Recently Schlock Magazine has been receiving a deluge of submissions and we've been hard at work going through them all and deciding which ones will appear in the next issue.

It's not an easy job. Especially since many of the submissions are of good, if not great quality. Even so, we still reject them. Not because we are evil or mean people, but because even though something may be good, it might just not fit in with what we want to publish.

This is probably the most difficult thing to do, reject a good story or poem because it just doesn't fit. I feel bad to be the bringer of bad news, especially when I know the quality is good, but such is life and such is editorial policy.

So, what does fit in, and what are we looking for?

The best way to get to know that is to read what we've already published, especially the stories and poems we've published in our quarterly issues since they all contain submissions from authors and poets just like you.

Personally, I think we always look for the following:

- Stories need to be well written. Bad grammar and punctuation does not mean we'll reject your story but it is definitely a negative. If something is unreadable then it probably will be rejected.
- Stories that don't just rehash the same things we've read a million times
- Stories that are quirky and playful
- Stories that aren't afraid
- Stories that make you want to read them

All of these suggestions are vague, but it's the best I can do. Go read what we've published and take a look at the list above and you'll see that those stories match with the ideas above, the way we like them.

As for our editorial policy and how we review submissions, we try to be as democratic as possible. Each submission is reviewed by three people who make a recommendation. The recommendation can be:

- Rejection
- Acceptance
- Borderline

The reviewers are allowed to change their recommendation upon discussion. If there is a tie (and yes there have been ties) the story is sent to another 2 people to get their opinions. If there is still a tie, then it is sent to another 2 people. If there is still a tie, then we discuss it at a round table. So far no submission has ever gone through the entire tie-breaking process. Luckily our tastes are quite similar and we know what we want to see on the site.

We always try to get back to authors within a week. We don't like to let people wait.

After we make our decision, we contact the author and let them know. We do not usually give reasons why something has been rejected unless it is something that was really close to being accepted but then wasn't. But most of the time, I would say at least 80% of the time, stories or poems just don't fit in.

If you have received a rejection from us, don't let that get you down. Just send your work somewhere else and keep trying, and send us more of your stuff.

First Set of Honorable Mentions for the 2nd Quarter Announced!

The story I co-authored with Tom Waters has received an Honorable Mention in the 2010 Q2 Writers of the Future Contest.

This is great news since it's my first HM and it's also cool to see that collaborations bear good fruit.

Here's the blog post:

First Set of Honorable Mentions for the 2nd Quarter Announced!

The Malta issue is all compiled and ready to go! It's going to be a very interesting issue because we've allowed submissions in Maltese this time around.

When we had decided to go for a Malta related issue we weren't sure if we should allow Maltese submissions. After all, we are aiming to be an international magazine and not just a local one, although we also want to promote local talent. We were a wary that after publishing an issue with contributors from all around the world moving to a Malta issue would insulate us somewhat and bring visitor numbers crashing.

We decided to take the risk anyway, and I'm glad we did. We have three stories out of ten which are in Maltese, the others are all in English. The fantastic thing (pun intended) about the Malta issue is that most of the contributors have taken the strange things that happen on the island, given them a jolt, and transformed them into the weird and wonderful.

We hope that no matter where you're from you'll come take a look at the issue and see what a strange and otherworldly island Malta is.

Issue comes out on June 5th.

www.schlockmagazine.net

I just found out that a flash I submitted to Flash Fiction online has made it into the second round of
consideration. I know I'm not in the clear yet, but if I manage a sale it'll be my first pro market sale! Wish me luck guys and gals!

It seems like only yesterday that we released the last issue of Schlock, but our next deadline is already approaching. The issue is shaping out to be a good one. So far we've got a nice grimy cover by Steve Scicluna, which contains a lot of elements of Maltese culture while keeping a good Schlocky feel. What I really love about Steve's artwork is that his work always has plenty of layers. You can just keep on observing them and noticing new things. It worked out really well for the cover because he's incorporated plenty of cultural references that many Maltese will recognize.

We'll also be publishing a story by Guze Stagno, the enfant terrible of Maltese literature. I'll be looking forward to seeing that.

There will also be more great stories written by the rest of the Schlock crew. And from what I can see so far, most of the stories will be in English so you don't have to shy away.

Look out for it in June.