#editor interview

“In particular, we’re really excited to see the range of manuscripts that can come in, the range of clinical practice that’s found across Europe and further abroad as well.”

From clinical practice to peer review, the new editors of European Heart Journal – Case Reports describe how their roles will help shape the younger group of clinicians and researchers in the field of cardiology.

MMD: What advice would you give to a debut author? Both in terms of working with their editor and in general?

Rachel Stark: Broadly, I think my biggest advice is to focus on the things you can control. There’s so much that’s out of your hands, that’s out of even your publisher’s hands. You can write an award-worthy book that happens to publish in the same year as many award-worthy books, or in a year where the award committees are interested in something other than what you’re doing. Market conditions and buying practices can change in a heartbeat, budgets can be slashed or imprints consolidated, key cheerleaders could move to other jobs, delays or paper shortages or pandemics or any number of unpredicted obstacles can suddenly topple the best-laid plans. . . . 

You’ve likely been dreaming for years about what your debut experience will be like, and now that it’s here you’ll want all the stars to align just right. But remember that you can’t control the stars. 

V. Lee: What do you say when writers ask about trends or are worried about writing into a trend? R. Clark: I tell them not to worry about it. If it’s good, it’s good. We might both be wearing jeans, but we look different in the jeans because our bodies are different. Just because somebody else has done it, was their version corny? Is your version better? And you have to be honest with yourself about that. I think sometimes writers are trying to avoid trends, but they also don’t have anything new to say about that trend.

In preparation for this week’s new episode with Porscha Burke read this interview with her from @slicemagazine! 

“I wish there were more rappers with book deals. Seriously.

Rappers are modern-day griots, their slick punchlines and syncopated storytelling can cover complex, thought-provoking subjects and lightweight humor alike. Rappers don’t have to be memoirists only. The spectrum from, say, The Message to A Children’s Story, Steve Biko to Money, Cash, Hoes to Alright is as broad as all the literary genres—narrative nonfiction and history to memoir and poetry. Of course, poetry.

We’ve been fortunate to see books like Jay Z’s Decoded and Prodigy’s Commissary Kitchen highlight how dynamically hip-hop can be represented on the page. (Likewise, all of Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson’s books differ from each other.) Novels like Styles P’s Invincible (which he wrote on his Sidekick, by the way) and Dana Dane’s Numbers prove rappers with strong storytelling skills on the mic can translate those to the page. And the oral histories (Brian Coleman’s Check the Technique and Shea Serrano’s The Rap Year Book, for example) lend context and historical import to the art form, legitimizing it for those who still need convincing. (As if Nas’s Harvard fellowship isn’t enough!)

Editors and Agents All Month Long by Kitty Bucholtz - Watch the first of five episodes on editing. This one is with editor Jennie Nash!

I’m excited to share with you that I have a mini-season on my podcast all about editing in honor of all the first-drafting that went on in November for National Novel Writing Month. Five episodes of editors and agents talking about editing and giving you their best tips. Jennie Nash, my first guest, even gives you two handouts! Check out the episodes every Thursday on WRITE NOW! Workshop…

NO FEE submission call + editor interview – Buddhist Poetry Review, DEADLINE: Sept. 25, 2020

Buddhist Poetry Review is “a quarterly online journal dedicated to publishing fresh and insightful Buddhist poetry. [Their] vision encompasses the full spectrum of Buddhism, and we welcome submissions from authors who write from any perspective.”

I was curious how and why this poetry review began, so I asked founder and editor Jason Barber a few questions to find out. See my interview with Barber…

NO FEE submission call + editor interview – ang(st) zine, DEADLINE: Sept. 30, 2020

ang(st) zineis an intersectional, transnational, diverse, inclusive, and queer feminist zine. They publish two themed issues a year in April and October and are currently open for prose, poetry, and visual art, “but we are open to interstitial and hybrid pieces: micros, personal essays, visual poetry, etc.” You can read more about what they are looking for in the interview below and also on their

NO FEE submission call + editor interview – ang(st) zine, DEADLINE: Sept. 30, 2020

ang(st) zineis an intersectional, transnational, diverse, inclusive, and queer feminist zine. They publish two themed issues a year in April and October and are currently open for prose, poetry, and visual art, “but we are open to interstitial and hybrid pieces: micros, personal essays, visual poetry, etc.” You can read more about what they are looking for in the interview below and also on their