Editor Interview: Thorn & Bloom

Self-care as liberation

I admire Coffee and Conversations, Writerly Magazine, Feminist Spaces Journal, The Anti-Misogynist Club, Rebelle Society, and that's all I can think of at this moment.

Oh, I don't think I could possibly choose just one favourite. I do admire authors such as V.E. Schwab, Sally Rooney, Maya Angelou, Silvia Federici, Lola Olufemi, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, to name a few, and I would be in heaven if I ever had the opportunity to publish any of these writers, plus a hundred others.
As for artists, I am particularly obsessed with Rachel Lorraine at the moment, whom I had the honour of including her work in our second edition of Thorn & Bloom Magazine. Again, I can't choose a favourite, though you can probably guess that I love feminist and diverse artists/authors.

It is very niche. The work we published in our company is centred around mental health, self-care, gender and sexuality. They are broad subjects but very specific compared to many other publications, and we accept all genres and styles with the intent of highlighting how diverse and inclusive these subjects are. With this publication, Thorn & Bloom, we specifically focus on self-care, where we draw attention to how taking care of the self is a radical act toward personal and political liberation. This means that we uncover the ugly (i.e. thorns) things in life to understand what aspects are suppressing, oppressing, and repressing us, then we navigate ways to unlearn these things and find better, healthier ways to exist (i.e. bloom).

Read the guidelines. Many pieces get rejected, not because they are bad, but because they didn't meet the requirements. Also, I know this is cliché, but don't take the rejection personally, as we have to consider many factors when making a selection. Lastly, don't be afraid of your weirdness, your uniqueness. It comes out in your art and your writing and is what makes your work stand out. Express what you really want to, not what you think others want to see, hear or read.

I love pieces that push against the barriers a little, that force one to not just think outside the box but to paint a narrative that doesn't need boxes or confinement. I love reading pieces that blow my mind and make me realise I didn't even think of this. It doesn't have to be good in the sense of perfect, grammatical writing, or even an original story, but one's true voice comes out when they let go of the societal restrictions imposed on them. And it is beautiful and powerful.

Some submissions come in that don't have anything to do with the subjects we publish. It is clear that writers are submitting their work to as many publications as possible, as they are trying to play a numbers game. And I get it, as it is true that you will get more rejections than acceptances. But I would discourage this as one, it wastes everyone's time, and two, it doesn't foster any connection with one's work. Rather, take the time to learn more about the publication and submit work that fits in with what the publishers are looking for. Think of publishing as a relationship, not a competition. You don't need to be a die-hard follower of the publication, but you do need to understand what it is that they are trying to build and what work they tend to gravitate toward.

I don't care for cover letters, and I don't require writers to submit their bios when submitting their work. Though I do enjoy reading them and learning more about the writers' lives, or careers, or identities. Seeing someone's credits is lovely, as I get to learn more about other publications, but if one does send their bios, personally, I don't think these accolades are nearly as impressive as the person behind them. I would rather learn about the person than their achievements. Though in the submission process, I don't ask for bios as I would rather the work stand out, and I am often pleasantly surprised with who wrote it after I accept their work and ask for their bios.

I read every submission to the end, except those that are over the word count. And sometimes, I read pieces multiple times before making a final decision. Since the theme in the publication is very broad, I too, find myself having to keep an open mind to ascertain where the writer is coming from. Rarely do I read pieces and reject them after reading a few paragraphs. It would have to be very bad writing for me not to read it, and there aren't that many pieces that come in that are so bad I can't read further.

For the print publications, we look at how diverse all the pieces are that we want to publish, so we may reject a piece if we have too many of one style already. And, if we have two pieces that are about the same subject, or are too similar, we will select one of them, even though we like both.

Goodness, it's very busy, and I have a tight schedule as I am also the owner of my publishing company, so I wear multiple hats in this role at the moment. But with editing specifically, all the submissions are downloaded onto a spreadsheet. I schedule time once or twice a week to read the submissions as they are coming in, and as I read them, I write notes on the spreadsheet. I also mark if the piece is a yes or no. Then, when making selections, I transfer all the yeses onto another spreadsheet and reread the pieces, and again add notes if necessary. This way, I can eliminate those that are too similar to each other or speak about the same thing. And it is where I make final decisions. I also tend to go back to the original spreadsheet to glance over any submissions that may be marked as a no, but after reading all the pieces, I may find one that would work better with the final publication. I then edit the work I want to publish, send out rejections and acceptances, and begin working on the design of the publication. That's it in a nutshell, at least with the editing process.

I mostly try to keep the entire piece in the author's voice, and since I publish work from all over the world, I keep English dialects in the authors language or to their preference. I don't do heavy editing where I change paragraphs or the majority of the text. I work on copy editing, line editing, and basic proofreading and the author always gets to approve the edits. My aim is to keep the work in the author's style, but to make it more polished and grammatically correct unless this is a deliberate choice for purposes of the story. I will only publish work after both parties have agreed to the final edits, and am always open to learning more about the creative choices the author makes.

I have not yet, but am looking for ways and opportunities to do this.

We have not yet received any grants or investments, and so all the money we currently make is from whatever the business generates through magazine sales, events, subscriptions and donations. We are actively applying for grants so that we can grow this publishing business further and offer more opportunities.

We promote the work via our social media, Substack, emails, and press releases. We also host online open mics and live author readings to get more attention to the author's work as well as our publications. And a lot of networking and word of mouth. But we are actively working on getting more press for our work as well.