Better Than Starbucks
Poetry and Fiction Journal
. . . if you love diversity and creative writing in any and every form, then you’re in the right place . . .
August 2022
Vol VII No III
Published quarterly:
February, May, August,
and November.
Opportunities
We started publishing our online journal in May of 2016. We were a monthly publication until July 2018, then transitioned to bi-monthly, and since January of 2018 we have produced a print edition (now two of them: trade and premium) as well as both PDF and eBook versions. In 2021 we became a quarterly, publishing on the first of each of February, May, August, and November.
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We are all volunteers. If you have editorial skills and some time to spare and would like to offer your help, please contact us at. betterthanstarbucks2@gmail.com and tell us what sort of work you're interested in doing. Please include any background experience you have that is related to that sort of work. We always have opportunities as we expand, and as people join and leave our staff.
This journal is truly a labor of love and if you have the same kind of passion and vision, can devote a few hours per month, and are willing to meet deadlines, Better Than Starbucks can be an enriching part of your life. All editors answer directly to the editor-in-chief.
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Currently we welcome:
Copy Editors
Copy Editing is both the hardest and easiest place to start. If you have experience, or if you simply want to sharpen your grammatical/editorial eye, Better Than Starbucks Copy Editors have the joy of watching a publication go out into the world neat and clean and as free of typos as is possible. And you get to say, “I made that!”
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Interviewers
Once or twice per year, you should bring us an interview with an interesting writer. It will be your job to find the writer, and you will conduct the interview independently, and send it to us when completed. We sometimes can help when you have difficulty contacting your chosen interviewee. We seek and encourage interviews that provide a platform for honesty and forthright talk. We like to hear people speaking their true minds.
Section Editors
The section editor acts as a sort of “independent franchise.” You will need to have a strong connection to the community you serve, be willing to solicit submissions from that community, and be motivated to leave your personal impress on the section. We currently get many submissions for Formal/Rhyming, Free Verse, Haiku, and Fiction, but the other sections receive few, by comparison. We will send you the submissions related to your section when we receive them, but we will also expect you to hunt up writers to showcase in your section. Fiction, Flash and Micro Fiction, and Creative Non-Fiction are open for an editor, as are Experimental, Form, and Prose Poetry.
If you have editorial experience in an area/genre not listed here, contact us to discuss the possibility of adding a page for your unrepresented specialty. Robert Schechter did just that and now edits our Poetry for Children section.
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One or more International Editors
We are looking for voices from Africa, Central Asia or the Far East, as well as from South/Central America, continental Europe and Russia.
A Poetry Translations Editor
If you are a polyglot, or work with poets from many languages who write and translate, or have personal experience with translation, this could be for you. We always publish the original along with the English translation. Susan McLean is currently the editor of Poetry Translations, however she will soon be resigning for personal reasons, so we are still looking for a Poetry Translations editor. As there are so many languages and global regions which produce gorgeous poetry our readers would enjoy, we would also be interested in having periodic guest editors of Poetry Translations.
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Note: We currently have two copy editors who are doing a great job. If you're volunteering as an intern, we have lots of other tasks that would help us! Personally, I wish we had a techie (or even a wizard) to help out, and an Art Director would be wonderful also. Lastly, if you have experience in public relations, social media, etc. we'd love to have a media manager, spreading the word, networking, and building the journal’s profile.
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— Vera Ignatowitsch