The role of a literary magazine editor is to improve the world by publishing better stories and poetry and not by punishing writers for their wrongs through blacklisting.

An interview with me at CSMS magazine is here.

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” –Chekhov   Broken glass after the Chekhovian gun has fired.

What is a mensch? Mensch (Yiddish) is a person who uses a question mark at the end of an interrogative sentence.

Add layers. The more you have, the better. Don’t worry if some readers would miss them. The better ones won’t. Banish cliches. A bit of irony won’t hurt in most cases. Don’t moralize. There are enough preachers besides you. Don’t repeat what has been written already but feel free to improve the best writers’ creations….

Rejection: Thank you for allowing us to carefully consider “XYZ.” Unfortunately, we have to pass at this time. We wish you the best in placing this piece elsewhere. Reply: Thank you for your careful consideration of my story at 3:54 AM on Sunday morning, the time known for the pick of the human attention.