Q: Describe what you publish in 25 characters or less.
A: Flash fiction.
Q: What other current publications (or publishers) do you admire most?
A: SmokeLong Quarterly. Pidgeonholes. Split Lip, Atticus Review. Etc.
Q: If you publish writing, who are your favorite writers? If you publish art, who are your favorite artists?
A: In flash fiction: Kathy Fish. Len Kuntz. Meg Pokrass. Bud Smith. Et al.
Q: What sets your publication apart from others that publish similar material?
A: We are the longest-running flash fiction magazine on the planet, in continual publication since 2000. Our contributors include Steve Almond, Katharine Weber, Mike Resnick, Aimee Bender, Sam Lipsyte, Kirk Nesset, Judith Cofer, Bruce Boston, Robert Boswell, Bruce Holland Rogers, Michelle Richmond, Liz Rosenberg, Stuart Dybek, Robert Olen Butler, and Pamela Painter, and many, many others. Our stories have been reprinted widely.
Q: What is the best advice you can give people who are considering submitting work to your publication?
A: Try for arresting premises, colorful language, and some narrative direction. And as so many other magazines advise, read a few issues to get a sense of what we publish.
Q: Describe the ideal submission.
A: We try not to picture "the ideal submission." Good flash fiction is too various for that. But here are a few guidelines: Give us an opening that grabs our attention. Go for vivid imagery and make something happen. Tell a lot in a few words.
Q: What do submitters most often get wrong about your submissions process?
A: Some writers don't read our submission guidelines and send in almost anything.
Q: How much do you want to know about the person submitting to you?
A: We enjoy reading cover letters because they're a window into the world of flash fiction writing, and seeing publication credits is nice, but we don't judge the fiction on that basis.
Q: If you publish writing, how much of a piece do you read before making the decision to reject it?
A: How much of a story we read varies, but we generally make it to the end unless the writing is wretched.
Q: What additional evaluations, if any, does a piece go through before it is accepted?
A: At least two editors read every accepted piece.
Q: What is a day in the life of an editor like for you?
A: We assign submissions to our contributing editors, and the editor in chief reads whatever they recommend. We try to get back to submitters earlier rather than later, and we encourage those authors whose work we'd like to see more of. We perform light editing on accepted pieces. We answer query letters about reviews and interviews. We promote the magazine. We stare at the screen and wonder whether we shouldn't get back to writing that novel.
Q: How important do you feel it is for publishers to embrace modern technologies?
A: Print issues are nice to look at and hold, but they've become too expensive to produce, and the internet offers both reduced costs and wider distrubution. Services like Duotrope and Submittable help get the word out, as do Twitter, Facebook, and other media. We are in the 21st century, after all.
Q: How much do you edit an accepted piece prior to publication?
A: We proofread and quite lightly edit accepted pieces, mainly to fix typos or improve clarity. Of course, the author has a say in the process.
Q: Do you nominate work you've published for any national or international awards?
A: We nominate the stories we publish for any awards that seem appropriate, and we've had a fair degree of success.