8 Quick Questions with Charles Baxter

Do you remember the first story you had accepted in a literary magazine? Which literary magazine was it?

Yes, I do remember. It was a story called "Xavier Speaking" in The Antioch Review. Actually, before that I had a story that I've never reprinted in a magazine called The Little Magazine.

What was the feeling of your first story acceptance like?

The acceptance of "Xavier Speaking" made me very happy and kept my gas tank filled for months, metaphorically speaking.

Did any editors help shape your stories before publication? How did you learn from the process?

Some editors down through the years have certainly helped with line-editing and other observations about shape and emphasis and proportion. A good editor is a close reader.

Do you have any stories that were rejected many times, to go on to be accepted somewhere?

No. If they were rejected many times, I filed them away or threw them out.

Were you an avid lit-mag submitter, or have you been primarily focused on novel writing?

I was and still am a writer who submits work to literary magazines, though my agent does most of that work now.

What do you think is a major reason people don't read literary magazines?

I don't know.

Is there one lit mag that you would still really like to be published in? (Or does that need go away, once you publish novels, get film options, etc.?)

When I was young, I always wanted to be published in Ted Solotaroff's New American Review, and I never was. The need to be published in a particular place goes away as one ages.

Are there any lit mags out there that you really admire?

Many: The Georgia Review, The Gettysburg Review, and many others.