Editor Interview: Drunk Monkeys

Earnest, original lit.

The New Yorker
Red Fez
Cease, Cows
Bartleby Snopes

Kurt Vonnegut, John Steinbeck, Raymond Carver
Alan Ginsburg, Pablo Neruda

We make a point of working with emerging or even beginning writers, and try to weed out anything too cynical -- its the internet, if you're looking for cynicism, it's not hard to find.

If it's fiction, try to have as complete an arc to your story as possible.
Be genuine with the emotions of your character.
Read your dialogue out loud.
If it's an essay, explore your topic from all angles, try to be thorough and entertaining.

A story or poem that conveys an experience so directly that you can picture yourself in that world.

People have been pretty good about following the guidelines. Honestly, the only thing that turns me off is people who send a blank email with a file attached - it just doesn't seem professional.

Cover letters are nice, even if they're brief. We publish all our posts with a brief two or three sentence bio, so it would be awesome to have that up front.

I try to read every piece to the end (and I have a few editors that help me out), but within two paragraphs I can tell whether the person knows where they're taking me. I'll give a long submission at least a few pages before declining it - everyone deserves a fair shake.

Usually I read it through, then pass it along to our assistant editors for review. That can take a few days, depending on their schedules.

I usually skim submissions as they pop up on my smartphone, then flag them for follow-up later. When I have time after work I will sit down and read them all the way through, then send them on to the other editors to get their take - or, if it's an exceptional submission, I'll just make the decision to publish then and there.