Editor Interview: HOOT

zestful nuggets

The ones that treat their submitters and contributors kindly.
ie-- feedback with rejections when possible (or at least a kind form rejection letter), contributor promotions, timely responses, etc.

Besides the fact that we publish on postcards?
Well, we only publish one piece (in print) and up to four pieces (online) every month. That means that every piece published, even though they all have fewer than 150 words, has its own space-- it's a centerpiece for a month, and gets the attention it deserves.
Also, for our postcards we spend days creating artwork to match. The final product is (hopefully) more than just a short piece of writing-- it's a beautiful, cohesive item that readers can share, hang up, pass around.

There is a difference between a microfiction piece and a joke.
We don't publish the latter.
Surprise us throughout the whole piece-- with voice, with setting, with dialogue, with changing POV--instead of with a "twist" ending.

If we could describe the ideal submission, we'd ditch the submission process and just write the content ourselves.
The whole point of running a magazine is you're hunting for that "something" that you won't know until you read it.

We get a surprising number of submissions handwritten on torn notebook paper. We love handwritten stuff, don't get me wrong...but not in our submissions, so much. We like our submissions to be legible.

We don't read cover letters until after we decide to accept/reject submissions, so your cover letter (or lack of one) isn't going to sway our votes either way.
However, we do love to read stuff about our submitters. Previous publications don't matter, though sometimes they're interesting. We're just as (if not more) interested, honestly, in weird facts about how your spend your mornings, or your odd talents, or your least favorite vegetables, etc.

We read every piece to the end. In fact, we read every piece out loud, with at least both editors present, and sometimes with our two interns present as well.
We want to acknowledge the fact that it's hard not just to write, but to send out that writing, and we try to respect our submitters' time and efforts.

Occasionally we'll ask an author to rewrite stuff. Usually, that just involves cutting out some parts...and that part is often the last sentence.

Worry about general life financial prospects.
Write.
Increased worry about life financial prospects.
HOOT PR.
Read HOOT submissions (all out loud).
Go to our real jobs.
Sleep.