"Follow Your Weird." A Chat with Christy Tending, Nonfiction Editor of Sundog Lit

Nonfiction Editor of online mag takes us behind the scenes

Good day! I come with news of a new editor interview, freshly in the books.

Today I had the great fun of speaking with Christy Tending, Nonfiction Editor of Sundog Lit.

Sundog Lit is committed to publishing pieces that engage with tension, introspection, empathy, considered positionality, thoughtful form play, emotional courage, and musicality.

Sundog Lit is equally committed to uplifting voices from all corners in hopes of breaking down ideas of who is widely read and rebelling against normative power structures that stifle expression.

This online magazine publishes fiction, poetry, nonfiction and visual art twice per year. They are also open to blog posts that respond to a prompt given quarterly.

Christy joined the magazine two years ago. She works with two other nonfiction editors in a structure that is decidedly non-hierarchical. The three of them read every submission and together select the work. Almost all the work published in Sundog comes from “the slush pile,” and Christy said the magazine is actively invested in publishing new writers.

As for what they seek stylistically, Christy described the work that stands out as “so Sundog.” Meaning, the work they favor tends to be “inventive,” “playful,” “surprises us,” and/or has “an unusual structure.”

Christy mentioned braided essays, so we took a long and delightful detour discussing the form. What exactly is a braided essay? What distinguishes an essay that is deliberately structured as a braid versus an essay that’s just about a lot of stuff? Christy pointed to the importance of author intention and shared an interesting writing exercise for essayists, revolving around bringing together disparate ideas so that they reflect each other while also adding up to something larger.

She cited Melissa Febos as a master of the braided essay form. She also named “On Believing” by Hanif Abdurraqib as an essay she’s read dozens of times and still marvels at.

For Sundog, essays should be under 3,000 words. They tend to favor “shorter pieces that pack power,” but if you have a knockout essay that’s 3k words, go on and send it here. Christy tries to read every submission in entirety, and if a piece is a good fit but needs some adjustments, the editors will work with writers to get it perfect for publication.

What advice does Christy have for writers hoping to break into this magazine? “Be bold.” Also, send the stuff that might not fit into other magazines. Take a chance. If you get a rejection, please don’t submit again in the same reading period. But certainly do try again.

Like many editors, Christy is also a writer, and had her own story of trying one magazine sixteen times before finally landing an acceptance. The piece that made the cut was a nonfiction work about a conscious tomato. Yup, a conscious tomato. And yup, it’s nonfiction. You can read “The Sentient, Buddhist Tomato Greets Its Destiny” here. Christy said she would have definitely submitted this to Sundog, were she not the mag’s editor.

What are common pitfalls Christy sees among nonfiction submissions? Where do writers tend to miss the mark? What subjects do these editors see a lot of? And what is something that Christy really would love to see written about, and is actively seeking right now?

For all that and more, dear friends, you will have to tune in!

Sundog is open for submissions in the spring and fall. They receive about 150-200 nonfiction submissions per reading period and accept three works. Response time is about 3 - 6 months.

To everyone who tuned in today, thank you! Your faces are the sweet burst of sunshine on my bright but cloudy day!

And, of course, thank you to Christy for taking us behind the scenes of another lovely little lit mag.

Happy viewing!