If you want to get published in a magazine, get to know it, pay attention to it. As an editor, it's very easy to see the writers that give a toss about getting published in the magazine, and the ones that have sent the same stuff to 100 magazines before it made it to us. There's a definite link between all of the stories/poems we publish, and if you're able to really see that and write something that appeals to that aesthetic, chances are that we'll like it. I can't tell you how many people blanket hit us with submissions without knowing the kind of work we publish, and without even really reading the guidelines. JD: Pick up a copy of the magazine and read the kind of work we publish. SQF: What advice can you offer new authors hoping to publish their first submission in Popshot Magazine? We don't get the time to get to know the characters in the stories, so whilst in a novel I would say they are equally important with a leaning towards character, I definitely think short fiction centres around a ruddy good plot. JD: In very short fiction, which is what Popshot publishes, plot is more important than character. Plot and character are equally important. SQF: Which of the following statements is true and why? Plot is more important than character. Make it read beautifully, make it difficult to stop reading, root it in an interesting concept and an original idea, and we'll struggle to turn it down. Otherwise, it's because it doesn't fit into the three things mentioned above. Most of the time it's as simple as the fact that there was a story that was better for us, or better for that particular theme. JD: There probably aren't another three reasons. SQF: What are the top three reasons a submission is rejected, other than not fitting into your answers to the above question and why? Thirdly, the story has to have some sort of bizarre/surreal/paradoxical/unexpected element to it, something that markedly separates it from the stories we tell each other on a day to day basis. However, if the first line makes me want to read the second line, and the second line makes me want to read the third, that's a good basis of a story and chances are, I'll arrive at the end and realise 10 minutes have passed without even being aware of it. We get submissions that you have to battle with to continue reading. Secondly, you shouldn't want to stop reading. If we're having to stop every few lines to try and work out what the writer is saying, we're not going to get lost in it. JD: Firstly, the basic criteria is that it's a story that reads seamlessly. SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why? Popshot is an illustrated literary magazine that publishes short stories, flash fiction, and poetry from the literary new blood.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |