September #SLFAQ Recap

We kicked off fall submission season with a Twitter chat to cover all your questions about Split Lip — and our contests. Couldn’t make it? Here’s a recap of what our staff had to say.

You’re running flash and poetry contests right now! What separates a contest entry from the rest of the pack?

Amy Stuber, assistant flash editor: Obviously many things, but what comes to mind first for me is specificity! If the piece represents a unique way of looking at the world with details that no one else would have imagined (or at least presented with those words, in that order), I'm interested.

Chris Gonzalez, contributing editor: I think a contest is the perfect time to go with your most daring submission. That story or poem that might be weird or a little off-kilter but that you love. The writing will shine through.

Katie Flynn, fiction editor: Yes to this! Big on concept. It's a contest — go for it!

Maureen Langloss, flash editor: This is such a hard question to answer! Some pieces just have an incredible spark. Where does that spark come from? Voice, unique details, tension, an intriguing premise, an opening that grabs us immediately, language play, and an ending that resonates. We love submissions that take risks but still resonate emotionally, that still come together as a story.

M’Bilia Meekers, poetry editor: I think contest entries often have a particular kind of energy that changes depending on who the judge is. They’re more vulnerable and take more exciting risks.

Anna Vangala Jones, editorial assistant: Striking a balance between language that lingers—honestly I think of this as sentences I wish I'd written and want to remember after I read them—and a story with characters doing things as early as possible. A strong start with memorable writing is key for flash.

Tyrese Coleman, contributing editor: I’m big on first sentences. I’m less inclined to read a piece of flash if the first sentence isn’t tight.

William Fargason, assistant poetry editor: I want vulnerability in the work. Tell me a secret. Expose something that feels uncomfortable. Go streaking in your poems.

Michele Finn Johnson, assistant fiction editor: I love a flash piece that quickly immerses me in a voice or a world and leaves me wondering how the author managed to do so much resonant work in such a tiny space. I long to be mesmerized!

Speaking of those contests—what's your process like for judging entries? How does that work?

Maureen Langloss: We read blind & w/ TLC. Each entry is read by 2 readers/editors who rate the piece on a scale of 1-5. Any piece given a 4 or 5 is then read & commented on by more staff. We will have a meeting to make the difficult choice of selecting 10 finalists to go to our judges.

One more note on contest process. We receive more regular, free subs than contest subs. We understand; the contest costs $8. But, when you submit to the contest, you are putting your work into a smaller pool and at least 4 pieces will be published (maybe more).

Chris Gonzalez: This is my first go around with a contest, tbh, but I think we're ultimately reading with our judge's tastes in mind. To the best of our ability. What do they write about, and what stories/books do they discuss. Combine that with what SL looks for: distinctive voice.

Maureen Langloss: Yes! If you don't already know, our judges are the ground-breaking authors @brywashing & @chenchenwrites. Check out their books! Bryan had an amazing flash in the New Yorker recently & I have reread his @hobartpulp story so many times, I love it so. Let them inspire you!

Becky Robison, social media and marketing coordinator: We follow the @CLMPorg Contest Code of Ethics! Details on the submission pages for our contests.

Would you say you’re leaning more towards newer (I won’t say emerging) writers?

Maureen Langloss: One of my greatest joys as an editor at SLM is the editing process with authors on their very first pub. We have a first pub coming out next month & WOW did we have fun working on it together. It's a special moment in an author's life & to get to share in it is a gift.

M’Bilia Meekers: The writing always always always comes first, but looking for new and emerging writers is part of our mission as a mag. Which is to say new writers send us your best, and established writers also send us your best hahaha

Katie Flynn: As part of our mission we are on the lookout for new/emerging writers, but it's always always about the writing first.

Anna Vangala Jones: Yes, we love when we notice it would be a writer's first publication, but that realization tends to come once we're already close to accepting the piece. It's the work we fell in love with, but when we know we are able to showcase a new voice, it's even better.

Amy Stuber: I can't speak to anything overarching, but I really try to read every piece without looking at the sub letter/ pub credits first. It's also incredibly fun and gratifying to work with an author for whom an acceptance is a first pub.

Krys Malcolm Belc, memoir editor: finding a stellar work by an emerging writer is such a treat. and part of what SL is about. but ultimately when reading subs, i bring my freshest eyes and try to look at each piece with that regardless of submitter. if i don't feel fresh, i don't read submissions.

Michele Finn Johnson: This is why I love working @splitlipthemag — the TLC given by the editors to submissions is so front-and-center. So respectful.

Chris Gonzalez: It also means, I think, we don't let more "established" writers off the hook here. The writing has to stand, no matter the name behind it.

What would you like to see more of in submissions these days?

M’Bilia Meekers: I think one of my first questions for any poem is “What are the stakes for the speaker? What is the poet risking with this?” When a poet takes risks in their work it is so thrilling. I’m always looking for more of that.

Anna Vangala Jones: I like fusion of things I don't expect or normally think of as going together? We place emphasis at SL on voice, edge, pop culture, but when a story reads like a fable or fairy tale and dabbles in magic while still feeling real, current, & fresh, that is a great surprise.

Chris Gonzalez: I want to see writers having fun. Challenging themselves on the page, and by extension the reader. Whether it's in structure or voice or veering away from the obvious.

Michele Finn Johnson: Short stories where “something” happens within the first two or three pages; An interesting story structure that jives with the story itself / takes the story further than it would without that structure (aka, not gimmicky).

William Fargason: I would love to see more narrative in poems with stakes for the speaker. Don’t let the emotions of the poem fall on someone else’s shoulders. Even if the poem deals with another person, the speaker must take responsibility for the emotions.

Of this list, what's your favorite thing to see in story submissions: ghosts, animals, pop culture references, urban legends, murder weapons, jokes, or houseplants?

Anna Vangala Jones: Answering as an individual here! But ghosts when done well is a personal favorite

Katie Flynn: Honestly all of the above just so long as it's fresh. But I suppose I have a special soft spot for stories that involve science AND the unexplainable.

M’Bilia Meekers: Ooooh!! I think pop culture references or jokes. To be fair, humor is a difficult tool to use, but when it’s done well it takes the writing to the next level. Also I feel like sometimes the lit world forgets poems can be funny or joyful, let’s change that!

Maureen Langloss: I love seeing things I never would have thought of or didn't know existed. I love references to nature--small unique ones like in @garson_scott's https://splitlipmagazine.com/0419-scott-garson…. I love religion, but we're seeing A LOT of that right now, so it's hard to break through with it.

Chris Gonzalez: Pop culture references, for sure, and a joke with a punchline is great but I'm more of a sucker for funny/absurd observations.

Anna Vangala Jones: And french fries wasn't included as an option, but of course french fries.

Tyrese Coleman: Houseplants and murder weapons. Bonus if the houseplant IS the murder weapon

Michele Finn Johnson: Love this question! I'm always amazed when animals show up in stories and somehow humanize the piece. I almost never do this myself, I don't know why....(scrambling to add a ferret to a flash piece now)

Krys Malcolm Belc: jokes! when someone can, as a memoirist, make me laugh but not at others' expense, especially if their work is on the whole on the serious side, that's going to get me every time. how writers inject humor into cnf is one of the wonderful puzzles of short memoir to me

Maureen Langloss: YES! WE LOVE HUMOR at SLM. We just accepted a piece that is so funny and yet so serious & I cannot wait for you to read it!! If you're into humor btw pick up @lcheuk's new book. OMG HILARIOUS.

If all litmags lived in the same town, which ones would you think of as living on the same street as you?

Katie Flynn: Definitely @IndianaReview. We did a collaborative issue with them earlier this year. Love them!

Chris Gonzalez: I like to think @splitlipthemag lives in the same cul-de-sac as @barrelhouse, and hang out at the same bar as @CosmoAvenue.

Tyrese Coleman: Cookout at @SmokeLong house!

Michele Finn Johnson: I'd be one kick-butt block party if @barrelhouse @PitheadChapel @hobartpulp @BoothAJournal @CraftLiterary @SmokeLong and @Cheap_Pop were all there!!!

Amy Stuber: Would like to think @cheappop, @wigleaf, @SmokeLong, and @okaydonkeymag, among others! Let's all sit on the front stoop/porch together and eat and drink things and talk shop!

Krys Malcolm Belc: i first submitted to SL because i loved reading SL online and felt like they were like the hip cousin of @PassagesNorth, where i edited before joining the SL team!

Becky Robison: I’d say @PitheadChapel for sure—we share a lot of contributors with good reason, I think. @PaperDarts @Cheap_Pop and @pidgeonholes too! Among many others.

Amy Stuber: All of these! Yes! Now I'm envisioning some tiny house litmag community, and though I tend not to like group things, this actually sounds good.

What would you like to see less of in submissions these days?

Katie Flynn: Stories that are over our word count! As a web journal we publish shorter fiction, 1000-2500 words.

M’Bilia Meekers: Poems that aren't making use of enough tools in the poetry toolbox. It's such a missed opportunity. Terrance Hayes once said in workshop that dynamic poems usually have 2 or 3 devices/elements working together simultaneously and that's always stuck with me.

Maureen Langloss: Any topic can be AMAZING if done well. Nothing is off limits at SLM. I have been seeing tons of animals in the queue, so it's hard to stand out with them. I don't usually go for stories told from the POV of an inanimate object. But don't listen to me; write what you want!

Tyrese Coleman: Sad stories or stories about death. I would love to read a very well crafted flash piece with an ending that left me feeling joyous and made me want to read it again to feel that feeling over and over. Literary does not = sad.

Maureen Langloss: Hear, hear to JOY. Or to making death funny.

Amy Stuber: Submissions that lean too heavily on a big concept/clever idea, sometimes at the expense of other elements (character development, for one).

Krys Malcolm Belc: i would never say something is impossible to write well, but i'm always surprised how many folks set their short memoir in a hospital or at a funeral. i admire the bravery to tackle illness/grief, but these settings are stagnant and readers come to them with many set ideas

Michele Finn Johnson: Less “let’s have the characters sit around and do drugs” because face it--the doing of the drugs is not really that interesting.

Katie Flynn: Or stories that involve heavy drinking/sitting at a bar for that matter. I mean maybe there's a good bar story out there? But I have not met him.

Chris Gonzalez: Yes, POP that Molly then body roll into some PLOT!

What are your favorite writing snacks?

Maureen Langloss: Right now I'm eating a chocolate bunny leftover from Easter & it's pretty good. But my main writing snack is tea & honey. Doritos when I'm not writing. Oh & we seem to LOVE snacks in our flash, because our Sept, Oct, Nov. flash this year all prominently feature FOOD. I think every single SLM reader/editor who read @JanelleonRecord's incredible flash gushed over her curly fries. They were a defining moment in the story. A snack food used to perfection.

Amy Stuber: I think my potato chip problem is well-documented on Twitter by now. But...nearly anything salty. And even just salt sometimes. I know. I'm gross.

Clancy McGilligan, interviews and reviews editor: Granny Smith apples and fried eggs

Krys Malcolm Belc: sunflower seeds, specifically david's jumbo salted sunflower seeds.

Tyrese Coleman: Late to answering this one but I don’t snack and write...I drink and write

M’Bilia Meekers: OMG those dark chocolate peanut butter cups from Trader Joes. Dangerous but delicious hahaha

Michele Finn Johnson: Gluten Free gummy bears ---they may be the only GF food that tastes better than their gluten-y counterparts!

Anna Vangala Jones: French fries, reeses peanut butter cups, all the bread and cheese the world has, pocky sticks, philly cheesesteaks, pizza, cinnamon buns, I'm getting carried away. Going to stop now and hope my doctor doesn't find my twitter.

William Fargason: Cheez-It’s. But honestly just lots of coffee.

What is your opinion about writers interacting with editors and lit mags via social media when it comes to discussing the work they've submitted? What do you think is the protocol for that? Do you think there's a protocol for that?

Becky Robison: Ooo, a really interesting question! What say you, staff? As social media editor, I'm happy to field questions from folks who have submitted to us—I usually forward them along to the relevant editor when possible.

Amy Stuber: Not speaking as an Asst Flash Ed here, just as a writer. But I feel awkward about interacting with editors on social media while my work is pending. If I have a question, I send it through their official channels instead.

Chris Gonzalez: Be mindful of boundaries. If you've submitted and have a question about your submission, best to handle through Submittable / lit mag email when appropriate. If questions about upcoming reading periods or contests, try website first. That said, @splitlipthemag's social media presence is accessible—thanks to rockstar @Rebb003!—so reach out if you need it. And if you're friends with an editor #onhere, it's cool, I think, to ask them a question if you can't find the info. For me personally, Twitter is both personal and professional. So feel free to holler and chat! That's why we're here! To make writer friends and have fun. But remember, we're not just editors and Twitter shouldn't be treated as a 24/7 access hotline to anyone.

M’Bilia Meekers: Personally, I don't think it's professional. If we're discussing work they've submitted, it's better to do it via email. If it's just a conversation like about what we're reading or something that's not related to their submission, I'm happy to do that on social media.

Maureen Langloss: It's a good idea not to discuss specific work that you have submitted w/ the editors on social media (unless accepted!). But by all means, reach out to editors, talk to them about writing, make friends! We are all writers too & we are all in this together.

I think @splitlipthemag has come into a very fruitful season lately--lots of good reads! Do you think magazines "find their voice" as authors do? Is it more about the submissions? Or the editors?

Becky Robison: Thank you! It's probably a combination of all those things—what do you think, staff?

Tyrese Coleman: Oooo good question! My opinion is that journal is only as good as the submissions they receive! It’s all about the writers IMO.

M’Bilia Meekers: It's totally a combination of both! The more awesome work we publish, the more writers get to know what we're looking for and as a result they start submitting writing that better matches our voice as a mag. It's collaborative :)

Michele Finn Johnson: Thanks for the compliment! One of the things that first attracted me to send work to SL was its strong sense of its own overall voice—spunky, current, daring. Now, as asst. fiction editor, this strong vision makes it easier to know when a piece is a good fit.

Thanks for joining us! And find us on Twitter @splitlipthemag if you have more questions!