Psychopomp’s Transparency

The two editors of Psychopomp literary magazine, Cole Bucciaglia and Sequoia Nagamtsu, posted a blog post revealing the whole submission process. They say that they both read every piece and try to get to it within 10 to 14 days, labeling each piece “no,” “yes,” or “maybe.”

“For me, language is very important,” writes Nagamatsu. “A close second is an awareness of form. A well-crafted submission that reads well (and sounds good) is going to be met with more sympathy on my end. Those stories, regardless of whether or not I’m interested in the subject matter, almost always get a closer read.”

And Bucciaglia confirms that they both have similar tastes. “I think one of the ways in which we different is that I tend to favor stories that are a little sparer with their language,” she writes. “We get a lot of very poetic and lyrical pieces, but I’m very wary of stories in which every line is painstakingly written to evoke heart-aching Beauty. I get more excited about fairy tale-esque stories that are economic with their language. I think shorter pieces tend to get away with sustained lyricism more, which is why we do take many short pieces.”

To read more about the process as well as about the magazine itself, click here.