Editor Interview: Barely South Review

Singular tales and poetry

We’re willing to take chances on new voices, unusual forms, and surprising work. We call ourselves Barely South because we sit in a unique area where all different kinds of boundaries are in a state of flux. We’re also fairly new – so we’re less rigid in how we make choices than other journals can be.

Since we’re fairly open in regards to work (although so-called “genre” pieces face an uphill battle with our editors), the most important thing to remember when submitting is to follow the instructions: each upload to the Submishmash site should be an individual story or poem; do not upload 80 pages and then direct us to read only page 25; submit a brief bio; do not go over the submission limits (words and number of submissions).

Good writing. Experimentation is fine (and encouraged, as long as it serves the story or poem). We like work that explores boundaries. Left-justified poetry (just kidding – sort of).

Submitting more than one work in an upload, not including a bio (even a short one – we don’t make decisions based on where – or if – you’ve published before), going over the word or submission limit (7,000 for fiction, 5 poems total).

As I mentioned previously, we are not going to choose someone just because they have a lot of publishing credits, or they’ve been published in a journal with a lot of “cred.” Nor will we refuse to consider someone who has absolutely no publishing credits. The work comes first. We ask for bios up front because it speeds up the publishing process should we choose the work. We also enjoy seeing from where people are sending their work.

Our Fiction editors will normally read at least three pages of a work – if you haven’t caught their attention by then, it’s unfair to them to make them continue reading. Poems, especially shorter poems will normally be read in their entirety. Although if you send us your version of “The Wasteland,” it had better be interesting within the first twenty lines, or you’re probably out of luck.

We read first for content. Small typos, problems with grammar, anything that can be overlooked because the work is amazing - we’ll fix those in the copy editing process. Our editors have been known to make content revision suggestions, and will work with an author on a piece we really feel has promise and that we would be proud to publish.

Now that we use Submishmash, it’s much easier (we were all email before). Editors can read online or download a submission, read the bios, make comments and “vote” on a piece, all within the application. Acceptances and rejections can be done with a click. The editorial groups meet on a regular basis to discuss the most recent submissions. We’re working hard on making our response times as fast as possible.