Editor Interview: The 300

Bullets for the brain.

I like the services of Horror Tree as they also help indie authors and spread the word for calls for submission. They have been helping the community for 15 years this year.

During my calls for submissions I have been exposed to hundreds of indie authors and artists. I have many favourites for both. Each theme invites new genre bending submissions that resonate with me. Kay Savage just submitted a gorgeous piece, in my last call a piece by Valery Skrobinski really hit home for me. To be honest there are many unknown high quality writers out there and my goal with Hollowpoint Press is to shed as much light as I can upon them and their work.

Being a new publishing press we are still finding our identity to set us apart from the masses. We want to pride ourselves on author and artist engagement where we can promote the visibility of emerging talent. We want to publish books that stand the test of time for our readership as well. We want to be a press of discovery.

Read the call and let your imagination interpret your artistic guidance. We are accepting of your wildest thoughts but we are also a publication that looks for that diamond in the rough. We do not like to ell authors and artists what to write or create, we only show them the path of relevance and this has so far produced a high quality eclectic lot of submissions. Diversity is the celebration. We look forward to many more calls and many more submissions.

Quite simply just a submission that relates in any way to the theme of the call. We love and celebrate artistic freedom and expression which is why our themes are broad yet refined.

Naming their story the same name as the call. Other than that I have not found much “wrong” with any submissions. Duotrope has a list of high quality authors and artists that participate and we are enjoying the relationship.

We like to know lots about the authors and artists. In our anthologies we will print all the author bios in the book itself. To get to know more about the authors and artists we have launched an interview series that runs weekly called “Between the Covers” and can be found at hollowpointpress.ca/portfolio

At minimum we finish every word submitted to every story submitted. It does not do a submission justice to not complete the reading in full. If someone takes the time to write for us we take the time to read, review and critique every word. Some pieces we will read 10 times just to make sure we have given it the attention it deserves. I have personally had pieces that I want to reject on first read but by third read we find what was not apparent in the beginning. We have developed an extensive reading grade system and multiple stage/person reading phases before any decisions are made.

We have a grading system for the first reading. That grading system translates to further scrutiny from multiple editorial reviews before long list or short list is decided upon.

Well, I work my day job 12-16 hours a day 5-6 days a week. But in any down time I am reading submissions, grading submissions, helping plan the design of each book, helping decide order for each book, marketing, editing, doing craft shows and am also a writer myself in which I have 6 published books and another three in editing stages. I am committing every waking moment to build this press from the ground up because I know that every indie author and artist out there deserves more attention and professional exposure. I sleep around 3 hours a day on average. I do have help and that team is growing but there are many things that I have to do myself or at least have my hands in.

I will provide minor editing only at this point. If there are major changes needed I can offer suggestions but ultimately if a piece is submitted it is expected to be polished.

We are still learning and growing as a press and will be making nominations moving forward.

Currently all funding comes from my personal wallet book sales and any tips given in the submission process. I want to thank all submitters that do leave a tip, your generosity helps more than you will ever know. From the team at Hollowpoint Press we genuinely thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Hollowpoint Press uses social media, website and craft shows. We employ different engagement activities throughout these platforms to grow readership and sales. We sell on Amazon, Lulu, Barnes & Noble and Ingram spark. We are in a few libraries.