hours, as I know from being on the writing end that it is super frustrating to wait months and months for decisions -- only to find out your piece was rejected anyway. I strive to be the kind of editor who establishes a personal connection to my writers and will go above and beyond to help them in their writing careers. I value the editors who have helped me along the way, especially Rich Soos at Cholla Needles, and I want to be the type of editor that writers and artists can return to again and again for submissions, publishing advice, or even just to say hey. For me, it's about building community and relationships.

Because I am an English teacher, I am a pretty picky proofreader and editor. If the piece is woefully lacking basic grammar / punctuation skills, it's an auto reject. I don't have time to correct multiple errors. However, if the piece simply has one word spelled incorrectly (usually a simple typo) or could benefit from say a better line break or a minor punctuation change, I'm always happy to make those suggestions.
I had a story recently that needed the verb tense aligned (as it flipped back and forth from past to present tense) -- so I gave the writer the chance to fix that. It's tricky, though, because with poetry, especially, writers often fall so in love with their words or even with their line breaks that they do not want to make changes. All I can do is suggest--then it's up to the writer to accept or reject those changes.

Absolutely. I nominate for the Pushcart Prize as well as Best of Net. I think writers deserve to be recognized, and I'm always thrilled to give them the news when I make my selections!

I am the sole founder, editor and funder. I do not have any outside contributions, although it would be nice one day to have some sponsors or donors so I could offer more contests and prize money.

I have a Soul Poetry Facebook page and Instagram page. I post work and author profiles often on Facebook and tag them is they have joined the page. I also promote other published works by my authors (books, chapbooks, etc) whenever they reach out to me and ask me to do so.