A Bridge to Commercial Publishing

What are you reading today?

Celia Johnson: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Maria Gagliano: Thoughts Without Cigarettes by Oscar Hijuelos

What would you like to read a week from today?

CJ: A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

MG: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

Which literary journals do you read and admire most?

CJ: Glimmer Train, The Coffin Factory (a wonderful new publication), Lapham’s Quarterly, The Paris Review, among others.                             

MG: Also love The Coffin Factory, along with Tin House, One Story, Ploughshares, and McSweeney's Internet Tendency, to name a few. 

What distinguishes Slice from other literary journals?

CJ: Slice has two goals. One is to strike up a dialogue between emerging and established writers, by publishing their work and interviews side-by-side. We also focus on publishing work that is both literary and accessible, rather than genre or experimental.  We aim to act as a bridge for new writers to make their way into the commercial publishing world.  Many of our subscribers are editors and agents and they routinely scout out new talent in Slice. They know we select pieces that will appeal to a wide audience. Our main requirement for a story is simply that we find it unputdownable and hope that readers will feel the same way.

In addition to editing Slice, you are both book editors (Maria at Perigee, an imprint of Penguin Group, and Celia at Hachette Book Group). How do these two types of editing compare?

CJ: I left Hachette last August to focus on writing and Slice.  At Hachette, I focused on narrative nonfiction and mysteries.  The biggest difference between book and story editing is that the stories we accept tend to be almost there when they arrive. With books, I’d go several rounds to help a writer shape the narrative, characters, dialogue, and prose. Short stories sometimes need a rigorous edit (an ending could be stronger, a character doesn’t ring true at a certain moment), but typically we don’t need to go back and forth the way an editor might with a book.  Both forms involve the same amount of copyediting and proofreading, though.

MG: At Perigee, I focus on practical nonfiction—everything from cookbooks to business books—so the editing is quite different. I’m usually editing for content, tone, organization, and clarity in nonfiction. I also go through several rounds of editing and revising with the author, which we don’t do for Slice. As Celia mentioned, sometimes we’ll help an author sharpen an ending or scene, but the stories are usually ready to go when we accept them. 

What is the best part of editing the magazine?

CJ: We don’t have to worry about platform!  It doesn’t come into play at all.  For years, I had to pitch new talent to an editorial board whose first question was bound to be, “But what about the author’s platform?” At Slice, we don’t even consider platform. We’re able to base our decision to publish solely on the experience of reading words on a page.

MG: I love the moment when I’m reading a story from a previously unpublished writer and realize they have some serious talent. You can tell the person will be going places with their writing, and we have the privilege of being there from day one. We’ve seen it happen so many times! Authors who had one of their first stories published in Slice have since gone on to publish successful books. I’m not saying Slice is responsible for their success (!), but it’s so nice to be part of their journey.

The worst part?

CJ: The finite space. Inevitably, we’re forced to choose between several talented writers. It’s often difficult to make the call.

MG: Definitely being forced to pass on stories simply because we don’t have the space. Sometimes we can push something up to a future issue, but more often than not we have to let amazing stories go just because we have a set amount of space in each issue.

Slice was launched in 2007. How has the magazine changed over time?

MG: It’s been an incredible five years.  We started out planning Slice in our living room, soliciting writing from friends and family since nobody knew what Slice was. Since then, we’ve built an amazing community of readers and writers worldwide. Last year we hosted our first annual Slice Literary Writers’ Conference in Brooklyn, which took Slice’s goal to bridge the gap between emerging writers and the publishing world off the page and into the community. Hundreds of writers, editors, and agents attended the conference, sparking many new relationships along the way.

Now in its tenth issue, Slice magazine has published some of today’s best new writers—many of whom have gone on to publish books and/or place their work in other major publications. We’ve also had the honor of interviewing dozens of our literary heroes over the years. 

Slice has also grown internally. We started out with two publishers and an art director on Issue 1. Today we have a great team of volunteers who help make Slice possible every step of the way—from reading submissions to helping with events. 

Slice publishes both emerging and established authors. What advice would you give to an emerging writer submitting to Slice?

CJ: Stay true to your own narrative voice. It’ll set you apart from other writers. Don’t be afraid to tackle an unusual subject. And don’t let rejection stop you. I offer this anecdote to writers so often that people who know me are probably sick of it, but it’s a great example of what it means to forge ahead to success. William Faulkner once wrote a novel called Flags in the Dust and he thought it was a masterpiece. He sent it off to his publisher saying as much and was shocked to receive a rejection in the mail. Faulkner’s publisher said that he didn’t have a story to tell. Faulkner’s response: He decided that for once he would write for himself and no one else. And the result was his best known work, The Sound and the Fury.

MG: Just keep writing. And even if you’re trying hard to get published, don’t forget why you’re really writing. Remember that you’re telling a story because you feel it’s worth telling, not because you think a publisher (or magazine) will want it or because it might have bestseller potential. If it’s a story truly worth telling, and you’re dedicated to doing it justice, you will find your audience.

If you could publish any deceased writer, who would you pick?

CJ: Katherine Mansfield
MG: Raymond Carver

If you could have lunch with any deceased writer, who would you pick?

CJ: Emily Dickinson
MG: JD Salinger

What would you like our readers to know about Slice?

CJ: We’re always eager to strike up a dialogue with other bookworms.  If you’re a new writer, we’d love to read your work. And if you’re a reader who has a comment, an idea, or would like to get involved, we’d love to hear from you, too. For folks who would like to meet other literary nerds, we plan events in the New York area all year round. Whether we’re teaming up with other lit mags for a reading or a party, hosting a writer’s conference, or pitting agents against editors at a trivia showdown, it’s all in the spirit of words and fun!  You can find out more at www.slicemagazine.org.

Renee Beauregard Lute is the Reviews Editor for The Review Review.

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