"It's Really Really Important to Me to Support Writers." A Chat With Courtney Harler, Editor of CRAFT

Editor of online fiction & nonfiction mag takes us behind the scenes

Ahoy, pals. Another editor interview is in the books!

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Courtney Harler, Editor-in-Chief of CRAFT.

Established in 2017 as a literary magazine for fiction, CRAFT expanded in 2020 to publish creative nonfiction as well. We explore how writing works, reading pieces with a focus on the elements of craft, on the art of prose. We feature previously unpublished creative work, with occasional reprints, as well as critical pieces including craft essays and interviews. All published creative pieces include an author’s note and an editorial introduction that both discuss stylistics in the work.

This online journal is open for submissions year-round. They publish new work 1-2 times per week. There is no fee to submit.

Courtney took us through the magazine’s editorial process, where a team of volunteer readers go through each submission and then decide whether to decline or upvote it to the genre editor. At that point the genre editor decides on the work, with Courtney providing final approval before the work is published.

All volunteer readers go through anti-bias training in order to broaden their view of what makes a piece of writing strong beyond their own initial subjective impressions. To this end, Courtney and I discussed giving writers the benefit of the doubt and looking for a certain kind of intentionality in the work.

As for the type of writing CRAFT favors, Courtney used the term “high literary.” Questions readers consider include, Is this character developed? Is the language effective? Is it clear enough to connect to the reader? Will the piece resonate with an audience? Is the voice authentic?

Authenticity of voice is a feature Courtney came back to several times. Is the work something that only this writer could write? Does the piece achieve what it seemingly sets out to do?

In addition to “high literary,” the magazine also publishes speculative work. In fact, Courtney said, many of the works on the site right now are speculative. Still, in order to be right for CRAFT, it’s important that these pieces have a layer of meaning beyond clever conceits. They ought to establish emotional connection, depth.

CRAFT is one magazine under the umbrella company Discover New Art, LLC. Other magazines DNA produces are Frontier Poetry, Palette Poetry, Masters Review, Fractured Lit, Unchartered, and Voyage Journal (now part of Unchartered). Each magazine has its own area of focus, with CRAFT’s focus on those high literary works.

Being part of this company ensures that these magazines to remain financially viable. It also allows them to pay writers significant $$ for prizes. CRAFT runs contests throughout the year, with a Flash Prose Prize currently running and a Memoir Excerpt Prize coming in November.

This magazine does a lot. I’ve only just scratched the surface here. They also publish craft essays (which are taking a new stylistic turn, of late), interviews and conversations among writers, in addition to having an editorial team that will offer feedback on work (for a charge).

Also, there is something super duper top secret that the magazine is planning to hopefully execute in 2024. I pressed Courtney to give us a hint. She was commendably restrained, except to say it’s something the journal has never done before. I guess we will have to wait to find out!

CRAFT is specifically welcome to new writers, so if you’ve never published work be sure to mention that in your cover letter as it may garner your piece special consideration. They are also actively seeking work from typically under-represented groups, and, as we discussed today, this certainly includes older writers. So if you find yourself in any of these categories, get submitting!

They are also open to volunteer readers, either at CRAFT or an affiliated journal. If you’d like to volunteer as a reader, you can contact Courtney directly.

To everyone who came out to watch the video, thank you for tuning in! Your faces are the clear cool breeze on my boiling hot late summer-in-the-city afternoon.

And, of course, thank you to Courtney for taking the time to take us behind the scenes of another lovely little magazine.

Happy viewing!

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