I’m reading everything, though, so everything will be considered carefully from that final editorial perspective.Īt the journal, it’s become important to me to always have open reading. Fortunately, I was able to gather a team of four volunteers to help with the reading of the manuscripts, which I think is important for the slush-this gives the book a better chance of having a champion who might point out something I missed. MSK: It’s our first open reading period, so it’s hard to tell! I know a lot of the bigger contests average in the hundreds, and we’ve already seen fourteen in the week that we’ve been open. WWS: Do you think it will change the amount or quality of work you will see? Every time I pay a fee to a contest, I do think of it as a donation to said press, but I know that isn’t the case for everyone. I’m mostly hoping the fee-free means we’re opening to those who might not otherwise be able to send out that book, but also will turn up some manuscripts that are taking more chances.Īnd I hope that those who can donate, do. MSK: What I’m seeing already is a wide range of manuscripts-that diversity of style and voice is so important to me. WWS: In offering a fee-free option, what are you hoping to achieve with your submission call? But for the time being, I don’t want to limit the manuscripts I read and consider to those I have a connection to or those who can afford to pay out the fee. Running a press is an adaptable experience.

I might have to rethink our model as we grow, and that’s OK. In another thread, another smart editor pointed out how when people who have to relinquish a certain amount of money, it brings them closer to making absolutely certain they are sending out the tightest manuscript they can. MOLLY SUTTON KIEFER: It was definitely the moment when, I think it was Margaret Bashaar of Hyacinth Girl Press, reminded us that the fee is prohibitive for some writers, and she mentioned that the poetry world can be classist in this way. WOMEN WHO SUBMIT: In Tinderbox’s most recent submission call, it stated, “Due to an enlightening conversation in a private Facebook group, I’ve decided to open up submissions to my press, Tinderbox Editions, with a donation or fee-free option.” What point or comment from this private conversation inspired you to take action? As a poet who struggles with innumerable pay-to-play contests and open readings, I was excited to learn about reading fees from the publisher’s perspective and to hear more on running a journal and press. In a submission call I picked up through the yahoo! listserv CRWROPPS (Creative Writing Opportunities List), Kiefer announced Tinderbox Editions’ latest open reading period will have a fee-free option until August 31st. She is now happily tackling the role of publisher for her newest project, Tinderbox Editions. She edited for dislocate and Midway Journal before co-founding Tinderbox Poetry Journal with her friend, Brett Elizabeth Jenkins. Molly Sutton Kiefer, is an essayist and poet with numerous publications including the lyric essay, Nestuary (Ricochet Editions 2014) and two chapbooks.

Tinderbox poetry journal submissions