our editorial approach..
As you can see in the stet editorial flow cycle above, every submission receives thoughtful, attentive feedback from three editors whose work is continually reviewed by their editor peers. Whether the piece is accepted for publication or not our submitting authors get feedback that is frequently more thorough than any feedback they receive from other people in their writing circles. Our editorial approach focuses on two complementary forms of revision: developmental editing and line-level editing.
developmental editing
addresses the big-picture elements of a creative submission. Editors consider how the work functions as a whole and offer feedback.
line-by-line editing
Line-level editing focuses on the language itself. Editors work closely with sentences to help sharpen and refine the writing.
where our editors come from
Our editors originate from schools in the Chicago area, and eventually will come from states across the country and from countries across the world. See our get involved: edit with us page to hear more about becoming a founding editor.
Our editors don’t rewrite the work; they simply respond to it as readers and writers themselves, identifying patternss, posing questions, and suggesting possibilities with the hope of helping writers see their own work more clearly and consider making intentional choices about revision. Our aim is to honor the writer and the work by addressing how it behaves on the page, and to work in concert with the writer to bring the work to its best self.
editorial workshops…
Each summer we will provide editorial development workshops, both in person and online that will introduce editorial candidates to our approach and prepare them to respond to submissions. The first workshop will take place in Summer 2027; please stay tuned for more details and how to participate.
mural artist: Ryan Tova Katz